Frank wrote Yesterday at 2:18pm:
Civilisation’s root-and-branch dependence on the continuous flow of hydrocarbons is why nations reeled when the Strait of Hormuz was shut down and, with it, one-fifth of the planet’s supply of oil and gas. The latest Gulf war is a rude awakening as the world of wishful thinking collides with the one we live in. This is the real energy transition, from having abundant, invisible supply to a vivid and punishing awareness of what scarcity might bring.
Australia’s governments are now terrified as they stare into the abyss of the damage a liquid fuel shortage could deliver. Shaken from their sleepwalk, leaders are beginning to understand how profoundly exposed we are. More than 90 per cent of our total energy consumption still comes from coal, oil and gas. Jet fuel, petrol and diesel dominate that mix. Diesel matters most as it drives agriculture, mining and transport, and if it runs out the nation will grind to a halt.
Successive governments have manufactured this scarcity and there is little the incumbents can do at the 11th hour beyond praying that the arteries of supply from Asia are not cut.
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For now, the supply ships are still sailing and one of the reasons we have cause to hope that will hold is because of our much-maligned trade in coal and liquefied natural gas. Our region relies on the fuels we ship to secure its energy security. We should be grateful that those who fight to end this trade have, so far, failed because if we undermine the security of those who make our liquid fuel, we cannot expect them to care about us.
Australia faces a witch’s brew of dilemmas, some beyond our control and others of our own making. The long-term danger is that we learn the wrong lessons from this crisis. The biggest mistake would be to believe there is a quick dismount from dependence on coal, oil and gas, and that electrifying everything will deliver energy security.
There seems to be a smug belief among electric vehicle owners that they will dodge any fuel crunch. That feeling may sour as their cars whirr on empty roads to deliver them first to empty supermarket shelves. There is no electric road train on the horizon that could swiftly replace our fleet of diesel trucks. The green hydrogen balloon has burst. There is no scalable replacement for making synthetic fertiliser or most of our medicine. We have yet to invent or scale up the industrial processes we will need to reach the mirage of a carbon-free world.
Chris Uhlmann
No such thing as an electric road train, is it?
Come come,
Janus electric trucks are currently converting diesel engines into fully electric trucks.
Now, over to you for your profuse apology.
Intelligence and integwity, innit.