Some coverage has been given recently to a report ‘leaked’ early September from the German military about the implications of peak oil. The article by Stefan Schultz in Der Spiegel is:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,715138,00.html
‘Peak Oil’ and the German Government
Now this discussion has moved from mailing lists to The Age business pages. Both are worth reading, both say it is time we start to deal with the realities of our changing resources and climate. The loss of cheap oil and the disruptions of wilder weather will shake our fundamental securities. The related issue of human conflict over diminishing security has to be dealt with also.
Two examples are New Orleans after Katrina and Pakistan after the floods. If Victorians fare better it will be due to their decent goverance. Overall however, Australia is not meeting these challenges squarely, as David Ingles from the Australia Institute points out:
http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/09/02/the-dirty-topic-of-peak-oil-get-ready-to-reduce-your-reliance/
Let’s hope our refreshed government is reading these reports and paying attenion.
Dear Ronda,
Regarding the “Der Spiegel” article –
Please take the advice of a bloke who has had to research and write a few submissions for Defence forward planning papers for our lot.
Firstly, most reputable defence outfits tend to plan well ahead and address numerous scenarios within their ambit.
There is nothing unusual about a defence planning paper addressing the worst case scenario imaginable that could confront the particular defence establishment.
Since Deutschland was subject to blockade twice last century it would be no great stretch of the imagination on OberstLeutnant Will’s part to consider another occurrence to be within the realms of probability.
Naturally, it would be in the interests of the Bundestag to lend some political correctness to the paper by suggesting its justification is bound to ‘peak oil’.
Meanwhile, the US military declared that by 2006 every fuel burning device in their inventory would either be converted to multi-fuel or replaced with equipment burning heavier oil fractions than petroleum – something the Brits had attended to with, at least, their armoured and warfighting vehicles decades ago.
Stacked somewhere else in the same safes in defence headquarters everywhere are other papers dealing with rapidly changing demographics inexorably altering the nature of nation states – nodal changes to geopolitics and economics, and by way of cause and effect, salients being driven into their traditional comfort zones.
As for the crikey item cited –
It may be my interpretation that Australians just keep on externalizing matters that are well within their control – more man’ana than any dozy Mexican could ever be.
Rest assured that it won’t be any actual peak oil event putting us all out of our beloved vehicles – rather a decision made by our ‘masters’ to implement that as fallback policy.
Indeed that decision is likely already made.
Comment by A NON FARMER — October 3, 2010 @ 6:29 am