Transition strategies for the Australian transport sector
The problems of peak oil and climate change will present considerable challenges to the Australian transport sector in the decades ahead. At present, petroleum-based fuels provide the energy source for the majority of the transport task. As global supplies become scarce, transport systems will have to adapt in order to sustain the access they provide. But how will this happen and what are the likely scenarios that government and transport providers will have to prepare for?
The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will also place considerable pressure on the transport sector. At present, the majority of trips are undertaken by private motor vehicles
What will happen to the aviation sector? Will new fuel sources replace petroleum-based fuels so that the volume of air travel continues, or will land-transport services replace air travel? If so, what form will they take?
What will happen to urban passenger transport? What energy forms will power the passenger transport systems of the future? Will private car travel be as extensive as it is today and electric cars replace petrol driven cars? Or will energy generally be more scarce so that more energy efficient mass transit networks need to become more extensive in order to remain affordable to the majority of the population?
What will happen to rural and regional transport? Will the spatial pattern of development in rural and regional Australia be sustained or will change adaptation be necessary? Will government regulation be required to secure and subsidise liquid fuels for use in these areas in preference to urban areas in order to maintain rural economies?
What will happen to freight transport? Will freight become a 'priority sector' and granted special access to fuels as they become scarce, or will freight systems have to spatially adapt, creating new patterns of industrial consolidation development in the same way that residential sectors have been encouraged to consolidate around public transport nodes?
How will the transport sector reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Will this be achieved through changes in technologies? What government regulations will be required to meet reduction targets or are market mechanisms a superior way to achieve these?
For further information about this topic contact Dr Michelle Zeibots
