If policymakers conclude the answer to fuel shortages is to simply build much larger liquid fuel reserves, they will lock Australia into a worse dependence on less reliable supplies of petrol, diesel and other liquid fuels. As geopolitical tensions increase, this reliance is foolish in the extreme.
What Australia needs isn’t bigger fuel tanks. It’s to build energy independence. A nation able to run its transport sector on its own resources is a nation better able to weather global uncertainty. The fastest and most cost-effective way to do so is to accelerate the electrification of transport, powering vehicles with electricity from renewables and storage.
For a country with a reputation for being rugged and resilient, people sure do buy the “don’t worry everything will be normal again soon, you don’t have to change.”
Should be used to it but I’m always shocked how many rugged Aussies with a reputation for mateship and community spirit refuse to slightly change the way they do anything for the benefit of everyone.
Tough guys who won’t wear a mask to prevent spread of covid because it feels uncomfortable. Educated and erudite professionals who find putting different types of recycling into different bins too intellectually challenging. “Nature lovers” who want to burn fossil fuels to drive an oversized truck over national parks.