Government assistance to alternative transport fuels

If, like me, you have often read about how the incoming excise on alternative fuels is going to make it difficult for the fledgling industry to compete against fossil fuel the following article may provide some clarity. It is a few years old so if anyone has a current version please let me know. In [...]

The Green Car Innovation Fund summarised

On Friday the 6th of February 2009 I attended a one of the Green Car Innovation Fund (GCIF) consultation sessions being held around Australia. My motivation for attending was primarily to find out how the Fund was going to work and to try to get an idea of the impact of the fund on the [...]

Victoria to get a new biodiesel storage and blending facility

According to the Victorian Government their citizens will soon have better access to biodiesel. The Government has given a $2 million grant for a new Melbourne-based blending and storage facility to Biodiesel Producers Limited (BPL) for the construction of a $4.3 million BPL biodiesel facility in Melbourne. The new facility will be based at a [...]

Reading: Fuel for thought

While digging around the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) web site I discovered Fuel for thought, a publication by the Future Fuels Forum 2007. This June 2008 publication informs us how the Future Fuels Forum thinks transport fuels will pan out in our future with modelling from now to 2050.  It is an [...]

Will trucks or trains absorb future freight growth?

A short post by Bob Murphy at Business Spectator suggests that larger trucks will absorb freight growth in Australia providing the big rigs have adequate road infrastructure and defined routes to haul massive loads. Mr Murphy sites the fact that road networks have more coverage than rail networks and that trucks pay their own way [...]

City Living versus The Great Australian Dream

For a few years now I’ve harboured a dream to be able to live life without a car. I have this imaginary lifestyle in my mind where I live in the centre of a city. Everything I need is within walking or cycling distance. On the rare occasion that I need to do a long [...]

Has the time come for high speed trains in Australia?

Having had a very positive experience using the Inter City Express (ICE) trains to travel around Germany I am a supporter of the service high speed trains provide for the public. It is fast, convenient, safe and cost effective. When powered by renewable electricity high speed trains also have a very low environmental impact. All [...]

The state of ethanol

On the 6th of December 2008 the New South Wales State Government announced that they will triple the existing 2 percent ethanol fuel mandate in the next two years and mandate a 10 percent ethanol blend (E10)  in all regular grade unleaded petrol (RON 91 – 93) by 1 July 2011. They will also introduce [...]

Tallow based biodiesel is bad policy

Tallow and its uses Tallow is a fat produced by the Australian meat industry. Like other edible fats, it is an essential ingredient that has been in use for well over 100 years. Australia produces approximately 500,000 tonnes of tallow annually, of which approximately 150,000 tonnes is used domestically in food, soap and derivatives. The [...]

Missed opportunity for better public transport

Tomorrow the Australian Government begins handing out cash to families in an effort to stimulate the economy. Does it strike anyone as odd that the Government is giving our taxes back to us just before Christmas and is urging us to spend “to help make ends meet”? If ever there was a short term solution [...]