Introduction

In my last post I suggested that over the next 5 years Australia’s ability to import oil will be severely constrained. We won’t be able to just switch suppliers, because that is what everybody will be trying to do – we need smarter solutions and they need to start now. In this post I look for the responses that we need to make.

There is no better group of people to answer this question than the TOD community. The calamity that we had warned of seems to be occurring, and the words "Peak Oil" now appear in mainstream media news articles on a regular basis. Our warning was heard late - probably too late for some - but it is being heard.

It is now time to turn our minds to defining solutions. This area has been approached by several TOD contributors (with valuable insights ranging from specific technical approaches to the more general ELP approach). I propose that we now need to organise and categorize the full range of actions needed. If we are going to call on politicians and business leaders to act, we need to define what actions are required. It is not enough to scare people - we need to provide a call to arms, not a call to panic.