Petrol, Diesel, Fuel…………Lets say Oil

It’s a substance that everyone seems to be addicted to. All the signs are there. We all need our fix at least once a week. We feel better when we have it and we get grumpy when it’s taken away from us. This is what is happening now, fuel prices are rising and people are getting cranky as their supply, their ‘fix’ is costing too much. There are calls at the moment, lead by the federal opposition, for a reduction in the fuel excise or getting rid of the GST on fuel (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/26/2255420.htm).

I as much as anyone see and feel the pain that the high fuel prices bring. I earn a below average wage and I have a home loan. This makes me one of the least well off people around. Fuel prices don’t just cost you at the bowser they also lead into the increase in food and other basic necessities. Min and I (although I have to say Min more than me) also run a car.

Given all of the things above some might be surprised to hear me say that reducing the fuel excise or getting rid of the GST on fuel is the stupidest idea that I’ve heard in a while. I would say that the money could be better spent, but I would disagree with the fuel excise reduction.

Why would he say this you ask (even if you haven’t asked I’m going to tell you)? Well the government isn’t at fault for the higher prices. We probably in the middle of peak oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil) and we are now seeing the effects of an oil supply that cannot keep up with the hugely increasing demand. The developing world is now starting to use oil in a similar fashion to the most developed countries. I’m going to say it now even thought it’s in the news every day and it blamed for so many things. China, China China China. The oil demand of China is looking to be double that of the US by 2030 (http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/05/22/wall_street_journal_peak_oil/). It’s a text book case of supply and demand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand). If supply stays the same and demand increases, the price will go up. The Australian government has no control over the world oil market and no real way to influence the price of crude in Australia. The general trend will see a continuing increase in the price of fuel this is unavoidable. The government could decrease the fuel excise and the price will rise. So they decrease the fuel excise again, surprise surprise the price of fuel will rise again. By the end of next year the price of fuel would still be at $1.70 a litre even though the fuel excise would be 0.

A much better way of moving forward is to use the current fuel excise moneys to move Australia away from its dependence on Crude oil. We need to stage an intervention. Invest more in public transport. Move public transport away from petrol/Diesel to Gas and Electricity. Promote Biofuels such as Syngas from Agricultural byproducts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngas), Biodiesel from the Fisher Tropsch Process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process) and Ethanol/Butanol from Cellulose digestion. None of these ideas could completely replace oil and none of them are really ready for the market yet. In a few years with some investment from the government these products could completely move Australia away from using Crude Oil. We could then develop these alternatives into large export markets. The World population has a huge appetite for Energy. That is all these products are.

There is another benefit of the products that I’ve suggested. The first is that none of them use food crops. All of them can use Products that are currently thrown away from current Agricultural processes. For Example the Straw from the Wheat plant is spat out the back of the harvester and left to rot on the ground or burnt. This straw could be bailed and fed into a Cellulose digester (http://www.iogen.ca/) to produce Ethanol or Butanol. Due to these products not using food crops and increasing deforestation. They will decrease the Greenhouse gas output of Australia. Especially Syngas production. Syngas is one of the few Carbon Negative energy production systems. It also produces Charcoal which is excellent as an additive to soils for increasing production and locking away carbon (http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s2012892.htm).

I know its painful guys but there is nothing to do except use less fuel and try alternatives. I want to say this again PRICES WILL CONTINUE TO GO UP WHATEVER THE GOVERNMENT DOES. Stop complaining to the government about the high price of fuel as they can’t do anything anyway. Start demanding that they do some thing to help us stop using this addictive substance altogether.

The other thing that we could all do is, next time your grabbing your key to leave the house consider taking a pushbike instead.

Happy Birthday

Well Happy Birthday to Mum.

I hope you are having a wonderful time and I'll see you and give you some thing when you come and visit me up here in the sunny north.

L

Whereabouts of the Nomads

I hope everyone noticed I left out the Grey part of the normal phrasing of the title.

Well Mum and Bernie are travelling again. Lost in the wilds of Western Australia. Every now and then I get an Update with a couple of Photos. So here is the Latest.

Hi everyone,
We head off to Geraldton today from Port Denison. Will spend a couple of days in Geraldton - take Clarissa out tonight to a nice seafood restaurant for her birthday - then go on to Kalbarri National Park on the Murchison River. From all accounts that is a fabulous place to visit.
We had a rest day yesterday - just reading and lying about!
Hope you are all well.

Talk to you soon.
Bernie

Good to see they are well despite being lost in the "wilds" of Geraldton. Will keep you all as up dated as I can.

L.

OC1 Race

Well it's been a week or so since the OC1 race I had at the last regatta. It was a tougher paddle than I thought it'd be. For starters there was a strong wind warning and there was about 1.5m of chop all across the bay. Also My canoe is what's known as a small volume boat ie. it doesn't provide a great deal of extra buoyancy for floatation. This means that in a race where waves are a significant factor my canoe was behaving more like a submarine than a canoe. At one point I was completely underwater, a wave hit and went straight over me rather than my canoe going over the top. The extra drag from all of the water in on and around the canoe means that I didn't go very fast.

To be fair It's not all the Canoes fault, I haven't been out in big conditions like that and practised so I couldn't get the best out of my canoe. I still think there are two factor than would help me go fast though. A Large Volume boat like the Bladerunner canoes and more training for me.

After these things are sorted then I'll be unstoppable I'll, not come second last like this time. Oh well.

I am looking forward to the next race though which will be Hammo. A 250m sprint and an 8km Marathon.

Perth forthe Travellers

We're in Perth at the moment. Went out to Rottnest today. You would love it out there.

Bernie

Update II

So the next up date is that I have sold my OC1. The Anderson Canoe has been sold to another member of the club.

"The Ando has Left Long live the Ando" is what I said to my self. So i went and bought another Ando. It's a purple and white Canoe Same make and model but this one is in Carbon fibre and a bit lighter. It should be a nice canoe to race in.

Below is a small video that I made with my little camera attached to the rear Iako of the canoe.



Cheers L.

Update

I've been a little slack through April. I've been busy though, I am organising Hammo and the Coral Sea Regatta for our little club as well as administering a $12000 grant that I got for the club to purchase new paddles and a new canoe.

Anyway I've neglected this site a little. So I thought time for an update. The first of the series is a new addition to the family. It's a boy and his name is Bear.



He is very cute and plays allot. He's a Border Collie x Blue Healer. He gets very wet quite often and then plays under the house and in stead of being a black and white dog he comes out as a brown dog.

You will all have to come and visit, to say hello to Bear.

Cheers L.

Alligator creek falls

Another person has fallen down the Alligator Creek falls, just like old Tomo. Only thing different is that the person that went with this ill fated trekker was a blonde backpacker. She ran out and got help. With this slight difference in the story the Media (read Townsville Bulletin) saw fit to run the story front page. Not only that but it made it into the paper for three consecutive weeks.

Below is a link to a selection of the paper clippings.

http://www.box.net/shared/noo1faescg

Tom mate you did it wrong. Next time get Clweddto dress up in a blonde wig and run out on his broken foot and save you. That Way you could get some pickies in the paper.

Hope things are going well for you down there in the bigsmoke.

L.

Mum and Bernie The Travellers

We are at present in Esperance in WA. Quite a vibrant town - beautiful coast and beaches, new mines starting up in the hinterland, fair-sized port.


The banksia is Banksia Speciosa - common round the roadsides.


The local Port Authority is currently in court over some pollution from lead ore in 2006 - they are disputing it.

Hope all is well up there.

Bernie and Mum

The Dungeon Master

Gary Gygax the Creator of Dungeons and Dragons passed away on the 4th of March. I'm a little late with this tribute but I found this Cartoon over at xkcd.


XKCD is very much worth checking out too people. It is a humorous and witty take on the world. Back to the Topic at hand, Thanks Gazza. You game changed allot of things both in the world of games and even in everyday life.

Cheers L.