Australia Moving to Electric Cars - 8/1/08

According to the Jamison Report the Australian government could make moves to replace fossil fuel cars with electric cars within years.  NRMA Motoring & Services has established the Jamison Report as a road map for alternative fuels in Australia ending their dependence on oil.

Australia’s dependence on oil has grown by 30 percent in the last four years.  Unless something is done Australia will have an oil trade deficit of $25 billion by 2015. 

President of NRMA Alan Evans said, “When it comes to making tough choices necessary to end our dependence on oil, Australian governments have been idle, but it’s not too late.”

Brazil began its road map to energy independence 40 years ago and the US and EU is starting to follow.

The report calls on the Australian Government to reduce dependence on oil by 20 percent by 2020; 30 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050.  The report has 12 steps to achieve this, but it will be up to the Australian Government to lead the charge.

The Jamison report calls on the government to get on the fast track in the development of the electric car in Australia, charged by renewable energy like wind and solar.

The report urges for the development of an electricity charging infrastructure were drivers of electric cars can recharge. 

Even Bob Lutz of General Motors has stated electrification of the automobile is inevitable.

Mr. Evans wants to start taking steps to ensure that Australia’s transport fleet is running on renewable energy wiping out motorists carbon foot prints.

The report also calls for the government to cut back subsidies for fossil fuel industries and replace them with tax incentives for alternative energy.

The Jamison report points to the fact that Australia has vast reserves of natural gas and the placement of a large sugar bases ethanol industry as short term replacements for oil.

The report points to land in northern Australia that has already been cleared and could produce one billion liters of ethanol within five years, not impacting existing food production

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