The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) has announced support for the finding that diesel fuel will be an important energy source for Australia beyond 2040.
The finding comes from the Department of the Environment and Energy’s interim fuel security report.
NatRoad said ensuring Australia has an adequate, appropriately costed and reliable supply of diesel fuel must be a government priority.
NatRoad CEO Warren Clark said NatRoad’s members had commented that without access to fuel stocks they don’t have an industry.
“NatRoad’s today provided a submission to the federal Department of the Environment and Energy in relation to its work on securing Australia’s liquid fuel supply – the department has issued an interim report before it completes this work towards the end of 2019,” Mr. Clark said.
“We raised the issue of fuel security in our pre-budget submission made earlier this year – we said the government’s review into fuel stocks should be fast-tracked, as should returning Australia to holding 90 days worth of oil stocks.”
Mr Clark said the department has recognised the transport sector is almost entirely reliant on liquid fuel.
“It sources 98 per cent of its energy from liquid fuels, most of which are used in road transport where diesel fuel predominates,” Mr. Clark said.
“The reality is that diesel enjoys a virtual monopoly in fuelling heavy freight vehicles. Most alternative fuels at the current stage of their development involve compromises – such as lower energy density, higher price, reduced driving range or lower thermal efficiency.”
Mr. Clark said that is not to say NatRoads doesn’t support the development of alternatively fuelled technology.
“The reality is the time frame for these technologies to have an impact on the day to day operations of members – we are looking at 10-20 years,” Mr. Clark said.
“That time scale reinforces the need for government to have in place policies which secure Australia’s access to liquid fuels.”
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