Peak Oil Vulnerability Analysis Received

The Dunedin City Council has received the report it commissioned in August 2010, analysing Dunedin’s Peak Oil vulnerability.
The Peak Oil Vulnerability Analysis Report, together with the Climate Change Report received earlier this year, provides baseline information to guide the Council in its long-term planning for a more sustainable future for Dunedin.
The Peak Oil Vulnerability Analysis Report, which included surveys on our travel habits, private fuel consumption and vehicle dependence and the effect of petrol prices on our lives, is a research and engineering-based analysis of Dunedin’s vulnerability to Peak Oil.
It assesses the city’s vulnerability to increased fuel prices and reduced availability of oil. As with the Climate Change Report, it helps identify the associated challenges and opportunities for Dunedin’s communities.
In welcoming the report, Mayor Dave Cull said “We aim to make Dunedin resilient in the face of impending energy challenges and it’s better to be proactive rather than reactive. This report will be of immeasurable help in identifying such challenges and framing the appropriate responses.”
The research was co-ordinated by Associate Professor Susan Krumdieck from EAST Research consultants based at Canterbury University. She was assisted by Dr Bob Lloyd from the University of Otago, who provided background research on economic conditions
The consultants recommend that Dunedin should work on five objectives to enhance adaptive capacity, social, economic and cultural wellbeing, while requiring significantly less expenditure on transport fuel:
1. Plan to reduce oil consumption by 50% by 2050
2. Transition Dunedin’s urban form with central city lifestyle development, and urban villages, accessed by 100km of safe bikeways and pedestrian zones and served by public transport
3. Build an electric trolley bus system using efficient modern technology made in New Zealand
4. Improve Dunedin’s average vehicle fleet efficiency to 5 litres per 100km by 2030
5. Audit and track fuel use in all sectors, organisations and households and develop action plans