The ABC recently had a report on plans to power north-west Queensland with low temperature geothermal power using hot water from the Great Artesian Basin.

A Brisbane-based company says it could supply geothermal power to all of north-west Queensland. Clean Energy Australasia wants to build a $50 million geothermal power station near Longreach. But it has now also revealed plans to build a pilot geothermal project near BHP's Cannington mine at McKinlay, south of Cloncurry. The company's Joe Reichman says the Mount Isa region needs about 500 megawatts of power a year and geothermal resources could easily provide that. "It'll change the region into a powerhouse," he said. Mr Reichman says the company has applied for federal and state government grants and has support from the major mining companies in the region. If the projects proceed they would be the first geothermal power plants in Australia.

Low temperature geothermal power is a relatively new (and very low profile) form of extracting energy from geothermal sources that provides yet another option for meeting our energy needs cleanly and sustainably.

The ABC has a report today noting that Wilson "Ironbar" Tuckey is still promoting his vision of large scale tidal power generation in the Kimberly region in Western Australia.

The Federal Government expected to release their white paper on Australia's future energy needs next year and the use of tidal power in the Kimberley is expected to be one of the options under consideration.

There are renewed calls for the development of renewable energy in the Kimberley, with the federal Member for O'Connor spruiking the merits of tidal power. Wilson Tuckey wants the Commonwealth to spend $10 billion establishing the necessary infrastructure for a tidal power industry in the region.

Mr Tuckey says tidal energy could provide 10 times the country's current electrical capacity without producing any carbon emissions. He says the Commonwealth should fund start up infrastructure before commercial interests jump on board like the State Government did with the North West Shelf. "This will be the same. If the Australian Government puts in the original tidal generating capacity and the interconnecting transmission lines, which is probably the most important, the Kimberley will then see a rash of people charging in to produce that same electricity from other localities," he said.

This is the executive summary of a briefing paper by Stewart Smith, published by the Research Service of the Library of the Parliament of NSW. The full paper can be found here (pdf).

The transport sector consumes 41 percent of final energy consumption in Australia, with the demand for transport energy growing at about 2.4 percent per year. Road vehicles moving passengers and freight account for 75 percent of transport fuel use. The Australian and international economy are deeply reliant on the supply of abundant petroleum resources at reasonable prices. However, significant challenges are confronting the petroleum and transport industry, both domestically and internationally. The first of these is tight supplies of crude oil, coupled with a growing market base of emerging economies. The second is the necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent dangerous climate change. This paper focuses on the former issue, and explores the factors contributing to the price of petrol in Australia.

The proven world oil reserves at the end of 2007 were 1,237.9 thousand million barrels, enough to supply the world at 2007 levels of consumption for 41.6 years. World distribution of proven oil reserves is heavily weighted to the Middle East (61%). The Asia Pacific region has the least, with just 3.3% of total proven reserves. At the end of 2007, Australia had proven reserves of 4.2 thousand million barrels of oil, which at present rates of production would last 20.3 years.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore recently addressed the NSW State Parliament on the subject of peak oil (via Energy Bulletin).

Tonight I speak about a serious concern of my constituents about the consequences of peak oil, which will have grave local and global impacts. The term "peak oil" refers to the stage when global oil production peaks and future oil production begins to decline. With the global demand for oil increasing rapidly, production declines are predicted to result in severe petrol price increases as buyers compete for supplies. Given the dependence on oil, including for energy, food, travel and consumer products, disastrous impacts on the global economy are expected. While some say peak oil has already hit and others say it will occur in 2030, it is essential that we prepare. New South Wales and Sydney's over-reliance on petrol makes us extremely vulnerable to impacts, and we must protect current and future generations. Given the consequences of peak oil and the serious threat of global warming leading to climate change, governments have a responsibility to urgently reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.