The key to sustainable mobility is on the other side of the world

Australia and Norway may be on opposite sides of the planet, but there are some startling similarities -- and stark differences -- from which we may be able to learn.

With its crisp air and vast coastline on the edge of the North Sea, Norway is a world leader when it comes to clean, renewable energy.

Using wind, wave and hydro power to generate most of its electricity, the Nordic country is ideally placed to wean itself off a dependence on oil for transport.

Two of the world's biggest carmakers -- General Motors and the Volkswagen Audi Group -- have in the past three years conceded that the world has either passed peak oil, or is about to reach it.

We only need to look at the Gulf of Mexico disaster last year to see how far -- literally -- oil companies must dig to find fresh reserves. US president Barack Obama last week gave permission to search parts of Alaska for oil that were previously out of bounds -- because they were wildlife reserves.

In Australia, the price of petrol should be nudging $2 a litre by now -- but we are still the fifth cheapest place on earth for petrol because of the record strength of the Australian dollar.

And the Australian dollar is strong because of our vast natural resources that we are so good at digging up, burning or exporting.

Did you know Norway also has vast reserves of coal and natural gas -- just as Australia does? Norway is also the largest producer of oil and natural gas per capita outside the Middle East. Indeed, Norway is the third largest oil exporter on the planet (and eighth largest producer), pumping out around 3 million barrels of oil per day, and it is the world's sixth largest producer of natural gas. Norway also has some of the world's largest potentially exploitable coal reserves.

But wait, there's more. It is believed the Barents Sea, off the coast of Norway and Russia, may hold one third of the world's remaining undiscovered oil and gas. Drilling for oil and gas began there earlier this month (May, 2011). We will know in the coming weeks and months if it is a successful operation.

And yet, despite having these vast natural resources on its doorstep, 98.5 per cent of Norway's electricity is generated using wind or water.

That's because Norway uses its wealth from exporting its natural resources to fund development of its transport infrastructure, hospitals and health care -- and its vast clean energy facilities.

The Norwegian government is one of 37 countries that have developed a sovereign wealth fund to prepare themselves for a future without natural resources.

Many Australians laugh at what will happen when the Middle East runs out of oil, potentially in the next 10 to 15 years (accelerated by the rapid increase in the number of cars in China, India and Russia). But what will happen when Australia runs out of minerals and gas to mine in, say, 30 to 40 years' time? To paraphrase politician Peter Garrett, former front man for the rock band Midnight Oil, we could well be left with a quarry.

The Norwegian government typically has a 30 to 60 per cent stake holding in the companies that mine and export Norway's natural resources. It also taxes companies and Norwegians into oblivion.

Yes, Norway has among the highest tax rates in the world -- taxes are 43 per cent of the country's GDP -- but also the best services and the cleanest energy.

According to that trusted financial barometer, the Big Mac pricing index, Norway is the most expensive place in the world for one of McDonald's three-bun burgers, at $USD7.20. (The cheapest is Hong Kong at $USD1.90. Australia is somewhere in the middle at $4 by the way.)

Today, Norway ranks as the second wealthiest country in the world in monetary value, with the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation. It reportedly has $USD500 billion in its sovereign wealth fund.

No wonder parents get 46 weeks paid parental leave, unemployment (3.1 per cent) is the lowest in the OECD and government employment (30 per cent of the entire labour force) is the highest in the OECD.

Clearly, Australia would not be able to copy all elements of Norway's government policy, but perhaps there is something we could learn when it comes to what we do with the vast sums of money Australia reaps from its soil and seas. After all, we can't dig it up twice. When it runs out, it runs out.

Australian mining companies are making record profits -- and the Australian government (and by proxy the tax payer) only gets a slither of a cut in taxes. But if the Australian government took control of the mining, refining and exporting of our natural resources would we be any better off? We can't even install insulation or solar panels on rooftops without catastrophe. Imagine the chaos if our governments were allowed to run the big machines at the mines?

Nevertheless, Norway does provide us a solid, real-life example of what can happen when a country carefully manages its precious resources over several decades -- and reinvests the massive wealth generated into projects and infrastructure that will enable that country to survive and prosper once those resources are gone.

Our population is comparatively small, at about 22 million, for the size of our country. But Norway has achieved the seemingly unachievable with a population that's one-fifth the size of Australia's population.

Surely Australia has the know-how to better use our finite resources -- and the wealth generated from the mining boom.

With our wide open spaces and the largest coastline of any country in the world, why is Australia not at the forefront of wind, wave and solar power?

Electricity is crucial to finding alternative energy for cars -- not just electric vehicles. Electricity will be used to make hydrogen, process biofuels and create synthetic 'natural' gas, all of which will drive our vehicles in the future. So, the cleaner the electricity, the better.

Worryingly, at a recent energy conference hosted by German carmaker Audi, it held up Norway and China as the best and worst examples for CO2 emissions from coal fired power stations. According to Audi's data, just 1.5 per cent of Norway's energy comes from coal fired power staions, compared to 77 per cent for China.

But Australia's ratio of coal energy is higher than the worst example given. According to the Australian Coal Association website, 80 per cent of Australia's electricity comes from coal fired power stations. No wonder Australia is the biggest emitter of CO2 per capita in the world.

And yet, locally, cars get the bad rap and most of the media spotlight when it comes to the environment. For the record, according to Federal Government data, 49 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions come from our power stations, 27 per cent come from agriculture and only 8 to 9 per cent come from passenger cars.

Clearly the government is pointing the blame in the wrong direction.

Image: 3dships.eu

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