[LINK] The Australian Economy Runs on oil.

[Birch, Jim]

Gordon Keith wrote:

> Actually we'd be a lot better off in the long term if the government
was to introduce a carbon tax that significantly increased the price of
petrol.


That depends on what it gets replaced with, doesn't it?  Coal and oil
each produce like 40% of the fossil-fuel CO2 emissions in industrial
countries but oil has an advantage in energy per kg of CO2 waste.  If we
replace petrol cars with coal electric cars there's not a lot of benefit
in CO2.  We're actually a bit worse off, in theory, but in practice
efficiencies and usage patterns will effect.  

It's the solar - or other nonCO2 - source of the electricity that will
make the big difference.  Getting solar energy to the cost of coal looks
to me to be the real CO2 fix.

- Jim


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