The great biofuels con

Growing crops for oil was supposed to solve global warming. Now, as food prices soar, biofuels stand condemned as a crime against humanity. Christopher Booker and Richard North report.

Rarely in political history can there have been such a rapid and dramatic reversal of a received wisdom as we have seen in the past 18 months over biofuels - the cropping of living plants, such as soybeans, wheat and sugar cane, to generate energy.

Two years ago biofuels were still being hailed as a dream solution to what was seen as one of the most urgent problems confronting mankind - our dependence on fossil fuels, which are not only finite but seemed to be threatening the world with the catastrophe of global warming.

In March 2007 the leaders of the European Union, in a package of measures designed to lead the world in the "fight against climate change", committed us by 2020 to deriving 10% of all transport fuel from "renewables", above all biofuels, which theoretically gave off no more carbon dioxide than was absorbed in their growing.

Since then, however, the biofuels dream has been disintegrating with the speed of a collapsing card house. Environmentalists, formerly keen on this "green energy", expressed horror at the havoc it was inflicting on the world's ecosystems, not least the clearing of rainforests to grow fuel crops.

As the world suddenly faced its worst food shortage for decades, sending prices spiralling, experts pointed out that a major cause had been the diverting of millions of hectares of farmland from food production to fuel. The damage this was inflicting on the world's poor led a United Nations official to describe the rush for biofuels as "a crime against humanity".

As damaging as anything to the belief that biofuels could help save the planet from global warming have been various studies showing that producing biofuels can give off more carbon dioxide than they save.

So devastating has been this backlash that even the British Government, which prides itself on being the greenest of the green, commissioned a review, published last Monday, urging a slowdown in the move to biofuels.

When this recommendation was endorsed by senior ministers, this put Britain directly at odds with a European Union policy to which it had already signed up. But the EU is firmly holding its line, saying it has no intention of lowering its target.

How did we come to such a pass? The story of mankind's love affair with biofuels goes back much further than most people realise, and has unfolded through five stages...

Read the entire article here http://www.theage.com.au/environment/the-great-biofuels-con-20080714-3f0q.html

Connie comeback may solve city's transport woes

Reinstating tram conductors would save hundreds of millions of dollars now lost through fare evasion, generate more revenue through increased public transport use and ease Melbourne's traffic congestion woes.

These are the key findings of research commissioned by The Sunday Age, the results of which have gained enthusiastic support from transport experts and unions who are urging the State Government to consider it.

Rolling out conductors across the tram network could deliver income to the value of $250 million over the next decade in revenue currently lost to fare evasion, the study has revealed. That windfall would defray the cost of employing about 1100 conductors to sell tickets and provide assistance to passengers on every tram running in Melbourne, according to transport economist John Odgers.

In the decade since the last conductors worked on Melbourne's trams, there have often been nostalgic calls for their return, especially given the cost blow-outs of the delayed smartcard ticketing system, myki. But Mr Odgers said that, sentiment aside, "it would be economically justified to reinstate Melbourne's tram conductors".

Mr Odgers, from RMIT's school of management, found the net expense of bringing back conductors would cost less than $12 million a year, averaged over the next decade. But that figure could drop further, after taking into account "very substantial and sustained" benefits, such as increased security, comfort and customer service on trams.

The likely jump in patronage and extra ticketing revenue, as well as the subsequent reduced road congestion, could actually turn tram conductors into a cash cow for the state's beleaguered public transport system.

The report shows a modest 1% boost in patronage could generate $38.2 million in extra ticketing revenue over the next decade — the equivalent of 9480 commuters swapping their cars for trams — while cutting Melbourne's traffic congestion costs by $115.1 million. These figures have been adjusted for inflation over the 10-year period, using a discount rate of 7.5%...

Read the whole article at http://www.theage.com.au/national/connie-comeback-may-solve-citys-transport-woes-20080712-3e6g.html

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

If you only read one newspaper article this year about Melbourne's transport woes, read this one from The Age today.

A failure by successive Victorian governments to invest in public transport has left commuters stranded and roads congested. Plan after plan promised improvement, but did not deliver - and time is running out.

LIKE so many Melburnians, Candy Spender wants to do the right thing for the environment. But the system isn't making it easy for her.

In May, the South Melbourne fashion designer and her partner sold their second car, deciding to rely on public transport for short trips. "We were trying to be part of the solution," Spender says.

On Thursday morning, she rose early for a crucial business meeting in St Kilda Road and went to the tram stop, where she was greeted by a string of trams — choked with angry-looking commuters — that didn't stop, because there was no room for more passengers. Spender shivered in the cold, waiting with a growing number of other angry travellers. "Every single tram was just chock-a-block, people squeezed in."

A tram with space arrived 25 minutes later. "Why don't we have more trams? It's so obvious," she says. "This Government, they spout all this rhetoric. But it's just a lot of grandstanding — nothing is happening."

She is by no means alone in her frustrations — Melbourne's commuters have been complaining for years — but now, in the face of rising fuel costs, continuing population growth, ageing transport infrastructure and the looming spectre of global warming, state and federal governments are finally being forced to confront the mess wrought by years of neglect.

Many argue Melbourne's transport woes can be attributed to poor planning, which has led to under-investment in transport. One senior Melbourne public transport official told The Age Melbourne is paying for 30 years of inadequate funding — particularly in public transport.

Recent transport plans have not been a cause for hope. The Kennett government largely neglected public transport infrastructure upgrades in the 1990s, and in 1999 Melbourne transport was not a priority for Labor's Steve Bracks.

By 2004 transport minister Peter Batchelor had a 10-year transport plan; two years later he had a new 25-year plan. And, later this year, Premier John Brumby will likely announce a 30-year transport plan.

All the while transport services in Melbourne have gone backwards. Reams of paper have been wasted printing plans while Melbourne's public transport system has swelled to bursting point and the city's roads have ground to a halt — leaving talk-back host Neil Mitchell to demand of the Premier on Tuesday: "When will you put a shovel in the dirt? When are we going to stop talking about the traffic mess and fix it?"

Planning and investment in Melbourne's public transport system has been woeful for decades. Metlink chief executive Bernie Carolan says patronage is already at record levels. "And there is no sign that any of the many factors contributing to growth are going to diminish," he says.

Massive growth in train patronage — up 30% in three years — has caught planners by surprise. Connex says some train lines will hit capacity this year, while Brumby says some lines are already at capacity.

His own Government's estimates show 28% more passengers will squeeze onto Melbourne's trains by 2011, up from 198 million passengers a year in 2008 to 253 million in 2012. Melbourne's trains are now carrying the passenger numbers not forecast until 2016. It is clear Government got the planning horribly wrong.

Our roads are little better. The Age reveals today declining travel speeds, increased congestion and more delays to come. Congestion on the roads is only expected to worsen if nothing is done, with car travel estimated to increase by 30% by 2031. But despite the woes on the city's road network, motorists are still ahead of neglected public transport commuters. Money spent on new roads in Melbourne by state and federal governments since 1999 has been five times that spent on new public transport connections. Since Labor was elected in Victoria in 1999, $1.7 billion has been spent on new road projects. Meanwhile, just $322 million has been spent on new public transport connections, according to the Public Transport Users Association.

Again, the problems seem to come down to planning. When Batchelor announced the Linking Melbourne: Metropolitan Transport Plan in 2004, he promised a 10-year outline for the development of the transport network. Batchelor said the focus of the plan was to improve the capacity of the existing rail network, and was a "blueprint for funding priorities over the next five years".

Just 18 months later, when it was clear the plan had failed, Bracks announced a new $10.5 billion transport plan: Meeting Our Transport Challenges. It was hailed as the "biggest single investment in the transport system ever undertaken by a Victorian Government" — a 25-year vision. "This major new investment in the state's transport network will connect our growing communities, cut congestion, and deliver a modern and safe system for all Victorians," Bracks boasted.

Two years on Bracks is gone and the transport plan is in tatters. Brumby is so concerned that he is meeting twice weekly with the six-member transport sub-committee of cabinet. The committee includes Roads Minister Tim Pallas, Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky, Treasurer John Lenders, Planning Minister Justin Madden and Regional and Rural Development Minister Jacinta Allan.

In response to the transport mess, the Government initially looked to Sir Rod Eddington's $20 billion transport plan for improving travel between Melbourne's east and west suburbs. Yet in shades of past transport fiascos, the Government's reply to Eddington's study has morphed into a whole-of-Victoria transport plan. While such a plan is desperately needed, it is looking very much like policy on the run.

The Government says it will now release a "comprehensive transport plan for Victoria" by the end of the year. But this has surprised some Government insiders, who describe the broad transport plan as "plan B". Another labelled the transport policy development "a mess".

Some MPs were surprised last week to learn that a push by transport groups to "complete" the Metropolitan Ring Road with a new freeway connection between Greensborough and Ringwood, and of plans for an "outer ring road" from Werribee to Craigieburn.

The Government has received more than 500 submissions to Eddington's proposals, but no one was asked to respond to a transport plan for the whole of Victoria — which the Government says it will release in November.

It is public knowledge that Eddington was frustrated with the limited scope of his report, and now the Government is holding secret briefings from transport experts sounding out advice on a wider transport plan.

Despite the deficiencies in the process, some monumental transport options are now on the horizon for Melbourne: a $9 billion road tunnel linking the Eastern Freeway to the Western Ring Road, a $7 billion rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield, and a $1.5 billion rail link from Werribee to Deer Park, as well as the "missing link" and "outer ring road". There will be major regional transport proposals as well.

The public's reaction to many of the proposals remains largely unknown because the Government has refused to release the public submissions until after the closing date on Tuesday. What is clear is a big investment in public transport infrastructure is almost certain. Business, transport groups and the public are unified in their call for a big increase in public transport capability — the question is how to fund the $8.5 billion worth of rail projects.

The Federal Government has announced a $20 billion Building Australia Fund, with the new Infrastructure Australia Advisory Council to advise the Rudd Government on how to spend the money. The council is chaired by Sir Rod Eddington and will release a list of priority funding projects in March — four months after Brumby is expected to release his Victorian transport plan.

Brumby has already said he expects $5-$6 billion from the fund — which realistically could mean Victoria receiving $3-$4 billion, judging by the allocation of federal road funding in Victoria.

The Federal Government has already committed $12 million for feasibility studies into transport options identified in Eddington report — including the proposed Footscray to Caulfield rail tunnel and new western rail line from Werribee to Deer Park. Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese told The Age that the feasibility studies were a "statement of intent, not about specific projects necessarily, but about the direction of the Government".

"It is a national tragedy that many working parents spend more time commuting to work in their cars than they do at home with their kids," he says.

The last federal minister to make significant investment in public transport, former deputy prime minister Brian Howe, has welcomed the move. And Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said the Federal Government had to do more on public transport to help tackle climate change. "How much do they (cars) put into the environment in greenhouse gas emissions? Because we have yet to evolve a large, long-term investment into urban public transport systems, with the national government playing its role as well," Rudd said earlier this month.

Other funding options are also being considered for the public transport projects, including increased debt-borrowing by the State Government and private financing. While it is widely expected that new major road projects in Melbourne will attract a toll, private funding for public transport would take many by surprise.

Superannuation funds are particularly interested in making long-term, low-risk investments in transport infrastructure. David Atkin, chief executive of superannuation fund Cbus, said major new rail projects could be attractive investment opportunities.

"It is certainly true that it is quite possible that we could become an investor in something like that, but it depends on how it is structured," he says.

And how financially attractive the State Government makes the investment.

Others are less concerned about the funding model and more interested in the outcome. Daniel Bowen from the Public Transport Users Association says it is time a lasting, effective transport plan is delivered.

"Every couple of years, this Government comes out with a new plan that they say will be the be-all-and-end-all," he says. "Inevitably, people realise it's not going to work, and so work begins on another plan."

The Government has boasted of its target to have 20% of all motorised trips on public transport by 2020. But many public transport commuters are now just hoping their train or tram arrives, and when it does, that they can squeeze on. Victoria's 2008 transport plan will need to improve on those before it or the next may be delivered by a new government.

For Candy Spender, just getting to work on time is all she is after.

"How can it be that when, nearly every headline is about climate change and the price of fuel, the public transport system in Melbourne cannot be relied upon?"

Jason Dowling is city editor.

Clay Lucas is transport reporter.

■By 2011, Melbourne trains will carry 28% more passengers, up from 198 million passengers to 253 million.

■30% increase in car travel by 2031.

■Since 1999, $1.7 billion has been spent on new road projects and $322 million on new public transport connections.

SOURCES: STATE GOVERNMENT; PUBLIC TRANSPORT USERS ASSOCIATION

Original article at http://www.theage.com.au/national/waiting-waiting-waiting--20080711-3dsn.html?page=-1

Peak-hour motorists forced into 23 km/h crawl

MELBOURNE'S traffic-choked road network is slowing down, leaving peak-hour motorists crawling through the city's inner core at just 23 kilometres an hour, a confidential VicRoads report shows.

The new figures come as the road authority releases its first data on the massive $2.25 billion expansion of Melbourne's Western Ring Road.

VicRoads has confirmed that the road works, jointly funded by the state and federal governments, will dwarf current disruptions on the Monash-West Gate upgrade, take half a decade to complete and cost almost as much as the EastLink project.

The VicRoads report on the state of Melbourne's road network shows drivers, fed up with delays on arterial roads, are opting for the city's already clogged freeways and tollways.

Drivers are travelling 3 million more kilometres a day on freeways than in the previous year, VicRoads' Traffic System Performance report, shows.

The draft figures contained in the study also show that:

• Inner-city arterial roads with trams have sped up, calling into question the Government's new policy on extending clearway times.
• 80% of cars on Melbourne's roads have only one occupant: the driver.
• Drivers on Melbourne's roads cover 88 million kilometres every day, the same as last year.
• The average all-day speed on Melbourne's roads has fallen to 40.8 km/h, a kilometre slower than the previous year.
• Average freeway speeds are just 59 km/h in the morning peak, three kilometres faster than the previous year.

Fewer inner-city residents are driving their car, the study shows, while there has been an increase in the kilometres travelled by outer-suburban drivers - pointing to the lack of public transport options in outer Melbourne.

Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese told The Age this week that improved rail links were desperately needed to reduce commuting times in Australia's big cities. The time workers spent in cars crawling to work was "a national tragedy", he said.

"Many working parents spend more time commuting to work in their cars than they do at home with their kids," he said. "Better urban transport in terms of rail links (will) mean (drivers) are using roads that are less congested."

The report will alarm many motorists as the school holidays end tomorrow, and thousands of motorists are predicted to use EastLink for the first time. The toll road is free until July 27, and figures released by operator ConnectEast this week showed that already 275,000 drivers are using it a day - causing traffic at the end of the Eastern Freeway to increase by about 5%.

The RACV said the figures showed there was a need for better public transport and cycling options, to help speed up the road network by getting drivers out of their cars. "There is obviously increased congestion on the arterial road system, combined with overcrowding on public transport," public policy manager Brian Negus said.

He said the increase in travel on freeways was likely a result of overcrowding on public transport. "People have tried the trains, and are going back the other way - and that's adding to the arterial congestion," he said.

The State Government's clearways plan - which will see clearways extended from their current hours to 6.30am to 10am, and 3pm to 7pm - was desperately needed, he said. The marginal improvement on inner-city travel speeds was due to clearway extensions already in place, such as on Sydney Road, Mr Negus said. "To get public transport freed up, you need to move more cars," he said.

While the number of kilometres travelled has not changed from last year's figures, VicRoads regional services director Ted Vincent revealed that traffic on the Western Ring Road had surged by between 11% and 20% in the five years to 2007.

Works to upgrade the road will take five years and will start late next year.

Public transport advocates lashed out at the level of roads spending, saying it would do nothing to reduce travel times.

Professor Nick Low, of Melbourne University's transport planning research centre, said the amount spent building roads was sickening, especially when public transport so desperately needed more.

"You can't build your way out of a problem when the roads system is not capable of carrying the car numbers already being injected into it by the radial freeways," he said.

Professor Low ridiculed Sir Rod Eddington's proposed tunnel link between the Eastern Freeway and CityLink, saying it would increase congestion in inner Melbourne. "The answer is obviously public transport and not more roads," he said.

Original article at http://www.theage.com.au/national/peakhour-motorists-forced-into-23-kmh-crawl-20080711-3dse.html?page=-1

Summary of Eddington Report Online Forum

Rob Hudson MP, Parliamentary Secretary, Public Transport provides a summary of the Eddington Report Online Forum held on July 11.



Or here's the transcript, which is a bit more bandwidth-friendly

Today’s online forum has been a great success, more than 200 people registered online and many more followed the discussion online as it unfolded. There were a wide range of views that were expressed and many of them went to concerns about climate change, about the importance of preserving public open space and improving our rail transport network. These views will be important in helping the Government to frame it’s response to the Eddington report and delivering a transport statement by the end of the year. Clearly these issues are critical to the future Melbourne of Melbourne and Victoria. We have major issues around congestion, the challenges of climate change and the importance of providing fast, efficient, reliable and safe transport services across the metropolitan area.

Can I thank those who participated in the forum, thank you for expressing your views and if you want to make a formal submission on the Eddington proposals you can do so by the 15th of July.

A gentle reminder - don't let the sun go down on this

I've been out handing out flyers and it's pleasing how many locals are now aware of the issue. However, I'm also more than a little concerned that many of the people I've spoken to say words to the effect of "Oh yes, that email. Yes, I'm going to send that in. When have I got until"?

You have until
THIS TUESDAY JULY 15th.

Better yet - DO IT NOW!

And, make sure all of your friends/relatives/workmates/etc who promised, also know of the deadline. There's even now a quick link in the top right of this website that will give you an ultra-short pre-prepared email that all you have to do is hit 'send'.

(Yes, I've bumped this post to the top again, so hopefully people take some action)