Crisis? What crisis? The solution to our liquid fuel import problem comes from the sun

If you read Michael Read in The Australian Financial Review this week, you might be forgiven for thinking that the sky is falling.

Read is concerned that Australia has only 28 days of fuel reserves on shore, a worry that was triggered by former senator and submariner Rex Patrick. Running out of liquid fuel will lead to empty shelves and starving householders. Furthermore, we are no longer in compliance with our international obligations to hold 90 days’ worth of fuel in case of disruption.

However, the sky is not falling; our salvation quite literally falls from the sky in the form of the practically limitless strategic sunlight reserve.

While some may view this article as a jab at a rigid and dying media landscape, there is a serious point to be made. Australia is now on a serious and inevitable decarbonisation trajectory. Our national determined contribution has been set, and we need to start working towards achieving it.

The best way to address the strategic concerns about not having sufficient liquid fuel reserves is to electrify everything, particularly our domestic and overseas supply chains.

Australia has an unrivalled advantage when it comes to electrifying our truck industry: our vast geography means that, once you get beyond the cities, it is easy to locate truck charging or battery swapping stations alongside renewable energy generation and battery storage facilities.

Large areas of marginal land next to our highways and the verges themselves could be used for solar power. We have room for electric truck stops that other countries would envy, yet Australia’s electrified logistics are not yet operational.

Trucks, prime movers and vans of all shapes and sizes are available; we have the charging technology and the potential to generate the cheapest energy on the planet. So what is holding us back?

It’s really just a matter of getting started. Taking on a big task starts with the first step, and the first step is one segment of one route: a short-haul journey from a regional manufacturing centre to a capital city, transporting one type of goods, and we are up and running.

In last-mile logistics, we have seen how the demands of one customer, IKEA, can shape an entire industry and force change. They are now starting to enforce that change on longer-haul stages. Which Australian logistics customer is going to consider their ESG goals and decarbonisation obligations and force change? All the tools are there.

Let’s not forget that every truck we electrify and every ICE car we replace with a bicycle reduces our demand for fossil fuels and stretches out our fuel reserves without adding to them. So, if there is a genuine strategic priority to electrify, let’s make the most of our most abundant and limitless resource: the sunshine of this lucky country.