Carless days plan to avert fuel crisis

Cutting the speed limit, carless days and - as a last resort - petrol rationing could be the answer to an oil supply crisis, a Government-commissioned report says.
The Economic Development Ministry is looking at ways to respond to a potential oil shock, such as cutting the speed limit to 90kmh, which could reduce fuel demand by about 11 per cent.
The report said rationing was a last resort but one that should be prepared for in legislation, with World War 2-style ration books an option.
Another measure to limit consumption was a return to the "carless" days of the late 1970s when one day a week a vehicle owner was barred from using his or her car. It is estimated this could cut petrol use by 5 per cent.
The report comes as oil prices continue to spiral upward, jumping 7 per cent last week to a record $US67 ($95.94) a barrel. Crude oil prices have risen 50 per cent this year, because of supply fears prompted by refinery shutdowns in the United States, worries about Iran's oil production and insatiable demand from countries such as China.
In New Zealand, petrol rose to a record $1.44 a litre for 91 octane last week.
The report says any response to an oil crisis should begin with voluntary restraint.
Oil demand can be reduced by about 7 per cent, it says, through a combination of measures such as car-pooling, moving to more efficient engines and encouraging people to work from home.
Such savings were achieved in the 1970s oil supply crisis. More than 2 per cent of petrol could be saved if people dropped one in 10 of their non-essential trips, it says.
It lists options for rationing, such as increasing the price of petrol or putting a limit on the maximum amount motorists can buy. If rationing were necessary, the report favours "ration cards" such as those used during and after World War 2.
Everyone on the electoral roll would be issued with a petrol voucher, which they could use themselves or sell.
The report said rationing could be introduced within two weeks in an emergency, using the Petroleum Demand Restraint Act of 1981.
However, a regulation would need to be drafted.
The act gave a government "very wide-ranging" powers to control or prohibit the use of cars and petrol if a supply constraint was likely.
A spokesman for the ministry said the report was prepared by Auckland economists Covec.
It is part of a plan to develop a set of oil emergency response guidelines, in line with New Zealand's International Energy Agency responsibilities. The spokesman said the ministry would look to put the guidelines to Cabinet by the end of this year, with final decisions early next year.
The office of Energy Minister Trevor Mallard said the report would go toward the development of a draft "oil emergency response manual", which the minister would then consider.
"The minister can't consider them (the proposals) till they have been formally put to him in a draft emergency manual," Mr Mallard's spokeswoman Astrid Smeele said. "He's not commenting (further)."
Automobile Association spokesman George Fairbairn said the report contained actions motorists could take now, such as ensuring tyres were correctly inflated and keeping to the speed limit to save fuel.
Rationing would be accepted by motorists only in extreme emergencies, he said.
The association's Bay of Plenty manager, Barry Kidd, said the impact of carless days would be considerably less now than in the 1970s when most families had one car. Nowadays families often had two or three cars.
But carless days also penalised people living in parts of New Zealand who did not have access to other transport options, like public transport; or they lived in areas where it was too far to cycle or walk to work.
He said Britain's experience with petrol rationing about four years ago was that it was counter-productive.
Rationing created panic buying and people were filling up all the containers they could lay their hands on, or kept cars constantly topped up.
Mr Kidd said motorists could save fuel immediately by making sure tyres were inflated to correct pressures, that they drove steadily and kept speed down. Reducing speed to 90kmh from 110kmh resulted in considerable fuel savings.