This project seeks to model and assess the 'oil vulnerability' of rural and regional Queensland and New South Wales. This project is funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and will elaborate and integrate previous research conducted by the URP that has modelled the spatial distribution of petroleum demand in Australian cities and household exposure to higher fuel prices.
This project will combine data on rural-urban transportation, rural land use and rural socio-economic characteristics within a spatial model that can map vulnerability to increased oil prices and project future changes to rural landscapes. The spatial model will comprise two sub-models:
- A spatial model of production petroleum costs and outputs
- A model of rural-transport and accessibility, derived from data on road/rail networks and rural transportation costs
Our spatial model will allow us to assess relative rural and regional economic exposure to higher petroleum costs. Relative oil vulnerability will then be used to consider the effects and impacts of alternative future petroleum supply scenarios. A key component of the research is to outline potential rural and regional environmental consequences from structural change in the agricultural sector driven by changing global petroleum conditions.
The project case-study regions include:
- Peri-Urban Brisbane
- South Central Queensland (Maranoa Regional Council)
- North East New South Wales
A draft project report will be released in 2010.
Project team
- Dr Jago Dodson, Urban Research Program (Chief Investigator)
- Dr Terry (Tiebei) Li, Urban Research Program
- A/Prof Neil Sipe, Griffith School of Environment
- A/Prof Darryl Low Choy, Griffith School of Environment
Project outputs
- Dodson, J., Sipe, N., Rickson, R. and Sloan, S. (forthcoming November 2009) 'Energy security, agriculture and food', in Lawrence, G., Lyons, K. and Wallington, T. (eds) Food security, nutrition and sustainability, London, Earthscan.
- Dodson, J., Sipe, N. and Sloan, S. (2008) 'Assessing the impact of rising petroleum prices on agricultural production in rural and regional Australia', proceedings of the Planning Institute of Australia (Queensland) Annual Conference, 17-19 September 2008, Longreach, Queensland.