Did you know that our oil resources are dwindling at a time where world oil demand is increasing rapidly?

Australia's population is 20 million people and there are 13.2 million motor vehicles, each travelling an average of 15,300 kilometres per year.  Currently in Australia we use about 0.74 million barrels of oil products each day. 

Today, China is the second largest importer of oil, but is per capita consumption is still less than 10% of that of the US. There is a growing gulf between the current demand trends and forecast supply.

Some solutions include improving efficiency of petroleum-based transport and developing alternative fuels. There is agreement that alternatives will take several decades to develop, if they ever do. We can not wait that long.

• Read here for a issue sheet detailing the environmental benefits of cycling

We are all going to have to get used to the idea of using less oil and sharing it more equitable. Did you know that savings of up to 57% of transport energy use could be achieved primarily by increasing the proportion of local employment, retail and related land uses which lead to a reduction in travel demand?

Some practical things you can do to reduce your use of a scarce resource are

• Read here for a issue sheet detailing how travelling by bicycle is faster than you think

Making our communities more bicycle friendly provides more opportunities for people including children and older people to ride instead of using their car.