Susan Krumdieck

Another plenary talk that deserves its own blog post was the presentation by Associate Professor Susan Krumdieck from Canterbury University. She was a fantastically engaging and natural presenter that managed to bring the science right down to everyones level of understanding; which as a scientist myself I always find fascinating!  Here is a video of her talk.

Her line of expertise is Transition Engineering (i.e. sustainability + mechanical engineering).  She and her PhD students have been investigating peak oil vulnerability for NZ cities, especially in regards to transport, by looking at activity and how adaptive our capacity is.  Land-use patterns were identified as the most determining factor, as this is what our transport network sits upon and then leads to our behavioural decisions.

She has some great points of view to share, e.g. "It is irrational NOT to drive a car if a nice road has been provided and a nice car is affordable to you" - this comment really shapes how I will view the behaviour of others in the future, she just put it so eloquently!

Her team also evaluated all of the transport solutions that could help us reach the goal of 50% oil-use-reduction that is required (according to 97% of geologists; must find the meta-study that claims this) and identified the low-carbon lifestyle as the surest way to get there, as opposed to biofuels and electric cars and so on.  But for this to be a rational option our urban planning has to be done right, so we go back to having more urban villages and/or better public transport.

For anyone who wants to learn more, here is a link to her publications and a great NZTA report.