Even with "exacting" technological assumptions, computer modelling by the CSIRO shows Australia overshooting its 1990 baseline target by between 170% and 230% by 2050.

Keen to provoke a debate on the subject, CSIRO said some of the options canvassed to help Australia meet the greenhouse challenge include combining zero population growth with an economy that would force Australians to halve their material consumption.

"A variant of this concept might see fossil fuel use capped at 1990 levels and… each citizen could be given units of primary energy to use or sell," the CSIRO said in the report.

However, the CSIRO said such radical reforms, which could include citizens trading petrol rations like during the war years, are highly unlikely to receive a warm reception in present-day Australia.

While the 'Future Dilemmas' report said it is unlikely that Australia would run out of necessary fossil fuels, it did predict oil shortages from 2015 and natural gas shortages from 2030 and so the nation needed to become more energy efficient.