Thread: Renewable energy exploding

Originally Posted by grey_ghost

Thanks for posting - a very interesting video.

I guess some people don’t want to hear that there still isn’t a 100% renewable solution...

you're right there.

I don't know if there ever will be....

currently many alternate energy production sources don't compliment each other , some areas have large solar farms but no wind and vice versa.

I dont think very many new hydro schemes will be built, the best are already there. environmental issues now as well plague damming rivers.
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Pumped hydro has a good future if companies and governments give max consideration to their location. eg there are some very deep pits in WA that could have solar and wind on their perimeters to power pumps for night hydro generation. there are a number of mineshafts in Broken Hill go 2 miles deep if someone wants to use them . You could have multi stage generation with that depth . That town is forging ahead in extremely reliable wind/solar generation , they would love the extra employment that pumped hydro would bring.

the networks/electricity grids are all over the country now so thats not an issue.

we have a good opportunity for geothermal as well , one has failed at Innamincka , but lessons are learned, there is a lot of hot rock down in the ground in this country.

at the moment there are still many options available for using fossil fuels including gas.....if we bought some of the exported gas back and converted some of our coal fired power stations to gas we could , for a while hold off the inevitable shutdowns that are quickly going to occurr , which inconvenience many people. Jobs will not dry up , I think, but will be available in different areas and workers will have to move to follow the work. Maybe fi/fo will be a permanent fixture in the working mans life.

when and where I grew up many of my friends fathers worked out of town and only came home from time to time during the year. It was accepted practise and no one complained (within limits). This may occurr again as major areas of employment change as the industrial giants close and reopen in different areas.

At some stage in the very forseeable future coal WILL be stopped. By then the big companies will have already made their plans and put a lot into production. It's going to be very interesting to see what they do.

> ....if we bought some of the exported gas back ....

If I remember correctly it was a 30 year contract to supply gas. To buy that back we would have to offer a price that they could not refuse, and make Australia a laughing stock :-) I was astounded at the time (5 years ago?) that Australian companies and the Govt signed such a long term deal at the then current gas prices.

Mike

Should I buy an electric car? All you need to know about prices, technology and range

Should I buy an electric car? All you need to know about prices, technology and range | Environment | The Guardian

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Should I buy an electric car? All you need to know about prices, technology and range

Should I buy an electric car? All you need to know about prices, technology and range | Environment | The Guardian

Mate, I reckon YOU should definitely buy one,...gotta remember, a very well known person said that their batteries could be recharged in 8 minutes,...so what's holding you back?!
You mightn't believe me, but I do believe there is a future for these cars, but I don't believe that they are fully sorted yet.
Regards, Pickles.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Should I buy an electric car? All you need to know about prices, technology and range

Yes,but you might need a few more solar panels though,depending on how much you use it.

I wonder what the Govt is going to do about the fuel excise they will eventually miss out on if Ev's become popular?

They will miss out on the GST as well.

They harp on that the excise,which is a huge amount of $, is used for road funding.

So the taxes need to come from road users,no matter what type of vehicle uses them.

Originally Posted by scarry

Yes,but you might need a few more solar panels though,depending on how much you use it.

I wonder what the Govt is going to do about the fuel excise they will eventually miss out on if Ev's become popular?

They will miss out on the GST as well.

They harp on that the excise,which is a huge amount of $, is used for road funding.

So the taxes need to come from road users,no matter what type of vehicle uses them.

Yep, which is why we'll see a KM based road tax come in at some point - it's already being discussed - my only issue with this is how they keep it fair based on country versus city where country drivers have to drive more KM than their city counterparts - if they get it wrong, it could hit those country folk a lot more than the fuel excise currently does. As for EV's - yep, I'd like one - no I won't buy one yet - I keep looking at my old Range Rover as a candidate for a weekend EV run around - wouldn't need more than 150KM or so if I did that which would be easily obtainable. Just need to save up some dollars again - and finish about 10 other projects first...

Only 10 projects? I rekon double that!

Well there is already a road usage tax in Sydney of typically at least $100 per week for Western, North Western residents. It is called “tolls”.
Can you imagine the outcry if another Federal tax was added.
Sydney is about 20% of Australia.
regards Philip A