Originally Posted by
DiscoMick
There are many things I could say in response to that post, but this thread is not in Current Affairs, so politics is not allowed.
I'll just make one point. All of our coal-fired power stations were originally built by state governments so they, and the Snowy Hydro scheme, were all totally taxpayer-funded. Governments only sold off the stations because they were too worn out to be worth upgrading. That's why the private operators are closing them - they're stuffed. Our power network is becoming unreliable because the coal power stations are worn out, becoming unreliable and being closed - 10 in the last decade.
I, for one, think it would be ridiculous to pour another $1 billion into keeping Liddell going for five years when it would still be totally worn out. Plus it only operates at about 40% of capacity most of the time anyway because it is so unreliable.
There are numerous alternatives, such as gas, batteries, solar and wind, which have long-term futures. Coal stations do not have a future.
Gas rather than coal would halve the emissions and we have lots of gas.
Ten of the battery banks SA is installing would provide the 1000 MW of dispatchable power ANEMO says we need.
Another way is to install smaller battery banks in every local sub-station to decentralize the supply when it is needed in local areas.
Solar and wind can keep the battery banks continuously charged through the network to draw down immediately when needed.
Buildings can have individual battery banks to power them at night. I last week had an estimate of $8-12,000 to add a battery bank to my solar system, so it is becoming more affordable all the time.
These technologies are now well-proven and they are the way of the future. They are more reliable than patching up worn out coal power stations.
Also, back on the original topic, vehicle emissions contribute to the illnesses which kill about 2000 Australians every year (more than road crashes). Obviously, illnesses can have multiple causes. My father died of lung cancer. Smoking was a factor, as was a lifetime of breathing diesel fumes from farm tractors and other machinery.
Vehicle emissions are also a major cause of global warming, which is heading for 2 degrees and probably closer to four degrees. The last time the earth was four degrees hotter there was NIL ice at the polar caps and the oceans were 80 metres higher. Think about the effects of the oceans rising 80 metres. How much of the world would be under water? How many billions of people would be forced to become refugees? How many wars would be caused? Could humanity survive?
These are big issues. Our politicians are failing to lead. We are already suffering increased natural disasters because of those failures.
Sorry to sound a bit earnest, but I'm getting jack of some people (not you) who just flatly refuse to face the facts.
Okay, I'll say it......what absolute tripe!
Lucky there's nothing political in there.
2002 D2 4.6L V8 Auto SLS+2" ACE CDL Truetrac(F) Nanocom(V8 only)
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