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You are one of those who EXPECT the gov't to Wipe your ass and provide all the services but don't vote or care about who gets elected or want to Pay for Gov't services. WE are SICK of hearing about you being called up. That was a Ballot and you lost. Others served Overseas and Many got traumatised. You got free training and met a few People you otherwise would not have. It's OVER Rover. Stop Bitching and get on with the rest of your Life. You are NOT the Only ONE who has had a $#!t deal at some stage.. Nev

The comparison with Qantas aircraft is misleading, because traditional coal-fired power stations already rely on vast amounts of underutilised equipment. Coal plants cannot ramp quickly, they cannot turn off at night, and they must run even when demand collapses — meaning the whole plant is burning fuel simply to stay online. This is the definition of expensive underutilisation.

Here is a map showing the grid and the major state interconnectors. These have been upgraded from time to time to meet demand. Media has made hysterical claims about 10,000k of grid required for renewable energy. However, most of this comes from progressive upgrades of existing transmission. IMHO it's a misrepresentation. The AEMO produce annual maps of planned grid development. Note that only a minority of the stuff on it is totally new pathways (land, towers,etc). Most is simply upgrading existing feeders. Eg most of the feeders on the second map (fromAEMO) are already there. Yes it costs to grow. It has always done so for the 40 years I was involved in the industry.

I have had my new solar system & battery now for 1 week. So far I have not imported any energy & have exported about 75kWh. I have charged my EV twice, charged my ride on mower twice, run the air conditioning for several hours on 5 out of 7 days, run a freezer & large fridge/freezer & used electricity on other household things as normal like cooking, washing, dishwasher, TV, lights, computers etc. The battery has never got down to below 40% before it starts recharging in the morning. I have 5.8 kW of solar panels with 3.0 kW yet to come on line. The battery is 18.64 kWh & is expandable up to 41.76 kWh. We have had mostly sunny or partly cloudy days with one mostly overcast. Cost $11,650.00 which will take about 6 years to pay back. The feed in tariff is poor at 2.8c/kWh so my only cost will be the exorbitant supply charge of nearly $2.00 a day offset a bit by the feed in tariff.. My long term goal is to go off grid but I will probably need to add a couple of extra 4.66 kWh modules to the battery. Time will tell. There are plenty of people like me doing the same especially those living on acreage or in country areas prone to power cuts and a lot more adding batteries but not intending to leave the grid. This just one part of our clean energy future.

It is not surprising that the right wing of politics are heading down hill. They keep rabbiting on about how they will make electricity cheaper but have no plans on how this will happen. They keep harping on about "base load" power a term from last century when everything was coal. It is "peak demand" that is the issue now and during heat waves with the huge demand for air conditioning etc brown outs are a reality. These have happened even before there was much renewable energy around. We are awash with energy in the middle of the day now with so much commercial solar and wind and the huge amount of rooftop solar on homes and businesses so storing that energy is just common sense. Many early solar farms are switching off during peak production when the spot price goes negative as they never envisaged they would need to store energy. In NSW home owners are limited to exporting a maximum of 5 kW to help prevent grid overload. So if you are producing more and have no storage the excess is dissipated as heat. Storage is what we need. Batteries are expensive though but fast to deploy. Pumped hydro is a great way to do this as well but costly & time consuming to set up. One part of the puzzle is State & Federal subsidised batteries for home owners. My installer said to me that up until June it was all new rooftop solar. From July on it has been all new batteries, most on properties that already have large solar systems & some like me installing both. These do not need any new infrastructure at all and reduce the load on existing poles & wires so the subsidies are paying for them selves.

I disagree:- From Wiki:- "The NEM operates the world's longest interconnected power systems between Port Douglas, Queensland and Port Lincoln, South Australia with an end-to-end distance of more than 5000 kilometres, and 40,000 circuit kilometres" That is the east coast interconnecting grid at the moment. Sure there are segments that need reinforcing to cater for changes in demand, and extra bits will be added to bring new generators into the grid. So, the grid is there. It will continue to grow to meet the needs of the electricity market.

Scarey monsters! What will the fossil industry have to say about that?

Identity? WTF? National identity? WTF? Sort out your personal identity first. I will trust you relative to how you present yourself to me. We are all passengers on Planet Earth. Fussing about continental, political, or other levels of idrntity is trivial in the bigger scheme of things.

The HV transmission is already there. The grid has been steadily growing and expanding for at least the last 50 years. Mostly due to the expanding population. Also to cater for power hungry mining/industry. EG, half a billion $ for 350km of grid solely to power coal seam gas pumps in western Qld. Capex is scoped for amortisation over long periods. Fear not, do not blame all grid expenditure on renewables. Yes, our Australian case is different from other countries. But the designers already know about those challenges. We will get there.

Liar Leavett provided reporters with the doctor's summary of Trump's MRI examination. The summary said that the MRI showed that Trump's heart and ciculatory system was just fine, as were his abdominal organs. Can you believe that teh MRI only examined his torso? Given his many physical symptoms associated with muscle control, surely the MRI must have examined the contents of his cranium. But it probably only showed the cranial space filled with sheep shit.

In rural W.A., the State Govt electricity system provider and maintainer, Western Power, has been pulling out long rural power lines to distant farms, and installing stand-alone, off-grid power plants to the farms. The stand-alone power plants are a combination of solar, battery and backup diesel power. WP says the stand-alone systems are cheaper than the cost of installing and maintaining long power lines with only a handful of customers. With this change, there's also the benefits that less trees are required to be cut down for poles, farming operations are easier when they don't have to work around poles, blackouts from storm damage to poles and wiring is reduced, and fire outbreaks from fallen power lines are eliminated. A farmer friend in the W.A. wheatbelt accidently bumped a pole in his paddock with a seeding unit, and the pole promptly fell over - and it took 6 other poles down with it! The holes for the poles are oversized and the dirt refilled around the pole is not compacted, so it doesn't take a lot to make them fall over, especially when the ground is wet. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-02/thousands-of-renewable-standalone-power-systems-to-be-rolled-out/101479136 However, the changeover is not without its problems, and primarily, the problems relate to WP inflexibility and faulty planning. Some farmer customers are not happy with the standalone systems, due to limitations, rules about resetting circuit breakers, and what may happen when the stand-alone systems are worn out and a future cash-strapped State Govt refuses to replace them. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-12/farmers-question-western-power-push-standalone-regional-units/103549708

Obscene isn't It? How would HE have a Clue (or care) How the Ordinary Person Lives? Nev

Early summer is always Unstable in Melbourne as the average Temperature is on the Increase. Autumn is the direct opposite, stable little wind. It won't be long before you will be wishing for a cool day. Darwins temp Must be the least variable in the Country. Average about 33 c. max daily temp. IT has only a WET and a DRY season. Nev

Not suitable for Purpose. Goes back to the "BASELINE POWER" argument STILL trotted out by the Naysayers. Older Coal fired Power stations can't be relied on and IF one fails it's a BIG problem. to fix because it an out of date thing. .Nev

There would be a Lot of driverless VN Commodores. Nev

Supplying Power to remote farms etc can never PAY. There's extra strength in Aircraft structures for the Occasional Turbulence too and you often carry extra fuel just in case you need it. Water and sewage systems don't run at full flow either. AIRLINES would have aircraft sitting around but as few as can be organised. If there's a 'Plane on the ground" Common Term there must be a replacement or Passengers don't go where they were booked to go and that doesn't win customers. Just in Time, runs risks carrying stock costs money also. Reserve stocks of Fuel. It's all part of the show, and the SHOW MUST GO ON. Nev

I object to Americanisation of Australian heads. We must immediately deport anybody seen wearing a baseball cap. Especially if they wear it backwards. America will be held accountable for all ear melanomas occuring in our great country. Thank you for attention to this matter.

Ah the aroma and sight of Pulped tomato sandwiches at Mid day. Nev

Morning or afternoon?

Which day in January in Southern Tassie, is Summer, nomadpete? 😄 My Scottish mother (from Dunfermline) told us her brother always quipped, that "Summer was on Wednesday last year, wasn't it?" 😄

Yes to all three when I was young. And I carried a Globite port to school every day.

Yes it does make sense... You ancestors decided at some stage to stay on their own free will, did they not? Even if they were went to the colony for the term of theiur natural life, when released from custody, at some stage they were relased from custody and stayed - on their own volition.. .does that not make them immuigrants at that point? Or, say thaey had kids while in custody - those kids would be, at the time British citizens.. and when they stayed, does that not make them immigrants? Or are you telling me your whole line of family are still incarcerated? We

But you are the descendant of an immigrant, same as most of us.

Red, that's been my weather for the last 3 months. Sun 4 times a day, rainbows and rain 4 times a day . Today, same. Roll on summer!

It's raining! It's raining! But it will stop within a couple of hours. Better a little than none at all.

We moved to a country town in 1990 and lived there until 2011. It was an interesting place to live with a healthy mix of traditional farmers, etc., and people like us (tree change folks). When we moved there, we were worried that it it be a redneck town; however, this was not the case. There were a few redneckish types on one end of the scale and a few dropout hippies on the other side. The town was quite cohesive, not that everyone shared the politics or life philosophies, but there was quite a mutual respect for "differences" The town remained vibrant, and it still is. Rather than being in decline like so many country towns, this place thrived, attracting artists, musicians, craftspeople, etc. An interesting point regarding immigration, there was a large Chinese family called the Nomchong family. They owned several businesses around town. This family came to the town (Braidwood) in 1860. Throughout the years, they had all married other Chinese people, so they looked very Chinese, but all had the broadest Australian accents. The owner of the local electrical appliance shop was Bob Nomchong, and within the family, there was a Betty and an Eileen. Amongst the younger generations, there was a Kylie, etc. The strange thing is if I were standing next to one of the Nomchong family, I would be judged as the Aussie, and they would be assumed to be the immigrant rather than the 5th Australians https://www.cmag.com.au/exhibitions/nomchong-family

We'll send you Summer with a Vengeance, shortly. 39° here on the Left Coast today, a record for the first official day of Summer. It's a bit of a shock after a long, cool Spring.

Obviously, to arrive at a meaningful figure, you need to average data over time. A single spot measurement—say, 13th June 2024 at 13:10—is just a snapshot. It shows how the grid was powered at that moment, using batteries, hydro, or fossil fuels. Fossil fuels still play a role, though their contribution is declining year by year. You mentioned that Australia has only 7% traditional hydro and is unlikely to get more. I have to admit, I was surprised to learn that several new pumped hydro projects are under construction or in planning—not just Snowy 2.0. As well, there are larger projects like the Australia-Asia Power Link. Yes, I am aware that it had a setback, but it is back. The plan is to start with a more modest link from Powel creek before the eventual connection to Singapore. Yep, ambitious and difficult, but technically feasible. I understand that the biggest challenges might be financial. This is not the only project of this magnitude in the planning stage (Morocco-UK 400km) We can push the bounds of technology, or we can just throw another lump of coal on the fire. We could debate the details endlessly, but in the meantime, solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and other renewables are getting cheaper and more efficient. The grid is being upgraded, home battery adoption is growing, and EVs are becoming more common—many with vehicle-to-grid capabilities. You said earlier that you thought pursuing further renewables was criminal, and you wish the government could be sued (I hope I am not misquoting you). Perhaps you should assemble like-minded people and explore doing just that.

I'm not struggling to pay my power bills, but I do have an opinion about them being too high. We were promised lower power costs, then got the opposite.

Pumped hydro does not make electricty, Iceland → virtually 100% renewables, advanced grid- Geo thermal. While Australia has some it is not accessible easily Norway → >95% renewables- Huge amount of traditional hydro Uruguay → ~95% renewables, stable and wealthy by South American standards-Huge amount of traditional hydro for size of grid approx 1.5GW Portugal → frequently >80% monthly renewable generation- interconnected, small demand/grid- looks like Max demand of 6MW Scotland → >100% wind generation equivalent to demand- interconnected with the UK, Australia has only about 7% traditional Hydro. A country of 26 million people is going to have to pay and build the Transmission infrastructure. I stand by: No One has ever done what Australia is trying to do with weather dependent intermittent generation on a grid the size of Australia. Gen cost has very rubbery figures. Give NP a life of 30 years. not true and easily founnd not to be true. A lot of NPP are having life extensions to 60 years, no reason not to believe new builds won't last 80- 100 years. France exports a lot more than it imports. UK imports more than it exports. Saying a region makes enough energy to support itself is also misleading. have a look at open nem shot from June this year, We weren't doing any where near 70% intermittents in SA but the publicity says we are for the year. See energymaps