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I think what we need in a balance mix of large scale renewables (solar/Wind/pumped hydro) large scale battery storage which includes pumped water, rooftop solar and home batteries, Industry solar & batteries, and neighbourhood batteries for local communities with rooftop solar with no battery. All these are happening to a degree but not fast enough. Government incentives for home batteries is getting a massive response from home owners with rooftop solar & this will inevitably reduce stress on the grid as will neighbourhood batteries & Industry batteries. That is not to say the existing grid is satisfactory, it is not, and growing demand means upgrades and maintenance is even more important. Now there are AI data centres planned that have a huge appetite for energy. There has to be some sort of limitation put on some new large energy consumers or we won't have the capacity in the timeframe it takes for the consumers to come on line. New Coal is simply too expensive and too polluting to even consider, though some idiot politicians think it is still OK. Nuclear is way to expensive to build and takes far too long to be a viable option in the medium 10 to 15 year timeframe, plus we have no experience or expertise. So far at just under 2 weeks since my new solar and battery was installed I have only exported power & used zero grid power even while charging my EV, running A/C & normal household stuff. I also have a fault in one string of panels so they are not producing power at all yet. Total on line is 5.7 kW max of solar.

This sidetrack into electricity generation and distribution is taking us away from the original theme of this thread. Perhaps there should be a specific thread for electricity generation and distribution to allow a return to climate change.

IT IS a Problem but making it free will help get rid of the Problem at those times. We have always adapted to new opportunities/situations. Nev

Then PRETEND you are the STRONG SILENT TYPE. Nev

I'll give you a couple of Hours to stop Praising me. What a Pathetic substitute for a Leader on show to all the World. Don't BUY it. Rubbish quality. Nev

How do you know when you are getting old? When the little old lady you help cross the road is your wife.

Statistics prove that people who live longer are more likely to say something stupid than people who don't.

From what I read, it wasn't reneweables that caused the issue, but they certainly didn't help the issue because there are no ruddy biug flywheels to take the load. There is a lot more to go wrong, as are a lot of technologies that advance. But, as thorughout technological development through history, somethinng goes wrong and we learn from it, adjust the design and move one. There are other ways to stabilise a grid than relying on spare capacity of conventional power stations. The reality is the generation side is changing and the transmission/distribution side has to adapt to meet the changes. That really depends on how the generation, transmission, and distirbution network is developed. I would say the generation plant is awfully expensive when it is not in use. However, due to the distributed nature of renewables, I find it poretty inconceivable using a mix of generation technologires, there would be no generation going one somehwere in a regional area. No sun, no wind at the same time over various microclimes probably happens. Batteries come in, and they can be distributed; there can be a place for a much smaller fossil or wood-burning generation networ. or nuclea to pick up the slack Also, remember, when a facility goes down, the total generation capability of that facility goes down - that is expensive. You can lose a panel/cell or an array of them, but the rest of the facility will still generate. When plants go down, and they do with alarming regularity, the cost is huge. In the nuclear days, if we could save a day of an outage, way abck then, it s was £1m/day saved. When you have the infrastructure there, yes, it is economic But, how much does, say, $650,0000 get you up and running fairly quickly with renewable generation? You can then say, yeah, but youhave to upgrade the grid.. Well, the grid is being upgraded anyway, but even with renewables, it is continually being upgraded, so grid upgrade costs aren't really relevant. But, lets say they are.. How much will your nuclear facilities cost. At last count, local facility here is up to USD$45bn projected and years late. Australia doesn't have the experience at nuclear builds.. TYhat buys an awful lot of generation for whatwe have experience in - renewables. I am not sure about Australia, but taxpayers money is used here to prrop up all generation so the consumer doesn't have to pay the full price of it. I am sure I read somewhere Australia does to. This is usually through tax credits, contracts for difference, guaranteed loans, low-interest givernment loans, grants and the like. So why shoudl renewables be excluded from the list? On that basis, yeah, I would be happy for out taxpayers funds supporting it (and I am in no way connected to the industry at all, anymore). In addition, the benefit of lowest CO2, even compared to whole of life nuclear, is good for the planet, as well as, in the case of nuclear, not having to have the cost of waste storage and maintenance, etc, which are rarely refleted in the costs of the CO2 equations. To me, the good it can doe far outweighs the need to subsidise it in its maturing stage. The UK is importing wood chips for two reasons. First, although I think it is a fallacy, to reduce emissions. In fact, per kw. coal prodices lower CO2 emissions because of its energy density, except in he theortetical perfectly managed forestry - which it isn't. But secondly, an on island 1/33 the size of Australia and with twice the population, it is hard to put caol plants too far away from anyone. The toxic pollutants emitted by caol, even considering scurbbing, and miles worse than wood burning pellets, so it is also an air-quality thing. The UK still has good quantities of mineable coal.. but it it still a silent and slow killer of many people with repiratory disorders. So, there is method in what you see as their madness. Again, this is point in time.. But, I agree that Germany was completely nuts to abandon its nucelar generation ihn the wake of Fukishima. I think towards thei end og Merkel's chancellorship, she became a little nuts. Germany have been talking about restarting their nulcear facilities as they were mothballed in generally very good condition. I am not sure what has come of it. The UK dilly-dallied for decades over its energy policy and it is paying for it now. France is predomionantly nuclear powered and has been investing in nuclear since god-knows when. When I last looked, all nuclear generation was, and i think still is owned by EDF. Although quoted on the French bourse, it is something like 90% owned by the French government. If it had to operate as a real company, and charge eelctricity at commercial rates like the rest of it, there would be another French revolution. And they stick dogmatically to their guns.. The EPRs they are building out are a lemon, but vive le France - they are too proud to change tac. But, these were original nuclear generators when renewables weren't what they are today. If Australia wants to go nuclear, it may pay to wait.. because there are billions being thrown at fusion. Yeah you get the radioactive waste (tritium), but you don't get the quantity, and there is no fallout, outside the containment area in the case of an accident as when you stop the reaction, the radiation stops.

MRI's use a LOT of electricity. I use an electric toothbrush all the time. Its Great and recommended by My Dentist. I have an electric starter on all my cars and also My wife's Zero Turn Mower. Beware of reaching advanced years and becoming retarded.. and rambling on about all sorts of things. Nev

This is soooo nausiating. Watch the video from the 3:00 mark.