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If you have solar, smart meters are essential as standard meters are unable to deal with feed in tariffs. I am a VPP (virtual power plant) & buy sell electricity on the wholesale market. My monthly average buy price at the moment is 18.3 cents/kWh & my average FIT is 20.3c/kWh. I have a 18.64kWh battery & sell power to the grid usually from 5pm to 7pm when the price is high. This is all managed by my system provider as the spot price is checked every 5 minutes and my system is told what to do. It even curtails my solar production when the battery is full and the spot FIT goes negative so I do not pay for exporting to the grid.

That is her problem. She is a Trump Yes woman, though everyone who works for him has to be that or they are fired. Getting out before that happens is pretty rare. Anyone with a conscience wouldn't work for the orange man but her salary would have been better than she would ever get anywhere else I imagine, plus of course being in the limelight is something very attractive to some people.

She was/is exceptionally good at her job of defending the indefensible and attacking the press. You have to admire her talent and confidence. She's only 28.

Takes a grubby type to destroy the only worldly possessions of people with nothing.

So does your car. Perhaps you should stop driving it.

--- FAMINE --- I feel that there are multiple food chain problems unfolding at present. Since they unfold in slow motion, the media seem to ignore it. 1. The Iranian (don't call it a) war is reducing available fertiliser and fuel. 2. The Ukraine invasion is causing a shortage of grain. 3. The changing weather cycles (don't call it climate change) are making for less predictable cropping (except for West Aust recent big crops). 4. The biggest El Nino event in centuries may mess up the american harvests. And maybe ours, too. 5. Australia has lost 70% of it's bird species. Biodiversity is vital to food chains. 6. The veroa mite (pestilence, anyone?) is damaging every food that needs pollinators. 7. The H5n1 bird flu has reached our shores. Among other things it has potential to interrupt Australia's most popular protein source - chooks. There must be other things that are being ignored. Am I being too paranoid?

My boss died. I went to his funeral. I kneeled down beside the coffin and whispered, "Guess who's thinking outside the box now?"

The BS in the ME has been the biggest shot in the arm for EV ever, No one wants to be Hung out to dry by people who hate each other's guts intensely and show no concern for how the rest of the World copes with the shortage. We don't import sun wind and tides and hydro.. It comes free and doesn't pollute and no country can block it unless it's a river from someplace, that gets Dammed and used up upstream.

Do you mean a out standing Comedian? I know, No prize for second place....... I'll get my hat.

Is he a Stand up Comedian? Nev

Creating a questionnaire in order to get the correct sort of information it aims to get is a very difficult thing. Questions have to be carefully worded so that they cannot be misinterpreted. That is one of the problems of the written word. How many time here amongst ourselves has someone posted what appears to be a very clear comment or statment and it has been taken the wrong way by someone? That is the cause of most of the arguments here, or the missing of jokes.

It seems to be the elephant in the room when it comes to politics. It's only my opinion, but in our three tiered system of government I consider local government the weak link in the chain. There are good local governments (unfortunately mine has never been in that category), but there are are lot of bad ones. They can be either corrupt, wasteful, inefficient, incompetent, arrogant, bullying or a combination of any or all of those things. My state over time has handed local government too much autonomy in my opinion, and I'd like to see more oversight by the state local government department. I don't have statistics on hand, but I've read in the past that other states have retained more control over local government than ours has. There was always a problem with some councils, but the amalgation several years ago led to super councils and made the whole issue a lot worse. Inconsistencies between councils is another issue. As an example, on the news today the Moreton Bay council announced they are dedicating a local park to rough sleepers and homeless people and letting them use the council toilet and shower facilities there. Their idea is to have the homeless in a more manageable situation regarding facilities and support services. On the other hand, the Gold Coast council is issuing heavy fines to rough sleepers, and confiscating and destroying their gear.

WE ARE changing the Climate for the worse The seas are warming up. Yes it IS a Pretty gloomy Message. Place More emphasis on stopping conflict and More on co-operation. Nev

We bought our MGS5 a month ago and have done 2000km. We just plug it in to a standard power point when it's parked at home. We have solar on the roof, and when it's charging at night Tassie uses hydro power. That 2000km represents about 3 tank fulls of diesel in our previous car, or about 165 litres (at current price around $430). For comparison the EV gets around 16kW/100k so 320kW. Even if we weren't using solar and paying full price (23c/kWh), that's about $74 for the same range. (If my calculations are correct!)

I don't recall anyone on these forums suggesting the extraction of energy from renewables is free.. maybe out in the big wide world they have.. .Clearly that is a fallacy. We have already dealt with the costs per mw/h of renewable sources v fossil fuels for electricity generation. And renewables generally win - although there are cases where it doesn't. But it is not just the cost of extraction - there is the cost of distribution and then there is the efficiency cost. And of course, the cleaning up costs and decommissioning costs.. Still for electricity generation, the costs generally favour renewables.. There is a cost that fossil fuels don't pick up (and to be honest, neither does the renewables pick up) and that is the inherent damage to the environment. There is no cost applied and effort performed to remove things like the additional CO2, which seems to be a major contributor to what is looking more like a looming climate emergency.. you know the thing the pesky scientists predicted using real facts and models.. and it seems to be coming a darn sight quicker than they had hoped. The cost of toxins such as nitrogen oxides and other respiratory and cancer linked toxins is early termination of people and in countries such as Australia, the taxpayer picks up the tab through the health service. Yes, this is also the case for the manufacture and operation of plant/technology for renewable energy extraction, but I would guess (but am happy to be corrected) it is a lot lower than that for fossil fuels - after all, accessing the renewable sources is a lot easier than accessing fossil fuels - I don't have to dig under the sea for it.. do I... And even sea born renewable energy - waves - are pretty accessible. But renewables don't pay for their emissions either (well, there is a carbon trading market, still, somewhere). But again, and I haven't done the research and am happy to be corrected - this cost from renewables technology is probably a lot less because they do a lot less of it. Yes, Li-Ion batteries - especially for cars - have a heavy CO2 footprint at manufacture - much more than an ICE engine. In early technology, the average technology meant it was about 5 years before the electric car broke even with the average emissions of ICE cars, after which the drop in CO2 emissions for the lifetime of a BEV over an ICE car increased dramatically. Here are the current numbers: The time even on a wholly coal grid is still 4 - 5 years, but batteries are lasting at least 8 (on average) and going a lot more.. So, even with the dirtiest grid, they are still doing well. But, we move to grids such as in Europe, Australia, Canada, and China, and the payback is down to 2 years, well within most ownership cycles of cars and well within the life of the vehicle. In Australia, the depreciation cycle is 5 years, so you are effectively getting, say 3 years almost emissions free driving in comparison. Obviously, the coal and gas and maintenance are emitting, as are replacement of service items - which are much less in a BEV than and ICE engined car.

When people say that wind and solar are free, they need to explain. Oil gas and coal are just as free, they are sitting in the ground waiting to be taken. On a cost per unit of energy, oil, gas and large open pit coal can be very cheap. So it is simply a choice based on lifetime capital and operating costs for the whole energy system. We distort that by applying subsidies.

I am so glad we have compulsory voting here. One of the best features of our electoral system.

The Farage party are claiming it as a victory. But, the parliamentary investigation into his £5m undeclared gift has resumed and if found he violated the rules of parliament, a recall petition is put to the electorate and if a certain percentage agree, it will trigger yet another by-election. The reality is that Clacton is one of, if not the most deprived electorate in the UK and immigration, of which Farage is a one trick pony politically, is being blamed by Clactonians for all their problems will mean that the recall petition is unlikely to get the numbers. Reforms winning electorates are all in deprived areas, and is more a protest about them being relied upon for votes be Labour and the Tories more than anything else.. and I would say the apathy of the electorate is partially the result of decades, if not over a century now of being promised the earth and still being sucked dry compared to those who live in marginal electorates. Pork barelling is alive where it will buy a seat. But, Reform's claims to a mandate by the people of Clacton are as hollow as the promises made to the people of Clacton. with a 44% voter turnout against an average turnout of around 65%, it represents 27& of the voting public of Clacton who have voted for him. Of course, we can't predict which way the other 66% pg voters in Clacton would have voted if casting a ballot was mandatory - I would imagine the spoiled ballot count would be high despite the onerous requirement of putting a tick against one person only; but I have a sneaking suspicion Farage would have found the numbers far tighter than the headline suggests.

Possibly unpopular with clothed people too 😊

David Clayton-Thomas, the unmistakable voice behind some of the biggest hits from Blood, Sweat & Tears, has died at age 84, marking the end of an era for one of classic rock’s most distinctive frontmen. According to his publicist, the singer died peacefully in a Toronto hospital. No cause of death has been publicly disclosed.

Former Young Talent Time host Johnny Young has died aged 79, his family announced on Friday morning, following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Cannot work . There is no perpetual motion machine possible let alone one with spare power. Nev

A lot of truth in that. Smaller rural councils generally are a lot more in touch with the community and there's only a few bad eggs among those councils. A lot of the bigger councils have totally lost the concept of being there to serve the community and a lot think they are our masters rather than our servants. I've never been one for party politics in councils like they have in the city councils, but taking into account the inept rabble we have posing as our local council, it makes me wonder whether party alligned councilors would make it easier to turf the lot out at an election. As it stands, some councillors lose their jobs at election time and some major offenders remain, so things don't get any better. If it was party based, would it make them perform any better. Maybe it would if they thought the whole bunch was at risk or at least a majority of them. Another factor is that it's not only the elected councillors that are the problem. The council bureaucrats have a lot to answer for as well. My advice to anyone who has a good, well performing and honest council is to appreciate what you have because a lot of people don't have that.

Today I rang Red Energy and arranged swapping to them after my next Origin bill due in a couple of weeks. It was very refreshing to talk to Australian based customer support. Everything worked well and went great just like it used to with Origin before they outsourced their customer support overseas. Sub standard customer support is the number one reason I'm leaving Origin; the data breach incident is just another contributing factor. At the end of this month it's good riddance Origin. Price wise, they're fairly close. Based on my useage, Red Energy is about $100 per year cheaper than Origin. When I get settled in to Red Energy, the next step is to get a smart meter installed and that will remove the problem of the contract meter readers who don't like going off the bitumen on to rural properties. I could deal with estimated bills if the meter readers were honest about their reasons given for not accessing the property but they're not. It's another case of good service going to the pack when things get contracted out. When Energex (the primary supplier/wholesaler) employed their own people to read the meters they quite happily accessed the property for 30+ years without a problem. I think the roll out date here for smart meters ends in 2030, so sometime in the next couple of years I would be compelled to swap to a smart meter anyway.

What's the diffeence between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted.

I worked on that project in the 1990s. It takes a while to get mines going.

You might have heard about USA's critical shortage of Air Traffic Controllers. Fret not, the problem is solved. (Air traffic controllers who are easily bored and seek instant gratification, and have a game over - restart button, yeah that'll work.)

Yes they are. That would provide perhaps 10% of what they need, same as Australia.

Trump goes to his doctor and takes off his hat to reveal a huge toad on the top of his head. “When did you notice that?” asked the doctor. And the toad answers: “It began as a boil on my ass.”

Then again, I could never get a HJ45 to go faster. It wasn't in their DNA.

I heard a tale about one hitting the side of a vehicle and ending up in the back seat, badly injured but still alive and kicking. A similar thing happened to a mate of mine. He was driving a HJ-45 on a property, so not going fast. He turned his head toward his mate in the passenger seat as they were talking, just as a big roo smashed into the driver's side door. On hearing the crash, he instinctively turned his head back and the roo's head and shoulders were protruding into the window and he was face to face with the roo with only couple of inches separating them. It was only for a split second till the roo's head and shoulders recoiled back out of the vehicle. It traumatised him a bit I think. A bit of a coincidence but some time after that, the same mate that had the roo come in his window was in the pasenger seat and I was driving. Very similar story, I was talking to him and unfortunately had my mouth open when a long, springy mulga root flicked up off the front wheel, hit the door with a loud bang and threw about half a shovelful of red dirt in my face. Because I was talking at the time, the mouth was full of red dirt as well. The mate thought it was funny but I wasn't overly amused. At least it wasn't a roo.

This is an interesting short film about Broken Hill, made in 1953. Where I lived for 12 years.

What about when Trump Plays golf and what the Military use?. When is the Last time a Plane FULL of immigrants Landed here.? Australians travel in planes and overseas like some people drive to town. IF you think flying overseas to do business is FUN you mustn't have done Much of it. The reason we still Have fuel to use HERE is because Albo got off his Bum, went overseas and negotiated it. Nev

Commercial jets ... do you know there's no less than two thousand in the air at any given time in the world, using up oxygen and spewing out pollution. Chris Bowen needs to realize that every time a plane full of immigrants lands in OZ, and every time Airbus Albo hops on a jet to go embrace his overseas socialist mates on "official" business.

Adding the words "at Scrabble" to the end completely changes the question too.

My response was on two items, I should have been more specific. One was energy density, which Siso has addressed. The other is the UK powering itself by wind. That is like the old saying that ten litres of a toxin was enough to kill everyone in the world. Maybe, but it ain’t going to happen.

Under $1000 a year? I wouldn't be complaining about that. Ours is somewhere around $1500 with no water, sewage or rubbish collection. Not sure what cockatoos have to do with your rates. @willedoo- your council sounds like a pack of useless c**ts. My sympathy.

Wtf? Sounds like a free energy machine and this absolutely bullshit. Physics doesn't care what peeps believe.

I'd beg to differ on that. The way I see it, the cause of most arguments on this site is people playing the man and not the topic. The inability of some to debate in a civilised and well mannered way without being outright rude to people. I don't think I'd like to sugar coat straight out bad behaviour as misinterpretation. For sure misinterpretation happens but I think the inability to handle opposing viewpoints combined with bad manners is a bigger contributing factor.

The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only change from one form to another, or move from a system to its surroundings. This means the total amount of energy in an isolated system always stays the same. The simplest practical example of converting one form of energy to another is solar panels.

Very often they are hamstrung by regulations generated by the two higher levels of government. For example, our housing industry at the moment has to comply with a Standards document of 200 pages in order to have ahouse approved for habitation. The council staff can't ignore all those reulations without placing the Council into a legal liability trap. As for Councils being composed of people with Party alignments, that just gets you into the same stalemates as the upper levels of government. In many cases geting onto the local coucil is a first step in a political career in the higher levels of government. Self interest overrides the idea of helping the community.

I've had a smart meter for a few years. I love it. I can log into my acccount with my supplier at any time, and get data like this.

Did yiou take any notice of the question in the Census regarding religious affiliation? Did you notice that one was able to indicate which stream of the main Protestant styles one followed, or if one as Catholic. As well one could indicate one of the other Christian styles in the box provided. However, for Moslems there was only that one choice. We all know that there are two main styles of Isalm. Come to think of it, I think a person could only indicate that the followed Judaism, not one of its variants. It's not important enough to go ranting about, but I just felt that it was disciminatory to most people, regardless of their reilgious affiliation.

There is a super critical co2 turbine being developed. Based on a gas turbine but used co2 instead the atmosphere and heated through heat exchanger instead of combustion. Supposed to be a lot smaller physically then a steam turbine. Apparently China have one running. Developer are looking at high temp NPP to run them. Still would require a "condenser" of some sort.

But... but.... you should be grateful. I see lots of full page ads and billboards telling me how the great mining industry invests into our communites and builds our roads!

Don't forget how long it takes to construct a power plant of any type. Those plants operating and the ones coming on line were designed an construction commenced before the explosion in solar panel technology that has happened in the past decade. Is it any wonder that they haven't switched over. Economics lags behind the technology.

Now that's commitment. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-11/eltham-pilot-turned-baker-quit-flying-for-climate-change-vic/106945332

Needs explaining to me.edit OK just took a while.