nomadpete

I think the suggested longer term idea was to have islanded distributed power. Nev doesn't like the grid. He has a point - it is an expensive overhead. Approx 40% of your power bill is just covering grid infrastructure. Further to that expense, the Dutton Nuclear costings fail (I think) to include the cost of upgrading the existing grid over the period of waiting for a nuclear plant to come online. (Over that time the demand is expected to increase ~40% so HV grid will need upgrading anyway). This would not be necessary if there is a plan to implement distributed community battery storage.

Ask OME - "battery" is a curious word meaning a singular containing a multiple. Anyway, the concept of a single lithium battery on each city block is fine as long as there is an alternate source available. Outages may be due to battery repair / replacement. Or a control system/ charging system/inverter/ battery monitoring failure. Any of these complex, expensive items represent a single point of failure. Have you tried to get an electrician out to quickly fix something in the home? In the above examples, one fault has the potential (pun) to leave multiple homes without power (no fridge, no cooking, no lights, no tv) until a repair is completed. Your example of a dead cell in a battery does not address these risks. Maybe not a problem if you use the Boeing system of 3 systems with an engineer to watch over it.

Random thought because we don't have a thread for it..... Have you read a good book lately? My present read:- "The Sea Was Kind" Long out of print, the story of a bloke you wouldn't get your lotto numbers from. A German jew who in the 1930's thought it a good idea to get as far away from Germany as possible so he moved to Japan, learnt the lingo,built a business. But the 1940's started to look bad. He then started moving to a safer place - Philipines .... A story of survival against the odds. And sailing. https://archive.org/details/seawaskind010917mbp/page/n8/mode/1up

It takes a concerted effort at self delusion. Smaller plates with smaller serving, helps trick the mind. Each morning grab a glass of water before brekky - it give the stomach some sense of being a bit full. Have a bowl of fresh fruit near the kitchen - after a meal force yourself to eat a piece (when you are heading for the fridge for a snack. Eat more vegetables. Avoid weight loss drugs. Etc.

It is a valid point. But it could be mitigated at nominal expense. I spent 30 years in the power industry. Everything involved (except street wires) is backed up by redundancy. My career revolved around fixing stuff before anybody noticed. Some folk called it 'Gold plating the system'. But Australia has had less major outages than USA.

What other flowers do you like?

Why are we buying musky batteries? Pumped storage is a better plan in the long term. Another possible storage media (in spite of % turnaround losses) is HOT AIR. A private company has started building a compressed air storage system for Broken Hill. It uses old mineshafts to hold compressed air and can supply the town for 8 hrs.

https://arena.gov.au/renewable-energy/pumped-hydro-energy-storage/ https://arena.gov.au/blog/there-are-22000-possible-sites-for-pumped-hydro-storage-in-australia/ There are 22,000 possible sites for pumped storage in Australia

Pumped storage is the use of a dam located higher than another. A small hydro generator is built at the lower dam. When there is surplus alectricity, the hydro impellers are run backwards and used to pump water up to the top dam. When you need the enetgy back again, the top dam runs back down through the impellors and generates electricity. No water is wasted. There are losses in the process, but the energy used would have otherwise been wasted. Wivenhoe Dam is 63mts lower than Splityard Creek dam in SE Qld. Works a treat. I am aware of a smaller one being set up near Toowoomba.

QUEENSLAND'S pumped storage was commissioned circa 1980 and is still running and unlikely to shut down any time soon. There is no hazardous products nor expensive maintenance coming from a couple of big flywheels spinning on greased bushes. Peak output 600Mw with cut in time measured in milliseconds. Like a big battery without all the chemicals. The entire construction is achieved with simple well proven local engineering. I am dumbfounded by the absence of such a simple, relatively quick solution to storage has not been built. Other than the Qld one.

What matters is the longer term balance between generation and consumption. Well it matters, as long as there is a storage media to smooth out supply & demand. My humble 3Kw PV produces approximately the same energy annually as our house consumes annually. I just can't afford a flywheel big enough to tide me over the dark times.

I totally agree with changing the policing from fund raising, to cautions and friendly educating. A long time ago I was so gratefilto a copper who stopped me, then said something like 'We both know that was a silly thing to do. I'm letting you off... this time" I remember the lesson but I hardly recall anything that later coppers said when they booked me for similar stuff. I rarely get an infringement these days - but haven't had a caution since 1970.

Is the value of a couple of cars greater than the value of lives lost to careless drivers? Further, most owners of rare & collectabe cars don't lend them to careles hoons.

Not about Mr Dutton's plans, but relevant to the looming energy crisis.... There is a lot of marginal farmland out past Roma in Qld. The area also has great annual sun radiation. Sounds like a suitable location for a big PV farm. A couple of years ago, the grid owners invested around $500 million in extending the coastal grid out to Roma - to supply power the power hungry gas industry. Note this might be redundant after the gas seams have been emptied. But the HV grid can work in either direction. So, there is now a grid connection between a perfect solar farm location and the populous east coast grid. All we need is the government to get off its ass and build some coastal pumped storage.

The only thing I would add, OME, is that we really need to raise public awareness of the fact that driving a vehicle is NOT a universal right. If our legislators REALLY want to reduce the road toll, introduce compulsory crushing of the vehicle for serious or repeated motoring offences. No matter who owns the vehicle. Let the chips fall where they may.

That is why I was surprised to find he said something logical.

The common type you are likely to find these days are a Chinese copy (not quite accurate) of the JIS Japan Industry Standard that was developed to avoid royalties to Phillips (or to USA Posidriv which neither will fit)

Take succour from the fact that Exmouth has largely been outsourced to Australian defence contractors. I have heard similar reports about Alice Springs (Pine Gap).

Few seem capable of thinking that far ahead.

As good a place as any to put up this quote - and not my own smazement that I agree with something Matt Canavan said..... “I’m not saying we should be 100% coal, or not build nuclear, or not invest in renewable. But the balance has shifted so far away from investing in reliable power.” “We shouldn’t build a complex electricity system based on focus groups. The focus group approach to our energy system is leading to constant warnings of blackouts … All sides of politics are deciding their energy based on focus group, not a real world analysis of impact.” So far neither major party have been starting serious investment in electricity security. Major storage is needed and it is needed fast. Are Labor waiting for the LNP mob to win the next election so they can blame LNP for the blackouts? The pollies of both sides are trying to buy votes with magic promises - but no good will come without solid investment in new infrastructure.

That goes for you too, Wille!

Hello everybody. All the best for the festive season!

Jet skis are a law unto themselves. All other small motor craft are required to carry 'an alternate means of propolsion'. (Paddles)

It is illegal here to do anything electrical, except replace a light bulb or a smoke alarm battery. No replacing 3 pin plugs. No making an extension leads. No replacing a switch. No replacing a power outlet. No touchy the wires! Etc, etc.

The Australian Electrical Office is pretty tough. They can impose fines up to $20,000 for electrical work done by a non qualified person (business fines are very severe). In theory, any time any work is done, the electrician must supply a certificate of compliance describing the work done. In my recent experience, they didn't. But the other thing is if there is a fire you might find your insurance is on shakey ground.