Chairman Dan

[pmccarthy]

In this mornings news, Chairman Dan is putting hundreds more PSOs armed with pistols on our streets. This is a second force of less trained police to keep us in order and toeing the party line. He is a couple of weeks away from signing the legal commitment to Belt and Road, inviting the Chinese to walk in and take over. If I decide to protest in the street, he has the laws in place and an armed force to stop me doing it. I could not have made this up if I was writing a dystopian novel.

[Jerry_Atrick]

I heard on the radio that whatever extra powers they have given police during the state of emergency are likely to be exended beyond it - possibly indefinitely... as they work so well in maintaining public order...

 

1984 has passed.. but I guess he is thinking better late than never!

[spacesailor]

And now the powers that be.

want to Control your solar panel output. switching you off, so you have to Pay for grid power !.

spacesailor

[octave]

And now the powers that be.

want to Control your solar panel output. switching you off, so you have to Pay for grid power !.

spacesailor

 

 

What do you mean?

[spacesailor]

Just a little read on the net.

" The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) wants the ability to switch off household solar systems. "

spacesailor

[Yenn]

Not so long ago they wanted to renege on the contracts they had with people who put solar panels on their roof. They realised that they would have a big problem. This is the next stage.

I get paid 44c per Kw I produce and pay 24c per Kw for what I draw off the grid. What a stupid agreement, but that is what they agreed to. Now the transmission wires can't handle the load. Any mucking about from them and I will go battery and off grid.

[octave]

Just a little read on the net.

" The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) wants the ability to switch off household solar systems. "

spacesailor

ah ok. The power supply company (in our case Powercore) requires that solar systems reduce input when the grid voltage becomes too high. On our system this happens for short periods during peek production and when demand on the grid is too low. This is not done by powercore directly but by our feed in equipment. When the grid voltage reaches a certain voltage some of the panels are switched off until the grid voltage falls. This also happens with large power plants, large solar and wind. It is necessary to protect the grid. In our case I am looking to a time in the near future when battery storage will be economical. We use about 4000Gwh a year but produce over 6000Gwh. It would be nice to sell all the extra power but like anything you can only sell it when there is a buyer.

[octave]

I get paid 44c per Kw I produce and pay 24c per Kw for what I draw off the grid.

 

That is a great deal. I guess you locked into this sometime ago. Now the average feed in is only around 12 cents but still well worth it.

[willedoo]

I was reading an article in The Age about whether Chairman Dan is getting too cosy with the Chinese. Some interesting figures were quoted in relation to concerns that the Chinese will buy the farm, so to speak. The total of Victorian agricultural land owned by all foreign firms – not just Chinese – is 2 per cent by value they say. In Tasmania, the figure for foreign owned agricultural land is 40%, and 29% for the Northern Territory according to the Age journalist.

 

Those figures don't quite line up with the official figures from a couple of years ago.

 

 

This section from the Foreign Ownership Register report might explain it.

 

'Differences between the Agricultural Land Register and ABS commodity surveys and censuses exist which affect the accuracy and reliability of the above proportions. – For example, the ABS total agricultural land figure does not include agricultural land held by entities whose primary business activity is forestry. The proportion of agricultural land that is foreign owned for some state/territories that have a large portion of forestry is therefore likely overstated, especially Tasmania and Victoria.'

 

https://cdn.tspace.gov.au/uploads/sites/79/2018/12/Register_of_Foreign_Ownership_of_Agr.pdf

Edited May 23, 2020 by Guest

[facthunter]

You get power from the grid when YOU want it but want to get paid to give it to the grid when the grid can't handle it and it's a risk to the system? Get real. They turn windfarms OFF too, and powerstations if they have to.

Intelligent management including storage adequate for the purpose is required Wind and Solar are a no brainer for cost except against old worn out coal power which has amortised its capital investment long ago but is likely to drop off completely without warning on a hot day. New Coal and uranium are sky high in the cost Dept..Perhaps the GIANT GRID is a cost we should look at too. Maybe it won't be as necessary or maybe MORE necessary. Who Knows ? For about 20 years it's destroyed governments and the delay in a proper PLAN is costing us heaps. Nev

[Yenn]

The government wanted us to install roof top solar and to encourage us they came up with the stupid scheme of buying at more than the cost they were selling at. We signed a contract and there was no let out clause that said they could turn it off if they didn't want it. So I am not happy for them to rewrite the contract.

We have had big grids for years and talk of a giant grid seems stupid to me. We are getting to a point where we can have mini grids and back up with small generators. I went to South Africa many years ago and they had six packs dotted all over the country. They were small nuclear power stations serving small industrial areas.

There is no reason that a small nuclear plant could not be put in for a town. Better still of course is a battery.

[Jerry_Atrick]

I bet if you were a big company they wouldn't attempt to make the change - they know you are unlikely to take them to court for a breach of contract. Yet they will hoinour carp contracts they have with large private contractors they inherit from previous administrations because of the rule of law..

 

As I am looking to re-enter the nuclear industry, my thoughts have turned to nuclear power for Australia. Historically, Australians have an almost fanatic opposition to them based on environmental and potential accidents/disasters. It is not unreasonable of course to have a healthy scepticism backed by effective regulation - however, Australia is seismically one of the most stable land masses, contains some of the worlds largest uranium deposits, and let's face it, some of the more "suitable" locations for longer term spent-fuel storage. I can see other applications for nuclear particularly pertinent to Australia, but also globally.. (oh! and not military in their application).

'

It is expensive - largely due to over-specified safety rules, however, SMRs look like they will reduce the cost and according to the WNO, can be installed in decomm'ed coal fired plants.. Although I wouldn't want to install in anything other than is to be decommed as who knows in what condition the non-burning part of the plant is in if it has been left to rack and ruin.

[pmccarthy]

South Australia ran a Royal Commission into nuclear power. It came down in favour. Which just shows pollies should not ask a question unless they already know the answer will be the one they want.

[Jerry_Atrick]

I am starting to seriously look into it. I think there will be lots of hurdles.. And a plant won't even be approved for build before I retire (some way off, yet). But it is crazy not to be seriously considered. A regulatory authority wold have to be set up.. I think the issue could be that it comes under state control rather than federal and the last thing any industry needs is diverse and redundant regulation (and costs) to contend with.

[red750]

No doubt about Chairman Dan and his Teachers Union mates. Eight weeks off school, and they have to have a student free day to prepare for the return to school, now on Tuesday. No students means no school crossing supervisors. My daughter is a school crossing supervisor, so she has to lose a day's pay so the teachers can do what they couldn't do over the past 8 weeks, even though they have been at the school to look after the 3 or 4 kids who couldn't be home schooled.

[facthunter]

You are losing me Red. Teachers haven't had it easy because of this. As far as being Dan/s Mates they reckon He's "thrown them under the bus. quote" Nev

[octave]

Teachers have not had 8 weeks off. During this time they have been designing online content and teaching online. I know from experience that teaching online is not easy.

[spacesailor]

My two Teacher neighbours, have spent their time redesigning their garden, wouldn't think many hours for "online teaching".

spacesailor

[facthunter]

Your neighbours may not be indicative of the general situation. Nev

[old man emu]

I know from experience that teaching online is not easy.

 

It's not easy for a couple of reasons.

Parents/Carers were thrown into the job without having any briefing on where the kids were up to, or where they were headed. It was a bit like being the fill-in teacher who comes to the class when the regular teacher is absent.

 

Parents/Carers are not trained to find out how their Charges learn - some kinds work mentally, others manually. There is more than one way to skin a cat, but Parents/Carers usually only use the method they were taught with. That can create irritation between the kids and the Parents/Carers.

 

Parents/Carers are not familiar with how a classroom is run in terms of how long the kids spend on each activity before they move on to a different subject. I like to use the rule of thumb that a child's attention span is usually equal to twice their age - Concentration span = (Age in years x 2) minutes.

 

The online programs take some time for the Parents/Carers to work out how to use. This can be frustrating when the kid is standing at your shoulder and you are having difficulty seeing how the program uploads completed work.

 

Finally, the kids don't have the keyboard skills to be able to type as fast as they can write on paper. Therefore, you have to figure out how to make hardcopies of screen images so teh kid can complete them by hand. I did it by taking a screen shot then inserting the screen shot into a Word doc sheet and printing that. Took me less than 30 seconds to do that, and I took the completed hardcopies to school for the teacher to review.

[octave]

The online programs take some time for the Parents/Carers to work out how to use.

 

It has also been a steep learning curve for teachers also, not only adapting the content and the actual teaching but even just learning the ins and outs of the conferencing software.

 

My two Teacher neighbours, have spent their time redesigning their garden, wouldn't think many hours for "online teaching".

 

Yes this is the usual unthinking stereotype. The online content had to be adapted. Teaching is still going on.

 

My sister is a career teacher and has been teaching for over 30 years. I can assure you that this period has been far from a holiday. Although she already has a teaching schedule for the year it had to be changed into a form that was suitable for online teaching. My sister went into school on a sunday to move classroom furniture around in order to reduce contact for the kids but also for herself. Being 60 she faces an increased risk of illness but is getting on and doing the job.

 

In my own case I have moved my music teaching to online. I did have fantasies of taking it easy with my feet up on the desk but that is not the reality. I find that interacting with my students online has increased my workload.

 

Spacey the "lazy incompetent teacher" stereotype is a little old and tired.

[spacesailor]

I wouldn,t call them Lazy !.

He was a headmaster at a prestigous Sydney school untill going in for triple bypass surgery.

They didn,t save a place for him after his recovery period.

So now at a lesser school.

spacesailor

[red750]

That wonderful, kind, generous, benevolent Victorian Premier, Mr. Dan Andrews, is planning to tax charities on the donated goods which are unusable and have to go to landfill. Anything is OK to reign in the monterous budget deficit.

[facthunter]

People have been using it to get rid of their rubbish instead of Paying to use the local tip as you're supposed to  do. Passing on a cost is not a tax.  Nev

[red750]

Not according to the Charities representative I saw interviewed. Garbage being treated as an asset and taxed.