The climate change debate continues.

[octave]

I think the thing with plastic shopping bags is the sheer number that we are using In the US 5 trillion a year.. 

 

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/sustainability/plastic_bag_facts.html

 

It is difficult to just outright ban every single source of plastic, you have to start somewhere.  

 

10 Facts About Single-Use Plastic Bags

1. Americans use 5 trillion plastic bags a year.³
2. Americans use an average of 365 plastic bags per person per year. People in Denmark use an average of four plastic bags per year.⁴
3. It only takes about 14 plastic bags for the equivalent of the gas required to drive one mile.⁵
4. In 2015 about 730,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps were generated (including PS, PP, HDPE, PVC & LDPE) in the United States, but more than 87% of those items are never recycled, winding up in landfills and the ocean.⁶
5. About 34% of dead leatherback sea turtles have ingested plastics.⁷
6. The plastic typically used in bottles, bags and food containers contains chemical additives such as endocrine disruptors, which are associated with negative health effects including cancers, birth defects and immune system suppression in humans and wildlife.⁸
7. It takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately, the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.⁹
8. Chemical leachates from plastic bags impair the growth of the world’s most important microorganisms, Prochlorococcus, a marine bacterium that provides one tenth of the world’s oxygen.¹⁰
9. There were 1.9 million grocery bags and other plastic bags collected in the 2018 International Coastal Cleanup.¹¹
10. In 2014 California became the first state to ban plastic bags. As of March 2018, 311 local bag ordinances have been adopted in 24 states, including Hawaii.¹² As of July 2018, 127 countries have adopted some form of legislation to regulate plastic bags.¹³

[red750]

13 minutes ago, old man emu said:

vacuformed packaging on things like hardware.

pies, doughnuts, cakes, scissors, the list goes on. The worst is the hard plastic on scissors that you need scissors to open.

[spacesailor]

The " recycling programme "  only wants a ' small number of useful items ' & if to many ' junk ' items are in the recycling bin  ! . It all goes to " landfill " .

spacesailor

 

[kgwilson]

Australia is pathetic when it comes to recycling. We have collected millions of tonnes of stuff that can be recycled and just store it because nobody has any recycling processes set up to do it and of course it is not cheap to recycle. For years we exported it to China & when that stopped we had nothing here to deal with it. Plastics are slowly being replaced with biodegradable things like paper bags and wood utensils but the amount of plastics that just goes in to landfill is astonishing.

[old man emu]

Perhaps if the Government really wanted to attack environmental degradation, it would stop emphasising renewable energy and put a lot of effort into recycling all the unwanted crap we import as packaging. Remember "Chip, chip, woodchip. Turn it into paper"? That woodchip is coming back to us wrapped around stuff we could, but don't produce here.

 

Not that I'm anti-renewables, but once again the Government has gone down the wrong path. Why not simply introduce building regulations that each newly constructed building has a solar array? They did it in Sydney where new houses to have meet the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX). That states, a residential development proposal is required to use up to 40% less potable water than the average home ‘pre-BASIX’ home benchmark of 90,340 litres of water per person per year or 247 litres per person per day. A key recommendation to reach this target and obtain a BASIX certificate is installing a rainwater tank as an alternative rainwater supply for your garden and toilets.

[octave]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

Perhaps if the Government really wanted to attack environmental degradation, it would stop emphasising renewable energy and put a lot of effort into recycling all the unwanted crap we import as packaging.

 

I don't really see why we can't pursue more than one thing at once. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by octave

[facthunter]

Require solar on every house???  Just UP the feed in Tarif to something realistic.. Nev

[octave]

The installation of solar on new builds is already quite high. 

 

Australians are choosing new homes and solar PV in record numbers

 

Nearly 1 In 3 Homes In Australia Covered In Solar Panels

 

 

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

Require solar on every house???  Just UP the feed in Tarif to something realistic.. Nev

The Feed-in tariff is an incentive to install solar panels, allegedly to shorten the time it would take to pay for the installation. I'm told that the tariff is pretty pathetic. How's this for a radical idea? Remove the GST arising from the making and installing of solar panels. That would make the purchase price a lot less. Then the "pathetic" return for putting electricity into the system would be more cream on the cake.

 

What you also have to take into consideration is the savings DYI electricity generation provide.  However, a building still needs to be connected to the grid for a steady supply. There would have to be a payment to maintain the delivery system. Even if there were community batteries to do this task, there is still the cost of the distribution system to build and maintain.

[facthunter]

Pretty much all options need a grid . It can never pay in remote areas. WA is never included Separate mini grid should be possible. t

The cost of being connected to the grid is a bit over $300. Less than renting a set of OXY bottles..  Nev

[octave]

5 minutes ago, old man emu said:

The Feed-in tariff is an incentive to install solar panels, allegedly to shorten the time it would take to pay for the installation. I'm told that the tariff is pretty pathetic.

 

There does not seem to be a problem with the uptake of rooftop solar.  The figures I linked to previously show record uptakes of rooftop solar. Whilst insisting that every new build must have solar would be good in my opinion it is just not necessary given the already strong growth in rooftop solar.   

 

Stunning leap in rooftop solar PV smashes renewable records across the grid   

[spacesailor]

Even ' without ' a monetary  return,  the " stupid cap '' on the amount of your power bill .

Minimum $250 .so those conserving power are not eligible for government rebates .

$ 100 ' gas ' bill does not count for that rebate .

At No cost to Me ! . There's three houses in a line to be ' solarised ' .

spacesailor

[old man emu]

Of all the ways to harness renewable energy sources, rooftop solar panels would have to be the most convenient, with the added benefit that they don't add to visual pollution since they are out of sight.

 

Imagine the amount of electricity that could be generated in this approx. 4 sq km  industrial suburb of Smeaton Grange, near Camden. This is a comparatively small industrial area.

[old man emu]

3 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

the " stupid cap '' on the amount of your power bill .

Obviously to fully implement an expanded take-up of solar panels some one in authority has to put their foot down and make a decision for the majority of users, not the majority of owners.

 

 

[octave]

8 minutes ago, old man emu said:

Of all the ways to harness renewable energy sources, rooftop solar panels would have to be the most convenient, with the added benefit that they don't add to visual pollution since they are out of sight.

 

Imagine the amount of electricity that could be generated in this approx. 4 sq km  industrial suburb of Smeaton Grange, near Camden. This is a comparatively small industrial area.

I totally agree.  The uptake is probably going as fast as it reasonably can.  The uptake figures are impressive aren't they?

[facthunter]

WE get a lot of phone calls trying to sell  solar. I've got enough  space to  easily quadruple my 4.2 Kw array and happy to do it but can't see that it's allowed.   Nev

[spacesailor]

Those living in " state housing  "  or even private tenants have no say on lowering their cost of electricity.  

How many " state housing " tenants would absolutely love to have cheaper power bills .

And the ' private housing ' tenants would be just as eager .

To have a break from at least One high cost monthly bill .

spacesailor 

[octave]

31 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

How many " state housing " tenants would absolutely love to have cheaper power bills .

I agree. Public housing tenants are the last group to be considered when it comes to access to solar rebates etc.   This is changing though and I suspect in the next few years rooftop solar will be available to public tenants.

 

Victorian public housing advocates push for solar panel pledge before state election

[octave]

3 hours ago, old man emu said:

57 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

Those living in " state housing  "  or even private tenants have no say on lowering their cost of electricity.  

How many " state housing " tenants would absolutely love to have cheaper power bills .

And the ' private housing ' tenants would be just as eager .

To have a break from at least One high cost monthly bill .

spacesailor 

https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/new-scheme-uses-rooftop-solar-grid-renewables-to-slash-social-housing-power-bills/

[octave]

Often positive things are happening and the pessimists are unaware.

 

https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/land-and-housing-corporation/news/slashing-social-housing-power-bills-with-rooftop-solar

Edited December 11, 2023 by octave

[facthunter]

Because the MSM don't print good things that are happening  It's got to be Fear and Hate.  Nev

[octave]

NSW public housing solar

 

Over 1,500 social housing properties across NSW were retrofitted with rooftop solar panels in 2021, helping social housing tenants in those properties slash their power bills by up to $1,000 per year.

[onetrack]

The amount of solar panels on houses is ever-increasing - to the point where it now threatens the stability of grids - thus the drive to control home solar systems by power authorities, and having them able to throttle them back when the solar input is so huge it's destabilising the grid.

 

I've got 6.6Kw on the roof, it's the biggest household system we're allowed here. If I want to go larger I would have to install a battery and go off-grid. The economics of that move don't stack up at present.

The W.A. Govt is going all-out on installing some giant batteries to even out the power spikes.

 

https://www.energymagazine.com.au/1b-big-battery-contracts-awarded-by-wa-gov/#:~:text=Construction started on Kwinana Battery,during the peak of construction.

[facthunter]

The total on mine yesterday was  just under 50,000 Kw/hrs and it's a nominal 4.2 limit.. It's probably degraded 15%. (that's hard to determine, but it's been in a long time) No attention at all.. Hail hasn't damaged it, YET.  Nev

[octave]

https://reneweconomy.com.au/another-big-battery-joins-south-australia-pipeline-in-race-to-energy-storage/?fbclid=IwAR2ngXV4CWTxb1CfloatT0WWTL87_H5hKhiX_nQo4tpvgy3_JC9cbLLu9hY