KAEP.. logic doesn't matter these days. The world prefers feelgood ideas even though they contradict basic laws of physics. The supporters of alternative energy see any opposition as a conservative plot.

One day the weeds will be growing over the solar panels in the desert and the environmental lobby will blame its failure on some right wing conspiracy or other.

TrashcanMan

sorry but that plant you mentioned is not operating 24/7, and is not going to.. forget the green agitprop and look at the company information sheets. These say the plant recently managed to operate for a whole 24 hours and eventually may be able to operate continuously "on most summer nights", averaging about 20 hours a day..

Now look at the actual output, which is around 20MW.. coal-fired power stations are typically around 500MW

This is a very expensive pilot plant.. Its an advance but its not a solution.

Sounds like a direct action plan to me, and not one mention of the glorious emissions trading scheme. Julia had better get Combet, Kevin and Wayne over their advising them of the better practise... and how to legislate such in the face of overwhelming public rejection.

Trashy, I'll bet you like other attempts, it's not in commission in 18 months.

How long is it going to take to get the message across that wind power is a recipe for using more gas than the same power would require if the windmills were turned off? Why won't greenies read anything that doesn't agree with them?

Halduell, I expect that in 20 years time we will have efficient low emission power being supplied to the community, that is provided we can get greenies, academics & governments out of the way. Industry will find the way, provided they don't have a market bastardised by ridiculous subsidies using our money for favoured schemes.

I am equally sure it will not be from solar, as we currently know it, wind, wave power or biomass. Can you imagine the fuel required to collect enough grass from diverse paddocks to replace the thousands of tons of coal carried by one train. It would certainly exceed the power production of the bio so gathered.

Queensland built one at Rocky point. The cost & effort of gathering the biomass was provided by the adjacent sugar mill. It didn't work economically, & was sold off at a loss of many hundreds of millions of our dollars.

The greenies just may win, as real people are getting sick of shooting down, all the pies in the sky around here. I personally would no longer care, if it weren't for the fact that it's my grand kids future these fools want to destroy along with their own.

But the Spanish have already figured out how to run a solar plant 24/7 -- just use big arc lights running on normal-priced electricity and sell the 'solar' electricity produced from them back to the grid at a ridiculous taxpayer-sponsored premium.

Of course, that's when they run at all...

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081219/full/news.2008.1326.html

"...an ongoing investigation by Spanish authorities has so far unearthed nearly 4,200 photovoltaic installations that were falsely registered as being online by a 30 September deadline in order to receive higher levels of subsidy from power companies. According to the CNE report, however, none of the questionable installations, which are located in 1,447 or 13.3% of the country's solar parks, is actually producing any power."

The Spanish certainly have something, but I think 'a healthy disrespect for gullible politicians' probably sums it up better than 'ground-breaking solar technology'.

Here in Oz we have unending availability of power sourced below our earth - it is sustainable and non polluting. Yes the initial set up of drilling deep within the earth does cost money but once installed, it will continue to serve our power needs. why is there not more call for this type of power in Australia? Are we blinded by wind and sun?