I have to agree that our electricity generation system is not forward thinking. However it is relatively cheap unlike everything so far to do with solar. The article glosses over the need for energy storage for night time and extended overcast periods. As if straight solar wasn't expensive enough the cost of storing energy is currently prohibitive. I believe that people will store enough energy in electric cars when it actually happens. Same goes for reasonably priced solar powered air conditioning.

Since solar is not as reliable as baseload electricity we should pay less not more for it. 20c feed-in tariff per kilowatt hour for residential PV is more than enough. That's about what I get here in cloudy Tasmania. As Prof. Garnaut points out we shouldn't need such subsidies once a CO2 cap is rigorously policed. If solar PV and thermal can stand on their own feet they should add to the mix once coal and gas have been handicapped. Solar supporters want three bites at the cherry - subsidies, mandates and carbon caps.

This is not to say solar or reduced baseload isn't technically feasible. It's a question of what we can afford both in terms of limited capital and lifestyle sacrifices. Some of us feel we've already done our bit and the rest has to come from another clean energy source, namely nuclear power.

Before any more people get carried away by solar or wind I suggest that they look at the BBC information at the following site http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulhudson/2011/01/coal-takes-the-strainagain.shtml

The site shows that, in the worst of the UK cold snap before Christmas, power generated from wind power fell to 20MW out of total demand of 53 thousand megawatt. Present generation capacity for wind turbines in the UK is about 2700MW (5% of total capacity) so that during the stillness of the cold snap actual generation from wind fell to below 1% of wind nameplate capacity. I suggest solar would be just as useless just when power is most in demand to keep cold people from freezing to death.

This is further argument supporting the sensible solution for future low carbon power generation, nuclear power, probably utilising the much more plentiful thorium resources of the world (50000years at present demand for electricity worldwide). The thorium reactors do not produce nuclear weapons fuels, are safe to operate and produce only insignificant amounts of waste.

Thorium reactors found no favour during the cold war as they were useless for weapon ingredient manufacture.

Before we rush to waste any more money on wind, solar and other so-called 'renewable' energy sources, we might like to take note of James Lovelock's comment in 'The Guardian' in March 2010. Lovelock, the man who first espoused the Gaia hypothesis, said "The great climate science centres around the world are more than well aware how weak their science is." This is the same Lovelock who expressed his disgust at the abuse of science by global warming alarmists revealed in the Climategate emails.

Britain is almost totally reliant on coal for its electricity and heating in the middle of a very harsh winter. The millions of pounds spent on wind farms are now demonstrated to have been a complete waste of money. It's time to bell the cat on the climate change fraud.

A few points:
The evidence that when push comes to shove wind and solar cannot perform is, I believe, overwhelming.
The only thing being recycled in this article is Lovins who has been pushing this line for yonks.
Yes nuclear but thorium is a most important possiblity. As has been said what was true in the cold war may not be relevant today. Pity money is not spent on thorium research.
The article is loaded with name calling in a manner that reminds me of the 1950's communist stuff though I notice we do not have such nice phrases as 'running dog of capitalism'. However the thrust of the article really is of a similar nature. Of course anybody who does not agree with the aurthor is either stupid or bent or both. Frankly when I read this I thought of radio/television Pyonyang.

Our national electricity grid needs national leadership and control. The states, driven by soaring debts, have panicked state treasurers into such ingrained deception about what they can and cannot afford that their power games have tangled Australia's energy management to such an extent that no amount of GOAG meetings can ever undo their handiwork.

In the national interest, the states should now be given an ultimatum by the Prime Minister: transfer power to an independant National Energy Authority (NEA) on pain of severance from the national grid to naysaying Premiers.

The NEA's charter could require the adoption of the world's best standards for long term strategic energy generation planning, meeting quadruple bottom line reporting standards in addressing production efficiencies, environmental sustainability, social responsibility, community engagement and transparency. In other words, it's time to revolt and become a world leader.

Careful what you say someone might come and grab ya.
Generate your own power, and you won't have to worry about it any more.

Dear Kellie, I just couldn’t leave this “trilogy” alone any longer. The Advocacy Block constantly has all the answers without seemingly understanding the questions.

Everything appears to be the subject of grand “justifications” which drill down into ever more complex analysis of diversionary trivia. Predictable though this may be it just makes things a whole lot worse.

As part of the advocacy block, you need to understand why you are there. You are there to keep the dream alive.

The advocacy block has three elements, formal which is the Political/legislative component, the Organic Advocacy or Autopoietic Network and Commercial Opportunists.

The informal or organic parts are those that support the formal parts. These include advocacy media, academia, intelligencia, commentariat, advocacy science and ideological politics. These are the elements that drive or influence electoral opinion and votes. It is these influences that drive populist legislation by politicians.

The common element has been that both the organic and formal parts react instantaneously and without formal communications. “It” simply reacts organically, no nervous system and no brain, just organic reaction in defense. The fact that this is evident points to “tactical defense” of a situation that is not controlled by any of the players, in fact this evidences that the players are actually controlled by “it”. This is perhaps a reason for so much belligerence, anger, animosity and vilification. Those supporting the phenomena are actually captive to it and have absolutely no control over it.

It seems to have started naively 1978 as a conservation movement, achieved some political attention because it had voter value and was subsequently high jacked by opportunists and vested interests. Politicians have gradually bought-in and have legislated their support and sponsorship to harness these votes. Public support still lags political pragmatism so politicians will still find it electorally difficult to bail out, but the gap is narrowing. It has now taken on a life of its own which may explain why it faces so much criticism and why it has no strategic defenses, only tactical.

Continued:

Interesting article.
A thorium experimental reactor is being built in India.
If successful it would probably cause a stampede in that direction.
For solar panels to be put onto every house would require changes to
local council tree preservation regulations.
Many a roof is shaded by local trees, and if anyone has ever tried to
have a tree removed, you would know that we will be living in caves
before you could get agreement. They prefer you to die from falling
limbs first.

Windfarms were always destined to be a failure.
Their output falls to the cube root of the fall in wind speed.
That alone tells you they cannot be successful.

Solar and batteries would make you really off grid but it really is
only for the enthusiast and those in remote locations.
For every Tom Dick & Harry the technical maintenance requirement
would probably make it a financial failure.

Thorium is probably the best long term hope.
In the meantime dig up that coal and worry about how much we are exporting.

Continued:

It is these elements which “bind” the organic components through Autopoietic Networks. They share common goals, common reactions and shared cognitive behavior. They share the same “organization and structure” (informal) and they communicate with the same conversation through “Languaging and Emotioning”. It is self-organizing and self-referencing through its connection with “its” world. The individual entities in the organic components are typically those without formal power.

AGW orthodoxy appears to survive almost exclusively through political sponsorship; the advocacy block fully understands this. This is why so much effort is being expended to shore up this support. Interestingly, it was the advocacy block itself that removed and continues to block all but “their” selective science, now it has left itself with only the political/electoral tactical defense. How tactically stupid?

Skepticism was created by the advocacy block; it continues to drive public and professional division and anger by supporting the very things that created skepticism in the first place.

1. The absolute authority of the UN over the “orthodoxy”
2. The mandatory single “orthodoxy”
3. The mandatory application of “selective” science that supports only that orthodoxy.

Since these elements are interdependent, a failure of any one will see a collapse of all.

It is curious that so many in the advocacy block are well educated, professional, high profile and influential. In spite of this it seems incapable of understanding that its organic nature promotes shallow, ill conceived, reactionary and damaging rhetoric, all “tactical defenses”.

It is partly responsible for not only the economic damage being inflicted but more importantly for the diversion of public funds into futile, immature and non productive technologies which might have been put to better use. Meanwhile the Commercial Opportunists, the big end of town, are cleaning us out.

The advocacy block would seem to be left with the following options, to jump ship now, place a bob each way, formulate an exit plan or go the whole nine yards and say “please God, let me be right”.

Just keep the dream alive as long as you possibly can.

Solar panels work quite well in shade, in fact they work under a street light. The only thing that stops production is dark.
With soft start refrigerator and freezer, you can run on 3 batteries 24 hrs.

579 have you heard of the Onan company?

They build reasonably well sound proofed demand start generators, particularly for boats. Most yachties hate noise, so they go through the full gambit of solar, & wind charged battery banks to light their yachts. Most of them also have an engine driven generation system, supposedly as back up.

It is amazing just how many of them, at least those of them who have any money left after wasting a fortune on renewables, install an Onan generator. For those quiet loving yachties this is an admission of defeat, to install another noisy engine, but they do it to escape those confounded constantly failing renewables.

I was at a joyous burial recently. A mate had finally put together enough money to run the mains power 17Km across the paddocks to his homestead.

The party was to celebrate dropping the big diesel generator, the small diesel generator, the wind generator, all the batteries, & solar cells into a huge hole he had dug. We were all supposed to push some of the dirt in over the junk, but we couldn't get his wife off the dozer. She wanted to be sure none of the rubbish could ever get out she said.

Yes he knew the line would go down a few times a year, but that would be heaven, compared to fighting with "that solar junk" or paying for all that diesel.

I don't know anyone who has lived with home generation for more than a couple of years, even with brand new gear, who doesn't feel the same way.

Oh, I used to fix the junk for plantations in PNG.

I take it that Hasbeen doesn't believe in renewable power. Each to their own beliefs.
With 35 yr warranty i am not expecting trouble any time soon.
The first solar system has now passed the 45th yr of operation.
It all comes down to home economics i suppose.
It is not law to have such devices, it's up to the individual.

Many people have asked me what I mean by "Thermal Equilibrium' in a population context.

And No, its not that temperatures all over the planet will stay the same everywhere, although that is a THERMODYNAMIC prospect for Earth billions of years hence.

The best representation of social THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM in NSW caused by the sale of privatisation of electricity is the film ROBOCOP. Its a concept easily grasped & timely.

We are urged on our power bills to forgo clothes dryers and air conditioners, things that make us live longer by comfort and removal of TOXIC EPA approved air pollutants. And we know this is just for openers. In reality, We are being nudged onto the slippery slope of social decline: reduced quality of life, overcrowding, stress and those who profit from these conditions: THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM.

To recap: In their rush to welcome positive Labor voting migrants over tired old "catch us if you can" swinging voter Australian citizens, the NSW Govt sells our electricity supply, the main low ENTROPY source, to fiscal marauders.

Politicians then avoid paying the financial and environmental cost of their personal indulgence & LUXURY: More immigrants: votes and taxes and a divine right to strut the world stage like ideologic and geo-politic GIANTS. It also allows them, friends and family, to live in a "do as we say, not as we do" POWER vacuum.

This does away with the tedium of what used to be PUBLIC SERVICE in Government and brings back the heady days of 'Rum Corps' and Colonialism to Macquarie Street: All care taken & no responsibility accepted other than punishing rebels with privatised penal systems.

This all adds New meaning to the word 'ProRogue'. You don't need Einstein to explain how NSW is going to see a lot more of that!
Einstein however is probably the only person who could cut the Macquarie street BullSh$t and explain how charging ALL new migrants a $300,000 infrastructure fee could reverse the THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM we face and bring social justice and PEACE back to NSW.

KAEP:

Maybe new immigrants, on the way to pay their $300K entry fee to Australia (you suggested as an infrastructure levy), could stop to collect an indoctrination video from the SBS and learn how “Evil Australians” attempted to exclude all but white settlers from their shores; to be viewed of course in the lounge room of their newly purchased and most expensive home in the English speaking world, either in Sydney or Melbourne. Oh, and if that foreigner you refer to is benevolent at heart, could they throw a couple of .20c pieces into the hats of the 100K homeless (and powerless(E/L)) now living under bridges throughout Australia, as a token of esteem and part of a very personal contribution to Multiculturalism in Australia.

Sadly, Peace will not prevail though until all white Australians are mandated to join the seagulls at the local tip, now fenced with razor wire, as a replacement for unaffordable social service payments; rummaging for food before entropy turns scraps to methane. (A methane reduction tax applies)! Private prisons will be reconstituted and used as secondary educational institutions for rebellious youth from the Western suburbs, in which a secret programme will require non-performers to strip every second thread from the blankets of state prison beds, for use as fly screens in the new detention centres for the poor and destitute boat people on Christmas Island.

Diver Dan,

The difference between us?

I am a scientist, specialising in THERMODYNAMIC SYSTEMS.

I KNOW how to make Australian society evolve in a way that is OPTIMAL for PEACE and Justice and PROSPERITY.

You, on the other hand are just a COMMON GARDEN VARIETY RACIST!!