Hi Aidan and Taswegian

On nuclear I agree that SA should become a major place for developing the nuclear fuel cycle. U mining, enrichment, export overseas and research on advanced power stations. Also a long term project maintain the reactttors of the nulear propelled submarines Australia needs tto buy by 2040.

--

Hi Malcolm King

I wonder what compelling reasons keep you in SA given your regular listings of its endemic problems. Maybe those compelling reasons are quality of life benefits hidden by other measures than those that you select?

Regards

Pete

Hi Pete,

I studied the state's population and structural industry problems working for the APS and I also help people gets jobs. Plus I was born in SA (but worked from my 20s to 40s in Melbourne and elsewhere). I enjoy the wines and the beaches but I run my own business which also includes researching the local economy and meeting people at the 'coal face'.

The state needs more than geography to compete. It needs a regenerated media to wake people up and an attacking focus on international investment or else the quality of life benefits will seem more like a crutch rather than asset.

Aidan the argument against PV+batteries being a major power source is that the energy return is a small fraction of what we are used to with coal, gas and hydro. It may not be enough for a complex industrial society. See
http://bravenewclimate.com/2014/08/22/catch-22-of-energy-storage
If SA were to get sea water cooled nuclear power plants I favour combining them with desalination plants on open ocean frontages for brine dispersal. Eyre Peninsula will need a new water source by 2025 and Pt Stanvac already has a desal with vacant land adjoining.

Hi Malcolm

Yes certainly SA needs all the media questioning it can get. Too many towns and more rarely cities have a bought, passive media, afraid of editors who, in turn, are afraid of local powers that be.

Regards

Pete

Taswegian, as long as energy returned exceeds energy invested EROEI is not the limiting factor; economic return is. And it should become obvious that the claims otherwise are wrong when you consider true EROEI (including fuel) of fossil fuel generation: it's always below 1!

I am opposed to any use of Port Stanvac that would prevent its future use as a deepwater port. We should always consider Adelaide's future needs as well as present needs.

And the Eyre Peninsula has plenty of scope for brine disposal on land. And desalination's something that's well suited to a high reliance on solar power, as it can be done as an energy balancing activity, though the Port Stanvac plant is not currently set up for that. Indeed it's not doing much at the moment, but we're able to make much better use of our existing water supplies because it's there.

With solar, wind, battery backup and small onsite gas powered generators the future of electricity production will be in the home.
It is more efficient to produce electricity where it is being used