Yeah, but what have the Permians ever done for us ? Well, all right, cheaper petrol but what else ?

As far as I'm concerned, they can all go back to Permia.

Loudmouth, they can never go back. Haven't you ever heard of the Permian Extinction?

It must be frustrating the B jeezus out of market manipulators, who keep throwing money at trying to corner the energy market, to "earn" a money for nothing quid?

And Mr Putin whose economy floats on Russian oil, gas and petroleum products must be biting his fingernails down to the elbows?

Wall street and its derivative lead madness, would be well advised to invest any remaining real money in the real economy and alternative home grown energy products!

Which has to include the electric car, new batteries, biogas, algae based endless low cost oil production, (that no driller will ever be able to compete with once in full production) cheaper than coal thorium and very large scale solar thermal projects!

Simply put, a good businessman knows when to cut his losses and get out! Today's oil industry is a dead horse! Time to stop flogging! The real economy and the environment will thank you!
Alan B.

Renewable Energy does not stack up, Full Stop.

This is why, plain and simple, "Many people are hoping for wind and solar PV to transform grid electricity in a favourable way. Is this really possible? Is it really feasible for intermittent renewables to generate a large share of grid electricity? The answer increasingly looks as if it is, “No, the costs are too great, and the return on investment would be way too low.” We are already encountering major grid problems, even with low penetrations of intermittent renewable electricity: US, 5.4% of 2015 electricity consumption; China, 3.9%; Germany, 19.5%; Australia, 6.6%.

In fact, the reality is and a rather astounding conclusion to boot, the fact that even if wind turbines and solar PV could be built at zero cost, it would not make sense to continue to add them to the electric grid in the absence of very much better and cheaper electricity storage than we have today. There are too many costs outside building the devices themselves. It is these secondary costs that are problematic. Also, the presence of intermittent electricity disrupts competitive prices, leading to electricity prices that are far too low for other electricity providers, including those providing electricity using nuclear or natural gas. The tiny contribution of wind and solar to grid electricity cannot make up for the loss of more traditional electricity sources due to low prices".

This is the reality and no matter which way you do the numbers, they just don't stack up, period.

Yes Geoff, the best "alternatives" will be ones that walk out the door! Like cheaper than coal thorium or cost competitive solar thermal, with peak load capacity!

Then there's wasted waste, currently polluting our oceans as billions of annual tons of problematic biological waste! Every family produces enough waste to fully and independently power their domiciles 24/7! And rejected by the cash strapped power authorities on those grounds!?

Adding in food scraps and waste creates a salable surplus. However, if the traditional diesel is replaced with a (Aussie innovation) ceramic fuel cell and the two tank closed cycle smell free biogas (more Aussie innovation) is scrubbed, then consumed inside a super silent ceramic fuel cell, the energy coefficient (@ 80%) is virtually doubled!

Meaning endlessly sustainable carbon neutral energy for just 2-3 cents a kilowatt hour, endlessly free hot water and no power outages! And a 50% or better surplus, more than enough to keep the electric motor vehicle fully charged, overnight!

My preference being a tesla Xover with a 400 plus kilometre range and F1 performance! That said the S model is much more affordable at around 35 k's new? The exhaust product of the fuel cell mostly pristine water vapor!

And rejected by the tycoons of wall street, given there's not captive market to sponge off of, like the money for nothing blood money sucking parasites these energy barons have become!?

THe widespread uptake of this Aussie invented technology could see the price of a household fuel cell reduced to around five grand? The wall battery already affordable!

And all together a deathknell ringing in the collapse of the oil based energy market? Yes please!
Alan B.

Geoff of Perth,

Opposition to renewable energy does not stack up, as it relies on false assumptions. We're not encountering major grid problems at all. In SA, where about 40% of the power comes from wind and solar, supply is more reliable than before any of it did. The real problem is profiteering by power generation companies - it suits then to keep prices high.

Aiden,

We already seem to be reaching limits with respect to intermittent electricity supply. The US Energy Information Administration may be reaching the same conclusion. It chose Steve Kean from Kinder Morgan (a pipeline company) as its keynote speaker at its July 2016 Annual Conference. He made the following statements about renewable energy.

"The contribution of renewables is often overstated. An intermittent source is not equal in value to a dispatchable one and, absent transformative technologiy breakthrough's, 100% renewable energy generation is not feasible".

Few people have stopped to realise that intermittent electricity isn’t worth very much. It may even have negative value, when the cost of all of the adjustments needed to make it useful are considered.

Cheers
Geoff

Geoff,
If it already seems to you that we're reaching the limits with respect to intermittent electricity supply then there is something seriously wrong with your perception. Though I'm not surprised that the CEO of an oil pipeline company would want to give the impression otherwise.

But consider more carefully what he's saying. it should be obvious that an intermittent source is not as financially valuable as a dispatchable one of the same power, or even of the same total energy output, because the dispatchable one can produce electricity when the intermittent one can't. That doesn't change the fact that the electricity the intermittent one produces is as valuable as that which the dispatchable one produces at the same time.

And we're so far away from 100% renewable energy generation that it's a complete red herring that 100% renewable energy generation is not feasible without transformative technology breakthroughs (which are being developed anyway). The difficulty of reaching 100% renewable energy is not a credible excuse for the failure to reach 50%.

It comes down to cost:
The cost of the plant and storage has to be multiplied by the number
of predicted consecutive windless overcast days plus one.
So the storage has to be recharged in the first sunny day.
So hope it is sunny all day.

All that makes it impossible.

Only when I see the last litre of crude oil being auctioned off on E-Bay for some ridiculous amount, that is when I believe the movers & shakers will have realised that fossil fuels have had their day.

We have a 'majority'...ha hah ha government, here in Australia that still subscribes to the Wall Street model in vogue, a government full of fossils with their heads planted firmly in their fundamental orifice. Removing subsidies (what a great idea to get innovation = "Jobs and Growth" no doubt) & disbanding agencies that had proven track records.

Steaming full speed ahead onto the reef of popular opinion, only to see its romance with Adani Coal was a folly all too late...meanwhile those zillions of dollars fleeced off the good folks to fund an investigation into the Hole In the Ozone Layer...just to find it was a natural anomaly anyway. Where have they gone - oh another monetary black hole like the other zillions from the mining boom gone like a fart in a cyclone when the idea of sovereign wealth fund could have done wonders for our economy. So who was at the helm ? you guessed it, for the most it was our friends in the LNP or Liquidated National Prosperity Party.

Anyone believing Australia has been lucky riding out the GFC because of fiscal policies should remind themselves of the ALP/LNP/Greens platforms on renewable energy technology at the next general election and take a good long look at themselves.