ttbn said- "the loss of industry and investment because of unaffordable, unreliable energy"

Answer- Kudos ttbn. Interesting now high electricity price is biting because of Communist/ Leftist/ Labor Party influencers- many have moved to solar to try and insulate themselves- but they will soon learn that this is useless- however I do admire them for their attempts at self sufficiency. They have substituted one tyranny for another- "controlled opposition"- they are feeding the beast that is destroying them- giving their existential enemies more money overall in the form of increased spending on electrical energy.

They are running from the night beast- they don't know how far it is behind- but the monster is coming. Face the beast!

If electricity prices are going up- find ways of minimizing use of electricity- insulate your home by putting insulator over the windows and blocking the drafts (heating)- use more preserved food perhaps in the form of home dried meat, fruit, veg, herbs so you require less or no refrigeration- wash your clothes by hand.

You probably need lights and computers so you may not be able to get rid of electricity entirely- but there are options here too- lights with a bit of thought can be run off a standard power bank and with a readily available vehicle power supply your laptop can be charged.

In Australia the grid connection charges are extremely high and you'll find that even if you manage to reduce your use these charges are significant. Hopefully you will be able to reduce your exposure to energy market price growth and in time community pressure will invoke more practical energy and feeder policies. In a sense the solution to energy price growth may be outside the energy industry domain. Population growth is likely to influence energy prices if the energy infrastructure isn't easily scalable. Demand for energy production capability will also.

We could see a perfect storm of increased population growth in Australia increasing "demand" as well as an increase in offshoring of energy costs (through Chinese made solar panels) reducing native "supply"- effectively doubly increasing costs of energy.

CM. you've made my case for me and the long overdue introduction of nuclear energy. AS MSR thorium and power prices as low or lower than 3 cents PKWH. As an island nation entirely dependent on imported oil/petrol, we need a home-grown alternative that will not be accompanied by massive and record business/domestic bankruptcies.

The gormless, moronic, labor party can continue to bury their heads somewhere warm and comfortable, while Australia goes to hell in a hand basket. And Great depression no.2! As they cling to coal to support 12,000 CMFU unionists and the half a dozen or so foreign coal barons.

These few more important than the outcome for around 23 million Australians. Who can go FT.

WE earn SFA from our coal and need to get out from under this foreign control of our energy market.

Locally owned and operated (co-ops) nuclear plants as SMRs/MSR thorium would allow that to occur.

If that then came with some foreign owned stranded assets? Tough titties!
Alan B.

I agree with everything Alan B said except for one minor problem - there is no such thing as a thorium power plant.

China’s Climate Goals Hinge on a $440 Billion Nuclear Buildout
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-02/china-climate-goals-hinge-on-440-billion-nuclear-power-plan-to-rival-u-s#xj4y7vzkg

"China is planning at least 150 new reactors in the next 15 years, more than the rest of the world has built in the past 35."

- We should've been selling them every single chunk of coal we could before there is no longer any demand for it.
- There will be a race for uranium in coming years and prices will increase a lot I think.

*Attention Alan B. -
China’s ‘Particle Beam Cannon’ Is a Nuclear-Power Breakthrough
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/06/chinas-particle-beam-cannon-nuclear-power-breakthrough/368082/

"It promises to recycle spent nuclear fuel, making it cheaper and less dangerous—and moving Beijing toward energy independence.

The prototype “particle beam cannon” recently completed by Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Modern Physics may sound like science fiction, but it is a novel new technology that promises to recycle dangerous waste produced by a nuclear reactor. A product of China’s huge investment in advanced nuclear-energy systems, the breakthrough could move the country toward energy independence and further cement its global leadership in climate-friendly technology."

- What do you make of this?

China is Fast Outpacing U.S. STEM PhD Growth
http://cset.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/China-is-Fast-Outpacing-U.S.-STEM-PhD-Growth.pdf

- Only a fool would think the West can keep up with their rapid progress.

Alan B, mhaze- Even though there may be some issues with thorium reactors there are still fourth generation modular reactors. The good thing about nuclear over renewables is that they are their own storage medium. But it's tricky to use nuclear in civilian transport shipping or road vehicles- potentially you can use electricity in the form of batteries but there isn't enough lithium- are they are much less effective than oil. I'm sure nuclear can be used as part of the solution- especially for grid power- and to stabilize the world security- military strategists talk about risk/reward and stability/expansion. Their are probably larger scale power storage systems that can be used for civilian shipping but road vehicles are a more difficult problem that will need research and development- the only solution I can see is the creation of a closed carbon based fuel ecosystem- burgeoning world population adds to this challenging problem.

Alan B said "WE earn SFA from our coal and need to get out from under this foreign control of our energy market."

Answer- Yes Australia needs to produce more value added goods either for our own use or for others. And hang on to our natural resources more- but there is a lot of pressure from large miners to sell these as fast as possible- and also the superannuation markets etc.

More valued added approach leads to more employment, more returns, but often more investment- most prefer not to sell into markets that are based purely on price (like raw materials) but free trade is predicated on this basis- also many value added goods sell into consumer markets where distribution chains are more complex- smaller economies confront more challenges due to economy of scale issues- this has caused a population arms race between competing nations. All businesses need money, people, resources- nations will use different strategies to maximise their returns. Those with a lot of resources can use some sort of denial strategy to equalize other disadvantages- same for people and money- some of these strategies are outlawed in international frameworks- are these objective or are they based on power- but power always exists and it can create stability