"I'm just against the utter lunacy of net zero. How many billions a year are being slipped to the koala clubbing grifters?"

Yes well that fad seems to be going out of fashion.

I've always tried to have a reasonable approach to the whole climate thing:
I'm not against doing things that are better for the environment but I don't support cutting my nose off to spite my face.
I'm not going to support shutting down the coal plants just because it seems like a trendy thing to do, you know.

We've come some way though haven't we?
Solar panels and electric cars and home battery storage.
Better than the old 100 watt light bulbs.
The climate warriors should be happy.

There is no economic rationale for capital investment in new coal fired power stations. CSIRO modelling for new coal fired stations shows their delivery cost of electricity would be twice that of new wind and solar backed by battery storage. There is an argument for minor investment by government in existing coal plants to extend their life over the short term. This is uneconomic, but it helps maintain supply as new green energy comes on line.

I'm perfectly fine with that Paul.
I just won't support shutting them down prematurely on a trendies whim if it means prices go up and consumers have to foot the bill for the switch over or if it creates further supply problems later.

A sensible approach is all I ask.

When you have these hysterical climate warrior types, well they want to shut down the coal plants regardless of the consequences.

It's like they go to the climate church, but when the bag gets passed around every Sunday, they want the non believers and people that the don't even go to church to open their wallets to pay for their climate religions beliefs instead.

Hi AC,

I agree with you on that. Its a bit like the kid (my son when he was a teenager) with an old car, and a daddy (that's me) with money. You can keep the old beast (79 Holden) running indefinitely if you're willing to pour lots of money into it. Ageing coal fired power plants are like that, government can keep them running well past the use by date, if they pour enough money into them. Then of course there is the reliability factor, pour lots of money in, but they still break down (like the old car).

Hi AC,

Still a way to go though. Batteries are still too expensive, short lived and unsafe to make them viable without heavy subsidies. Sodium ion batteries could be the first battery tech to change things, but they are at least five years away.

You will know things have changed when people go off-grid en masse and give those disgusting renewable energy con artists the finger, but it remains to be seen whether rooftop solar with battery storage is a cheaper option than mass produced nuclear.

"CSIRO modelling for new coal fired stations shows their delivery cost of electricity would be twice that of new wind and solar backed by battery storage."

The CSIRO still acknowledges that new build coal is cheaper than renewables, and that is even the case with their dodgy modelling.

https://youtu.be/rXXSQ7uGYZY?si=wZHyXRrqFFE4FgD2

Ask yourself why Indonesia is processing Australia's minerals with coal power if renewables are so cheap? Might be why new renewable investment is tanking despite the koala clubbing grifters getting over twenty billion a year in taxpayer handouts.

Australians are being conned.