OK
Fossil fuels are running out, dirty and old fashioned.
Solar is modern but just not up to speed. Solar panels also use up lots of energy to manufacture.
Cars and light vehicles can go electric, and would already be doing so if not for the greed of Oil companies.
Aircraft need to run on something.
Australia’s population may be too high, but that is not going to change any time soon.
The World’s population may well be totally out of control, but that is not going to change without a pandemic, even that would only slow the growth.
A large amount of the World’s population is moving from 3rd world poverty to 2nd or even 1st world prosperity within one or two generations.
Bushfires create more pollution than coal fired power station however, we still need to cut total pollution not add to it.
Industry will keep consuming power based on demand and Aust and the World have lots and lots of demand.
Green Tax, can fix it all, at least that’s what some say OR Tax will do little to deter total power demand without a population cut.
Natural gas is OK but not great because it still pollutes, just a little less than Coal.
Nuclear is the devils work, no matter what, it just is. Even clean new generation reactors are just bad, bad things, besides they and are NUCLEAR.
With a side effect that you can make the bomb from the left overs.
Thorium Nuclear Reactors are not ready and considered unproven, even though they have been used and tested, besides they are still not totally clear, just cleaner.

My guess is we (Aust) will Go Nuclear, hopefully someone will be bright enough to pick the right version / style of reactors before we go too far down that road. We will also end up with a carbon or green tax or something like it and soon.

On the bright side, we may run out of water first, then we won’t have to worry about power, we will be busy looking for something to drink.

Please people. Stop the talk about taxes. I am a tax accountant and my life is complex enough as it is!

Introducing or raising taxes will not have a significant impact, particularly on energy consumption. There are significant taxes on fuel as it is (yes people, excise is just another name for a tax), and whilst there might be some shift towards smaller cars and bicycles, there are still plenty of 4WD's getting around (albeit that there are some people out in this neck of the woods that actually need them). The point is that our society is affluent enough to adjust other areas of their life to compensate for something that they see as a necessity.

The only answer to effectively reduce power use (or water use), is to regulate and impose restrictions. You'll find that if people know that once the meter hits a certain level that the flow will be cut off, then they'll be suprising innovative in their attempts to conserve both energy and water. Where I grew up, the house was run on rainwater only (on 14 inches of rain a year) and we have never had to buy water in 100 years of living in that house. Yes, there is still a twin tub, there is only a bath and everyone shares the water (dirtiest goes last!), there is a brick in the cistern of the toilet so it doesnt fill up to far, you get the story.... The same house is well laid out and heavily insulated, so rarely uses an airconditioner, and we always just wore an extra couple of layers of clothing in winter, so power use was pretty low (and no such thing as a clothes dryer!). If everyone is IMMINENTLY faced with a resticted supply, then they will have true incentive to manage their usage of our finite resources. The way things are, there is not enough proximity to the problem to have an effect on most people.

Dickie

I would like to understand what point you are trying to make. That is why I asked for a link. I thought that the links I provided were quite objective, and do give quantified comparisons. Nuclear power is rightly a very emotive topic, but that is all the more reason to try and be objective. So could you please provide a link to support your argument.

"there are still plenty of 4WD's getting around"

That doesn't mean that the taxes ar not having a significant effect. The current taxes don't even cover the cost of building and maintaining the roads for people to drive on.

"Stop the talk about taxes. I am a tax accountant and my life is complex enough as it is!"

Hope that was a joke.

"The point is that our society is affluent enough to adjust other areas of their life to compensate for something that they see as a necessity. "

But they don't see it as a necessity.

If we all advised our current crop of dim-witted politicians (all brands) that we would vote only for those who put a population policy in place which would gradually reduce our population to its sustainable level of about 13 million, there would no need for a discussion of this kind.

A total and immediate cessation of immigration of any kind is the first step.

Until we stabilise our population at a realistic level, worrying about energy will continue to be like peeing into the wind.

Don't think that science will solve the problem. Politicians will not spend our money on ANYTHING that will solve the problem.

We have already reached crisis point with water, yet the political nutters who are supposed to be running the country brought in another 140,000 people in 2006.

Freediver, I was not joking about using taxes to curb usage. Our tax system is already among the most complex in the world - I see no point in making it worse. Taxes to try to curb alcohol and tobacco use have had little effect - enough people see them as a necessity. It is the same with fuel and it will be the same with electricity and water. Soft-skinned city-slickers would have a hell of a time doing without their airconditioned homes and offices, and will pay more to keep these running, rather than turn them off, to say nothing about the power used by their big-screen tvs and entertainment systems. This is what I mean about these things being a necessity. They will still see it as a necessity to each have a short shower, rather than sharing a shallow bath (the payoff for being last and having the dirtiest water is that you get a slightly deep bath after its been topped up with hot water a few times). People will find a way to pay for this. My suggestion is to limit the actual supply to each house over a month or quarter. Yes, hard to put into practice, but it is the only way to have the desired impact, while still being fair to those in our community that are not as well off financially.

I agree with you that technically these things described are not necessities, as I can live without them (although I would argue that it is better for me to water my lawn and trees to create a cool environment around my home, that vastly reduces the need for additional cooling in summer). However the practical realities are that many people DO see these as essential and therefore will find a way to pay for them.