Toni is OK, he is making a mockery of coalition politics. More windmills more co2, You have been had. Who is worried about co2. Best you keep your eye on the ball. Pollution tax has got to do with getting of of fossil fuel, not co2. While you were distracted like Toni, big things are happening, and all for the betterment of Australia.

Tony Abbott today in question time swapped laughs and jokes with his team.
While protesters, some invited by coalition members, insulted the Parliament.
One day, a tragic event may take place from those public gallery's.
Never more than today, Tony Abbott was shown as unfit for his office/his party/Australian politics.
I have no doubt, not a bit,CONSERVATIVES can do, need to do, much better than him.

Hasbeen,

It may be that wind farms are inefficient at the moment, the papers you are referring to are sound of logic. They are comparing them with gas turbines, however, not coal plants. I suspect it's more a symptom of their infancy for now.

We will see how further study and engineering developments go, it's hardly a reason to call all bets off on them and other clean energy investments. The people working in those industries wouldn't be too impressed at you dancing and cheering, after all, it's their jobs.

Ultimately it points out why Abbott's direct action policy is so economically irresponsible. Evident also in the Californian debacle

Yes Trashcan, & 579, wind mills have proved to have a larger foot print than the current mix, including coal. The ramping up & down of the required gas back up plants, to carry the useless surging power coming from the windmills is costing more co2 & fuel, than just running what they've got now.

With the billions greenie vote buying governments have thrown at research & development of these things, don't hope for any technology breakthrough in our lifetimes.

That's 2 out of 2 greenie bull S stories done for, ethanol has proved to produce more CO2, & burn more petroleum than it replaces.

Add to that the huge Spanish investment in wave power, now rusting in the sand hills, where it was dragged ashore & you start to see a common thread here. When ever you get academics, greenies, & activists [Greenpeace, WWF], together you can bet we are about to waste even more money on some pie in the sky dreaming.

Might be a good thing if the pommy met bureau has finally got something right. A couple more years of the poms freezing their butts off each winter, & it will be open season on greenies. Hope they still have some fox hounds left, to help hunt the buggers down.

Don't wash the mark off your bath tub fellers. This is the high tide line, it's all down hill from here. That dirty line will be all you have left to dream over in the very near future.

Hasbeen an informative post.
Informative about you.
Not about climate change.
Australia has seen gas Turbo power stations built.
The last I know about,sure to be another, was at Munmorra south of Newcastle.
I worked on the construction of the conventional one, in about `1962 or 63.
The gas one, strangely enough was said to be turned on during peak load only, by remote control it was not to be manned.

That's right Belly, many of the GTs are unmanned. They are operated remotely, switching on and off based on the going price, which is usually in response to peak demand. The greenhouse gas emissions do peak a bit as they are switched on, but not for long.

Hasbeen,

You're missing the point. We don't have endless supplies of fossil fuels. We need to come up with alternatives. The pricing of carbon should provide enough incentive for that to take place in the private sector, withou government having to shell out taxpayers money to fund it. The sooner we implement it, the greater the competitive advantage out economy will have once oil and coal reserves start to run dry.

Why are Australians so unwilling to make a sacrifice for future generations? The Anzacs went to war, we just need to pay a bit more to power our flat screen TVs!