This is Amazing, so who is the Boss here. Trump?

Dear Bazz,

Well I'm back.

Now to the topic of burning coal.

We know that the more coal we burn, the more
we pollute the atmosphere with all its
resulting environmental problems.

A simple solution - keep burning coal.
Keep polluting the atmosphere. Keep
affecting the environment. Where there's
smoke, there's jobs as President Trump
believes. Simple - right?

However, a simple solution to society's energy needs
may turn out not to be so "simple".

Other
apparently simple solutions such as the use of
winds, tides or sunlight still appear, after years
of intensive research, to be too inefficient or
uneconomic for large scale use at present.

Of course there's nuclear to be considered.
But that also has the problem of the disposal
of hazardous waste. It seems to be a problem
that has no acceptable technological fix - as yet.

Your suggestions sound good Bazz. Doing things
gradually does make sense - but not too gradually.
Our investments in renewables is where our
future lies - and the sooner we make a start in
this area the better. The longer we delay - the
harder it becomes (and more expensive).

I'm no expert on the subject by any means - but
thinking logically we can't just continue to keep
doing what we've been doing. We need to look at
the long-term solutions and begin the process of
investing in trying to solve our energy problems
for our children and grandchildren.

At the moment, just west of Glen Innes, there is much building of renewables, specifically a large number of wind turbines and an array of solar panels.

"Creating a cleaner future through renewable energy

Sapphire Wind Farm is currently under construction. When complete, this large scale renewable energy project will provide enough clean energy to power around 115,000 homes and displace 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

It also brings many economic benefits to NSW’s New England region, including over 150 new jobs, as well as to the ACT capital region.

As the largest wind farm in New South Wales, Sapphire Wind Farm will help the ACT Government meet its target of 100% renewables by 2020, with construction due for completion in 2018."

This is but one of the three farms and will eventually have some 75 plus turbines.
Just how the power gets from Glen Innes to the ACT remains a bit of a mystery!
The other two are the Glen Innes and the White Rock Wind Farms, initially WR will have 70 turbines in Stage 1 and has an approved total of 119.
http://www.sapphirewindfarm.com.au/project/
http://www.whiterockwindfarm.com/

Dear Hasbeen,

You have earned your quid from the reef so now the rest of those who would like to do the same can just suck it up?

World renown reef scientists all attest to warmer waters being the main contributor to coral bleaching yet you want the rest of it to ignore their conclusions because you mucked around a bit on the reef?

Yeh right.

Stop being so bloody selfish. This is one of the wonders of the world and it draws tourist dollars from across the globe. Here is a recent Trip Advisor post;

“Visit to Green Island as part of a tour. The island itself was very touristy - good if you are seeking something safe and beautiful. The rainforest walk is well done. One reason for visiting was to see the Great Barrier Reef. It is clearly deep in trouble with widespread bleaching. Sadly, if your interest is in coral reefs, then the north end of the Great Barrier Reef is possibly not the place to go.”

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g255069-d4151335-r473795582-Green_Island-Cairns_Cairns_Region_Queensland.html#

This “I'm all right Jack” attitude might let you get away with your Trump adulation to your nearest and dearest but it is pretty disgusting to the rest of us.

Foxy, we have no choice but to do things gradually.
you said;
apparently simple solutions such as the use of
winds, tides or sunlight still appear, after years
of intensive research, to be too inefficient or
uneconomic for large scale use at present.

It is not so much a problem of efficiency rather it is a matter of
Energy Return on Energy Invested.
Most figures I have seen is that the average output of a wind generator
is about 30% of nameplate rating.
That means a turbine with a 10 Megawatt rating averages around
3 Megawatt over a year.
That means you have to build 2 or 3 extra turbines to get 10 Megawatt.
A similar situation exists with solar cells.
There is an extra complication that the difference between summer
and winter complicates things even further.

Di Capit? the greens leader on the Insiders today really showed
himself up to be hopeless. He waffled on about the coal fired stations
should be closed as fast as possible and not to worry about the grid
stability, just do it, solar & wind & batteries will enable us to
have a reliable electricity supply.
I am sure he is totally ignorant about batteries and I believe
ignorant about anything electrical.

The pro solar & wind proponents work on the basis that the wind does
not die off everywhere at the same time. Up to a point that is true.
However a very large area with light winds can be very frequent.
There is a further complication, just as solar out put is falling off
to a low level the wind starts dyeing. Ask any sailor about that.
to be continued

Cont:
Now where was I ?
To cope with overcast days you need to decide how many days you are
going to cope with. For each day you have to add the same number of
generator (solar & or wind) for one day, plus battery capacity + 30%,
for each extra day of overcast and light wind. Think about the cost.
The extra 30% is to cater for the battery losses.

I have solar cells here and they face almost north.
I have noted five days overcast with no wind here.
They do not track the sun of course but it would make a big difference.
I get about 300 watts at 9am in summer & 200 in winter.
At noon for my cells, 12-30 aest I get 1090 wats in summer and 900 watt
in winter, but at 2pm I get 820 approx in summer and 750 in winter.
At 4pm I get about 200 watts summer and 6 watts in winter (shadow).
The problem is that all those pushing solar and taking into account
all the rooftop solar that people have/will install I believe have
never measured the output they achieve.

As Hazlewood has closed I think you had better stock up on candles.