Finally! I mean, imagine the total uproar here if any greenie product was costing our health department so much money and making people sick! Here we have health department figures evaluating the health impacts of bad fuel on our population. But because it sounds like 'environmentalism' Deniers here lose their minds and start screaming about communism! This is only a partial fix though - as when we phase out all fossil fuels we'll really see the health benefits (and taxpayer savings on our health departments.)

"In a Draft Regulation Impact Statement opened for consultation on Friday, federal Labor proposes changes to fuel quality standards as a first step towards opening Australia up to the latest vehicle technology, and shedding its status as the global dumping ground for inefficient and polluting cars...

...Federal energy minister Chris Bowen says the implementation of these standards will deliver a raft of benefits, not least of all an estimated $4.9 billion in avoided health costs from 2025 to 2050."
http://thedriven.io/2022/11/18/australian-cars-may-finally-get-clean-fuel-in-first-step-to-emission-controls-and-switch-to-evs/

As I see it....

We need energy for heating and cooking and transport and so on.
When we convert material to release energy in to a usable form, we create by-products.
Some of these are harmful and remain so for the long term.
This is the source of pollution.

The trick is to make conversion as 'clean' as possible.
To find a way that generates the least 'pollution'.
Pollution cannot be eliminated entirely.
Unless we could use the sun as a direct source, and conversion was achieved by something which exists naturally on the planet.
Doing it that way seems to be impracticable?
So, for the moment, there has to be a compromise.

One way involves using batteries for storage.
Do batteries create less pollution?
The material needed must be mined?
And what happens to the battery when it is beyond use?
Can it always be recycled?
Does that process generate more pollution?

Whichever way we go, unless we can develop a near perfect system, we are slowly poisoning the planet.

Bugs Bowen gets a guernsey from MG; it's no wonder that MG is as naive and childishly accepting of the unreliable energy scam as he is. Bowen is an idiot: a nervous collapse waiting to happen; banging on about how cheap unreliables are, and wanting more of them, even as the price of electricity soars.

Bowen also signed up to giving money we don’t have to "deloping" countries - massive emitter China being one of them.

Bowen has never had a proper job, where his income was dependent on his own ability and work. He is Albanese's Court Jester, something else Australia cannot afford. The only thing he is good for is taking the heat off Albanese while that twerp travels merrily around the world.

Hi Ipso Fatso,
batteries are incredibly important for some households and especially for transport. I would favour a rise in *other* electric transport like trolley-buses that can be put up a lot faster and cheaper than trams - and charge 'on-line' but then go off-line on local EV trips because they'll have a battery. Or go around a downed tree or section where the powerlines were blown over in some future climate storm. They're just more flexible than on-line only, but don't have to have super-battery tech either.

But in terms of the grid? The CSIRO report I like explains that we'll overbuild the grid with wind and solar to minimise the storage we need. Then there's literally 300 TIMES more potential storage sites than we need in off-river pumped hydro. Pick your best third of a percent and you're done!

Per capita, this uses a tenth the water of a coal fired thermal plant! We'll SAVE 90% of today's energy-water by switching to renewables.
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2516-1083/abeb5b#prgeabeb5bs6

Hows about tidal generation, both direct and tidal storage.
No one has mentioned ‘heat sinks’ which store the heat from the sun and can be utilised for warming.

Hi Is Mise - if we built all our homes according to the best in passive solar design, we'd be a whole lot more comfortable. The Hobbit's had it right - build almost underground to use the average temperature of the earth to warm in winter and cool in summer. Thermal mass in building design - it can store warmth for cool seasons, and cool the house for hotter seasons. And save us money - in the long term.

But here's another thought on cars. China is about to flood the world market with cheap EV's. Now - I'd rather we made our own or bought off friendlier nations - but this is what is about to happen. EV's coming out at parity - or even *cheaper* than gas guzzlers. When people realise how much money can be saved by:-
1. Borrowing a little more on their mortgage.
2. Putting solar on their roof or buying into a Solar Garden (if they're in Strata Title or renting).
3. Buying an electric car and charging from their roof / garden offset contract,

then what do you think will happen to the value of petroleum cars? That's right! Plummet! Even the value of cars in a showroom will plummet.

It's time to get your super out of these investments. Now!