10 Electricity Facts from the Finkel Review

 1. Fact: The cheapest form of new power generation is renewable

 

2. Fact: Electricity prices have risen most in fossil fuel dominated states

 

3. Fact: Gas power is expensive and high prices are locked in for the foreseeable future

 

4. Fact: Coal with carbon capture and storage is expensive

 

5. Fact: Coal is polluting

 

6. Fact: Gas is polluting

 

7. Fact: 98.8% of power interruptions are caused by events affecting power lines

 

8. Fact: Ageing fossil fuel plants struggle in extreme heat

 

9. Fact: Integrating wind and solar into the grid can be “easily managed”

 

10. Fact: Renewable power and storage can provide secure electricity 24/7

 

the full factsheet is here:

http://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/1046d937d764218c32ba71e4db7879b3.pdf

 

 

9 comments

You won't be popular kika, too many facts and not enough hysteria or Liberal propaganda.  But it will be interesting to see the usual suspects spin this one.

 

Hi Kika

Do subsidies play into any of the facts quoted esp 1 & 2

Not sure about no 10 either - recent failures  certainly prove otherwise 

What is the substitute for 4 using renewables?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source#/media/File:LCOEs_of_energy_generators_in_Australia_AETA_2013_Update_Figure_8.png

i'm no expert on this raphael, but if you download the finkel review from the site i quoted, you may find answers there.

I think that recent failures have been with the delivery infrastructure and management of distribution not the method of production.  At least that is what I have understood the actual resource experts to have found.  Of course the politicians have told a different story, it is called political expediency.

you're right, ex-PS.  change can be difficult for all of us but we will be forced to make many changes in our lives in the coming years, as most of the old ways will break down.

At least we should try, for the sake of our grandchildren.  There are some good documented examples where non-carbon producing fuel has worked in cities and even countries.  It is a pity that this government is addicted to coal and gass revenue and it is clouding their judgement.

 

 worried about your elctricity bill?   the finkel report says that australia can source 42 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2030.

 

if we continue as we have for the next ten years we will have an electricity market which grows more unstable and even more expensive......and allows australia to continue to fall further behind the modern world.

 

since 1972, the our prliament has received and considered over 170 reports on climate change and energy policy. they are gathering dust as the government does nothing. i wonder if this latest report will meet the same fate?

 

 

 

 

 

FACT: South Australia closed down its coal fired power station and has the dearest electricity prices in Australia.

FACT: Gas power is expensive because exploration has had a moratorium placed on it and there is a shortage.

FACT: Power interruptions in South Australia are caused because it's night time or there is not enough wind or too much wind.

FACT: Wind and solar needs a baseline back-up source.

FACT: If cheap, clean, reliable power is what people want, the only sensible answer is nuclear.

Nuclear power plants are expensive to build and even more expensive to de-commision.  Gas power is more expensive because the energy companies have committed to sell it off shore at lower prices than we pay, we are effectivley subsidising cheap gas for other nations.  Base line problems will be solved as battery storage becomes more effective, this is happenong very quickly, it could be faster if the government provided some resources into developement instead of using our money in shoring up the coal and gas industry.

If Nuclear is the sensible answer, it must have been a pretty stupid question to begin with.

I disagree with nuclear power Old Man. 

So far there is no reliable way to store the waste products and it is that waste that will be a headache for our descendants for the next several hundred years.

Agree we will just be replacing a carbon problem with a depleted fuel rod problem, we need to start thinking ahead and not repeating the mistake of acting on knee jerk suggestions.

It is dishonest to push for renewables on the basis that it is cheaper 

coal , gas and nuclear are currently 2 - 3 times cheaper to produce 

But how much will it cost to clean up after the disaster which is created by coal, gas and nuclear.  We need to plan into the future, taking care of the needs of today is the reason we are foundering in the present time.

 

Old Man, I'm with you. Nuclear, wind power and wave energy is the way to go.

Yep, everything is expensive in the beginning but in the long run it will save the planet, not destroy it with burning of fossil fuels.

If the taxpayer wants investment in renewables only and do away with fossil, then they need to be willing to pay for hot through higher prices and or taxes

the choice is that simple 

renewables may be cheaper to produce in the future 

but at the moment it is far far more expensive 

the other issue is loss of tax revenue and jobs from shutting down fossil mining 

so it's a matter of "put up or shut up" 

 

 

 

It was once thought that steam powered ships would never replace sail powered ships. The reason, too expensive, not dependable and unproven technology.  Regressive thinking leads to a regressive society.  Sail makers lost jobs but engineers found employment, what we lose on one side we gain on the other, the main gain is that we improve on the way we do things.

Sheep wait for others to improve their lot, men make the improvements and enjoy the fruit of their labour.

Jobs can be created in the renewable energy field but only if we lead the way, otherwise we will have to buy it from other cleverer countries.

R&D in renewable energy generation is great

thats quite different from forcing renewable power down the populations throats through subsidies taxes and loss of fossil mining jobs 

You need to read what I say and try and understand PS

 

The billions that has been invested in uneconomic renewable infrastructure plus the billions spent on subsidies and lost on fossil income would have been better ploughed into R&D and put us in the forefront of innovation in this field 

unfortunately as usual the lefties have no common sense and are only interested in gaining votes by implementing feel good policies for the masses 

9 comments



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