Energised electrons (electricity) take no sides in politics and ethics.
Each and every electron is a devout follower of the principles and laws of nature and economic consequences follow from that base.
Therefore the proper and most robust base for developing energy policy is to be guided by available technology and its economic and environmental consequences, not shallow vote-catching nor pandering to vested interests nor ideologies.
Australia has not done this; our energy situation is a chaotic mess and it is a completely self-harming situation.
Transitioning from fossil fuels is a formidable undertaking, with no immaculate solutions known to date.
The year 2023 saw the highest global consumption of fossil fuels in history.
In Australia we are not testing for what is best available for meeting our needs.
Our needs are quite easily described: people want the most affordable, reliable electricity on demand 24/7, that is carbon-free and causing minimum environmental damage.
Reason, rationality and acceptance of the laws of nature above any ideology is imperative for the best result.
Merely ignoring significant limitations of any type of generator because it conflicts with an ideology is self-defeating in the end.
Evaluation of all the available alternatives should encompass all of the costs and benefits involved.
We have not done that.
Nuclear is dismissed out of hand without proper appraisal and the intermittency limitation of solar and wind is overlooked, ignored or trivialised.
Intermittency is the root cause of the enormous expense associated with solar and wind, resulting in redundancy, synchronisation and transmission which are all costly.
The modelling and calculations of government-dependent organisations cannot be relied upon.
For example, the Snowy 2.0 was originally budgeted as $2B and now without transmission considerations $12B, a sixfold increase, and with transmission included possibly $20B – in short, a disaster.
Solar and wind are certainly not “the cheapest form of energy” when incorporated into electricity utilities.
Australia cannot move forward very well without an agreed on, properly researched energy policy and this seems unlikely to occur unless we accept that the laws of nature take precedence to any preferred ideology or generator types, vested interests, parliamentary authority or phobias.
Email, Jul 18
Charles Hemmings, Woy Woy
Well said Charles Hemming of Woy Woy