The simple truth: Coal-fired generators

[davidc4430]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-13/ian-verrender-the-simple-truth-on-renewable-energy/8264296

its a pity we have a govt that is using such an important issue for cheap political gain and that we have a PM that has completely dropped every thing he has ever spouted re global warming just to apease his backers.

the guy must know none of the power problems striking south australia has had anything to do with renewables and everything to do with the way the system is looked after by the "private" companys he would prefer to run everything.

that and weather events that are uncontrolled by anyone.

for a man who was intelligent to now be standing on a soapbox proclaiming coal fired generators are suddenly 'clean' is just amazing as there is no one outside the coal industry who says that.

no body anywhere has proven they can make coal energy clean, only that they can make it ever so slightly cleaner than what we have now. they cant stop the pollution just try to 'catch' some of it and put it somewhere else, ummm, like in a hole in the ground?

i fear for the future of the planet if we are going to play games like this.

[chameleon54]

Coal fired power is certianly too poluting to use long term and the picture of Barnaby J holding a lump of coal in parliment actually looks like a clown holding coal. ( appropriate really given his current stance on coal ) The coalition support for coal fired power stations no doubt has a lot more to do with supporting their big business mates ( and political doners ) rather than what is best for the long term future of our kids and the planet.

That aside there can be no doubt the absolute shambles South Australia faces with its current electricity problems is a direct result of the Wetherill / Labor governments complete business incompetance. To rush so quickly into renewables without heeding expert advice that the state did not have enough base load power to keep the grid stable is a classic example of how Labor works. Labor policy decisions are idealogically driven for populist causes at the expense of common sense practical, down to earth logic. The rush to renewables by Wetherill and SA Labor was driven by a desire to strut the global stage saying " look at me " rather than what was in the best interests of the state, its businesses, jobs and people.

S.A is well placed to generate energy using renewables but the process should have invoved building iterconnectors with other states, other than the single cable to Victoria to allow for the export of renewable energy and importation of dirtier base load power when required.

SA,s gas fired power station at Pelican Point produces energy with less than half  of the carbon emmissions of coal fired stations yet is only running at 50% or less of capacity as one turbine is left in mothballs. This is just crazy stuff. We have a major, reasonably clean, modern gas fired power generator gathering dust while large sections of the state have their power ( and air conditioners ) turned of amidst a mid 40 degree temperatures. Meanwhile we are importing power from one of the oldest and dirtiest coal fired power stations in the country.............Doooaahhh !!!!

For heavens sake, just buy the Pelican Point power station if thats what it takes to return power to the state. ..........Oh hang on, we havnt got any money have we. We,ve spent it all on a footy oval and a tram line. ......Typical Labor incompetence.

[davidc4430]

pelican point, you can only buy it if its for sale and i think as it is prolly part of the lease deal the liberal govt did when putting the electricity into private hands we prolly do own it but dont at the same time.

could that be the sistuation?

if yes maybe the lease holder would give it up, but i doubt it.

[chameleon54]

Everything is for sale at a price and the plant is only running at half capacity at the moment, because Government policy on renewables makes it unecenomic. I,m sure if the offer was juicy enough, something could be arranged. It seems the logical solution to at least patch up the utter mess we have now and keep the lights on in the state until a more permenant solution is found.

Unfortunately while we have Labors Tom Kousantonis in charge of the states finances, I dont hold out much hope of things improving anytime soon.

WARNING TO OTHER STATES - Take a look at our S.A state Labor treasurers Wikapedia page ( Tom Kousantonis ) . His only business experience is taxi driving and running a small business. A couple of months after becoming our minister for road safety, he had to resign when it was discovered he had run up 58 traffic infingement notices and over $10,000 in fines. YOU COULDNT MAKE THIS STUFF UP IF YOU TRIED. !!!!!!

    This is the guy that is in charge of our state finances and you wonder why we cant even keep the lights on here.  But hey, he was a union rep so that makes it all OK. Surely even the incompetent Labor Government we have in SA HAS TO HAVE MORE DEPTH OF TALENT THAN THIS................... Dont they ?????...................

[davidc4430]

you say south australia should be building an interconnector with nsw, best i can find the cost for it is said to be 500 miillion dollars,

would it not be better to put 500 million into our own 'clean coal' power station?

[davidc4430]

btw, PM Turnbull was proclaiming the future is clean coal power stations but he didnt actually say who was going to build them or where.

is he offering to build one in cash strapped SA?

or are they all going to be in NSW cos thats a liberal state?

[chameleon54]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

you say south australia should be building an interconnector with nsw, best i can find the cost for it is said to be 500 miillion dollars,

would it not be better to put 500 million into our own 'clean coal' power station?

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My main suggestion was to buy or lease the Pelican Point gas fired power station. It is already there waiting to go, but is mothballed due to government policy which has distorted the electricity market pricing.

If  S.A. Labor was so he!! bent on jumping headlong into renewables before everone else, it should have at least built an interconnector with NSW as part of its plan. This would allow SA to sell its "green energy" to other states and import base load dirty coal power when needed. At least then the whole model would make some sort of sense, even if it sent residents in the state broke through very high electricity costs. . Instead we have too much reliance on renewables without base load capacity to stabilise the grid, resulting in blackouts and some of the highest electricity prices in the world. Business confidence in the state is at an all time low, our youngest and brightest are leaving in droves and the state is rightly the butt of jokes around the nation.

I doubt that spending $ 500 million on a " clean coal " power station in SA would make much sense. We have a lot more gas than coal in the state and gas turbines produce less than half the greenhouse gas emmissions as coal. Lets build a shiny new gas fired power station............. Hang on ......we already have a modern, efficient gas fired power station at Pelican Point that is sitting in mothballs and can be fired up with 6 hours notice. .......................ITS A NO BRAINER REALLY ...... Just buy or lease the thing, lock in long term gas contracts, produce the electricity and take the extreme highs out of the current electricity market. Basically re-introduce a state owned power station.

[village_person]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

improving anytime soon.

WARNING TO OTHER STATES - Take a look at our S.A state Labor treasurers Wikapedia page ( Tom Kousantonis ) . His only business experience is taxi driving and running a small business. A couple of months after becoming our minister for road safety, he had to resign when it was discovered he had run up 58 traffic infingement notices and over $10,000 in fines. YOU COULDNT MAKE THIS STUFF UP IF YOU TRIED. !!!!!!

    This is the guy that is in charge of our state finances and you wonder why we cant even keep the lights on here.  But hey, he was a union rep so that makes it all OK. Surely even the incompetent Labor Government we have in SA HAS TO HAVE MORE DEPTH OF TALENT THAN THIS................... Dont they ?????...................

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c54, in my view Mr Kousantonis is well qualified to be an MP. All he has to do now is learn the art of T/A abuse and of course get his ample backside on one of those nice big gleaming Qantas jets bound for exotic o/seas locations.