Australia's Energy Policy (Part A)

Australia's Energy Policy (A).

What does the future hold?

We all want cheap and reliable energy .... electricity and hydrocarbon fuels.

The enactment of Labor's ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) or better termed Extra Tax System, but now officially the CPRS (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) will cause enormous damage to the Australian economy. It is going backwards, instead of forwards. Our enormous carbon-based resources, which provide us with a world competitive advantage, will no longer be an economic advantage to us.

Let's consider ELECTRICITY GENERATION (A)

Theoretically, there is no problem here. The States Q, NSW, VIC and SA are well served by coal and gas fired power stations, and WA and NT by natural gas. The reserves of coal and natural gas are enormous and sufficient to last out this century and way beyond.

It makes no sense to promote renewable energy (wind, solar and geothermal), except for niche applications and small scale domestic use.

The legislation of goals to produce 10 or 20% of electricity from renewables, and forcing utility companies to do so is madness.

Large scale wind farms and solar plants are hopelessly uneconomic and require continuous backup from conventional power plants (coal, gas or nuclear), so why build them in the first place? Do you want your electricity bill to go sky high because of the introduction of so called Green Power, which is quite unnecessary?

Nuclear Power:
There are about 436 commercially operating nuclear power stations in the world in 30 countries. France produces ca 87% of its electricity from nuclear power stations. It is a world leader in nuclear power technology, the building of such power stations and export of electricity.

Do we need nuclear power stations in Australia? Not essentially, but a few built in outback mining regions miles away from the national grid would be advantageous. Australia needs to keep abreast of nuclear power technology which is expanding every year.

BHP Billiton, in their Olympic Dam Expansion (2009) report say that the total electricity requirement may be 650 MW. They don't mention the possibility of using nuclear power, but I say why not consider it. They have the largest uranium mine in the world all, of which is exported to Japan, Korea , Europe and the USA. The latest nuclear power plants can be build in modular form of 50, 100 or 200 MW sections, which would be ideal to supply electricity for outback mining regions in Australia. Maybe we could electrify the Ghan Railway, from Adelaide to Darwin, and save on diesel fuel?

The Australian energy future is very rosy indeed, provided we don't let the eco-religious groups, Labor and the Greens, who are well meaning but confused, try to destroy the future prosperity encased in our natural resources.

Part (B) will deal with Transport Fuels.

Allano