Half the problem Glen it is convenient that when faced with energy problems there is no introduction of practical and inexpensive methods of storing energy.. hot water from the Sun is still hot at night and large reservoirs can store heat for many days where the Sun does not shine. The irony is if we get nuclear power their problem will be how to get rid of the heat build up
...that’s why we are being conditioned to have them near the sea whereas the conditioning has only to do with the sale of desalination plants
. Could one be a fool and suggest that once heating the water we could save that heat
.. I await them to say ..we cant its too dangerous
… but of course it can be used.. One must ask why the previous premier made it his business in the last days to look into desalination and traveled across the seas to look at the matter deeper. Gee if I was serious about taking power from the current Government, presumably the object of the game for the opposition I would be digging into what is really going on..
As to electricity storage that is not impossible when one realizes that a "car battery" is not a battery but an "accumulator" it gets only the power placed in it by a charge.. an accumulator is very simple and I doubt if it would take much to build some big enough to fill in the gaps of power supply.
But it’s not necessarily about reason and doing the right thing it is about "sales" and we are being sold nuclear power and desalinators and investigation of alternatives will be suppressed.
In the late 1800s one Australian dollar was worth 5 USA dollars, one could be cynical and ask are we buying too much stuff “we need to have”. I am one for spending money and spreading it around the community but the biggest problem with nuclear power and desalination is it drains more cash overseas, little will be spread around the Australian community. Rather it means we borrow more cash to send over seas.. , We are the rich country that’s why we are a perfect target for ideas that won’t get off the ground in other places…
Alex