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One possible solution I have though of is :
1. Immediately release the approval and funding to allow approx 4000MW of supercritical coal fired to proceed (most of this has already been penciled in by the Government)
2. Decommission the older, less efficient stations up to around this figure progressively as the new stns come online.
3. Within 5-10yrs, you have a net reduction of possibly up to 10% emissions by employing new coal fired, low SOx and NOx burning technologies on the old units decommissioned.
4. In parallel, use the carbon tax funds to encourage more distributed generation such as solar with power control technology to smooth out its response. Try to target the network's growth p.a as what should be installed p.a for renewables at the very least.
5. Commit to a 10-20yr plan to start phasing out coal fired with a proven base load technology. To me, only nuclear appears to satisfy this requirement.
6. Target is 40yrs (when the newly built coal fired will be at the end of their useful life), you have converted to the new base load technology and with any good forsight, alternative/safer/cheaper forms of nuclear may take us into a new era of secure and cost effective and safe power generation with virtually zero CO2 emissions.
Thorium is not going to happen anytime soon and many of Australia's coal fired stations are now passing 30yrs of age. Unless someone has the stick to get real and make something happen other than relying on "the market", we're in for a rough ride toward the end of this decade with power security.
Darrin...
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