Selecting statistics to create a head-line is common but not always sensible.
harm_less,
Mar 26, 1:40pm
Having listened to the radio article link I'm stuck by the fact that Michael Kelly makes virtually no mention of the most plentiful energy source we have available to us and the original source of the energy embedded in fossil fuels; the sun. Other than alluding to using the Sahara as a location to site a giant PV installation, which is currently under consideration, he does not comment on solar generation in the course of his anthropogenic climate change denial based rant.
The amount of solar energy reaching Earth is many times what we can ever require and the only limitation to our potential energy supply from this source is our ability to harvest and store it, both of which are technologies that are moving ahead hugely.
The ability of harvesting solar energy addresses many of the arguments he raises as distributed generation by way of domestic PV installations combined with home energy storage devices can largely solve the problem of grid capacity and local power distribution.
For a lighthearted but fact based presentation of alternative energy system progress check out this: https://youtu.be/l0ZHDIULEf8
richardmayes,
Mar 26, 1:47pm
Listen up guys!
We've got it all figured out, and you're all completely wrong!
nice_lady,
Mar 26, 2:35pm
And the MAIN point is: Politicians run the show - and they're all bloody mad. They only do what's politically expedient - in other words they're very self serving. So whatever happens it's going to be a major mess !
harm_less,
Mar 26, 2:40pm
But who own the politicians? Big business are the true movers and shakers. follow the $$s.
nice_lady,
Mar 26, 2:42pm
100 %. Hubby reckons even tho it's only 15km to his workplace theres NO way he's riding any kind of bicycle on the highway. He was a paper boy many years ago and is very well aware of the dangers, and they haven't lessened at all ! And especially as he's also on call before and after hours and needs to get there at 100Kmh not 25Kmh. And he might be called out 3 times in a day. A car is the only travel method he'll use. Electric ? Maybe but only if theres some reassurance the batteries aren't going to be causing an even bigger pollution disaster than ICE already does. Noted: There is new tech coming available which converts CO2 to fuel. Aside from global warming potentials isnt' that a good thing ?
marte,
Mar 26, 3:40pm
That's a huge amount of Copper, Aluminium, Concrete & Steel needed to do this electricity infrastructure upgrade. Plus the vehicles themselves. Where's this, and the energy to make it comming from?
framtech,
Mar 26, 6:03pm
and this is what I am saying, if we increase the grid by hydro, solar or what ever, who is going to pay or it, even a home solar system costs an arm and a leg, me I would take the view to keep using LPG, coal and petrol until we can afford the changes, putting a date on it will just break the bank, our country needs hospitals, doctors, nurses, schools, better roads, the pipes replaced under the streets etc we just can'r afford to piss around with major change at short notice.
curlcrown,
Mar 26, 6:13pm
I saw a man today with a small child on the back of his bike riding in heavy traffic. As I drove passed him I though one mistake from me and that child is dead, and there must have been a car passing every five or six seconds.
tygertung,
Mar 27, 2:43am
So you need to take responsibility for your driving.
But also there should be proper cycle paths, like they have in developed countries.
bill-robinson,
Mar 27, 4:06am
or bikes could be banned on safety grounds, like a lot of other things
poppy62,
Mar 27, 5:01am
Norway!. and Ti Wai point (demise) will free up Manapouri power. If the average journey of all private vehicles was put into context. An EV would make the most sense. The vast majority (90%) of private vehicle Daily use would be less than 50kms. Then again I suppose there is a need for some to justify the 5-10km trip in their ICE vehicles.
tygertung,
Mar 27, 5:15am
But it isn't the bikes which are the hazard.
flashman5,
Mar 27, 6:43am
I agree. Whatever occurs will be a disaster. When have idealistic politicians ever not made problems profoundly worse. Such as housing.
I remember a discussion of EVs on an american car retailers message board. In their experience EVs are a rich wifes second vehicle. Because only very wealthy suburban wives can afford to own and have the social circles where an EV would be a mark of prestige. They also said there is no second hand market for EVs. Who is going to pay a premium for an old car with a knackered battery.
toenail,
Mar 27, 9:06am
I don't think you need to worry, government can borrow out of the thin air and create billion dollar budgets.
intrade,
Mar 27, 9:18am
they should better borrow few hundred billion and fix the broken health system instead
bill-robinson,
Mar 27, 2:16pm
but if they are banned it stops the morons getting one.
apollo11,
Mar 27, 2:30pm
But you wouldn't buy one anyway.
bill-robinson,
Mar 27, 2:59pm
if you have one, no chance of me getting one.
secca2,
Mar 29, 6:24pm
child abuse! how dumb can 1 be, every time i have seen this it shocks me to the core, who in the right mind would trust another driver, not me eyes open, wide open in Auckland.
marte,
Mar 29, 6:40pm
Also costs Thousands of high paying jobs,, millions in income Taxes. Billion dollar export market. All on a hardly noticeable remote unusable peice of land. Loss of the exact metal used to make vehicles environmentally efficient in the first place. There's no way to transport this electricity onto the main grid & line losses getting it ( via a new Cook strait cable ) to the Nth island mean a lot of it will disappear into thin air on the way. Much better idea to get rid of Glenbrook Steel mill. Free up power right where it's needed. The workers will shift, freeing up housing. Less infrastructure demand for a while. No need for 3000 kms of new high voltage power pylons ( which the Greens won't allow anyway )
Tiwai point employed thousands of workers for over 60 years, both at Tiwai & Manapouri, which Tiwai smelter paid for plus a profit for the Government.
apollo11,
Mar 29, 6:44pm
Yes, I have a brain.
tygertung,
Mar 30, 3:13am
How could one walk along the footpath with a child? A driver could make a slight mistake and turn the steering wheel a couple of degrees to the left, then spear onto the footpath and run over the child.
How could one drive in a car with a child? A driver could make a slight mistake and turn the steering wheel a couple of degrees to the right, and then have a head on collision with an oncoming car with a child in it. Or could not stop at an intersection and t-bone a car with a child in it.
tony9,
Mar 30, 4:58am
A commonly quoted solution for future power is to shut down the smelter. Since February Genesis has recommissioned the third Huntly coal unit for a total of 750MW. They are now usually running all 3 at around 80% capacity. This output is about double that the smelter consumes.
Bear in mind that Genesis are doing this as it is a cheap source of wholesale power and very profitable for them. That is the company that is 51% owned by the crown so is controlled by the govt.
So what happens when we stop burning cheap coal, as the govt has committed to?
s_nz,
Mar 30, 5:47am
FYI The Glenbrook steel mill has a 112MW co-generation plant. Shutting it down isn't going to "free up" power, quite the opposite.
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