IMO switching the energy make up from coal fired and gas fired generation will not provide for reliable, cheap and secure energy supplies. Renewable energy has a place on your roof, some storage but base load, i.e. what industry requires, is really the realms of coal and gas (regardless of what many think China and Japan are doing). Solr panels on your roof will allow you to reduce your energy costs, even feed some electricity into the grid, but for large scale industry they will continue to rely on base load power (which comes from coal and gas units) from the grid or run their own gas and coal fired power stations (like Alcoa does in WA where it runs its own gas fired power stations in producing alumina).
Remember LNG ends up running gas fired power stations and the thermal coal we are selling as well ends up in coal fired power stations as well and guess what those export volumes are increasing not reducing.
For higher valued commodities, like car making and aluminium for example - refer Wyalla, the biggest cost component is energy (not labour) and yet through again government incompetence a Nation rich in energy cannot provide cheap, secure and reliable power to these industries because we believe in rubbish laisser faire economics which ironically is the basis of Laffer curve too and no surprise why it doesn't work when the world ain't a level playing field. Yet we can export LNG to China and the electricity cost input in China is less than here - what a joke and that is why high level manufacturing in Australia has dwindled/collpased in Oz (called energy costs).
For textile, where labour costs are a key cost we won't compete, but for high valued commodities we should be miles ahead of where we are. We have the resources but are too stupid to maximise development of them and the economic benefits available from them. The other cost is our approval process that give time delays, meaning look elsewhere to value add, because politics say we don't want you here but then complain at lack of processing here LOL.
Infact we export the resources and then the coal/LNG to produce the energy for their conversions and then complain. Then LOL we face an energy crisis back over east and we have proposals on the table around buying LNG on the international market and then converting the gas back to its natural state to put into power stations over east - what a joke when we have gas. I wonder how the 'greenies' feel about that - exporting Australian jobs and value add offshore with no net savings in CO2 or the environment , infact probably adding overall to higher worldwide CO2 emmissions than would be the case if Australia did the processing because we have better environmental policies than say Asia. Laisser faire economics by LNP/ALP backed up be mad green polices of the Greens, what a mix and a future drain on our wealth creation ability.
Oh want to know what I am talking about - you know that aluminium smelter overeast in NSW - Tomago - well it uses 10% of that State's electricity. Refer: https://www.smh.com.au/business/for...r-agl-not-to-curb-supply-20170211-guaqxd.html And Alcoa in WA uses gas in its own power stations. Now tell me whether these industries can be run of renewable energy LOL. So hope this gives some of you a perspective on how much electricity is needed in downstream value adding products.
What irks me right now is we are about to have a lithium boom in Australia but are too stupid to internalise the benefits again. We are going to export spodumene concentrate, where in China it will be converted into the much higher valued products lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide for battery production. You would think we would be exporting carbonate, the higher valued good and oh ye carbonate requires a lot of energy and yes China will be buying our LNG and coal for that purpose too LOL. As I said for these types of industries the biggest cost component is energy not labour and renewables do not provide the reliable base load to drive their production.
People convienently forget the Brundland Commission 1987, the forerunner to Kyoto and other climate actions since like Paris, which basically says the road to environmental preservation is one of technology and economic development that lift people out of poverty, and lifting people out of poverty is a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Common_Future
I never hear people on these forums complain about Brazil's destruction of the Amazon rain forest - that is what happens in poverty. Economic development aids environmental preservation - now when WA found gas, guess what 1/2 our power stations are run by gas in WA - what happened was timber logging in the south west basically has been reduced significantly because in part that timber was been used for heating fuels.
So I will get solar panels on my roof, but I see a role for both coal and gas in sustaining the energy needs of business and renewables cannot compete there in terms of price and security. If they could Alcoa would be running its own windfarms rather than buying gas up north in WA, paying pipeline tariffs and then building their own gas fired base load power stations to run plant. get the drift - the argument is twofold - residents versus the needs of business, destroy business don't cry later.
To tell the truth with the destruction of manufacturing, for example, in Victoria with its no culture to mining there starting to arise I really don't know what is keeping the Vic economy alive to be frank. Given also what woolies and coles are doing to that State's farmers as well. The Ponzi scheme of housing is probably helping out Vic, especially in apartment buildings whereby a lot of foreigners are buying housing and apartments and basically leave them vacant (because they can't even be bothered renting them out - checkout the vacancy rate inABS stats and ask yourself why we need a vacancy tax which is what a lot of State's aree introducing LOL) and immigration causing housing needs, but that can turn around very quickly and the effects of what I am saying will come clear if the great Ponzi in say Vic implodes (either by foreigners pulling out money (all it takes is China saying no more foreign investment in Australian property) or immigration runs dry (given the impact on the budget). Vic is a perfect example of a false economy. South Australia is a perfect example of what happens when manufacturing collapses on the back of spiraling energy costs.
