HD Forums Australia
Home
Topics

Solar panels

18/20
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    1 month
    Quoting dicko on 01 Jun 2025 01:03 AMedited: 01 Jun 2025 01:10 AM

    quote : (First, it conveniently ignores the fly ash production of a coal fired generator, estimated to be 100 million tons annually for the USA. )


    Fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, is used in road construction to stabilize subgrades and base layers of pavements. It can also be used in plant-mixed foamed bitumen materials as a secondary stabilizing agent and as an asphalt filler. Fly ash enhances the durability of roads and offers cost savings, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and improved durability. 
    Powerhouse cooling towers are essential for cooling water used in power plants before it's returned to its source, like a river or ocean. They help to efficiently and environmentally remove heat from the cooling water. While often associated with nuclear power plants, they are used in various non-nuclear power plants as well. 


    Screenshot_20250530-104621_2.png
    100% agree with all of that Dicko. Gonna need cooling towers for pretty much any thermally produced power, no matter what the heat source used. 
    Back in the late 80s mates and I used to ride over from the Blackall Range and get on the piss at the Maidenwell pub. Next morning If it was warm weather we'd go down to the Coomber Falls waterhole near town for a cool swim in the waterhole; if it was cold weather we'd head up to Tarong power station just up the road and have a swim in the big pond of warm water that supported the cooling towers. Tarong's water is pumped up there from near Toogoolawah, so the ponds served as a reserve. They even put a sandy beach in at one side of the pond to make it nicer to swim there.
    11/9/2001 put a stop to that.
    And yes, fly ash can and should be reused/recycled in other products. As you say a lot of it ends up in concrete products. Now the Americans may recycle more of than here, but CS Energy who operate Callide and Kogan creek power stations here in Qld say on their website that they manage to sell off 11% of their ash for reuse, and store the rest at their supplying mine sites. That leaves a lot of ash as waste.
    I just mentioned it because the Mackinac mob was making such a fuss about the waste stream from wind farms, and inflating the amounts by suggesting that (but not saying it directly) that the tonnages of steel and concrete in the towers and foundation pads are included in that waste. They're not.
    Sure, wind turbine blades are currently are junked at end of life and it's a problem that needs to be reduced. They're working on it. One idea being looked at is to design them so they can be sawn into standard sized big beams and reused in building. Want cheap 50m span roof beams for a big shed? Transport might be a problem though.

  • obisteve
    obisteve
    1 month
    Quoting paulybronco on 01 Jun 2025 01:15 AM

    I, like millions of Australians just want to be able to switch on the lights, run the heater and get a fair go on my bill. Not be told that solar will get you a credit or wind farms will decrease your bills to see all this tax payers money going to overseas companies, my bills increasing and now the new magic tonic is a battery or several, again heavily subsidised by tax payers. Our energy policy in Australia is a utter mess with competing factors pushing agendas, and promises that aren't ever going to happen.    

    Agree pretty much with you on all of that PB.
    Although the reason the money goes overseas is because most state governments sold off most of their electrical industry assets and the Feds thought they then had to run the electrical supply industry as a market. 
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    29 days ago
    So now on our quest to get to 2030 renewables targets Australia are going to consider a "Tariff" on goods that we import....nearly everything i might add, that during their production caused a increase to climate change globally. Better start saving boys cause things are going to get very expensive if that happens. 
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    29 days ago
    No more steaks on the bbq...its gas and the meat comes from cows!
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    29 days ago
    Quoting dicko on 02 Jun 2025 07:02 AM

    The times they are a changin.!

    https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=522799016784276

    Good on him for doing that. The people pushing the Meat is Heat agenda in this country assume the way the Americans run their beef industry running them through feed lots and grain feeding them is universal. Pasture raised and finished beef is far better, for the stock, the farms soil and pasture and the environment, and the meats texture and flavour.
    What's up with the yanks wanting heavily fat marbled meat so soft that it falls apart in their mouths, don't they have any teeth?
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    27 days ago
    Mate I don't understand this one at all. Unless I'm mistaken it shows a bloke saying it's terrible that Australians are being stopped from burning fossil fuels by the Oz govt which is stuffing our economy, while they're happy for them to be exported and pocket the tax money on the exports. He's being encouraged and agreed with by the woman interviewing him. Have I missed something?
    But how are Australians being stopped from burning fossil fuels? We don't have a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme that puts a price on burning them. 
    Sure there is vague commitment by govvy to reduce emissions but there isn't any teeth in it that stops people from burning coal or gas.
    Now I may have been snoozing and missed something being introduced, so if I'm mistaken please let me know.
    Otherwise it seems that it's just another lieing  politician (surprise surprise) being supported by a corrupt media organisation to spread lies.

  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    26 days ago
    So as promised here's my new electricity charges....expect yours soon. Don't forget i can generate 80kw of power per day over summer every day and my new bill is estimated at $2770 per annum.
    Current rates
    Electricity usage Unit GST excl. GST incl.
    T11 General Usage 1
    First 379 kWh 1
    c/kWh 32.49000 35.739000
    Thereafter 1
    c/kWh 32.49000 35.739000
    T31 controlled load 2
    c/kWh 25.58000 28.138000
    CL31 supply charge c/day 0.00000 0.000000
    Feed-in tariff 3
    First 14 kWh 3
    c/kWh 10.00000
    Thereafter 3
    c/kWh 5.00000
    Supply charge c/day 128.90000 141.790000
    1. Tariff 11 - Residential all usage.
    2. Tariff 31 night rate is applicable to customers who have storage
    water heaters and permanently connected heat banks. It can also
    be used to boost a solar hot water heater. Electricity supply is made
    available for a minimum of eight hours per day at times determined
    by your Distributor.
    3. The first two components of your feed-in tariff are calculated
    based on the average amount of energy you export per day,
    averaged over the relevant billing period.
    New rates
    Effective 1 July 2025
    Your Market Contract includes variable rates which can change at any time with prior notice to you. The solar feed-in tariffs will not
    change during your energy plan period.
    Electricity usage Unit GST excl. GST incl.
    T11 General Usage 1
    First 379 kWh 1
    c/kWh 35.57000 39.127000
    Thereafter 1
    c/kWh 35.57000 39.127000
    T31 controlled load 2
    c/kWh 23.67000 26.037000
    CL31 supply charge c/day 0.00000 0.000000
    Feed-in tariff 3
    First 10 kWh 3
    c/kWh 10.00000
    Thereafter 3
    c/kWh 3.00000
    Supply charge c/day 138.65000 152.515000
    1. Tariff 11 - Residential all usage.
    2. Tariff 31 night rate is applicable to customers who have storage
    water heaters and permanently connected heat banks. It can also
    be used to boost a solar hot water heater. Electricity supply is made
    available for a minimum of eight hours per day at times determined
    by your Distributor.
    3. The first two components of your feed-in tariff are calculated
    based on the average amount of energy you export per day,
    averaged over the relevant billing period.
    Your tariff structure is single rate. To learn more about tariffs and how they work for you, visit agl.com.au/tariffs
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    26 days ago
    Quoting obisteve on 04 Jun 2025 10:18 AMedited: 04 Jun 2025 10:26 AM

    Mate I don't understand this one at all. Unless I'm mistaken it shows a bloke saying it's terrible that Australians are being stopped from burning fossil fuels by the Oz govt which is stuffing our economy, while they're happy for them to be exported and pocket the tax money on the exports. He's being encouraged and agreed with by the woman interviewing him. Have I missed something?

    But how are Australians being stopped from burning fossil fuels? We don't have a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme that puts a price on burning them. 
    Sure there is vague commitment by govvy to reduce emissions but there isn't any teeth in it that stops people from burning coal or gas.
    Now I may have been snoozing and missed something being introduced, so if I'm mistaken please let me know.
    Otherwise it seems that it's just another lieing  politician (surprise surprise) being supported by a corrupt media organisation to spread lies.

    Steve Victoria for one banned the installation of gas appliances.Starting January 1, 2024, new gas connections for new dwellings, apartment buildings, and residential subdivisions requiring planning permits are being phased out.
    This policy has been implemented through amendment VC250 to the Victoria Planning Provisions and all planning schemes in Victoria.
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    26 days ago
    Thanks for that PB, wasn't aware of that, don't live in Vic. but could have been snoozing too. 
    State government decision not Federal, but still he's it means hes part right.
     I'll have to look at the projected life of the remaining Bass Strait fields, I know theyre declining. Probably not much good having a connection if there is no gas coming out of the pipe.
    Still, if the new estate doesn't have a natural gas connection, home owners there should still be able to run bottled propane like I do for my stove and hot water. Ill have to look at that planning scheme to see if it bans that. Bastardly expensive though, gone from $60 a cylinder to $160 since 2005, which has got me considering options.
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    26 days ago
    Quoting obisteve on 05 Jun 2025 09:31 AMedited: 05 Jun 2025 09:32 AM

    Thanks for that PB, wasn't aware of that, don't live in Vic. but could have been snoozing too. 

    State government decision not Federal, but still he's it means hes part right.
     I'll have to look at the projected life of the remaining Bass Strait fields, I know theyre declining. Probably not much good having a connection if there is no gas coming out of the pipe.
    Still, if the new estate doesn't have a natural gas connection, home owners there should still be able to run bottled propane like I do for my stove and hot water. Ill have to look at that planning scheme to see if it bans that. Bastardly expensive though, gone from $60 a cylinder to $160 since 2005, which has got me considering options.

    Well even though you and i didnt live in Vic it feels like Vics have invaded us up here..lol. Will see if i can find the article about Vic now screaming for federal funding to build a gas storage depot , thats after the sell it off overseas for peanuts , they refine it and send it back for sheep stations and in turn we have pay the inflated prices. 
    Mind you AGL spent 120mill trying to get this past the Vic government and now after they have given up suddenly the penny has dropped.
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    26 days ago
    Don't reckon anyone is going to run a pipeline down from the Qld fields, so maybe a deepwater import LNG terminal might be a good option for them.
    It would still let them run LNG peaking powerplants too.
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    25 days ago
    Interesting concept Dicko. Wonder how long before a AGL or supplier sees a loss of revenue and somehow blocks it.
  • dicko
    dicko
    25 days ago
    The yarraman power house , operated by my grandfather Charlie Budgen in a shed beside the house on the hill, and his children ( my mother and aunts and uncles) before the electricity comission took over . fuelled by waste wood from the local sawmill when forestry was a big industry, Rushton engines i believe ran on gas from the wood.
    Yarraman power house.jpg
    rushton.jpg
  • dicko
    dicko
    25 days ago
    Stuffed if I can see how shutting down a dozen coal fired power stations in australia, connected by grid will ""save the world""" epecially when providing power is not the largest contributor. 

Topics
18/20