Why is the Abbott Govt still presenting this 2011 GreenLabor scheme for 100% electricity generation from renewables by 2030 or 2050 or whenever?

Surely it does not belong anywhere other than listed on some archive of Govt publications. Capital costs greater than $332Billion and the need to obtain 5000 square kms of land – only 70 x 70km. GreenLeft pie-in-the-sky-fairy-story-twaddle.

3 thoughts on “Why is the Abbott Govt still presenting this 2011 GreenLabor scheme for 100% electricity generation from renewables by 2030 or 2050 or whenever?”

  1. Warwick,

    whenever I see anything like this, I have just the one reply, and it’s a diagram that is not only never referred to, but in fact 90% of people would not even be aware of its existence, and here I mean a simple load curve for actual electrical power consumption. I copied one and then took some time to add colour to it and then explain what it means, and I’ll link to the image below. (and Warwick, if you want to copy this image and use it, go ahead).

    Now, while this Load Curve is a Summer Load Curve for virtually all of Australia East of the WA border, the same load curve can be applied to a town, a city, a large city, a State a Country, anywhere in fact for the whole of the already Developed World.

    It has been the same since electrical power first came into being and has changed so little over the years that it is now a Constant, and yet, as soon as it is even mentioned, people just get that blank look on their faces.. It is totally discounted, because no one bothers to even check that it exists.

    This is the link to the image.

    papundits.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/loadcurvecolourmaster.jpg

    The vertical axis is power being consumed and is shown here in MegaWatts, (MW) and I know that some of you will say consumed power is in MegaWattHours (MWH) but this indicates the amount of NamePlate Capacity required to meet that Demand.

    The Horizontal axis is the hours in the day, starting at Midnight, and going through the day back to Midnight.

    Now, I mention that this is a typical Load Curve for Summer. Note the one peak during the day and that’s around 30,000MW and goes from around 1PM through until 5 or 6PM.

    Note here the dip point, the actual lowest power consumption, and that’s around 18,000MW and is at around 3 or 4 AM, when the vast percentage of the populace are tucked up tight in bed, and yet, Australia still requires (absolutely) that 18,000MW of power.

    That dip point remains virtually the same, Summer, Winter, all year round, so at least 18,000MW is required for 24 hours of every day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year, and that 24/7/365 requirement is referred to as the Base Load, in other words required all the time, no matter what.

    So, now to the colours.

    That vast pink area is supplied virtually 100% by coal fired power, from plants which just hum away all day every day, bar for scheduled maintenance down time. Hydro Power also supplies a small percentage of this pink area.

    That blue area is for power which is referred to as Peaking Power, and as shown at the AEMO site, this Peak Power period is from 7AM until 10PM.

    This power is supplied from coal fired power, usually running reserve, plants that run, but do not supply power until called upon. Others in that Blue coloured area are Natural Gas fired plants, again also called on to supply as they are needed, and typically this is for a few hours each day, sometimes more than that. Hydro also supplies some of the power in this area.

    OK then, let’s then look at Renewables.

    See that yellow area rolling along the bottom of the chart there. That is ALL the wind power in Australia. It comes in at a little under 800MW. Now we all know that the Wind Power for this area of Australia comes in at 2660MW, but keep in mind, Wind only supplies its power at a Capacity Factor, averaged across the year at 30%, so 30% of 2660MW comes in at only 800MW.

    Now, also on this chart I have included that monstrously humungously huge contribution from Rooftop Solar power.

    Look at the Load Curve itself, the black line indicating the curve itself. Now starting at around 7AM and going through until around 6PM, then the thickness of that black line indicates all the rooftop solar power is that black line, around 120MW in all. Now some of you will believe that here in bright sunny Australia, we have almost 1,000MW of rooftop panels, and yes, it is close to that, around 950MW. However, averaged across the year rooftop solar delivers its power at around 13% Capacity factor, so that comes in at around 120MW. Half of that is being consumed by the residence itself, and the other half, perhaps 60MW is being delivered back to the grid.

    Forget commercial scale solar plants because their power would not amount to very much at all.

    So, we have Wind and solar now totalling 3% at best.

    Now, expending an absolute fortune, they may be able to raise that by the tiniest amount.

    However, until Renewables can supply that Pink area, keeping in mind that is a 24/7/365 absolute requirement and wind supplies at barely 7 hours a day, and solar 4 hours a day, then anything which mentions ….. 100$ from renewables is hyperbolic hype in the extreme.

    Warwick, I know this is long, but until people actually see this diagram, have it explained to them, and then understand what it actually indicates, then people will believe ….. whatever they want to believe.

    It just WILL NOT happen.

    Tony.

  2. “GreenLeft pie-in-the-sky-fairy-story-twaddle”

    I don’t think you should rate it that highly. Absolute garbage.

    Leaving aside all the favourable assumptions e.g. “Distribution system costs are not included in this study”.
    “No allowance has been made for land acquisition costs” etc. the authors know so little of the subject that they think that wind turbines and PV arrays will work without the grid being active at all times.
    Take a hot still night, neither wind nor solar are working and the reserve supply (solar heat? current level of pumped storage) is rapidly depleted.

    In the morning there is no power for the wind turbines to turn into the wind (those yaw motors turning 60-90 tonnes use a lot of power), no power for the blade motors to turn the blades to the optimum angle, and no reference supply to synchronise the output output. Nor do PV arrays work straight away after a disruption, ask any householder who’s had a blackout and seen the notice “connecting in 60 minutes”.

    Don’t say that is provided by geothermal because both methods listed are not commercially available (let alone viable. Besides they underestimate the cost of wind electricity; vastly so for off-shore turbines, and maintenance, and the loss in the necessary long transmission lines (which they haven’t costed either), but they over-estimate the working lifetime of those turbines.

    All copies of this report should be used as low level fuel.

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