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Footnotes:

 

[12] Denmark is has the largest proportion of wind generation in the world. It is also has the greatest fossil dependency (mainly on imported coal) and highest cost electricity in the EU, over seven times that in France.

 

 

[13] France produced 536.9 TWh of electricity in 2003; is the largest net exporter of electricity in the EU (103.6 TWh in 2003); and has the highest proportion of nuclear electricity in the World.

 

[14] http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2008/key_stats_2008.pdf Energy in Australia 2009 ibid; note that currency fluctuations and varying time-of-day tariffs make non EC price comparisons dubious.

 

[15] Suzlon S88 - Hub Height: 80m; Maximum Blade Tip Height: 124m; Swept area: 6250m2

 

[16] Energy Statistics 2007 www.ens.dk

 

[17] This would suggest that there are some turbines so badly sited that they will not recover the energy consumed in their construction within their 20 year working lifetime (of course this may be a lot longer than 20 years as they hardly get used). Their carbon footprint rises steeply as their capacity factor falls.

 

[18] 2xEnercon E-126; 7 MW; 18,000 MWh/yr; rotor diameter 126m; hub height 135m; Rysumer Nacken, Germany.

 

[19] http://www.suzlon.com/pdf/Capital%20Wind%20Farm%20Flyer.pdf  

 

[20] The Economics of Wind Energy, www.awea.org

 

[21] Counter intuitively, water vapour reduces air density. The molecular weight of water is 18. As a gas water vapour displaces nitrogen molecules (mw: 28) and oxygen (mw: 32).

 

[23] Measured under Standard Test Conditions (STC) : irradiance of 1,000 W/m², solar spectrum of Air Mass (AM) 1.5 and module temperature at 25°C

 

[24] Average pool price in the NEM last year was AUS$42/MWh = 4.2 cents /kWh. The average commercial return to wind farms (after RECs) was around 9 cents /kWh delivered.

 

[25] 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate, in tanks measuring 14 m in height and 36 m in diameter, each storing 375 MWh – from Wikipedia

 

[26] Bayswater B Submissions Report - AECOM

 

[27] For example at a recent workshop of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSC)

 

[28] The present ten largest producers of nuclear energy are in order: USA, France, Japan, Russia, Germany, South Korea, Ukraine, Canada, UK and Sweden. Except for Germany and Sweden, all have new nuclear plant under construction or announced. Worldwide there are presently 53 nuclear power stations under construction and another 432 announced or proposed. There are 31 countries with one or more operating nuclear power stations and 9 more with planned stations, including Indonesia.

 

[29] China has 18 new stations under construction (to raise generating capacity by 70 GWe by 2020); 35 planned; and more than 90 proposed. India has 6 new stations under construction (to raise capacity by 41 GWe by 2020); 23 planned (to raise capacity to 470 GWe by 2050); and 15 proposed.

 

[30] cf. Australia 246 TWh in 2004

 

[31] NSW: total thermal capacity (coal & gas) 11,940 MW; all renewable (mainly hydro) 4,600 MW

 

[32] Financial Times, and AFR, 25 Mar 2010, P63 ‘Nuclear power renaissance in Asia’.

 

[33] By market size: Japan 58%; Korea 12%; Taiwan 10%; India 6%; China 4%.

 

[34] Worth over $13billion in exports to NSW in 2009

 

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Travel

Canada and the United States - Part1

 

 

In July and August 2023 Wendy and I travelled to the United States again after a six-year gap. Back in 2007 we visited the east coast and west coast and in 2017 we visited 'the middle bits', travelling down from Chicago via Memphis to New Orleans then west across Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and California on our way home.

So, this time we went north from Los Angeles to Seattle, Washington, and then into Canada. From Vancouver we travelled by car, over the Rockies, then flew east to Toronto where we hired a car to travel to Ottawa and Montreal. Our next flight was all the way down to Miami, Florida, then to Fort Lauderdale, where we joined a western Caribbean cruise.  At the end of the cruise, we flew all the way back up to Boston.

Seems crazy but that was the most economical option.  From Boston we hired another car to drive, down the coast, to New York. After New York we flew to Salt Lake City then on to Los Angeles, before returning to OZ.

As usual, save for a couple of hotels and the cars, Wendy did all the booking.

Breakfast in the Qantas lounge on our way to Seattle
Wendy likes to use two devices at once

Read more: Canada and the United States - Part1

Fiction, Recollections & News

The Pandemic turns Two

 

 

It's now past two years since SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) spread beyond China and became a pandemic.

From the outset, I've covered aspects of the pandemic on this website, beginning with Love in the time of Coronavirus back in March 2020, so the passing of the pandemic's second birthday seemed an appropriate time to review what we've learnt.

The positive news is that: Covid-19 has been far less deadly than the 1918-20 "Spanish Influenza' pandemic. 

This relative success in limiting the number of deaths this time round is entirely due to modern science.

Read more: The Pandemic turns Two

Opinions and Philosophy

A new political dawn

 

 

The State election on 26th March saw a crushing political defeat for the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales. Both sides of politics are still coming to terms with the magnitude of this change.  On the Labor side internal recriminations seem to have spread beyond NSW.  The Coalition now seem to have an assured eight and probably twelve years, or more, to carry out their agenda.

On April 3, following the advice of the Executive Council, the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, gave effect to an Order to restructure the NSW Public Service. Read more...

It remains to be seen how the restructured agencies will go about the business of rebuilding the State.

 

Read more: A new political dawn

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