PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Dick Smith looks at Fuel Costs
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Old 3rd Aug 2013, 09:44
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Shagpile
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
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The good thing about the program was that it didn't blame anybody for anything. And he openly admitted to being one of the biggest fossil fuel users in the country. In fact I'm openly jealous - I'd be doing exactly the kind of thing Dick is doing if I had a jillion dollars! Hats off.

The program was about the future strategic direction of Australia's energy usage, as a whole. I thought it touched on everything important.

The only thing I wasn't sure about was when the solar/salt reactor guys said they could do the entire country, baseload included, for $8 per person per day. i.e. $3k per year. Unsure if that meant per household, or $6k. Dick said he didn't really believe it and moved on. I would have liked to hear a little more about why.

There's also a good article at phys.org about the Hydrogen/Solar economy which wasn't touched on. Probably because it's longer term & Dick was focusing on short/medium term:
How a Solar-Hydrogen Economy Could Supply the World's Energy Needs

Essentially, out of renewable energy forms, Solar is the *only* that has enough energy, forever, to sustain the world. It is inevitable to switch to using the sun's energy to power the world. And using hydrogen as the liquid energy storage mechanism, made from electrolysis of water.
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