Dick Smith's Population Puzzle.

[Bill.L]

Hi all,

Random,

just a matter of an engine producing more energy than it uses among other goodies.That's one of my little projects right now.

Perhaps you need to look into the laws of thermodynamics, here's the first one....

First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another.

Your 'engine' has to have a greater source of energy than it produces, the form may be different, but the fact stays the same.

bye

 

[BayView]

Hi

I watched the program - well presented with a good variety of opinions - but I wasn't sure of the relevance of the Bangladesh segment.

Was he try to imply that if the popoulation growth in Australia continues then we shall end up being the new Bangladesh: - dense population = slum housing + congested streets + inadequate health services + beggars on streets.

If so, instead why not look to other countries with dense population - Singapore/ Taiwan/ Hong Kong/ even Holland, but then the images are not as scary.

Alternatively was he implying that we are taking highly trained professionals from poorly developed countries - if so, I can't see the relevance of that to the debate on Australia's population growth and a sustainable population.

A good program but let down by the inference of racism as a means of appealing to rednecks.

Tony

I've been to several Countries, and visited their cities and countrysides. And while a lot of it is enjoyable, I would never want to live in any of them - except maybe a couple of the Greek islands

Why?

My argument with all this is - what makes everyone think that these other Countries are better because of their population size?

I can tell you; they are not. Not one - not even the USA or Canada.

There is no other Country in the world with as good a lifestyle as we have.

So for those of you who think we must continue to grow our population - bullsheet. If anything, their lifestyle is actually worse for the average person.

Do you know what will happen if the population continues to grow?

All that will happen is the cities will get even more congested and filthy, horrendous traffic and difficulty living a life without queues, crowds, waiting on phones, waiting at check-outs - like all other Countries have.

Do you think the newcomers will move out into the country? Not a chance. Hell, even our own children born and bred in the Country towns are leaving them in droves.

A handfull of newcomers might go to the country areas, the rest won't.

When was the last time you saw an international enclave in a place like...Donald, Victoria - maybe back in the gold rush days; or Finley, NSW for instance?

Now, before anyone starts yelling racist!! Go ahead if you like, but your argument is pathetic if that's all you want to throw at me.

Don't even bother - I'm telling all of you this purely from observations of human behavioral patterns all over the world.

 

[random]

Hi all,

Random,



Perhaps you need to look into the laws of thermodynamics, here's the first one....



Your 'engine' has to have a greater source of energy than it produces, the form may be different, but the fact stays the same.

bye

gday bill , cap locks jambed .

bill you say look into the laws of this and laws of that, that's the worst thing you can do !
i shouldn't even go there right now so i won't, it's just to be honest i just have too much on right now but people are working on those exact ideals as we speak , it's achieved just not commercially. the yanks think they have a good one though, i've seen the doc on it.
even the old couple up the roads bike but many more.

anyway , i'm releived to see no ones responded to experiments i' mentioned here previously that i'm playing around with in my spare time for fun b/c now i can delete them. it'll just open a whole new can of worms at a bad time for me so.

anyway mate , never say never !

cheers

 

[lizzie]

was reading an interesting article on the weekend regarding portagul's converstion to wind and solar energy in an attempt to reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels.

apparently 40% of internal power needs are now produced, in only 5 years from starting, via these methods (plus wave energy technology). the article also said that electricity prices have risen considerably due to setup costs but - when you think about it - once the system is set up and in maintenance mode, then costs will be considerbly less.

prices may remain high for a while as they bring more and more projects online - but one would think that once the tipping point is reach, prices would either drop of stabalise, and not reliant on "rest of the world" demand.

denmark and britain are also looking at 40% by 2020 ... why can we, with our vast sunshine and windy coastal areas, aim for a similar target?

 

[HiEquity]

denmark and britain are also looking at 40% by 2020 ... why can we, with our vast sunshine and windy coastal areas, aim for a similar target?

Hi Lizzie

One reason is that we are more scared about the impact of higher electricity prices than the Portuguese.

By my estimation, taking into account a number of factors, a 40% target would realistically require an approx 30% increase in retail electricity prices in Australia. Happy to break that down in more detail if anyone is interested but not in this thread. Is this too much of an increase when we already have some of the cheapest electricity in the world?

The other reason is we have so much coal and gas ready to burn on our own shores that we don't have to worry about energy security. Which is the real driving force behind the Portuguese, Spanish, Danes and Germans (and soon the UK...). Energy security concerns are a real motivator - we don't have them so that makes us lazy...

 

[lizzie]

By my estimation, taking into account a number of factors, a 40% target would realistically require an approx 30% increase in retail electricity prices in Australia.

but that's just the point - electricity prices are already going thru the roof. up 16% in areas of nsw in the last year alone.

personally, i'm putting as many solar panels on my roof as it can accomodate. quite happy for the government to pay me for the power i supply for others.

 

[HiEquity]

but that's just the point - electricity prices are already going thru the roof. up 16% in areas of nsw in the last year alone.

personally, i'm putting as many solar panels on my roof as it can accomodate. quite happy for the government to pay me for the power i supply for others.

Hi Lizzie

My numbers were meant as a comparison to business as usual. A lot of the price increases have come on the back of transmission / distribution network charges as a lot of power lines (and a few old power stations) are coming to the end of their useful life.

On top of that prices were kept artificially low for a very long time by govt policy so the rises of late are just a matter of playing catch up to where they always should have been. There will be a few more increases yet on that basis but they do nothing to help renewable energy as generators aren't getting much of that money...