Nearly 3 years later and it's interesting to see how some of the content of the YT video that Blair posted has stood up... 1. The Victorian Government's "EV Tax" has been defeated in the Supreme Court and Uncle Fester (Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas) was told to stop it and give everyone their money back. 2. How are EV sales coming along? "‘No longer a novelty’: massive rise in Australian EV sales, industry report finds" At least the Minister for Blackouts (Chris Bowen) has helped get the ball rolling. Clean Energy Side Note: An update on the Hydrogen Plant planned for northern Tasmania that Porsche is involved in. Link is for subscribers only, but the first couple of paragraphs imply the plant is still going ahead: https://www.afr.com/companies/energ...uture-they-re-just-about-here-20240314-p5fcbo
Yeah, but when all the euphoria settles down, EVs will just be another mode of transport. The governments will find ways to tax on usage, just the same as other vehicles. After all, we need to pay for the infrastructure somehow. Re hydrogen, my son works here: https://www.hyzonfuelcell.com.au/
The funny side of this is when they have forced the entire planet to switch to these dumb f*ck appliances, the CO2 numbers will come in and it won't have made any difference at all, but who cares, right? All of the vested interests would have had their bonanza of government subsidies and handouts, the politicians got voted in on the strength of their "green" policies, and it will be time to move onto the next big thing, e-concrete. That's right, you will be able to pay ten times more for concrete to save the planet. School children will join "Just Stop Concrete" protests and you can all sleep soundly knowing that you are "doing your part". When in reality you are just an ignorant moron.
That's good. I'm all for reducing emissions and saving the planet et al, but EV doesn't make sense to me. I think Hydrogen and other alternatives need to be seriously investigated. Following on from Blair's last post, I was amused to see the near collapse of the Nikola Motor Company (an electric/hydrogen vehicle maker). I watched an entertaining video of how this company used 'smoke and mirrors' to fleece investors of billions of dollars. My favorite scumbag act was when they towed their 'electric' semi up a hill and coasted it down to imply it was a 'running' prototype. Google the company for details...CEO being jailed is here Initial excitement is here... https://www.fastcompany.com/9051457...ngs-to-know-about-the-rising-tesla-competitor Too many scammers out there in among the people trying to do the right thing.
Personally I'd like to hydrogen ICE achieve mainstream success - the hydrogen fuel cell is good for public transport
They spend billions and billions on subsidies and wars, meanwhile they spend nothing on research into nuclear, like dual fluid reactors. I have read a lot about 4th gen reactors and this one looks the most promising. Meanwhile in Aus you can't mention the word nuclear because ummm "It's too expensive". Yes it is, if you are a moron and want to build a light water reactor based on 75 year old tech, but you can talk absolute sh*t like "net zero". Too funny, the country that exports vast amounts of CO2 to the rest of the world pretends that they are going to be "net zero". You can't have a discussion about this because the people that you are talking to don't even know what a light water reactor is. It is like talking to a fence post. Meanwhile in Rwanda https://www.ktpress.rw/2023/09/rwan...dual-fluid-demo-nuclear-reactor-in-the-world/ What is wrong with those stupid Rwandans, why don't they just buy coal from Aus and burn it? Then they can charge their EV's and be "net zero" like Australia. The truth is that no one wants nuclear because it would solve too many problems, but you can't make lots of money out of it. Blackrock can't make enough out of Rwanda, so who cares what they do, right?
Lots of money to be made out of nuclear - the costs overruns in the UK are into the tens of billions and counting - the money is disappearing like mist. Toshiba Nuclear is kaput Westinghouse nuclear is kaput Hitachi nuclear is kaput UK nuclear programs are running them all to bankruptcy. No-one can build it on time and on budget.
The NuScale SMR has been cancelled because they attempted to change the cost of their generated electricity from $58MWH to $89MWH - all of the potential subscribers for electricity supply just walked away. Hinkley Point C is the UK is an absolute mess, irrespective of the tech, and the UK is in the hole for electricity costs for tens of billions for decades because of nuclear.
Hinkley Point C is a conventional reactor and the project should never even have started. The tech is the point. To keep doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of stupidity. NuScale SMR is still a pressurised reactor and is also dinosaur compared to the dual fluid design. Without cheap base load power the "green energy" push is just a fantasy and not everyone has access to geothermal or hydro.
If that article is accurate it may be a bit early to get excited about Dual Fluid Reactors. It is dated September 2023. "The prototype of a Dual Fluid reactor is to be launched within this decade." A lot of people are sceptical of "revolutionary" and "breakthrough" or "world changing" that already have a running prototype.