From the 'get ABC to run our ad' but of the 'we can solve it' campaign, I noticed that it insists green technologies will produce 'a stronger economy'. To me, that's just false. Since when did solar panels or wind turbines power steel mills? How can you expect to run a city's powergrid based on the reliability of fine weather?
Close to home, I've been told that a 50x50 km patch of solar panels will provide all the energy needs of Australia. People who fall for such extremism obviously do not understand the infrastructure costs associated with solar panels, nor the finer points of electrical power transmission, specifically how solar produces DC electricity whereas most city power grids and transmission lines run off AC, and the subsequent rectification needed. Although I do believe it probably does illustrate how little energy Australians consume.
