Electricity prices, solar power and cost benefits

A couple of articles have recently caught my eye. The weekend Financial Review article "Will the lights really go out?" by Angela Macdonald-Smith (Nov 27-28) argues that there is only a short window of time before the lack of investment in power generation has unfortunate effects - blackouts! "With or without a carbon price the bills are heading skywards". As someone who can't stand the heat, I've invested both in air conditioning and solar power so my electricity bills will probably increase. But if the lights go out (blackout) then so will my rooftop electricity generation capacity.
I'm one of the "lucky ones who have solar panels on their roofs" according to Macdonald-Smith a "technology that costs 10 times as much as other emission reduction initiatives!"
The recent review by Andrew Macintosh  on the Federal Governments Solar PV Rebate Program also questioned its cost effectiveness. It was interesting to read that "during the mid-2000s, BP Solar produced around 35 to 42 MW of PV cells and 8 to 12 MW of PV modules at a plant in Sydney. The cells were manufactured from imported wafers and most (roughly 80 per cent) were exported. Similarly, around 50 per cent of BP Solar’s modules were exported. In March 2009, BP Solar closed its Australian operations." Since all the wafers were imported it means the much vaunted target of manufacturing in Australia is a bit of a smokescreen.
The report concludes "The program was a major driver of a more than six-fold increase in PV generation
capacity and output in the 2000s" and "it is reasonable to assume that the PVRP-SHCP (solar scheme names) had some impact on community attitudes". It also concludes the rebate prior to the Rudd government created "uncertainty and lack of investment". Whilst the blow-out in costs under Rudd showed the program flaws.
Given that solar PV is costly it will be interesting to see if  major PV production increases by China plus further research will drive prices down enough to make PV affordable and cost effective without public subsidies. Then we can revisit the cost effectiveness debate.

Pike River Mine Disaster

I know many Australians have links to New Zealand and the outpouring of sympathy for the tragic loss of 29 miners in the Pike River Coal Mine shows this. I too have family roots coming from that area of New Zealand and loved the wild and rugged country when I visited.
So here is a poem being posted in memory of the miners and their families. My condolences to their families and all involved.

"The church bells rang 29 times so we knew it was final and the end of the line. Now 29 miners are at heavens gate with coal silt dirty faces 
asking is it 2 late? When god replies with half a grin, " no my children come on in". They place their mining lights gently on heavens floor when 
...god said "job well done" leave your boots at the door.

RIP!

Real Estate Game: CrackShackOrMansion.com

Real Estate Game: CrackShackOrMansion.com

Try this game - see if you can guess whether these prime pieces of real estate in Vancouver, Canada are sold as "Mansions" or are "Crack shacks". I;m sure you get the idea. A recent study by Demographia charts the rise of Housing unaffordability throughout the world. Vancouver comes in first place, closely followed by Sydney, with Melbourne coming 7th. - eg Table ES-3 Severely Unaffordable Housing Markets, Ranked by Severity of Housing Unaffordability.

Now aren't we lucky!!

New Toy & Recycling the Old

As a Librarian I feel I need to keep up to date with some of modern technology. So this year  I have updated a number of  objects. I'm now the proud user of an Android based Smartphone and am having fun learning how to use it.
My old mobile phone will get passed down to another member of the family, so it won't need recycling as yet. The "old" Motorola is >4 years old now - a whole generation of phones has been and gone while I've had it. But the dilemma of discontinuing a perfectly good piece of technology for something new has always been a problem with me.
"Waste not, want not" was my Grandma's watchword. My mother lives without mobile phone or computer. But as I am exposed to the effects of the digital age, I feel I have to keep up with the new. Each time I've thrown out an old piece of technology, I look for some recycling service.
At least now there is a Mobile Phone recycling box in all the libraries I work in. And occasionally, someone actually deposits an old phone there. I hope the materials do get reused as the amount of eWaste is now enormous.
I have had at least 4 computers at home since starting to use them more than 20 years ago. Each time I've managed to hold onto the old technology for a bit longer than I would have at work, by adding extra RAM and other devices. My current PC is 5 years old - it has taken me that long to fill it up with 5 years of Digital Photos, applications and games from the kids. The last time I bought a new PC, I couldn't find anyone close by willing to take the old one. So I dismembered the CPU and put it out in the hard rubbish, where even the scavengers thought it too old to take. I gave the old bits leftover (RAM, CD, PI cards) to a young teen just starting to experiment with computers. He now has his bedroom filled with my stuff as well as ebay second hand stuff. Good luck to him and I hope he passes his stuff to someone else again!