Brown Coal - Wet n Dry

It seems Victoria is intending to export its wet, brown coal to anyone who wants it.
CSIRO, our trusty research agency,  has been working for years to find a way to make our brown coal "green". The best they can do (at the moment) is to dry the coal, although there are a number of projects underway to gassify and capture both methane & decarbonize emissions.
It will be interesting to watch these efforts to see how long it may take to decide if the technology is both viable, efficient and cheap enough to keep coal more economic than other renewable energy forms.
One of the pieces of "information" published today is the cost of power in Australia. I remember when the State Electricity Commission was privatized to make the cost of electricity cheaper.  Since that time, electricity prices faced upward pressure from the drought (need water for Victoria's brown coal plants) and now the cost of substantial network upgrades,something foreseen in the conclusion in the IPA report "A Brief Analysis of the Benefits of Privatising Victoria’s Electricity Industry" 2001. Infrastructure investment which is somewhat more expensive in sparsely populated, continental sized Australia than in other nations.

And so, as my Electricity bill clearly explains, the major increase in costs is due to network improvements. As the Smart Grid Australia website explains: "Economic data all points towards a green and digital economy that will create a large number of new jobs and offer business opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs. And if Australia can maintain its leadership role that would support its export earnings also."
Watch this video and see what you think about smart grids.