General Discussions

[northernblue]

Gra Gra had moved on, but yes I delivered to that house.
I was in Grange Rd, so yes I'm very familiar with Fleetwood Cres and Sweetwater creek !
I also had a friend who lived on Norman Ave, so plenty of mischief at the shops too.

[LP]

Gra Gra had moved on, but yes I delivered to that house.
I was in Grange Rd, so yes I'm very familiar with Fleetwood Cres and Sweetwater creek !
I also had a friend who lived on Norman Ave, so plenty of mischief at the shops too.

There was a guy who lived in "The Grange", little Chinese fellow, owned the only Chinese Restaurant down near the Pier Hotel was a mad mad sports fan for just about any sport you can think of, I think his name was Patrick because we made jokes about him being a Chinese Leprechaun, yes, there was no political correctness back then. I remember him because I had another mate who held his wedding reception in that Chinese Restaurant and to this day he still boasts about being able to feed 80 people for $5 a head, after the reception Patrick took a few of us playing Snooker and Billiards at a local hall, including the Groom, after all some of us were already dressed for it, not sure the bride was too happy! :o

Long long time ago!

[DJC]

FMD, They just approved billions for an offshore windfarm in Bass Strait, how long will that last? The Navys of the world scrap billion dollars vessels each year because they can't solve "The corrosion problem" and they have been working on it for 200 years. The green dream public think they are going to build a forest of wind farms offshore and let them run for decades and decades out at sea providing green carbon free energy, when in reality they will need to be rebuilt or replaced completely on regular intervals. They'll barely get the carbon budget back from the processing of the materials they need let alone power anyone with decades of surplus green energy.

The HMAS Melbourne was launched in 1945 (as HMS Majestic) and was scrapped in 1982.  The ARA General Belgrano was launched in 1938 (as USS Phoenix) and, after surviving Pearl Harbour, was still going strong in 1982 when its career was rudely interrupted by a torpedo from HMS Conqueror.  HMS Belfast and HMCS Sackville were commissioned in 1939 and 1941 respectively and both are still afloat as museum ships. Then there's USS Blue Ridge, a relative newcomer as it was only commissioned in 1970, that is still operational as flagship of the US 7th Fleet.

We did foolishly buy two rustbuckets from the USN in 1994; HMAS Kanimbla and Manoora.  Both were commissioned in the USN in 1971 and decommissioned from the RAN in 2011.  Forty years isn't bad but it cost millions to keep those two serviceable.

Maintaining infrastructure in marine environments has its challenges but good design, materials and maintenance will result in decades of service.  South Channel Light is a good example; built in 1874, it only began to deteriorate after the light was turned off in 1985 and maintenance stopped. 

[kruddler]

Emotional? Mr Spock is more emotional than my post.

What uplifting emotional landscapes you show me! Young girls skipping through nuclear waste followed by cute fluffy dogs. It's not a threat to health at all!

lucky you are keeping emotion out of it. LOL


If you wanna play the health card, then look into it properly.

How many people have been killed/ injured by nuclear vs fossil fuels and the like?
Then look at it from an environmental point of view and weigh up the differences.
Then look at it from a mining point of view and weigh up the differences.

Then tell me with a straight face that nuclear is not safer.

But no, use 1 instance from 36 years ago as evidence.
You might as well tell me computers are no good because you had a commodore 64 36 years ago and the graphics were crap and the memory was almost non existent.

[kruddler]

I declare my ignorance on this subject, straight up, so the following may seem naive.

From my limited (very) knowledge on this it seems just about any electricity source brings with it it's own unique problems.

I've watched docos that are pro nuclear and others than are anti nuclear (attempting to educate myself. Ditto windfarms, solar and even tidal things!).

Seems that economics play a large and controlling role in all this... quick fixes with quick and continued financial returns (on corporate investment) seem to be big drivers.

Hydroelectric power has strong pros re emissions but even the large dams needed are problematic - setup costs, environmental impact, local community impact, climate vulnerabilities and even methane gas releases over time. But having lived in areas with a predominant hydroelectric power generation the improved air quality was palpable, though there may well have been other factors contributing to this ie, NZ, which has better than 50% hydro usage, is also small with plenty of wind to remove pollution... though some (polluted air) is blowing in now from other countries. I think that Tassies hydroelectric power accounts for more than three quarters of the states power and boy, the air quality there is noticeably cleaner.

We live in West Gippsland and even an hours drive to the city (Melb) delivers a difference in air quality that is noticeable.

Although perhaps very anecdotal, when I was at Franganstan High (1400 students) back in the late 60s/early 70s, students with asthma were an oddity, in fact you could have counted them on your own fingers! Now, apparently, almost 33% of young folks have asthma issues from mild, occasional... to chronic. 

For "limited knowledge" you seen to be all over it.
Nothing is perfect.
Hydro electric is a great source of power with minimal environmental downsides compared to fossil fuels.
On small scales, it works wonders.

It's scaling these type of projects up to cover the required amount of power, in the required amount of spots that makes things start to be less attractive.

Fun fact....we, earth, is running out of sand.
We are consuming it (concrete) quicker than the earth can make it...and by a large scale.

When to you look at doing things on a global scale, all new sorts of problems come up.

Thats the issue with lithium batteries.
Standalone, they are a marvellous creation.
Put multiple in every car, house, tool, electronic  device....and use them like giant power storage facilities (taking over coal plants for example) and all of a sudden they are not so great. Then look at the life cycle of them, and the waste created, and they are terrible on a global scale.

[Baggers]

Was it you who threw the rocks through Jack Dyers front window after the 73 GF, the infamous game that saw Balme king hit Gentlement Geoff Southby?

I have an alibi ;D  Whilst the 73 GF was being played I was on Naval exercises aboard the HMAS Brisbane (Guided Missile Destroyer) with the Yanks in Hawaii - my first witnessing of the USS Kitty Hawk. Made our aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne, look like a match box next to a shoe box. We secured the ComCen (communications centre), tuned a top end HF unit and listened to the game. 3 of us were BlueBaggers! Lost the game, won the 'war games.'

[Mav]

How many people have been killed/ injured by nuclear vs fossil fuels and the like?
Then look at it from an environmental point of view and weigh up the differences.
Then look at it from a mining point of view and weigh up the differences.

Then tell me with a straight face that nuclear is not safer.

But no, use 1 instance from 36 years ago as evidence.
You might as well tell me computers are no good because you had a commodore 64 36 years ago and the graphics were crap and the memory was almost non existent.

True, if you could jump in the DeLorean and go back to the 50s, going nuclear would have been better regarding climate change than fossil fuels. But if we can't get the flux capacitor to work properly and we have to deal with the here and now, then we can use renewables that weren't around in the 50s. Best of both worlds.

By the way, the Commodore 64 analogy is perfect for those who want to argue that we should just assume that renewables and batteries and the recycling of them is static. Just like the Commodore 64, as the years roll on the developments in a growth sector will make the current technology look very Commodore 64-like.

[Baggers]

Gra Gra had moved on, but yes I delivered to that house.
I was in Grange Rd, so yes I'm very familiar with Fleetwood Cres and Sweetwater creek !
I also had a friend who lived on Norman Ave, so plenty of mischief at the shops too.

No mention of the famed 'round house' at the bottom of Olivers Hill? As kids we used to follow Sweetwater Creek from the round house to Sycamore Road!

[kruddler]

True, if you could jump in the DeLorean and go back to the 50s, going nuclear would have been better regarding climate change than fossil fuels. But if we can't get the flux capacitor to work properly and we have to deal with the here and now, then we can use renewables that weren't around in the 50s. Best of both worlds.

By the way, the Commodore 64 analogy is perfect for those who want to argue that we should just assume that renewables and batteries and the recycling of them is static. Just like the Commodore 64, as the years roll on the developments in a growth sector will make the current technology look very Commodore 64-like.

Your first paragraph is evidence that you don't have any facts to add to the debate, just emotive BS.

Your second paragraph is showing your ignorance. Moore's law - a mircrochip doubles the amount of transistors it can fit on it (or it halves its size) and halves its cost every 2 years. This is how computers get more and more powerful consistently.
However, we have almost reached the end game on this - 2025 some people think is the end.
Batteries, while different technologies have seen similar advances......but also are coming to an end with the capabilities available.

To assume a similar linear (or better) progression from here for the next few decades is extremely naive, and not possible.

So you can attempt that path, knowing the end game will not be what you require.....and waste however many years in the meantime or just skip to something that works better already, now.

Spend some time educating the public and demystifying nuclear power and we'll all be better off.

No flux capacitor required.

[northernblue]

No mention of the famed 'round house' at the bottom of Olivers Hill? As kids we used to follow Sweetwater Creek from the round house to Sycamore Road!

Sycamore Rd is taxing the grey matter a bit and the roundhouse people were dead to me... they didn't read the herald