The climate change debate continues.

[kgwilson]

Totally agree regarding Induction cooking. We installed a Bosch Induction cooktop back in 2008. Then it cost about $3,500.00 but the performance was amazing. While it had 4 cooking zones there was a power option than combined 2 of the zones together with the output in 1 zone. It would boil a litre of water from cold in 45 seconds. Control is superb and instant & the cooking surface never gets baked on spillages as it stays cool only getting hot from the transfer of heat from the bottom of the pot.

 

We are renovating the house we purchased last year & installing a new kitchen. Cooking appliances are all AEG & the induction cooktop has a matt finish which is very scratch resistant & is wirelessly connected to the rangehood so the lights & fan are switched on & the speed managed automatically while cooking & both together cost less that the original Bosch from 2008.

[Siso]

On 18/04/2026 at 2:56 PM, octave said:

But then aren't you part of the problem? You could take the ethical stand and disconnect your panels for the good of the grid.

Yep, I am a part of the problem. I could take the ethical stand and disconnect but it saves me money. I am a hypocrite!

[facthunter]

Well there's Plenty of them around, so it could be said you are not Robinson Crusoe, there. Nev

[octave]

4 hours ago, Siso said:

Yep, I am a part of the problem. I could take the ethical stand and disconnect but it saves me money. I am a hypocrite!

 

I don’t see people with rooftop solar as part of the problem—I see generating your own clean electricity as a positive.

If we zoom out a bit, the real issue looks different.

The electricity grid we use today was largely designed and built from the 1950s through to the 1990s. It was built as a one-way system: electricity flowed from large, centralised generators—coal, gas, and hydro—out to consumers. That made perfect sense at the time, because generation technology dictated that structure.

But generation technology has changed.

We now have distributed energy—rooftop solar being the most obvious example—where electricity is produced at the edges of the grid, not just at the centre.

I think this is where we differ. You seem to be saying (correct me if I’m wrong) that generation methods should be limited by what the existing grid can handle. I’d argue the opposite: the purpose of the grid is to distribute electricity as efficiently as possible, and that means adapting it to modern forms of generation, not restricting those forms to suit legacy infrastructure.

A useful comparison is telecommunications. In the 1990s, the copper phone network was sufficient for voice calls. Then the internet arrived, and we initially squeezed it through that same copper using dial-up. As technology advanced, the limitations became obvious.

We didn’t respond by saying “we must limit internet use because the network can’t cope.” We upgraded the network—eventually rolling out systems like the National Broadband Network.

Electricity is no different. Rooftop solar isn’t a flaw in the system—it’s a signal that the system needs to modernise.

 

The system was built for one-way, centralised generation. Now we’ve got distributed generation changing demand patterns. That’s an engineering and market design problem, not a reason to limit a cheaper, cleaner energy source.

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by octave

[Siso]

I see this making it expensive for large users who unfortunately are the employers of people. the hatched lines are the constraints for the last couple of days and I have seen it worse. By the time we add enough generation to cover the bad times, the good times are going to have a lot of oversupply. Are the generators going to just accept this or make their energy more expensive. Also shows how much smore storage we need. (SA grid)

 

[octave]

Rooftop solar isn’t the problem here—the constraints you’re pointing to are a sign the grid hasn’t caught up yet.

The system we’re using was built for one-way power flow from large generators, not for distributed generation like rooftop solar. So when you see oversupply or curtailment in places like South Australia, that’s not solar “breaking” the grid—it’s the network hitting its limits in moving and using cheap energy.

We’ve seen this before in other sectors: when better technology comes along, you don’t hold it back to suit old infrastructure—you upgrade the system. That’s exactly what needs to happen here with transmission, storage, and smarter demand.

Yes, we need enough capacity for low-renewable periods, and yes, storage is critical—but that’s part of the transition. Excess daytime generation isn’t a flaw, it’s an opportunity to shift cheap energy into the evening peak.

Even Australian Energy Market Operator is clear on this: the solution is more transmission, more storage, and better integration—not less rooftop solar.

So those constraint charts don’t show solar causing instability—they show where investment is needed to modernise the grid.

 

You don’t solve a modern energy system with 20th-century infrastructure—you upgrade the infrastructure.

 

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Larger companies are starting to build their own renewable power generation. Fortescue is the big one, but others including Alcoa are following suit. AGL is also building its owne 200MW generation plant (and they are typically a retailer). 

 

They don't do this if there is a better return elsewhere. 

[red750]

For those who didn't see it, here is the 7 News Spotlight report on the Chinese domination of producing so-called "green" energy products and what effect that is having. I know you will decry and put it down, but there are some shocking things revealed.

 

https://7plus.com.au/7news-spotlight      (The Green Dream).

[Jerry_Atrick]

It doesn't like to play its content to us foreigners.. .

 

Quick question.. What is the shocking stuff it revealed?

[red750]

Cobalt mining in Africa using kids, no environmental cleanup, etc. just to name a couple. I'll try and record some of it tonight.

[octave]

11 minutes ago, red750 said:

Cobalt mining in Africa using kids, no environmental cleanup, etc. just to name a couple.

Whilst some cobalt is mined under poor conditions, my understanding is that most is not.   The other thing is that batteries are increasingly moving away from cobalt.  LFP (lithium iron phosphate) uses no cobalt at all.

 

I think it is entirely appropriate to give a sh1t about the percentage of cobalt that is mined by dubious means; however, it is often used is some sort of argument against renewables and EVs. Does anyone say oil refining is evil because it uses cobalt as a catalyst?  About 20% of cobalt comes from artisanal mines with poor conditions.

 

Some uses of cobalt

 

Batteries (EVs, phones, home storage)

 Superalloys (jet engines, turbines)

 Magnets (motors, wind turbines)

 Catalysts (oil refining, chemicals)

 Pigments (cobalt blue in glass/ceramics)

 Medical uses (cancer treatment, sterilisation)

 Tool steels and industrial uses