My main question here with the Redlow thing is do they NEED to produce it as quickly as Tesla have quoted? If they took twice as long but had a better/cheaper/whatever product would it be worth it? I say very possibly. This 100 day thing, it's just pure hypetrain to me. Do it smart, and right, rather than rushed.

Everything is reactionary, innit

God help them, they allowed two people of different opinions to speak without being shouted over! I completely agree with your original post. Two adults providing civil opinions on a serious matter.

I think if there is any criticism here, it's that Coopers should not be getting involved in serious political matters because this reaction was always going to happen. You know shit is going to hit the fan no matter where you stand when it comes to this topic. It seems you cannot even have an impartial opinion without offending the pro-gay marriage types. FWIW I fully support gay marriage. However, I do not support the ferals who act like petulant kids and scream down any opposition to their views.

If the government seriously wants to look into this, they need to do it safely to protect aquifers which will sadly result in higher energy prices. Well integrity is what has caused a lot of issues in QLD with dodgy people failing to properly grout in wells as well as using poor drilling practices causing annular leaking (contamination along the outside of the well). They also need to educate people about how this is done. I bet most people aren't aware that shale gas is just about always well below potable aquifers. The only way to create issues is to frack unstable formations near faults or have a well failure. A seismic study of the area would find these issues and best practices when drilling would prevent well failures.

There is a comparable risk of induced seismicity in geothermal power generation in comparison to fracking yet no one has an issue with geothermal power. The more you know :laugh: Australia is relatively stable geologically with the majority of earthquakes being in the NSW/VIC/southern SA area and very few in or near the Cooper Basin.

I don't necessarily support shale gas drilling because of how little data we have on fracking in Australia but I would imagine it will be back on the table if a gas power plant is planned for S.A.

We need something pretty quickly (by next summer IMO). The strength of batteries is that they can start providing electricity to the grid almost instantaneously where as a gas plant which is what's commonly used to address peak power issues taken something like 30 minutes (might be less than this but it's a number of minutes at least). 100MW is really just the beginning and as mentioned Redflow don't seem to be in a position to meet the requirements at least on their own. There are others such as Zen energy which is an SA company that seem to be claiming that they are.

I just like the Redflow solution as it has some nice properties around safety and recyclability. 

Pragmatic businessmen who run large companies very rarely have the same political and philosophical views as the virtue-signalling masses. Will they have to boycott every single company in the world? That would be amazing...

Thanks for posting that link. Was interesting to read & it made a coworker & I google into a decent amount of detail the whole idea of Gas Plants. Interesting stuff. 

So really, by the time they tender & then sign da ting, 100 days is cutting it fine. 

I like the idea of keeping it local but also I like the idea of how "groundbreaking on a global scene" it'd be for Tesla to be involved, which would further push for this kind of stuff around the globe. By gum it'd put Adelaide on the map.

Hit the nail on the head. Companies don't need to get involved with politics and religion.

Pretty much this....

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coopers-brewery-gay-marriage-backdown-a-craven-capitulation-mp-andrew-hastie-20170315-guyfo3.html 


Coopers brewery gay marriage back-down a 'craven capitulation': MP Andrew Hastie

West Australian MP Andrew Hastie has issued a stinging rebuke to the "progressive left" and the Coopers brewery, after an internet video in which he discussed his opposition to gay marriage with a parliamentary colleague prompted a furious online backlash.

His Victorian colleague, Tim Wilson, said the furore showed how easy it was to offend some people these days.

In the video, Mr Hastie outlined why he supports traditional marriage to Mr Wilson, who has spoken of his desire to marry his long-term partner, and is a former Human Rights Commissioner.The seven-minute video was produced by the Bible Society, which said it was intended as a demonstration of how to conduct respectful conversations about serious issues.

The discussion was held while the men drank bottles of Coopers beer, which had been packaged to celebrate the Bible Society's 200th anniversary.The release of the video, first reported by Fairfax, led to a torrent of online abuse directed at the two MPs, and an accusation by inner-city Melbourne Greens MP Adam Bandt that Coopers Brewery was "sponsoring ads against marriage equality".Then on Tuesday, after a number of partial retractions and a host of pubs vowed to take Coopers off their taps amid growing outrage, the company issued an apology.It said it would cancel its limited-edition Bible Society beer and join same-sex marriage lobby group Australian Marriage Equality.

Coopers said it was "incredibly saddened by the impact our involvement with the Bible Society has had on our valued Coopers drinkers".

But Mr Hastie said the back-down was a "craven capitulation" that showed "little spine".

"The whole point of this video was to demonstrate that two MPs can disagree on a very important issue and still be friends and still respect each other," he said.

"The public reaction from the left has demonstrated there is something seriously wrong at the heart of our democracy. I had no idea when I did this with Tim that we would trigger so many people on Twitter.

"They [Coopers Brewery] are apologising for nothing; they've done nothing wrong."

Mr Wilson said the discussion was designed to allow the participants to disagree, without being disagreeable.

"Let's be frank: we jumped at the chance to demonstrate how civil discussion should be had, that's our role as parliamentarians," he said.

"But as somebody who also supports a change in the law, I thought it was a good way to get a conversation directly to people who you may not always be able to engage on this issue."

Both MPs said they were surprised at the anger unleashed over the video.

"It demonstrated that the left demand your surrender if you disagree with them, they shut down dissent and at their heart they are totally illiberal," Mr Hastie said.

"In their minds any dissent must be eliminated and the idea you can have a discussion in which people disagree but respect each other is not part of their world.

"I've had crass and bullying emails from as far away as Tasmania and the reason people are so unsettled by it is that it goes to the heart of our civilisation. Are we truly free, are we truly democratic, do we allow free thought?"

Mr Wilson said: "I think it is a sign that there's a section of society that is very intolerant of a difference of opinion on an issue like this today. I think it only calls to the point of the video, which is to have respectful disagreement. Both side of the argument were presented very respectfully, with a bit of humour. 

"I think this response has been way over the top and shows just how easily people use the idea of being offended today now to boycott companies when they haven't done anything wrong, when their product was simply used a prop as part of showing how you can have a robust discussion. 

"We were given the beers and I was a bit surprised to be quite frank, as it was recorded just after noon and I don't tend to have a drink at lunchtime. If you look, my bottle is very full because I didn't sip any of it." 

The Bible Society released a statement standing by the video and said it was not sponsored by Coopers.

"The interest from the public in this campaign reinforces the message of the video - that it is important for Australians to have respectful conversations about serious issues," the statement said.

Coopers corporate affairs director Melanie Cooper said the brewery was "supportive of diversity and encourages individualism".

"Our company supports marriage equality," Ms Cooper said.

"Offence has been taken by our recent involvement, for which we are deeply sorry. We have listened to a range of community views, we acknowledge this feedback and respect everyone's individual opinions and beliefs."

Mandurah Mail with Fairfax Media

The company didn't.  They had the unfortunate experience of someone purchasing their product and giving it to someone else.  

Also, apparently they are guilty of supporting a society that does charitable work. (By way of celebrating their 200 year existence with a bible verse on the carton.)  What an absolute disgrace.  Honestly the whole board of Coopers should be hung, drawn and quartered.

Imagine a company donating money to an organisation that then uses that money in a charitable manner.  Outrageous.

It's not hard to see why the supporters of gay marriage get so worked up, they constantly have to deal with the religion aspect of the debate that pretty much removes all logic and reasoning. However, calling for a boycott because the Bible Society decided to drink a Coopers on a civil tv ad where both sides were given the opportunity to voice their opinion is pretty stupid.

Putting bible verses on a carton is not something i'm a fan of.  

The usual suspects missing the point as normal in the pursuit of culture wars.

Yeah it's a fascinating and there's a lot of money and innovation being poured into this area around the world. The fact that the conservative government is trying to ignore it isn't going to change the outcomes but it does mean that local startups are running with one arm behind their back.

How very condescending.  Has decentric been giving you tips?

From you m8 :laugh:

Absolutely brilliant


I don't think the state Liberals will want any of the feds coming around any time soon.

Fucking lol came in to post that too.

THAT is a shitfronting, take note Tone Abboots.

-PB

I thought Weatheril actually made a dork of himself and that Frydenberg handled it really well.

What it showed me is that Weatheril is desperate to appear he is fighting for the State's interest in a last desperate attempt to gain credibility over this issue. 

But good on Frydenberg for keeping it classy. 

Meanwhile, Turnbull's Snowy River Scheme mark 2 is the one creating waves. 2000MwH for 2 Billion compared to 250MwH for $550 million. Do the sums. 

It's also clean, green, and will operate day and night and isn't dependent on wind. It will create enough extra power for 500k homes. That's impressive! 

Please elaborate?

Yeah and why is he doing it now lol.

-PB

To bring stability into the grid because some States haven't been doing their homework and closing base load cheap energy coal fire power stations. 

Yeah, nah. He already has a lot of credibility, certain media types continue to misreport things and the take down was completely justified. 

Snowy River Scheme is a good idea but what does it do for SA? Absolutely nothing. Frydenberg was there to announce $20 million battery project. Pathetic. If they actually were interested in helping to fix problems rather than wedging a Labor state government (and look after their eastern state interests) they'd be doing a hell of a lot more.

That's what you say, but that isn't the consensus around the country nor within the SA electorate. 

Weatheril isn't being honest I'm afraid. SA, unlike WA, is part of the National Electricity Grid. 2000MwH into the grid will free up supply into the SA Market. It might not be power from the Hydro scheme, but electricity will stream through the inter-connector. So yes, it does benefit SA too, but it won't be immediate. It will take 4 to 7 years. 

Good to know you're so up with SA politics, I'll be honest and say I don't know anything about WA politics until the election happened.

Yeah the inter-connector that they love to smash us about because "we're relying on Victoria". As PB says it's all very convenient that this is coming out now.

It's one of the biggest issues going on in the national scene. When SA went dark, like North Korea, it was on page 1 of the West Australian. It was like a Monty Python comedy.

The only State that always cops it most of the time is WA. We fund more on a per capita basis and from State raised GST revenues and only get $0.35 back and on top of that, we can't get any power from an inter-connector because we are too far away. 

But I still like the Snowy River Scheme, because it's a good initiative even though it won't have a direct energy benefit for us. 

The least the Feds and States can do for us is raise the GST allocation to the WA Budget. But no.....not going to happen because Weatheril will be the first to block it. Weatheril always has his hand out, but why should WA pay for it to the extent it is? 

Yup, the timing considering what SA had announced days ago to disrupt the market is just the Feds trying to keep pace imo.

-PB

Don't you think they would have been working on this for a few months at least?

First, they would have done some kind of rudimentary feasibility. I doubt they would have just come out with such a thing in a week because it would be embarrassing if they got it wrong

It may be a big issue but you continue to turn a blind eye to the actual issues in the system. 

The old GST chestnut that ignores the fact WA was a benefactor of getting a larger allocation than what they generated for years (and with the downturn they may go back to). WA is another classic example of the claim that the Liberal Party being good economic managers is a massive furphy.