Congrats Australia -- wind energy now cheaper than coal, gas

[n~dl]

http://about.bnef.com/2013/02/07/renewa ... australia/

Well, sort of. Old coal is still cheaper than new wind. I had the idea that coal is pretty big in Australia so this surprised me a little that these strides were made there, but maybe it shouldn't have.
An old argument that's stood in the way of energy reform has been the price tag and the best guys like me had to counter it was that the cost trend for RE has steadily dropped for the most part, while fossil fuels have risen. Now it looks like those lines have begun to cross. It's hopeful, at least!

Anyway, I'm mostly posting this out of curiosity. America is 100% crazy and it's hard to think about how these things are perceived elsewhere -- is the subject of renewable energy as polarizing and touchy in AUS/NZ as it is here in the States? How do the politics of luthiers over there there break down in general? Of the builders I've met and interacted with here, their leanings appear to be a pretty mixed bag, from big lefties like myself, to Ron Paul right-leaning libertarian types, completely apolitical folks to you name it. The most conservative dudes I know are still pretty progressive when it comes to the lumber industry and how we harvest our trees ("where did my adirondack go?") though it often ends there!

Oh, and I promise I'll won't drag politics onto the board too often from here on out. I'm sure many of us have already had enough arguing with family members on our Facebook walls.

[DaveW]

Hi Nate
I see no one has replied to you which isnt surprising as we are a fairly apolitical people.
We have elections coming up this year which usually generates a bit more discussion but I think like most countries in the western world we dont expect to much to change ,like America its basically a 2 horse race ,one party right of centre ,the other further to the right and both pander to big business,which is understandable ,not agreeable but it is what it is .
As for energy again it is about big business isnt it and Australia has a wealth of natural resources ,gas ,coal, Iron ore rare earths ,you name it and we basically have it in large quantities and our economy relies on selling it so it isnt in our best interests to promote greener energies therefore we dont actually hear a great deal other than what we find out about or some small article somewhere that is usually written by some one with there own axe to grind ,so to speak,
The local state government where I live in Western Australia had an interesting idea a few years ago and it basically meant they subsidised solar power installation on new and used homes so there has been quite a growth in this industry here.
It wasnt done for environmental concerns or anything like that but because the growth in this state has been so massive (due to the natural resources)that our existing infrastructure couldnt cope probably due ,sorry definitely due to the inefficiencies and corruption of previous governments.
Anyway the subsidies have now ceased but people are still installing them due to rising energy costs ,we have a lot of building going on at present and I think it would make great sense to make it a stipulation that all new housing install 3 to 5 kva solar panels and inverters on every house and we would end up being able to generate more power than is needed ,governments would cut costs in new power generation infrastructure ,and we would be doing our bit for the environment.
Sorry Ive waffled on a bit here
but basically renewable energy isnt all that polarizing in my experience it comes up in elections but not really as a major issue ,almost like "ok what can we pledge to appease the loony left,then we will reneg on our promise if we do get elected" as for luthiers you would presume we would be on the left of centre but as we dont discuss politics much so who knows .
Dave