A good article & makes the reader feel bad that we (Aust) are not doing enough - or are we - & even if we did how much would the world benefit.
You need to take into account how tiny Norway is.
It's all well & fine to say Australia should do this look at such & such.
As a comparison Norway land area 0.385m km2.............................Aust 7.7m km2.
So do we just modernise the cities & let the rest of Aust side into oblivion (key Beverley hill billy music) or do we drag the entire country kicking & screaming into the next century. There is a cost here.
This huge infrastructure cost will make squat difference in the net pollutants due to our production of electricity (per capita we are high - read low population over a vast area - but the actual tonnage is low)
These numbers are rubbery but you get the idea
Australia the worst polluter per capita & China the best---go figure - Are we really the baddies as far as the world is concerned?
|
Column 1 |
Column 2 |
Column 3 |
Column 4 |
| 1 |
Country |
tonnes CO2 per person |
Population - Mill |
Tonnes emitted |
| 2 |
|
|
|
|
| 3 |
Aust |
16.3 |
24.6 |
400.98 |
| 4 |
USA |
16 |
326 |
5216 |
| 5 |
Norway |
11.7 |
5.3 |
62.01 |
| 6 |
China |
7.6 |
1388 |
10548.8 |
So USA produces 13 times more pollutant, China 26.3 times more..
If we halved our CO2 output (at an astronomical cost) ie 200 M tonnes, the same tonnage reduction would require USA to reduce their out put by 3.8% & China by 1.9% - hardly a drag on either of the USA or China economy
We have the tyranny of distance on our side & a very low population density. Norway by comparision is huddled around a few centres making that scenario economically viable to upgrade a few cities & effectively the ' whole' county. Apply their costs to Australia & it just can't be done efficiently.
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FWIW - I agree that something needs to be done to lower our electricy
Nuclear Power is the answer - South Aust could be a net exporter of electricity into the grid (plus charge the world a dumpning fee for used material - a Billion dollars a year for the next 100,000 years (or we return your used rods) would make SA the economic growth state of Australia..I digress.
Electric cars great - a step in the right direction but not for Australia (yet).
Off my soap box now
