By the way, as DG says, gas power generation is now cheaper than thermal coal (apart maybe from Victorian brown coal) and more flexible, and depending on the mining methods, produces 50% less greenhouse gases than coal. Thermal coal is dead. Look at the USA. No new coal fired power there, mostly because they have a gas bonanza, but also for the other reasons stated above.
I don't believe gas is the medium or long term answer at all, but it is gradually taking over from coal, whether I or anyone else likes it or not.
By the way DG, these comparison are done all the time. The IEA (International Energy Agency) is a good example, and the EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute). Some are less biased than others. The IEA is probably the best, the EPRI itself has been accused of bias, but then again the various wind and solar associations are probably biased toward themselves as well.
