this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2026
105 points (98.2% liked)

Australia

4912 readers
124 users here now

A place to discuss Australia and important Australian issues.

Before you post:

If you're posting anything related to:

If you're posting Australian News (not opinion or discussion pieces) post it to Australian News

Rules

This community is run under the rules of aussie.zone. In addition to those rules:

Banner Photo

Congratulations to @Tau@aussie.zone who had the most upvoted submission to our banner photo competition

Recommended and Related Communities

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our related communities on aussie.zone:

Plus other communities for sport and major cities.

https://aussie.zone/communities

Moderation

Since Kbin doesn't show Lemmy Moderators, I'll list them here. Also note that Kbin does not distinguish moderator comments.

Additionally, we have our instance admins: @lodion@aussie.zone and @Nath@aussie.zone

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au -3 points 5 days ago (4 children)

If that’s the lesson you think needs to be learned, you’ve learned the wrong lesson from this.

We need to take more ownership of our petrol/diesel/oil supply. We need to stop relying on other countries for things we can do right here at home.

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

All energy supply. And also all energy infrastructure.

This covers both Fossil and Renewable.

Corporate Astroturfing against Renewables needs to be exposed and banned. All political parties need to acknowledge that Renewable is the future, but our reliance on Fossil fuels are the bootstraps we need to pull on to get there.

Infrastructure needs to be Compulsorily Acquired for the nation through Eminent Domain. (Including other utilities and financial infrastructure and assets).

The Public Sector needs to be constantly audited to prevent any pork barrelling and corruption needs to be exposed as the crimes they are, with legal ramifications for those who are exposed.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

What we call “renewables” currently is not the future because it’s all contingent on having non-renewables to make the “renewables”. We need to somehow invent batteries and solar panels that can be made using nothing non-renewable, but we’re not even close.

There’s more astroturfing for renewables than against it.

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago

If you your saying is true, then the Astroturf campaigns that are funded by the Fracking Companies would focus on the unrecyclability of turbine fins/blades, solar panels and lithium batteries.

In this case, they would be sued by battery and solar panel manufacturers and it would go to court.

Instead, the astroturfing campaigns focus on ridiculous claims like “birds will get hurt when they fly into turbine blades” and “high-tension power lines look ugly and hurt my feelings”.

[–] budget_biochemist@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

We need to somehow invent batteries and solar panels that can be made using nothing non-renewable, but we’re not even close.

This is simply untrue. Here's an in depth Technology Connections video about renewable power, including the ease of recycling both solar panels and batteries

Solar panels are 90% recyclable and most parts can be easily separated by hand. The aluminum, glass, silver and copper can then be simply melted down. The only reason it isn't more common is that the labor costs are more expensive than buying virgin raw materials - a capitalism problem, not a technical problem.

Likewise, most batteries are recyclable by simply separating the electrodes and melting them down. For alkali metals like Lithium and Sodium you have the complication of having to work in an inert space but that doesn't make it impossible, just more work (Edit: Ask a chemistry graduate, they have probably done this in a glove box before). Again, it's a problem of the labor cost of recycling being prohibitive, not a technical problem. Lithium batteries are 98% recyclable.

The suggestion that 98% recyclable batteries are somehow less sustainable than oil-based fuels that are literally burnt up and completely unrecoverable is ludicrous.

[–] Longmactoppedup@aussie.zone 3 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Who is this "we" who is going to take ownership of this?

The neo con govt that jumps when any industry sneezes?

The energy companies themselves going to do it because they are all about doing what's right for the country / consumer / anything other than profits?

[–] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone -1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

White people. They're talking about white people.

[–] Longmactoppedup@aussie.zone 0 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This energy crisis is already the product of white people.

Sure. I just meant that this person is a March Australia supporter, not just a naive 'proud aussies' who went to one of the larger rallies, but a committed to the cause type.

[–] budget_biochemist@slrpnk.net 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If that’s the lesson you think needs to be learned, you’ve learned the wrong lesson from this.

As another person said, we're at the "And Find Out" stages of climate change and fossil fuels.

We need to take more ownership of our petrol/diesel/oil supply.

Or maybe we could shift away from the fossil fuel fetish toward sustainable sources of energy.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

“Renewables” aren’t sustainable because they’re made with non-renewable materials.

There is no known replacement for oil. None. It’s in basically everything the world runs on and uses. We need to be producing our own until a replacement is found.

[–] budget_biochemist@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 days ago

What non-renewable materials?

What is less renewable than literally burning a finite resource?

[–] OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

We export like 90% of our crude oil and we've only got like 2 refineries so we also import like 80% of our refined oil.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

My point exactly. We shouldn’t be exporting it, and we shouldn’t be importing it.

[–] OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

So how do you replace the billions lost?