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[sneakey pete]

Ah, but we're increasing it faster than the global average anyway. Also i'd like to see some stats on this "300 years of coal in Australia" anyway.

[Osmosis Jones]

IMO, we should really be moving on from coal.

We live in probably the single best country for alternate energy sources (solar and geothermal everywhere, wind along the south coast, and tidal along the north, not to mention hydroelectric dams through the mountains), not to mention having 23% of the world's uranium. We should probably power ourself with something that isn't going to run out in the short term...

[IndonesiaWarMinister]

Raeg

You know that's Deutsche, right?

[Neruz]

IMO, we should really be moving on from coal.

We live in probably the single best country for alternate energy sources (solar and geothermal everywhere, wind along the south coast, and tidal along the north, not to mention hydroelectric dams through the mountains), not to mention having 23% of the world's uranium. We should probably power ourself with something that isn't going to run out in the short term...

Nuklear's the only feasible long-term solution. Your other forms of alternative power are either far too region specific (Geothermal) or just plain don't produce enough power density (Wind, Solar, Tidal).

[KaelGotDwarves]

As an American, I just wanted to say

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Nutella > vegimite/marmite 

When I was traveling through I noticed you have vastly superior cable than ours. I hope to make a longer visit soon.

Also, Europe sent their religious nutbags to America, and their criminals to Australia. Looking at the current situation, I'm starting to think that we got the shaft on that one. 

[Emperor_Jonathan]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Nutella > vegimite/marmite 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1. Vegimite
2. Nutella
3. Marmite

Vegimite is the shit.
Nutella is alright.
Marmite is just plain fucking shit.

[Cheeetar]

I don't like Nutella that much. I prefer my chocolate solid, not on bread.

[Luke_Prowler]

[sneakey pete]

Nuklear's the only feasible long-term solution. Your other forms of alternative power are either far too region specific (Geothermal) or just plain don't produce enough power density (Wind, Solar, Tidal).

I hate to be a party pooper again, but do ya know that there mightn't be that much urnanium left on the planet either? especially considering that we're starting to grow the nuclear sector again.
Then again, i don't think the assesments of reserves are anywhere near as accurate as for the coal reserves.

[Emperor_Jonathan]

Nuklear's the only feasible long-term solution. Your other forms of alternative power are either far too region specific (Geothermal) or just plain don't produce enough power density (Wind, Solar, Tidal).

I hate to be a party pooper again, but do ya know that there mightn't be that much urnanium left on the planet either? especially considering that we're starting to grow the nuclear sector again.
Then again, i don't think the assesments of reserves are anywhere near as accurate as for the coal reserves.

We have a quite a bit.

I think we'll be alright, for now. We've still got a couple of decades until coal has run out.

BUT YO, AUSTRALIA DOESN'T NEED URANIUM

It runs out, what will we export?

[TheNewerMartianEmperor]

Cotton?

[Emperor_Jonathan]

Too Water intensive. It's incredibly short sighted to farm cotton in large quantities in the most arid inhabited continent on Earth.

[Osmosis Jones]

Nuclear power would be the easiest, and would certainly require the smallest change in infrastructure, but renewable sources are still tenable.

Power density is actually not as much of an issue as you think it might be, it just requires people to accept individual wind turbines and solar panels in addition to more centralised power generation, (for example, a hydroelectric dam if you live along the east coast).
I used to live near Albany in southern W.A., and the wind farm (which did not actually take up that much land) was enough to provide ~75% of the region's consumption. Supplementing this with private generation would be rather feasible.

Incidentally, geothermal isn't that limited in location;

Distinct from hydrothermal, HDR / EGS may be feasible anywhere in the world, depending on the economic limits of drill depth.

Tidal is far more limited, as it requires coastal regions with relatively high tidal flow, but even then it's still not that bad considering the vast majority of our population lives spitting distance from the coast.

Whatever the case though, the key to successfully utilising alternate energy is to make use of multiple sources concurrently, rather than relying on an single source.

Regarding nuclear, while yes, uranium reserves are ultimately limited, the rate of consumption of uranium is far less than that of coal, especially if you make use of breeder reactors (which can also utilise the far more abundant element thorium).

[IndonesiaWarMinister]

And it shall come the day when we, men, gloriously split water for energy!

Cold nuclear fusion for everyone! ([otaku]Cirno + Utsuho, lol)

[Muz]

Actually, solar power would work remarkably well in Australia. There's some strong sunlight here, so strong that it'd probably melt your flesh off without sunscreen. And solar cells are cheap. UNSW has so much extra solar cells they don't use that they just donate it away or layer the top of the buildings with it.

With all the silicon and empty land in Australia, I think solar power would be a good alternative. There's also that Aussie company, Better Place, which is trying to popularize electric cars and flatten the energy demand at the same time (peak time being in the day), and it'd be interesting to see how that goes. Even better, it looks like driving electric cars would be cheaper than standard petrol cars.

That's another reason why it's so awesome, there's a hell lot of environmental research here and the resulting inventions are cheap too.