Gympie writer says Australia is not a quarry, go solar

The land taken to produce the mine is irreversibly ruined aesthetically, environmentally and for farming use: Gympie letter writer

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

GO SOLAR

AN OPEN cut coal mine leaves a massive hole in the ground.

The coal from that mine is burned to produce energy and that burning produces carbon dioxide which adds to greenhouse gases and hence global warming.

Once the coal is burned it is gone forever but the gases still remain in the atmosphere.

The money generated from the sale of the coal is gone and needs to be replaced by creating more coal mines.

Coal is mined for, say, 20 years. The hole left behind will be there for thousands, or tens of thousands of years.

Clermont open cut coal mine. Picture: Jessica Dorey

The land taken to produce the mine is irreversibly ruined aesthetically, environmentally and for farming use. There are no stated plans to put an end to many more coal mines being created. We can't keep creating holes in the ground - how will our land look in 100 or 1000 years' time?

A solar farm taking up the same area will produce energy continuously, giving us renewable energy. This energy will not be contributing to global warming. It will help to combat global warming by replacing energy traditionally generated from non-renewable sources.

At some point (do the maths, but it doesn't matter when) the energy generated from the solar farm will equal the energy obtained from the coal that came out of the hole.

It will continue generating long after that point is reached. The land used by the solar farm will not be ruined. It may be possible to operate it as dual use, so it is not solely for solar energy production. The land can easily be returned to its former use if appropriate.

Australia is not a quarry: GO SOLAR!

Jim Bird,

Mothar Mountain

KEEP READING FOR ANOTHER LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Road better than a jetty

AFTER seeing the plans of the proposed jetty at Tin Can Bay, I consider (there is a) lack of knowledge going into this project. I have listened to a few who don't want the road north from Noosa, because it will have a lot of growth to the area.

Parking will be a concern, with a multitude of people coming to see this jetty that has no water under it half the time and many fishing off it, with tangles and (parking) difficulties. I believe we will have more problems than this, with angry people looking for food and rest areas. This has not been thought out. I believe the road north from Noosa would be of far more benefit.

Les Cravigan, Cooloola Cove

Originally published as Gympie writer says Australia is not a quarry, go solar