WA and its mining wealth and efficiency wouldn't exist without a global market for both its supply and demand.

* Sales of bin liners (for example) do not significantly increase when single use plastic bags are banned

* Plastic bag litter is significantly reduced.

If you want less litter, banning single use plastic bags is a great way to achieve that

Sources https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2017-0... https://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/000...

You can see the full study here:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/resp.14625

> In conclusion, this study is the most comprehensive assessment of the physico-chemical characteristics of dusts generated from a wide range of resin-based engineered stones (of high- and reduced-silica contents) and the first to assess how these characteristics relate to the lung cell response, at a scale large enough to potentially identify components of these materials that could be linked to the severity of disease among ES workers. We showed that exposure to high levels of RCS dust during ES processing is likely contributing to disease severity in this occupational group, however, other inorganic components of ES dust, in particular Co and Al, may also be strong contributors. Furthermore, some of the highest inflammatory responses recorded were observed in non-engineered stones, further supporting the view that components other than crystalline silica may be contributing to the pathogenesis of severe silicosis. The outcomes of this study have important implications for future regulation of ES products as they challenge the common view that reducing the crystalline silica alone will eliminate disease risk.

The key take-away I get from that is that it's not silica specifically, but something else about engineered stone that is making it so unsafe to work with. And that's why they are banning the whole product class.

> "It's not just about the silica, it's something specific about the engineered stone products that's causing such a significant issue in workers fabricating these products."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/study-finds-safety-co...

To illustrate, imagine a grid with 1000MW max demand and 2000MW of production. Let's say the generation is composed of equal parts solar, wind, gas, and nuclear.

You've got 500MW of always on (nuclear), 500MW dispatchable (gas), and 1000MW intermittent.

When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, where do you put all your extra energy?

Well if you add on another 500MW of bitcoin mining, you can send it there. And if you hit peak demand when you've got no renewables (or the gas/nuclear is offline) you can switch off your extra demand.

The dispatchable industrial user is helping to pay to keep the extra capacity around you only need a few days a year.

Hopefully, that's how the impulse will be remembered.

"The US worked through Third World countries and fake companies and finally was able to ship the ore to the US to build the SR-71."

And to complete the loop, Russia is now importing sanctioned American microchips for its missiles via third parties. I wonder if the order form states they will be used in smart pizzas ovens.

The torque steer in my FWD EV (BYD Atto) is horrendous. Sure its possible to use clever engineering to manage it, but just switching to EVs isn't going to magically make torque steer go away.

Some definitions would include them as part of Oceania.

"It does cost more to run an appliance than to heat with gas."

That's highly dependent on the appliances involved and the price you pay for each fuel. For me, a heat pump is much cheaper to run. You really need to calculate it for each individual situation.

*after subsidies.

Pretty low to withhold tips from their contractors.

"All funds were returned. We have single digit USD million balance on Gate as of now."

https://twitter.com/kris/status/1591610511246102528

$250 000 first year and $52 500 in following years = 91 years until the money runs out. Of course there is no doubt other costs involved, but you'd make it past a year.