Peter Martin, Portland

Once again we have people in blue shirts (paid staff) telling us what's good for us (‘CFA leader: Split positive’, The Standard, May 26) and we should be good little volunteers and do as we told. Again we have senior people talking down to volunteers, who have a legitimate concern about the future and effectiveness of the CFA. CEO Frances Diver is jumping up and down about computer generated phone calls whilst one of her senior co-horts is telling us he knows best and we should just put up with it. Really.

Geoff Howley, Caramut

Regarding the article "Big Concert For Dennis" published May 26. We are thrilled to report that the concert was a roaring success with over $3600 raised on the day. It was a wonderful example of what our community can achieve when we band together. More than 140 people enjoyed a fantastic afternoon of entertainment by our talented local musicians who generously gave of their time. Proudfoots was a perfect venue, with their staff keeping us all fed and watered throughout the afternoon, which added to the wonderful atmosphere. Special thanks to Russ Goodear and Merran Moir for their tireless efforts to fulfill Dennis's wish to bring the concert to fruition. Dennis' hope to raise enough money for one extendable palliative care bed for the home has been far exceeded by people's generosity. To date we have raised almost enough money to purchase three beds. We plan to leave the Big Bed Benefit bank account at South West Credit Union open until June 30 so that those who wish to still donate have the opportunity to do so. Our sincerest thanks to all involved

Mem Taberner and family, Warrnambool

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Civil, Swinburne), and am a Fellow of Engineers Australia.  I live at Warrnambool on the footstep of Australia’s biggest wind farm, its wave power and gas sequestration experiments, a new gas-powered single (simple) cycle power station which cost $640 million and its gas supply and refinement near Port Campbell, all of which I have followed closely. I think this qualifies me to make the following statements concerning Australia’s energy supply and its future. Firstly, the frequent claims that wind energy is cheap is a lie – Australia’s subsidised wind farms are a multi-billion dollar scam. They are costly in relation to the amount of electricity they produce, and that energy is largely absorbed by inefficiencies in the use of natural gas generators to chase them all over the weather map, a process I dub ‘Energy laundering’. This is the reason why our electricity costs have climbed so steeply; and gas reserves do not last forever as Britain is finding out. The suggestion that 100 per cent of Australia’s electricity can be sourced from what I call ‘Occasionals’ using present technology is fanciful. Our attention is drawn when wind is producing at its maximum, but the critical times are during minimum production when wind output is virtually zero over very large areas for several days. The abilities of batteries and pumped storage are greatly exaggerated and they cannot cover such situations economically. Simple souls have observed advances made by electronic equipment including telephones, TVs, computers and lighting, and hope that they will carry through to heating and electro-mechanical devices such as generators and motors, but any improvements in them will be minimal because they have been close to their possible peak for a long time.  And those souls cannot see beyond domestic electricity consumption which is only about one third of our total electricity use. I have self-published a book which includes further details of this criticism and proposes an affordable carbon-free and blackout-free solution to Australia’s electricity problem.

Graham Keith,  Warrnambool