I think cooker's arguments are sound. Here in Australia, the proposed introduction of carbon trading effectively, as I understand it, means that everyone is going to pay more for their energy, at the gas pump, for the power delivered.

It really is a tax, and the poor won't have much in the way of compensation. It just means that those with a much greater disposable income will continue to consume more because they can afford to.

This is among the reasons why I started the thread... to get people thinking about what they can do within their own spheres to reduce the impact such punitive measures are going to have when they are inevitably introduced. For many, the environment will be secondary -- the financial impact will be what motivates them.

I am off the grid for everything at the moment -- power, water, sewerage. I want to try to stay that way whatever happens into the future, although realistically, electricity is about the only real option if I move into a suburban area.

Apart from the ongoing savings, though, I have a smile everytime I see power going into my deep-cycle batteries from the solar panel set-up.