(a) We agree - Australia is a dry country.

(b) Coal Fired power stations do use water but most all is used for cooling and dust suppression where most all is recycled - not lost.

Large lakes are situated near stations for very good reasons.

(c) I am intrigued - please explain how coal is made using 653 litres of water?

(d) Indeed, but even better energy from the sun and wind uses nil water ... directly.

Jenny - How much water, coal and petrochemicals are involved in the manufacture of steel, and of the zinc to coat the steel, and of the chromium and other metals involved in stainless steel, and of the copper for the windings (etc), and the manufacture of the quartz glass for the solar panels, and of the concrete manufacture, and of all the quarrying, blasting (etc to get all those materials)

And of the petrochemical engineering involved in making short lived turbine blades that cannot be recycled, and of the fuel and related transport technologies in each, and of recycling/disposal of dead solar panels ... and more.

So Jenny - there be a little assignment for you.

It is amazing what one learns when investigating reality rather than blindly accepting fiction.

RELATED:

READ ALSO:

In the lead up to World No Tobacco Day on May 31 it is important to reflect on the devastation caused by smoking which kills more than 21,000 Australians each year.

Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in Australia.

Rural people have higher smoking rates and suffer up to 1.8 times the harm from smoking compared to those in major cities.

As a general practitioner working with smokers for more than 30 years, I am frustrated that smoking rates have remained stagnant since 2013, particularly in the bush.

The reality is that most addicted smokers are simply unable to quit with conventional treatments and up to two in three will die prematurely as a result.

Many Australian smokers could quit by vaping nicotine.

Vaping is more effective than other smoking aids and is the most popular quitting aid in the world.

It is perplexing that Australia remains the only western democracy to deny smokers access to this lifesaving alternative.

All Australian smokers, especially those in rural and remote areas should speak to their GP about whether vaping is suitable for them.

A prescription from a GP makes vaping legal in Australia.

The peak GP body, the RACGP, has recently acknowledged a role for vaping for smokers who are otherwise unable to quit.

On World No Tobacco Day more than ever, we all need to ask why effective, far safer alternatives to smoking such as vaping are not freely available to Australian smokers.