How much do we hate Lignite Gas?
Victoria is suffering the largest rises in wholesale electricity prices in the country, as it sits on large gas fields that it won’t touch. Why — geniuses hope to reduce global droughts and floods and sea level in 2100.
Robert Gottleibsen savages the state governments that conducted the renewables experiment without mentioning the real costs or the cheap alternatives.
If Victoria allowed its gas to be developed the energy scene in Australia would be transformed, as would the outlook for the nation.
But that’s not much consolation for those in vast areas of rural NSW and Victoria plus suburban Melbourne and small areas of South Australia who suffered blackouts or reduced power on Sunday night. It’s true part of the outages were caused by fuses, but the outages were too widespread. It’s another smokescreen.
If similar conditions are repeated on weekdays and/or extend over several days the blackouts will be devastating as a result of the political vandalism. Government spin doctors and others are desperately trying to conceal the truth about the damage governments headed by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (plus her predecessors Mike Baird and Barry O’Farrell) and South Australia’s Jay Weatherill have caused.
South Australia suffered its blackouts last year so it was appropriate that this week’s blackouts were worst in Victoria — just as the residents of the gas-rich state discovered they suffered the biggest wholesale gas price rises in the country. –-The Australian
It costs a lot to conceal that much cheap gas
Specifically, it takes a $42 million committee to not consider the things that matter.
The art of bureaucrats is to make a lot of noise about pots and kettles in the hope that no one notices the elephant.
Taking its concealment one step further the Victorian government last year appointed a $42 million committee which this month declared the state short of onshore gas, but it did not look at the vast reserves of lignite gas that don’t require fracking (because development was banned) nor the reserves of Lakes Oil in Gippsland and the Otway (because Lakes Oil are suing the government). Unbelievable.
But they did reveal a fascinating diagram, which showed that Lakes Oil’s Otway areas are linked to those in South Australia. A few days after the report Beach discovered a major find in South Australia six kilometres from the Victorian border. –-The Australian
The ABC helps the Vic Government, blame the victim, hide the truth
Blackouts are not caused by governments trying to change the weather and help crony parasitic industry supporters. Blame capitalist retailers for faulty fuses:
The Government said the spike in demand caused blown fuses and failed transformers on the distribution network.
About 50,000 homes across the state lost power, and many were still blacked out this morning.
“The distribution companies are required to maintain and improve the network and they’ve been charging customers handsomely to do that,” Mr Andrews said. — ABC
Can we find an excuse to call this a record — yes, we, can.
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said it was the highest peak demand ever recorded in Victoria on a Sunday.
Nobody mention that there have been plenty of days higher than this in every other day of the week (like 10,496MW). Victoria can’t even manage a Peak Sunday now. It’s sheer luck the heat didn’t hit on any other day. If only the ABC had real journalists, they could have asked D’Ambrosio a hard question. Instead … “crickets”.
Blackouts are your fault for wanting to use an air conditioner:
Andrew Dillon from Energy Networks Australia told ABC Radio Melbourne the statewide system held up under the strain of demand, but local networks were overwhelmed.
He said all five energy distributors across Victoria experienced outages, putting the problems down to air conditioner use.
The government blames the energy retailers, the energy retailers blame the customers, and the AEMO serves the government, not the people:
The Australian Energy Market Operator [AEMO] also said the outages had nothing to do with supply.
Did the ABC ask the AEMO hard questions, like, wondering why we have the most expensive energy in the world because of “network poles and wires” costs (that’s what we’re told). If network costs are so high, how come the network is the problem?
With not enough watts to go ’round,
Australia keeps gas in the ground,
Where politicians won’t act,
Being media backed,
And by Green ideology bound.
–Ruairi
Fuses blow to protect equipment. If the fuses where not there something else a lot more expensive would possibly have blown up. Blaming fuses shows a certain lack of understanding of the problem domain.
381
My first instinct was to blame Cheung Kong Infrastructure/Power Assets, ‘which owns a 51-per-cent share in both CitiPower Electricity Distribution Network Victoria and Powercor Electricity Distribution Network Victoria.’
ABC
90
“The government is looking at all means to compel those energy companies to compensate those who are affected by this power outage,” the premier said.
Good luck with that.
180
Tropical storms are close to Australia.
http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/mtpw2/product.php?color_type=tpw_nrl_colors&prod=ausf×pan=24hrs&anim=html5
40
The monsoonal trough is in overdrive, crocodiles will be everywhere.
Note the blocking high in the Bight will bring cool temperatures up the eastern seaboard.
80
damn those North ridging highs that get blocked by standing low pressure near NZ.This has been the pattern for a couple of years now.Hope an extension to parts of central QLD comes about.
10
I think you have that backwards. The low pressure areas develop off the Australian coast, spin across the Tasman and soak us for a couple of days, There’s nothing `standing’ about low pressure areas.
High pressure areas on the other hand …
50
Sophocles is correct, we call them East Coast Lows and they generally come down from Queensland to cause havoc in NSW.
Blocking high pressure in the Southern Hemisphere is a global cooling signal.
20
Not just close by, look at that action around Broome.
50
The storm is directed towards New Zealand.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2018/01/31/1800Z/wind/surface/level/overlay=precip_3hr/orthographic=149.21,-40.56,709
20
Even though the closest the centre of the tropical low (now called a cyclone!!!) will be to Australia will be New Caledonia, this will still be classified as an Australian cyclone.
I suspect the weak tropical low centred on Halls Creek at present will also be designated as an Australian cyclone.
91
The current location of the tropical storm in the Pacific. If it reaches New Zealand it can cause a heavy downpour, because the ocean around New Zealand is very warm.
http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/images/latest/tropical/tropical_mtsat_4km_ir4_floater.gif
20
Yep, Thursday. It will make `landfall’ at the (relatively) uninhabited SW corner, Fiordland, where spirogira grows in the trees.
30
There is the potential for snow on the southern highlands in a few days.
20
Above New Zealand, a tropical storm can meet with a cold front.
http://files.tinypic.pl/i/00957/9h3ye3ktun37.png
10
La Nina does not give up.
https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/ocean/nino3.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Enso-index-map.png
La Nina looks very good.
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/sst/anomaly/2018/anomp.1.29.2018.gif
The SOI index is also high.
https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/
10
Our son is working at Christmas Creek mine at present, says the weather is turning ugly.
30
They need to be careful of creating a precedent, otherwise we may come after them when the big blackout comes. Their incompetence and politicised decision making will be central in creating the crisis.
90
That may be true Stuart,
But what we have here is a level of disbelief in the explanations of Government. The fuses did not blow before. Why should they blow now (if indeed that is what happened).
390
Maybe the fuses were intentionally triggered.
Only takes a small non-PC comment, y’know. 😉
201
What about a voltage drop under load?
100
What about it? Does that trigger the fuse?
Also what do these fuse on poles look like? I have not seen one yet.
90
Short answer is yes, if load exceeds supply it can trigger some circuit breakers.
Especially it the load is coming from electric motors (like aircon compressors)
70
Fuses are there to protect from excessive current draw.
Aircon compressors now have inveter drives, which reduces surge current on startup, however the fuse will blow if there are just too many motors on a circuit.
As to whether “sneaky” aircon units did all this its hard to know. You would hope the local electricity authority were monitoring load regularly and detecting increases in load.
60
There was a violent storm here that blew a fuse on a power pole on our property. It’s roughly a foot long.
60
Your property is only a foot long? Or is the power pole a foot long? I am confused.
40
A pole fuse:
http://img.directindustry.com/images_di/photo-g/67436-2371683.jpg
These are often combined with a switch to enable selective isolation of sections of a network for line work.
There are many destabilising factors on the grid now. Steady industrial load is dropping off and being replaced by more variable load AND distributed generation. The unusual conditions on Sunday night was the relatively high temperature late into the evening. I suspect that solar power would normally mask some of the air-conditioning demand but there would be no solar power after 9pm this time of year. On Sunday night air-conditioners would still be cranking past midnight providing they had power.
The losses associated with Sunday night will be sheeted home to Global Warming – that is what caused the high temperatures of course. You will hear many people saying that Sunday night was exceptionally hot. The link has the January highest minimum for Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse:
http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_display_type=dataGraph&p_stn_num=085096&p_nccObsCode=42&p_month=01
On Sunday night to Monday morning, the lowest temperature at the prom was 25.3 at 2am. That is about the same highest minimum that occurred in the 1940s and a little under what was recorded in 1998 and 2009. So up there but the chart does not appear to have much of an upward trend.
Choosing a lighthouse for weather data usually gives a long history and the readings are rarely affected by infrastructure. Inner cities are going to get hotter than they use to simply due to increase in vehicles and air conditioners pushing out heat.
70
Fire trucks carry insulated poles for disconnecting pole switches for the feeder lines to premises on fire
90
There is no trend until 2000 when it looks like a step up. Another dodgy thing to check up on.
30
PeterC
IIRC – as I understand it (not being an electrical engineer! but been around a few fuses)
You’ll notice that fuses and circuit breakers are rated by amps. There are “fast blow” and “slow blow” which will stand a somewhat overload for somewhat longer.
If a load of X watts is expecting Y volts and Z amps and getting it then all will be fine.
If volts drops to X – it will try and pull Z + amps to compensate.
Exit fuse if that isn’t fixed quickly.
Frequency is also in the act with AC, as mentioned below.
50
I agree Andy, its either negligence or intelligent design.
110
Intelligent???
60
It was meant as an amusing aside to hide my deep state paranoia, obviously its just negligence.
90
“to hide my deep state paranoia”
Not working, el gordo.. 😉
60
Anyone remember the Enron scandal re: California electricity? Here’s some of Wiki’s sanitized version:
“As the FERC report concluded, market manipulation was only possible as a result of the complex market design produced by the process of partial deregulation. Manipulation strategies were known to energy traders under names such as “Fat Boy”, “Death Star”, “Forney Perpetual Loop”, “Ricochet”, “Ping Pong”, “Black Widow”, “Big Foot”, “Red Congo”, “Cong Catcher” and “Get Shorty”.[11] Some of these have been extensively investigated and described in reports.
Megawatt laundering is the term, analogous to money laundering, coined to describe the process of obscuring the true origins of specific quantities of electricity being sold on the energy market. The California energy market allowed for energy companies to charge higher prices for electricity produced out-of-state. It was therefore advantageous to make it appear that electricity was being generated somewhere other than California.[citation needed]
Overscheduling is a term used in describing the manipulation of capacity available for the transportation of electricity along power lines. Power lines have a defined maximum load. Lines must be booked (or scheduled) in advance for transporting bought-and-sold quantities of electricity. “Overscheduling” means a deliberate reservation of more line usage than is actually required and can create the appearance that the power lines are congested. Overscheduling was one of the building blocks of a number of scams. For example, the Death Star group of scams played on the market rules which required the state to pay “congestion fees” to alleviate congestion on major power lines. “Congestion fees” were a variety of financial incentives aimed at ensuring power providers solved the congestion problem. But in the Death Star scenario, the congestion was entirely illusory and the congestion fees would therefore simply increase profits.[citation needed]
In a letter sent from David Fabian to Senator Boxer in 2002, it was alleged that:
“There is a single connection between northern and southern California’s power grids. I heard that Enron traders purposely overbooked that line, then caused others to need it. Next, by California’s free-market rules, Enron was allowed to price-gouge at will.”[12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis
Here’s more and there’s lots more on the net.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/feb/05/enron.usnews
50
Connfusion.
40
The fuses were not gold-plated properly.
120
The most important question is “Who died due to the heat and power failure on Sunday?”. No doubt some did.
Next question is “Who is going to be charged with manslaughter?”.
150
The people who use air conditioners, of course.
Goodness, haven’t you learned Socialism 101?
150
Te he.
No, the $5 component self destructs to save the 50c fuse – happens all the time.
These days, a fuse has only two purposes:
1) to prevent power supply cables “smoking” due to a dead short;
2) make customer feel good.
They DO NOT protect electronics, although still handy for power electrics.
70
What have the fuses got to do with the price?
Answer. Nothing, but they do divert attention away from the elephant now fully exposed.
First HARD question …………
Will the prices increase this coming year?
This is beginning to look like the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant, the NBN, etc etc.
The common link is “its not their money” and “it increases tax collected indirectly by State Government” on unavoidable utility expenses.
Next HARD question.
Who gets to die because of this stupidity and who is going to prison?
60
How reassuring:/Daniel Andrews tells us the blackouts were not a power supply problem.
Instead they were caused by a supply of power problem. Got it!
130
Dan Andrews want to copy SA and blow up the coal fired stations, install lots of wind turbines and collect GST from WA, NSW and Qld.
70
I think you could add SA to that list, they and QLD have had their hands in the till for quite a while. Although, the level and type of adjustments that get to those shares are secret bureaucrat business and probably more tortured than a NOOA temperature record.
20
This lunacy in SA & VIC is best summed up by the quote below from one of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th Century, Albert Einstein. No doubt Albert is rolling in his grave wrt this lunacy.
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the former”.
For the sake of the citizens of SA & VIC, would the incumbent ALP Govts please cease this lunatic self inflicted economic destruction of your respective States? It is only a matter of time before the citizens of these two states will say “Enough is enough!!!!”.
220
SA has an election in one month.
I have done my best to inform a citizen of SA. I hope he does not vote for the status quo!
170
What a laugh if they vote Labor back in!
Who will have any sympathy for SA at all?
190
Returning the ALP would be like a patient who requires a heart triple bypass preferring a witch doctor to an amateur magician. The end result will be the same – just the speed of getting there will be slightly different.
60
SA is too far down the track to turn back now. Abandon all hope.
100
Ah, a new sign to put up at the border.
Welcome to South Australia. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.
40
Shades of that Albanian forced labour camp entry sign
“This is BURREL. Where People Enter But Never Leave”.
(Eric Newby, “On the Shores of the Mediterramean”
20
The losers are the majority of voters who will not vote for the Labour party – SA’s gerrymander means the opposition can lose with 56 percent of the vote. That said, from all reports the LNP there are not that better a choice.
50
With the negligible exception of Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives, the electorate has no choice. That’s how it is in the second world.
70
Shucks, pardners, I already told y’all that oil ain’t just fer pourin’ over smashed avocado. Oil is fer ever’thing, but especially fer keepin’ southern Australia lit up when the wind don’t blow right. We call that whole part of yore country Dieselstan an’ if it takes a full-scale invasion of Somalia to keep you Dieselstanis from usin’ durrrrdy coal, it can be arranged.
Y’all come back now.
Tex
130
On the issue of fracking, I give my permission to start drilling, but only if its done by Australian companies and crews, its time to stop the rape and pillage of our country by multinationals.
132
Who gives a Rat’s anymore el Gordo.
I would be happy for Red Adair or any US driller to come here if only we could get some Drilling for Gas.
180
Whats wrong with coal?
And I’ll remind you that fracking bans are in place for a reason, perhaps misguided, but the people in the regions are not happy with their properties being plundered with the blessing of state governments.
The agrarian socialists are locking the gate to keep multinationals out, do you have a problem with that?
82
I also would prefer coal.
I think that Trumble has encouraged the idea that this is a gas supply problem to avoid the real issue: namely, that modern coal fired HELE plants are in fact a greenies dream solution to the “carbon” problem because of the significant reduction in CO2 off gases for each kWh of electricity supplied to the grid.
This the best solution to the green objective but their refusal to support it shows their true colours.
They lack scientific credibility and their whole purpose in life is to bring society down so they can control it.
KK
230
Of course there is nothing major wrong with coal given the rest of the world is using it by the ship loads, and continuing to build hundreds more coal fired plants. Only Australia is stupid enough to go in the opposite direction and destroying its own coal fired plants.
210
Nothing wrong with coal, or gas. Half our family works in the field, the other half of us invests in it.
Unfortunately, screaming loonies are killing a good industry.
110
Agreed, but it would be political suicide to put an open cut mine, or thousands of fracking devices, on good agricultural land.
52
You mean like using millions of hectares growing corn for biofuel ??
A mine takes up just a tiny amount of area compared to the biofuel industry.
110
Damn, is there is no escape from this madness?
http://biofuelsassociation.com.au
30
The latest gee whiz biofuel du jour is made from mustard seed oil, according to Qantas and the Sydney Morning Herald.
Utopia awaits us!
50
All good, Allen, it’s mustard gas,
environmental, not fossil.
30
Amazing.
‘The carinata makes high-quality oil considered ideal for aviation biofuel, with one hectare of seeds yielding 400 litres of biofuel and 1400 litres of renewable diesel.’
30
Allen Ford:
I notice that mustard oil is BANNED in the USA for cooking purposes because of adverse effects of the Erucic acid content on heart and lungs. It is/was also present in Rape Seed oil but low Erucic acid strains were bred leading to Canola Oil as a substitute name.
There is no reason not to burn Rape Seed oil in jet engines although I suspect this trial had more with sounding more exotic than the established Canola oil. Both of course burn well in diesel engines.
As for diesel engines the first engine burning 100% peanut oil was presented in Paris in 1900.
30
FRACK Parliament House !!
42
That landed in totally the wrong place.. meant to be under Has been at #6.3
40
Elgordo I have shale in my backyard I wonder if I can frack it ?
I’ve heard every excuse from the AEMO and the socialists and if you listen carefully some of the excuses contradict each other .
Would like to know if load shedding occurred as has been suggested by some .
121
I have no objection to fracking in the Sydney Basin.
http://aemstatic-ww2.azureedge.net/content/dam/ogj/print-articles/volume-112/may-5/z140505OGJtri03.jpg
41
If we were to frack hard enough & long enough under Canberra, is there any chance we could cause a sink hole, to swallow the whole catastrophe?
200
I agree… FRACK Parliament House !!
51
Unfortunately, I believe that in Aust., you don’t own what’s under the land under your house. I also believe that in the US, they do own that property. If I’m correct, that appears to be why landowners are happy to have folks drill on their land.
40
This explains the situation throughly.
https://theconversation.com/not-quite-the-castle-why-miners-have-a-right-to-whats-under-your-land-4176
10
You would be correct. In the US, I theoretically own everything under my parcel to the center of the earth. Utility, of course, is another matter entirely.
00
Guvuhmint loves patsies,
but the buck of renewables’
subsidies and the war against
efficient fossil energies
stops
with
them!
90
I suspect that there is a scam going on to rival Enron – when you control enough of the wholesale market among three players, let each take a turn at declining to bid. How else can spot prices reach $1000 to max $14,200/MWhr when AEMO declares that there is adequate reserve capacity available?
240
Good point.
70
The senselessness of intermittent power supply (renewables)are causing the problem. Don’t let the lefties divert your attention from the real problem.
70
O/T
“Look! Over there. A squirrel”
““Atmosphere Cancer” – The Latest Name for Global Warming”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/01/28/atmosphere-cancer-the-latest-name-for-global-warming/
90
Migrated to OZ 11 years ago from a “turd” world country (known as a shithole). Absolutely devastated by the madness in this country. The shithole I came from has excess of reliable coal fired power generation. How sad that Australians (not politicians – Australian voters) have actively destructed this once amazing country. I am ashamed.
220
I don’t think you need to be ashamed of what Australians have done to their national economic outlook. But I can understand bitter disappointment. Australians themselves have become wretchedly stupid, somewhat suicidal culturally and profligate with others’ money (hence the monster foreign debt). South Australians (and perhaps others) are addicted to noise and, increasingly, heat; that way, they can not hear themselves think—and so they don’t.
60
The problem is, FS, that we Australian voters thought that we were voting for the answer to all our prayers when we voted in Tony Abbott in 2013. Unfortunately, he was the patsy, allowed to be there to win more seats than any Liberal leader has ever done over two elections. And then once he was in and everybody was cosy, Turnbull brought out his shock(ing) Black Hand troops, deposed him and the rest, as they say,is history. Liberal parties in all States are either left wing or incompetent (or both) and we are left with no party that has anybody that either understands climate to any degree or who understands that pleasing the green voters will not get you their vote.
We are stuffed – and Australian Conservatives are too embryonic to offer any succour at the moment. We are well and truely doomed, for before the stupid 70% of the general public realise what is happening and rise up, it will be too late. Thank God, I an 76 and may not live to see the worst of it. My poor country.
81
God is not on our side! Otherwise he would made heat waves and blackout for today (Mon) and Tuesday.
61
Just holding off to increase the tension
30
Maybe He is, and the wheels are falling of the Global Warming scare! The more things stay the same, or even better, start to cool, the less people will even listen to the shrills crying doomsday and devastation!
00
I think I agree with the two comments above that suggested the “fuses” were deliberately triggered.
The gold plated future proofed distribution system isn’t there.
It’s been paid for.
Where is it.
100
Looks like another problem with windmills, they don’t work on Sundays.
130
And nor should they.
They’re preying.
190
That’s really really good!
70
Preying on us of course
70
More proof that AGW is just a religion. ! 🙂
92
The ABC TV news dropped out here in Northern Victoriastan tonight.
101
There is a silver lining…
140
If renewables are directly or indirectly associated with the demise of the ABC, then I am now all for renewables.
161
If that was due to the power outage, one can only cheer at the results of their convictions.
10
Talking about fuses blowing, it reminds me of this interesting note:
Many homes aren’t ready to charge electric cars without blowing the fuse
Imagine if we ever get to the point of having millions of electric cars suddenly being charged at the same time when people get back home after work. I wonder if fuses will be blown all over the grid.
190
And this was the exact discussion i had with a work colleague – if you effectively double the load on the infrastructure but cut original generating capacity by say 10%, you are in real terms more than 100% worse off….in other words, it guarantees network failure.
Sorry, but if this nonsense continues, there will be riots. Even seriously naive people who dont “get it” politically, understand hungry children…
100
Australians riot? hard to imagine really, just too apathetic apart from extreme margins
80
I think they will…eventually they will work out that have been had…that and add in unemployment and hungry children and people will snap.
70
Annecdotal that we’ve had a bit of practice by inheritance – an ancestor was at Eureka Stockade
10
Hungry people riot.
There were riots in 1932 in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
00
I don’t think Australians will riot. The majority are too apathetic and ignorant to bother. This is why Australia has been specially selected by the elites of the New World Order for the early implementation of their Civilisation destroying polices of a) destroying the power grid via “renewables”; b) the importation of the world’s most uneducated, unassimilable and violent people and c) the accumulation of massive government debt.
61
That’s potentially contradictory David. You say the importation of the world’s most uneducated, unassimilable and violent people and I don’t think Australians will riot.. Are you saying those uneducated, unassimailable and violent people are not Australians?
If they go hungry, they will riot. Look at the Arab Spring a few years ago.
00
The thing we can do is use ridicule for a serious purpose.
Keep using terms like “Diesel State”, “Dieselstan” etc. In the end embarrassment may force the offending states and governments either to look for non-diesel supplementation, or implement alternatives which are not just green fairy floss pushed by crony capitalists. (They might even grow a brain and use the coal right under their feet.)
Our Green Betters need to be made to account for every drop of imported petroleum used to supplement those non-hydro renewables which threaten economic ruin and social misery. They also need to be held to account for the import and purchase of huge quantities of diesel generation hardware, probably manufactured overseas using Australian coal.
In short, what reason can’t achieve, ridicule might. And the overuse/misuse of diesel for power generation is certainly ridiculous.
190
How about awards?
Tassie has the Burnt Cable Award.
We could label victoria the Kero state…as we need kero lanterns when the lights go out….
100
Practice run for the SA election
Check THIS comment by
Kleinefeldmaus
January 28, 2018 at 8:20 pm
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/01/28/atmosphere-cancer-the-latest-name-for-global-warming/comment-page-1/#comment-2729291
10
We chuckle when we hear that if socialists ran the Sahara, there would be a shortage of sand.
If socialists ran the Artic, we’d have a shortage of ice.
If socialists ran the farms we’d have a shortage of food.
If socialists ran the energy business in an energy rich area…..
I suppose “socialists” is an unnecessary pejorative, as governments of all stripes fail at businesses of all types.
The plants in my garden grow better when they are properly pruned.
161
A voltage drop is far too visible – look for a frequency drop – harder to trace….
“All motors have a minimum frequency value. You must not go below that value because driving a motor at a frequency value lower than the minimum can cause excessive current flow at the Armature winding.”
Blown fuses anyone?
150
On a typical motor how much frequency loss can occur before damage is done?
10
In an AC motor lower frequency will increase the current draw from the supply. If unchecked this will typically overheat the armature winding but the breakers are specified to trip before this happens.
Once this happens (say over a city or sub-grid scale) the load on the grid will be reduced and the supply can then recover to be within frequency limits.
Neat…if you are power supplier – not so neat if you are a consumer and have to reset the breakers and instigate a fault diagnosis that will likely find nothing…
20
But what if the voltage and frequency were maintained in spec and the load in those areas simply exceeded the rating of those fuses ?…or the fuses were weak, damaged, etc.
Remember the hot weather was causing the demand to be 50% above normal overall, so its possible that in some areas it was even higher than that.
10
When you say fuses, do you mean the over current protective device (OCPD) at the customer premises or at the substation? If the former, the load cannot increase beyond what the motor or motors are actually calling for. If you mean the substation, at some point the OCPD’s will kick in to protect the transformers.
10
It does seem odd that multiple fuses/breakers are activating across multiple different distributor networks in roughly the same time window
40
With not enough watts to go ’round,
Australia keeps gas in the ground,
Where politicians won’t act,
Being media backed,
And by Green ideology bound.
230
Posted (as I often do). Thank you so much Ruairi! Perfect…
121
Prompted me to think of this Phil Collins song – “Land of Confusion”….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCCEYpqG6to
I mustve dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They’re moving into the street.
Now did you read the news today
They say the dangers gone away
But I can see the fires still alight
There burning into the night.
There’s too many men
Too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Cant you see
This is a land of confusion.
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in.
Ooh superman where are you now
When everythings gone wrong somehow
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour.
This is the time
This is the place
So we look for the future
But there’s not much love to go round
Tell me why, this is a land of confusion.
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in.
I remember long ago –
Ooh when the sun was shining
Yes and the stars were bright
All through the night
And the sound of your laughter
As I held you tight
So long ago –
I wont be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
Were not just making promises
That we know, well never keep.
Too many men
There’s too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Cant you see
This is a land of confusion.
Now this is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth fighting for.
This is the world we live in
And these are the names were given
Stand up and lets start showing
Just where our lives are going to.
40
It makes perfect sense to blame reliable energy when something goes wrong. We already know that renewables are unreliable, so you can’t blame then for something you already know.
80
We never cam blame renewables – we blame those who keep their heads in the sand and ignore the facts. These include the two major parties, the Greens and the vast majority of the voters for returning either major party to government. I’m also seeing a parallel with Logan’s Run. The MSM along with much of the public are like the crowd in Logan’s Run screaming “renewal” while people are being exterminated at the carrousel. I see Australia going to the carrousel as both major parties and the MSM are screaming renewables! If I were good at it I would make a cartoon around that.
50
Yes, has the same unhinged feel about it.
I noticed in “Logans Run” there wer always the “Elders” who were older than 30 , who never had to face the Carousel….I guess too one benefit of having a perpetually young generation means they never gain enough smarts to actually work out whats going on….so it was a cosy grip on absolute power by a few.
60
That also reminds me of the recent Grammy Award ceremony. A bunch of hypocrites and monkeys giving trophies to each other while playing politics and effectively telling the rest of the world that they have declared civil war against Trump and his supporters. I would say go ahead and make my day; then see what will happen next in the US. I will have to stock up with more popcorn to see the US burn to the ground as the real civil war starts if they succeed in impeaching Trump, all thanks to the stupid lefties. The celebrities are such a dumb lot. Get over it all you lefty nut jobs over there – you can use the elections to decide who the next President will be – I presume the US is still a sort of democracy. I’ve never seen so much hatred by one side of politics. The only reason we don’t see so much of that nonsense here is we don’t have a Trump like leader to trigger them. Imagine what it would be like if we did.
71
I think if civil war started in the USA, the Right would win and win convincingly.
Righteous anger would mop the ground with the corrosive Lefties that people have finally had enough of in their faces, being told what to do, having to put with stuff that damages society.
One thing I know about the americans is that if they are seriously convinced its the right thing to do, and thier familes are at risk, they will just utterly shred anyone or anything infront of them and do so with a clear concience and without a second thought.
A warning for any Leftie *stupid* enough to think just anger and attitude will sustain thier fight – you will lose. Just like the same anger elected Trump, the same fed-up anger will vanquish leftism.
Its not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
80
Australians are just as capable and determined when the “end of the rope” appears.It is only a matter of time and what the final indignity is to set it in motion.
40
So true OriginalSteve. Once the non-left (I include others such as conservatives as well as the right) start retaliating (they really haven’t yet) the left will act like an intrusion of cockroaches scurrying away when hit with a flame thrower. The left have no hope also because they are so disorganised and mentally challenged when it comes to tactics and strategy. They act like spoiled children, and unlike the non-left, they have no bonding for a good cause; only self-destruction and chaos, which in itself will be the end of them – until the next time.
30
I saw a very funny poster once. A bunch of guys standing around armed to the teeth, all gathered together smiling at the camera. Looked like a big day out at the shooting range. Below was the caption:
Conservatives own 300 million firearms, and 4 billion rounds of ammo. If WE were violent, you would know about it!
61
I can only quote the movie here, I’ve never read the book.
There were no “elders” in Logan’s Run. 30 was the cutoff and anyone who’s life gem started blinking was hunted down by the Sandmen and terminated. Nobody was allowed to be over 30.
20
Hi There all,
Yep I was wondering what might have happened over the last couple of days when I looked up forecast temps for Melbourne and Adelaide
ie blackouts ,outages etc etc.Well low and behold over 40,000 households got socked on Sunday night in Victoria.So as Toni from Aus has taught us Base load, spinning reserve are important concepts to understand in what was a first world economy.But it will take a lot more of this type
of power disruption before Aussie sheeple begin to see the need for scalable ,reliable and cheap energy supply.Where I live in the Blue mountains
our local back road(which I and 10 other residents live on)has been a dangerous narrow racetrack with no footpath and despite protests to council
and stories in the local paper nothing has been done about it in over twenty years.This is the kind of apathy from from local government we are
now seeing in state and federal governments over their mismanagement of our energy security.It’s been said that for the local road issue that
I have blabbed on about here will take at least one death and maybe more before anything is done.Well this national train wreck of our
electricity supply being sabotaged (state by state) is well on track to cause more deaths (either directly or indirectly ) than our serious local road
issue.This unessessary Energy problem was created by the Howard RET legislation and and enshrined by Rudd and Gillard is now well on the way to destroying
not only lives but or economy as well.
Cheers Mike Reed
101
The Howard Government RET was for trial purposes, one of many initiatives following the signing of the UN Kyoto Agreement to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The RET trial was capped at 2 per cent.
It was Rudd or Gillard Labor that increased the RET to about 23 per cent with subsidies and when the Abbott Government moved to abolish the RET and subsidies the hostile Senate blocked the legislation and reconfirmed the 23 per cent RET.
10
The Howard Government RET was for trial purposes, one of many initiatives following the signing of the UN Kyoto Agreement to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The RET trial was capped at 2 per cent.
It was Rudd or Gillard Labor that increased the RET to about 23 per cent with subsidies and when the Abbott Government moved to abolish the RET and subsidies the hostile Senate blocked the legislation and reconfirmed the 23 per cent RET.
20
Sorry Dennis but I agree with Mike on this , Howard introduced it and started the rot for the socialist shift in Oz .
There is also a “supposed quote ” from him that if true was a copy of an extraordinary piece of socialism from one of Adolfs cronies .
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10215486209416253&set=gm.10156106032471528&type=3&ifg=1
10
Should read socialist shift in energy
10
Looking at NEM dashboard today. Quite windy so Dieselstan is dumping a lot of power across the interconnector when we dont need it, so we in turn dump excess on Tas and NSW. We would need to maintain reserves in case it goes away so the only nett benefit may be that Tassie saves some water.
80
Maybe the crisis is over for a while with cooler wet conditions now forecast to commence from today.
50
We need to be patient. The penny will drop eventually, be it this year, next year or later. It has to. Once it does and people’s lives are impacted severely then we might see a party leader finally propose the only viable solution; scrap the RETS and provide incentives to building new coal fired power stations with great urgency. The question then is will enough people vote for that party to send a clear message to the others still stubbornly sticking to the RETS and anti-coal polices.
90
Goody, the blackouts are starting to bite. The more the merrier. Eventually the politicians will run out of excuses and have nowhere to hide.
91
Its official.
‘Average wholesale energy prices in Victoria and South Australia have more than doubled since this time last year amid predictions blackouts will only worsen.’
Oz
70
Statistics and politicians. SA Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said wholesale power prices were “notoriously volatile”. “Since August, wholesale power prices in South Australia have been consistently cheaper than Victoria, and in September and October, SA had the cheapest wholesale prices of mainland states in the National Electricity Market,” he said.
SA average price since July according to AEMO, $99.94/MWhr (10 cents/KWhr); Vic $98.43, Qld $75.85. And for the previous 12 months, SA average price was $108.66/MWhr.
Yes minister, in Sept/Oct with lots of surplus wind and mild temperatures, SA had prices around $70, while Qld was about $80. So if you keep blowing in the wind prices will come down? How about firing up those dirty diesels you purchased?
Only two years ago, every state was enjoying wholesale electricity prices around $40-50/MWhr. So thanks to your pathetic policies and those of Premier Andrews in Vic that shutdown coal stations and built unreliable wind generators, prices have indeed doubled. Even Dr Finkel reported wind without backup cost $91, so $150 with backup, new supercritical coal station $76.
90
The distribution network in Victoria has a lot of problems and is detailed in:
In depth exploration Into the State of Victoria’s power assets
Electricity distribution is a National Security issue of all people in Australia and should not be in the hands of private enterprise.
.
Regards
Climate Heretic
91
This report confirms that our glorious leader is well aware of the States crumbling electricity supply network and infrastructure.
41
The national grid is in terminal demise. The cost to bring these assets up to standard is astronomical. All the effort and available funds are directed at new generation in the form of grid scale wind and solar which is worse than useless connected to the grid. It is an enormous burden for consumers.
There are locations where wind and solar in conjunction with storage make sense but at present costs it is at the fringes of the grid and beyond (apart from South Australia). However as the grid becomes more expensive due to the RET the economic point will move to outer suburbs then the inner suburbs.
I can guarantee there is a boost in enquiries for diesel generators and solar/battery system following the outages in Melbourne.
100
If the grid is in decline ( deliberately ),
and its part of our national security infrastructure,
then we must conside
using the T word
unfortunately….
60
I’ve thought that for quite a while. It seems like sabotage of the power grid is wilful.
30
These days the ABC in particular and SBS also make Pravda and Izvestia look like free-enterprise independent news outlets. Without their continuing propaganda on behalf of CAGW and ‘Renewable’ Energy, the steady advance of pernicious socialism and authoritarianism would be greatly impeded and we would save about 1,5 billion dollars annually to deploy to worthwhile causes.
100
Times change. Chiefio watches RT to keep a balance on what passes as news in US
30
I too watch RT – you can find it on Pluto TV (works on PCs, tablets, streaming boxes and smart tvs – http://pluto.tv)
As Chiefio says, interesting to see the “other side” of the propaganda machine.
Interesting that RT USA – which employs both left and right wing shows, and even Larry King has a show! – was REQUIRED to register as a “foreign agent”, although ABC (Oz), BBC etc are not. Then they(RTUSA) were told by deep-state WH drones that they were no longer accepting “press credentials” from “foreign agents”, so no RT reporters at WH conferences.
Check out “Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp” – an RT ONLY show that is hard-left (but still funny, which is it’s main purpose). Everyone that works for RT (inc Lee Camp, Larry King and Jesse Ventura) says they are NOT under strict control and can report what they want, how they want to (obviously, budgetary considerations apply!).
The contrast with the MSM here in Oz – and especially their ABC! – is, err, eye opening.
40
Around this area
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/01/29/illustrating-the-failure-of-the-climate-movement-in-one-graph/
The graph is a good start
10
This is why I am ashamed. So called “Leaders” (Julie Bishop) of this amazing country betraying their people and deliberately working towards the destruction of the Australian. Been here 11 years and experienced this destruction escalating exponentially. Read “A SUMMARY OF BETRAYAL” by Graham Williamson and weep.
A SUMMARY OF BETRAYAL
The 2030 Agenda: Australian Government invites the UN to control our rights, laws, freedoms, private property, energy use, & life style
The UN, having spent more than half a $trillion in 70 years, is an undemocratic, unaccountable international policeman that is in the business of inventing ‘global problems’ which can only be ‘solved’ by a transfer of power and money from nation states to the UN. It has been elevated to this status by cooperative national governments. As noted by Peter Faris QC, thanks to the eager cooperation of successive Australian governments “laws are imported (as some sort of universal truths) from the UN.”
On 27th September 2015 the UN continued their campaign of global control and undemocratic interference in the affairs of nations around the world with their ‘Transforming Our World‘ 2030 SDG agenda which was signed by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on behalf of all Australians. With a predicted annual price tag of $2-3 trillion, the agenda is to be sold to the people as ‘voluntary’, although the people will be given no choice, and essential provisions will be undemocratically enforced by national governments. Although both major Parties refused to mention this during the recent election campaign, implementation of this undemocratic bipartisan supported agenda commenced in Australia on 1st January 2016.
The 2030 agenda is a UN driven “master plan” or “roadmap to global socialism” aimed at controlling the planet, including so called ‘climate change’, and the life styles and energy consumption of all people and all countries. Their 15 year goals include:
Redistributing the wealth of Australia and other Western nations, under the control of the UN, to poorer countries, especially impoverished dictatorships, around the world. According to the 2030 Agenda, ‘poverty’ can only be addressed by undemocratically giving money and power to the UN.
The COP21 Paris climate change agreement, comprising SDG 13, is just one part of the 2030 Agenda. The UN version of climate change though, is about global power and money. As UNFCCC chief Christiana Figueres pointed out, the aim of the UN is to bring about a “centralized transformation“… “one that is going to make the life of everyone on the planet very different.” Figueres continues: “global society, is moving to the point where we are going to need more and more global governance muscle… Climate change is only the first of the major, major planetary challenges that we are being given, almost as a playground… to go into that playground and exercise our global governance capacity”
Controlling lifestyles, energy use, and consumption by defining which activities are accepted by the UN as being ‘sustainable’. Only the UN can control ‘sustainability’.
Controlling education around the globe to ensure all children become activists promoting the UN sustainability agenda.
Moving towards global enforcement by developing global monitoring, accountability mechanisms, and surveillance systems so “no one is left behind”.
The UN 2030 agenda is completely open ended, stating no total costs, and stating no limits as far as loss of sovereignty and enforcement mechanisms are concerned.
The people have been betrayed. The 2030 Agenda is all about betrayal, UN control, and global socialism, and expanding global law. The United Nations has “conned governments, citizens andbusiness into adopting the 2030 Agenda“, but “business does not understand” that it will destroy “Capitalism and Free Enterprise.” And all this has been made possible by the Australian government, and governments of other ‘democratic’ countries, who invite the UN to interfere in the domestic affairs of their respective countries WITHOUT the democratic approval of the people.
The choice is clear: do you want UN control and interference, or do you want democracy, freedom and prosperity? Should our destiny be decided by us, or by the dictators that comprise the UN? Do you want democratic Australian laws, or foreign laws dictated by the UN?
150
The signing of numerous Treaties between United Nations and member countries was the foundation for what you have described, the gradual control by unelected foreigners over unsuspecting citizens who were never consulted.
70
Average wholesale prices for the last week in $/MWhr per AEMO.
Vic $126; SA $136; Qld $77.
While over in WA that is not part of this “national” electricity grid, average price for the last week was $45.90
Oh wait, that used to be the price in the eastern states just two years ago.
When will WA catch up to the stupid states?
100
No thanks! At 27c/kWh, I’m quite happy with the way things are in WA, and have no interest in being connected to the “national” grid. We still have wind and solar but in much smaller quantities. What we do have is a baseload power station sitting on top of a coal mine and a ready supply of gas from the NW. Cheap reliable power, no blackouts.
60
A model for the future perhaps. Just imagine power independent States, without complexity and bureaucracy and sharing only via strict bilateral agreements. Back to the future-ish.
Would only take a generation of managaers to decide it needed centralising, decentralising, reorganising and integrating.
00
o/t In the US, the House Intelligence Committee has voted to release the “FISA MEMO”.
FakeNewsMSM is scrambling to make up for the fact they have not been covering the scandal surrounding the alleged partisan politics that have poisoned the so-called investigation into alleged Russian collusion with Trump campaign in order to get Trump elected…AS IF?
theirABC had nothing on the irrelevant “FBI’s Andrew McCabe retires early” story on their “Just In” pages an hour ago, even tho they had one of their North American correspondents, Conor Duffy, on radio spinning it earlier this morning, plus a similarly twisted BBC report on ABC News Radio this morning, plus a Reuters’ report, all trying to make it a story about the President.
30 Jan: ABC Trump’s America: Reuters: FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, frequent target of Donald Trump, steps down
Updated about 2 hours ago
something to keep in mind, as MSM continues to try to keep the FISA MEMO story in the background. btw the time of the vote was known before today:
23 Dec 2017: CBS: Andrew McCabe expected to retire from FBI early next year – CBS News
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is expected to retire from the FBI by March, CBS News has confirmed.
at the time, NPR’s Johnson tweeted:
23 Dec 2017: Twitter: Carrie Johnson NPR: He’s likely to take accrued vacation time etc and depart the building earlier. That has been the plan for a while, I was told weeks ago.
https://twitter.com/johnson_carrie/status/944680066176421889
theirABC finally come to the party, with a “conspiracy theory”:
30 Jan: ABC: FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe’s departure a case of curious timing
By Washington correspondent Zoe Daniel and Roscoe Whalan
Updated 49 minutes ago
The President’s dislike of McCabe is partly related to his wife’s unsuccessful attempt to secure a seat in Virginia’s state Senate as a Democrat, and donations she received from a PAC group linked to then Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe (a close friend of the Clintons)…
24 Dec 2017: TWEET: Donald J. Trump: How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?…
McCabe, a 20-year veteran of the FBI, was also involved in the Clinton email probe and has been repeatedly accused of pro-Clinton bias by Republicans and the White House…
‘Secret plot’ to bring down the President
Amid the current weirdness that is DC, it is also alleged McCabe is referenced as “Andy” in a series of anti-Trump text messages between two romantically involved FBI agents who were working on the Russia investigation.
“Andy” is mentioned in a text that has been linked to speculation about a so-called “secret society” inside the FBI that was supposedly plotting to bring down the President.
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way he gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40 … ” agent Peter Strzok wrote to FBI lawyer Lisa Page in what has been interpreted by some as a reference to Andrew McCabe and an FBI plot.
As if this was not enough intrigue, the House Intelligence Committee is set to vote on whether to release a classified memo by its chairman, Devin Nunes, alleging the FBI abused surveillance laws to obtain a warrant for former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
It apparently cites the role of Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein and — you guessed it — outgoing deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe for their roles in the investigation…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-30/fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-steps-down-curious-timing/9373138
first time I’ve seen theirABC make mention of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page! lol.
30
reply to comment in moderation re: In the US, the House Intelligence Committee has voted to release the “FISA MEMO”.
29 Jan: Judicial Watch: Judicial Watch Statement on FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding reports FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepped down from his position today.
Judicial Watch uncovered documents months ago that should have triggered Mr. McCabe’s removal … and last week we were given the full stonewall by the FBI on McCabe’s text messages. Nevertheless, the disturbing disclosures about McCabe’s conduct from Judicial Watch litigation obviously spurred irresistible public pressure for McCabe’s removal.
It is concerning that Mr. McCabe was allowed to remain in the FBI as long as he did. Did Director Wray only force out McCabe because of the pending disclosures in the House dossier memo? The FBI is not above the law and the American people expect full accountability. We still want the text messages and we want a full investigation of the numerous anti-Trump and other outrageous FBI abuses under Obama and McCabe’s mentor, James Comey.
Judicial Watch recently uncovered that McCabe, despite massive contributions from Clinton ally Terence McAuliffe to his wife’s 2015 political campaign, did not recuse himself from the Clinton email investigation until just a week before the 2016 presidential election. Judicial Watch also forced out documents that show that McCabe used FBI resources for his wife’s campaign.
Separately, last week, the FBI failed to turn over any McCabe text messages in a final response to a September 2017 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that Judicial Watch filed on behalf of Jeffrey A. Danik, a 30-year veteran, retired FBI supervisory special agent, against the Department of Justice for records related to McCabe (Jeffrey A. Danik v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-01792)). The lawsuit seeks:
•Text messages and emails of McCabe containing: Dr. Jill McCabe, Jill, Common Good VA, Terry McAuliffe, Clinton, Virginia Democratic Party, Democrat, Conflict, Senate, Virginia Senate, Until I return, Paris, France, Campaign, Run, Political, Wife, Donation, OGC, Email, or New York Times.
Earlier this month, Judicial Watch sued for the text messages of FBI official Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page. The text messages are of public interest because Strzok and Page were key investigators in the Clinton email and Trump Russia collusion investigations. Strzok was reportedly removed from the Mueller investigative team in August and reassigned to a human resources position after it was discovered that he and Page, who worked for McCabe, exchanged pro-Clinton and anti-Trump text messages.
https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-statement-fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe/
30
29 Jan: CitizenFreePress: NEW Details On McCabe Firing…
Posted by Kane
As you know from my earlier reporting, (FBI Director) Chris Wray took an unexpected trip to Capitol Hill yesterday to view the FISA memo in a secure location. Apparently, Wray saw something in the report about Andrew McCabe that led him to immediately seek to reassign McCabe.
Full story at NYT…(LINK)
TWEET: 30 Jan: Adam Goldman NYT: We r told that Mr. Wray found something concerning in pending IG report and he was going to move McCabe into another job, which was effectively a demotion. Instead, McCabe decided to leave the FBI.
https://www.citizenfreepress.com/breaking/new-details-on-mccabe-firing/
40
‘FakeNewsMSM is scrambling to make up for the fact they have not been covering the scandal surrounding the alleged partisan politics that have poisoned the so-called investigation into alleged Russian collusion with Trump campaign in order to get Trump elected…AS IF?’
Nice, Pat. Images come to mind … -)
30
Can anyone offer a reasonable explanation as to why Victoria’s peak demand ( at 12 noon). today is approx 5.7 GW, compared to yesterdays equivalent peak of 9.0 GW ?
That is a 40% difference ?……why ?
40
Could this really be just due to the temperature difference ..? 32 yesterday, down to 19 today.
A 3.3 GW drop in load just due to A/C reduction ?
40
Chad,
inadvertently, you are correct, as it is closely related to the temperature.
It is basically HVAC, often neglected as one of the major sources of high electrical power consumption. (HVAC is Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning)
Look at the the skyline of any city, and Melbourne in particular, and note the high rise buildings in every city and basically even every town.
Each of those buildings is a closed environment, and HVAC is the only way they get breathing air into and out of those structures, as ventilation is an often forgotten part of that term HVAC.
Along the way to ventilating those structures, the air is ‘conditioned’, warmed in Winter and cooled in Summer.
In the main, they are glass structures.
The temperature inside is set at a (virtually) constant setting all year round, so that in Winter it ‘feels’ warm, and in Summer, cool.
In Summer, those glass structures, even totally closed, let in a lot of heat, the outside ambient temperature, so with that especially, and the ‘work’ going on inside those structures, the temperature inside rises well above the ‘set’ temperature for the conditioned air being moved around.
Because of that those huge compressors on the roofs of every structure now have to work overtime, and those are not your basic household air conditioning Unit, as these are indeed huge by comparison. Because of that those compressors now have to work virtually all the time, and they are huge consumers of electricity.
At the opposite end, in Winter, those structures are relatively cool in the morning so, the compressors come on for what may only be a short time, (as the inside soon warms with the ‘work’ and the now reflected rising temperature from the outside ambient temperature) and they warm the air inside slightly. However, as the day warms up outside, the temperature outside now approaches that of what it is inside the building, so now, those compressors do not need to work anywhere near as hard as they do in the Summer.
On extremely hot days, those compressors work all the time, and it only needs to cool down (the outside temperature) a little to see a relatively large reduction in power consumption.
In that AEMO coverage area, the difference between Winter consumption and Summer consumption at around 3PM is an average of 10,000MW and more on hot days, and as NSW and Victoria, and now Queensland are the three largest power consumers, that difference is mostly seen in those three States.
Tony.
120
Thanks Tony,
I guessed A/C etc was playing a part in the difference, but i have to say i am shocked just how much extra it makes.
5.7 (ish) GW today vs 9+ GW yeaterday suggests 50% extra demand just due to the temperature.
That is huge !
20
A great graph from Roger on wuwt showing just how NON-effective the anti-CO2 agenda has been, (wrt CO2 anyway.)
https://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/global-fossil-fuel-consumption.jpg
52
Needless to say the left, in particular the Greens would aim to reverse that trend and do it quickly; at the expense of millions of lives and the death of the world economy.
20
READ ALL:
29 Jan: France24: Trial of carbon tax ‘fraud of the century’ opens in Paris
Between 2008 and 2009, 1.6 billion euros were swindled in a huge carbon quota market scam dubbed the “fraud of the century”. On Monday, 36 people suspected of running the scheme’s largest operation went on trial in Paris.
At the head of the Marseille-based gang appearing before the judges this week is Christiane Melgrani, a former maths teacher who once managed a piano bar. The outspoken 59-year-old, known as “La Marseillaise”, had previously been sentenced for drug trafficking and sales tax fraud in telephone businesses…
Today, Melgrani stands accused of embezzling 385 million euros between April 2008 and March 2009 using the European Union’s carbon-trading scheme. She is suspected of helping to set up and run a large number of dummy companies used for money laundering from Marseille.
Among the 35 people standing trial with Melgrani is her partner Angelina Porcaro, a former owner of a hostess bar, whose restaurant ‘La Cantinette’ served as a meeting place for the gang. Others include a wide range of people that highlight the extent of the network’s reach: 75-year-old Jean-René Benedetti, a big name in the city’s underworld, retirees, a lawyer, an accountant, a sculptor, an estate agent, businessmen, event organizers, a waitress and some unemployed people.
Fraudsters saw a golden opportunity…READ ALL
http://www.france24.com/en/20180129-france-trial-carbon-credits-fraud-paris-crime-emissions-scam-melgrani-marseille
50
29 Jan: RFI: 36 in dock in France’s second massive carbon tax fraud trial
Another of the accused, Gérard Chettier, 48, has confessed to playing the role of “trader”, while Grégory Zaoui, who was sentenced in an earlier trial relating to the Paris end of the swindle, is said to have been one of its inventors and to have trained Melgrani in operating it.
A warrant is out for Zaoui’s arrest.
Also in the dock was Melgrani’s partner, Angelina Porcaro, a restaurant owner originally from the Italian city of Naples, who is believed to have recruited individuals to help launder the funds using her connections with the Neapolitan Camorra.
Other defendants include Marseille gangster Jean-René Benedetti, an accountant, and alleged front men and women, including a sculptor, an estate agent and unemployed people…
It is believed to have cost the European Union as a whole five to six billion euros, 1.6 billion in France with the Marseille operators pocketing an estimated 385 million euros…
The trial is expected to last eight weeks.
http://en.rfi.fr/20180129-carbon-tax-fraud-france/
60
The world needs more news like this.
50
For anyone in doubt about the motivation behind the global warming scam, just read this.
One group alone siphoning off 5 billion euros.
KK
40
O/T but interesting from realclimatescience.com
20
oops
https://realclimatescience.com/2018/01/nasa-debunks-global-warming-theory/#comments
30
O.K.
If part of NASA says it we are making progress.
30
NASA calculated the theoretical temperature gradient of the Earth’s atmosphere without mentioning carbon dioxide in the 50s.
About 65 kilometers up in the Venus atmosphere, its the same pressure and temperature as at the surface of Earth. A similar dry lapse rate would have the surface 640 C rather than 450 C hotter. The Venus atmosphere has sulphuric acid condensing like water does on Earth so if it were the same as the wet adiabatic lapse rate, you’d get 325 degree difference between the surface and 65km up. The International Civil Aviation Organization uses a 6.49 C per km for Earth which would be a difference of 421 C over 65 km or 450 C hotter than 70km up.
Doesn’t disprove the GHE, just points out that there doesn’t need to be one for the surface to be so hot if the atmosphere higher up is the effective surface for absorbing and emitting radiation. The cloud cover thins out after 65km and light doesn’t penetrate far lower than that but its not as straight forward as the atmosphere 70km up is the same as the Earths surface. “The only property of a planetary atmosphere which is useful for predicting temperature is atmospheric pressure.” is not correct either. Mercury wouldn’t have such a hot surface if it were true, and an equatorial mean that is 40 C more than Earth’s.
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This is priceless.
That’s the introduction to an email received presumably by all RACV (Royal Automobile Club Victoria formed 1903) service members which goes on inter alia:
In recent years I’ve noticed their monthly magazine has been featuring articles on subjects like the joys of cycling etc.
As Robert Conquest wrote:
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If we are to believe Premier Andrews the blackouts were caused by inadequacies in the networks which are owned and managed by private companies, so why is a motoring organisation helping to mitigate problems caused by the negligence of unrelated for-profit, in some cases at least foreign-owned, companies?
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Meanwhile the NSW NRMA are shamelessly pushing EV using their magazine Open Road.
I did write and ask for an explanation as to electricity supply source for recharging, how long to build and how to finance the infrastructure for recharging, etc.
No reply.
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Same push here in WA by RACWA. Ran a car comparison to prove how good EVs, but stopped it at 5 years, before a battery replacement was due, and didn’t include resale value. Also ran a trial of a driverless bus but never reported the trial results.
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NSW NRMA has a driverless electric bus operating at Homebush Bay, the 2000 Olympics site.
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So it’s sort of like adopt an electricity grid ! Oh my god they must be joking what utter nutbags !
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That’s on a par with that useless Hollywood air-head a few years back who tried to tell us that we can save the world by using only 1 square of toilet paper per bowel motion.
There seems to be no limit to the stupidity these folks come up with, and from those who should know better.
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Just received this myself. This is an excellent well meaning group. Everyone together helping solve the problem. How are they to know the problem is entirely self inflicted? You would think it was a war effort. Soon we will be storing old fat in tins to send to South Australia. (used for explosives, not food. I suppose they have no more things to blow up)
As for our Political Power at all costs Premier, what does he care? Hazelwood looked like surviving, so without notice or explanation he tripled the price of coal. What supplier triples the price to a struggling customer?Hazelwood immediately announced the closure. Now that’s our coal and now we get nothing from Hazelwood.
When asked Malcolm Turnbull dismissed the sudden and appalling loss of 25% of Victoria’s power as a private business matter for the company. Unlike Liddell under AGL, Hazelwood was well maintained. How considerate of Turnbull, supporting their privacy and Labor Premier Andrews’ appalling attack on the State’s power. Turnbull really should be a Labor PM. Hazelwood was running at 95% capacity and most of this was going to NSW, so everyone loses.
Loy Yang is next. Then it really will be shoulders to the wheel, the water wheel. A generator in every house.
I have three. Malcolm says we should buy carbon credits overseas now. What sort of world does he inhabit? When did reality bypass our politicians who cannot see they are the problem as they chase the Green vote to stay in power?
How can anyone think replacing coal with diesel or small petrol engines is clean energy? Ask Volkswagen. At very high compression diesels output nitrous oxide NO2 which dissolves into acid rain which eats our limestone and concrete buildings, rusts our cars, burns our lungs and all to get rid of CO2 ’emissions’ which are perfectly harmless and natural, the one sure indication of life apart from a pulse?
Our politicians stink. Almost none of them has had a real job as they swan around their fantasy world and tell us the biggest problem facing us is Climate Change. No, it is rotten politicians on both sides.
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Also Daniel Andrews was quite happy with the fact that our electricity prices would go up 20% the next week. So the price for what is left of our power has gone up 100% in 12 months. Why? Hazelwood closed.
Of course he blames fuses and greedy householders. Don’t they know there is an electricity crisis? What are they doing turning on airconditioners? It beggars belief, but that’s Andrews.
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We didn’t install air-conditioning at great expense in order not to use it at the time of greatest need. That is, when it is hot and humid in high summer in Australia.
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Oh yes, and then we get platitudes, on the one hand from Vic Emergency telling we oldies to keep inside and keep cool and drink plenty of water and on the other hand the guilt-inducing admonitions not to use a/c to save power (to compensate for the goverment’s total incompetence).
Don’t put the burden of guilt on me! For years I’ve done what might be called ‘greenie’ things (veg. growing, tree planting, house well insulated, recycling, etc.) but if I need to keep cool dry air for my health then I shall use it.
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Politics is making a statement that demands our attention.
We MUST urgently form a new party to displace the left/green blob that has both of the main parties by the tail.
Maybe call it the Australia Survivors Party, or ASP.
Maybe we could bite them or squeeze the two major parties where it hurts: in parliament.
Maybe we could force a Royal commission into the abuse of public taxes misused/sent to the U.N./allocated to useless solar plants/useless windmills and so on.
The scam has endless faces but it must be stopped.
Our government must be held accountable for money held in trust on our behalf.
Revolt.
KK
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Our political parties have become bureaucracies, career paths, like the Unions.
The MPs are chosen from among the staff members, as with the Unions. Never from the public. So basic Law degree, political staffer then you get to be an MP or Senator. Being a politician is now a lifelong career and you need votes, so follow Mark Textor’s advice. Ignore your party supporters and chase the Green voters. That’s what everyone is doing. Climate Change. Yeah.
I like the late Bob Monkhouse’s comment. People said to him, you’re a comedian, tell us a joke. They do not go up to politicians and say, you’re a politician. Tell us a lie.
It’s hard not to respect Pauline Hanson who did it the hard way. Even jail time for a signature 24 hours early. She received no money personally. So many MPs lied (many repeatedly) about their heritage on a form which mandated 1 year in jail and some took millions in pay and perks, but no one has even suggested that these lawyers did anything wrong or should repay the money?
No, it’s hard to know any political party not packed with opportunists and weasels. Maybe Cory Bernadi’s Australian Conservatives. If only Tony Abbott could act, but the press hate him, not the people. Tony gets tumultuous applause. Andrews is booed.
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The power problems are all due to privatisation and renewables will fix it; so the story goes:
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/01/whos-blame-melbourne-blackout/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20MacroBusiness&utm_content=Daily%20MacroBusiness+CID_188925f5980db360eb86e18ebb15df9c&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Whos%20to%20blame%20for%20the%20Melbourne%20blackout
I am banned from comments on this site so unable to offer the facts.
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And the question then becomes:
Who initiated and supervised that privatisation??
KK
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Rick,
If you want some real amusement then have a look at the articles on renew economy.com.au.
The one on the big battery is a laugh a minute
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Reminds me of the Wizard of Oz – “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain…”
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-government-mps-ridicule-claims-of-looming-backbench-revolt-over-electric-cars-20180128-h0pm86.html
Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg this month kickstarted debate on electric vehicles in an interview and opinion piece for Fairfax Media, saying the right preparation, planning and policies would allow Australian consumers to benefit from the transport “revolution”.
Electric vehicle advocates say financial incentives should form part of government assistance to the industry, however Mr Frydenberg has not committed to this or any other measure.
A Liberal MP purportedly leading the charge against increased taxpayer support for electric cars says there is no looming backbench revolt, as other Liberals dismissed divisions over the issue as “nonsense”.
Craig Kelly, the chair of the Coalition’s energy and environment committee, played down ructions despite having warned that electric vehicles have a bigger carbon footprint than conventional cars – a view that has since been rubbished by the expert who created the website upon which the assertion was based.”
Beware rent seekers with threatened subsidies….
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Transport ‘revolutions’ come and go.
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With every wheel I would have thought?
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more than the following excerpts in the video, including Reuters’ Painter claiming near the end that sceptics don’t have a voice online where the audience is young, and young people aren’t climate sceptics!
8 Jan: Youtube: 9mins52secs: Aljazeera Listening Post: The persistence of climate scepticism in the media
Present: Richard Gizbert; reporter (couldn’t catch the name)
Among the world’s climate scientists, the number of those who doubt that global warming is caused by human activity is extraordinarily low – fewer than three in 100. But that’s not the impression you might get from the news media.
In certain countries, climate change sceptics enjoy plenty of exposure through which to propagate their theories: carbon dioxide doesn’t cause a greenhouse effect; the planet is actually cooling; or the climate has always changed.
Climate scepticism in the media is largely confined to what is known as the Anglosphere: the US, the UK, Australia, and, to a lesser extent, Canada and New Zealand. Elsewhere, including the most populous, polluting countries, China and India, such scepticism is hard to find.
“We looked at a very large number of articles, more than 3,000, and more than 80 percent of the articles that had climate scepticism in them were found in the US and the UK compared with the newspapers in Brazil, China, India and France,” explains James Painter, a research associate at ***The Reuters Institute.
Right-wing media moguls keen for business to remain as usual have certainly played their part. The Anglosphere forms the core of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, and outlets like Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the London Times, the Australian and Sky News Australia have long provided platforms for climate scepticism.
But right-wing media are only one part of the story.
News outlets with a reputation for impartial reporting have also come under fire, for how often they present fringe views on climate change alongside those of climate scientists, which is also known as “false balance”.
“The BBC has had a particular problem with false balance for a number of years,” explains Leo Hickman, director of Carbon Brief. “And particularly with the Today programme, on Radio Four, its main flagship of current affairs programme, it just almost feels like Groundhog Day … The BBC is now even in the position of actually having an OFCOM investigation into the way that it reports climate change due to this being such an acute problem.”
The notion that there is balance in the climate change story – that climate science holds the same weight and significance as climate scepticism – has been manipulated to great effect, particularly in the US. The fossil fuel industry there has set out to sow doubt about the science of global warming by funding like-minded think-tanks, who make spokespersons available at the media’s request.
“There’s some members of think-tanks who simply say they are paid to spend, in one case, 40 percent of their workday reaching out to the media,” says Maxwell Boykoff, associate professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
***Across the world in China, on the other hand, you won’t find climate sceptics in the media because the industry tends to move in step with the Communist Party policy, where the debate around the causes of global warming has long been settled.
“Over the past decade or so, Chinese media have developed closer relationships with our climate scientists,” says Hepeng Jia, director, China Science Media Centre. “As a result, the quality of the reporting has improved considerably.”
India, too, is home to a sizeable fossil fuel sector and, like China, it has no industry-funded lobby disputing climate science. However, the reasons for that are quite different. India’s extractive industries tend to get what they want from government, whoever is in power. Pushing back against concerns about climate change simply hasn’t been necessary.
“Climate scepticism in India is not an organised conversation, in that they’re not very large business groups, political parties think-tanks where scepticism is being promoted,” explains Anu Jogesh, India policy and governance lead at Acclimatise.
“You have very, very vocal NGOs, vocal think-tanks that have actually been at the forefront of a lot of the climate reportage.”
The influence of online media is growing, but mass media remain the primary source of information for most news consumers. And in that realm, scepticism still has a place.
However, as the consequences of climate change increasingly affect the Anglosphere, the pushback against sceptics is growing louder. And although the carbon industry continues to pump money into lobbying and media messaging, climate scepticism is running on borrowed time.
Contributors:
Leo Hickman, director, Carbon Brief
Maxwell Boykoff, associate professor, University of Colorado-Boulder
Anu Jogesh, India policy and governance lead, Acclimatise
James Painter, research associate, The Reuters Institute
Hepeng Jia, director, China Science Media Centre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sllroAFeyAc
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“In certain countries, climate change sceptics enjoy plenty of exposure through which to propagate their theories: carbon dioxide doesn’t cause a greenhouse effect; the planet is actually cooling; or the climate has always changed.”
What? It is now just a sceptic’s theory that “the climate has always changed”???
They’re getting more delusional by the day.
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forget China’s record imports of coal, oil and gas in 2017, and just enjoy the laughs:
29 Jan: CarbonBrief: Q&A: How will China’s new carbon trading scheme work?
by Jocelyn Timperley
Will the ETS help China hit its climate targets?
Environmental policy has become a priority in China, in part due to widespread concerns over air pollution and climate change caused by cars and coal-fired power plants.
China’s government has begun to put a strong emphasis on curbing CO2 emissions…
China is already set to overachieve on its aim to peak emissions by 2030, according to Climate Action Tracker (CAT)…
Li Shuo, an energy and climate policy analyst for Greenpeace East Asia, tells Carbon Brief the real question is how much the country will overachieve its goals and if the ETS plays any role…
Emissions have already levelled off in China’s power sector…
Who will pay for emissions?
In an initial ***“simulated” trading period of the ETS, companies will be issued free emissions permits. Under the plan’s loose timeline, auctions for permits would begin around 2020…
When will the ETS start?…
The second step will be a year-long “simulated” trial of the market, the plan says, expected to start in 2019. This will see free credits allocated to companies with mock trading, but with no money changing hands. It aims to test and develop the reliability, market risks and management of the trading platform, the plan says…
How will trading work under China’s ETS?
Once trading begins on the national market in 2020 or so, it appears China plans to conduct it using spot trading…
https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-how-will-chinas-new-carbon-trading-scheme-work
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29 Jan: Reuters: China blizzards snarl railroads, coal deliveries amid power worries
by Muyu Xu, Josephine Mason
China’s worst blizzards this winter have snarled the country’s railroads and highways, cutting off critical supplies of thermal coal, and fuelling a rally in prices to record highs and raising concerns about potential heating and electricity shortages.
The chaos, with coal piling up at mines and ports after a week of heavy snowfall, comes two weeks before the week-long Spring Festival holiday, when hundreds of millions of people travel vast distances home to celebrate with their families.
The severe weather and congestion prompted four of China’s top utilities to warn last week of heating and electricity shortages due to tight supplies of coal ahead of and during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Beijing has worked for years to wean the nation off its favourite fuel, but coal still accounts for most of the electricity generated.
Average daily coal demand at utilities hit a winter-time record on Sunday of 818,000 tonnes, almost double a year ago due to soaring residential heating demand as temperatures in some regions – including the two most populous cities Shanghai and Beijing – plunged to below-average levels.
The snowstorms are expected to ease up in southern and central provinces, which are much warmer than the north, although temperatures will remain below average until Feb. 5, spurring heating demand…
Thermal coal futures on Monday rose more than 1 percent to 679.8 yuan (£76.2) per tonne, their highest since the contract launched in 2015…
The utilities are under particular pressure this winter because of low natural gas supplies after Beijing ordered millions of households and some industrial plants in northern China to change to gas heating from coal as part of its war on pollution…
Renewing worries about winter heating crisis, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces introduced power rationing to industrial users due to heavy snowfall, with snowy storms also striking parts of the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei and Hunan…ETC
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-pollution/china-blizzards-snarl-railroads-coal-deliveries-amid-power-worries-idUKKBN1FI13U
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29 Jan: The Hill: Cold winters are testing the limits of US energy grid
By Jordan McGillis
(Jordan McGillis is a policy analyst at the Institute for Energy Research, a nonprofit focused on free-market energy and environmental research and policy)
This season’s above-average heating and electricity demand has tested grid reliability at a time when the topic has had particular political salience. Most reporting on the matter has lauded the resilience the grid has shown, but a fuel-security analysis performed by the group that oversees New England’s power system delivers a pessimistic chill. ISO New England’s analysis reveals that in winters to come fuel insecurity will plague the region…
http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/371145-cold-winters-are-testing-the-limits-of-us-energy-grid
read all:
30 Jan: WUWT: Anthony Watts: Trump administration yanks funding for “Climate-Related Fellowships”
Given the alumni list, it seems to me that a climate alarmist manufacturing program has been shut down.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/01/30/trump-administration-yanks-funding-for-climate-related-fellowships/
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should have stuck with coal in the first place:
30 Jan: Reuters: China’s No. 2 coal region asks miners to cancel or shorten holidays
by Muyu Xu, Josephine Mason
China’s No. 2 coal producing province has asked coal miners to shorten or cancel staff holidays during upcoming Spring Festival celebrations, as authorities rush to avoid a potential power crisis during the nation’s most important break.
In the document reviewed by Reuters, the Shanxi provincial coal administration told city authorities and state-owned coal companies it wants to tame a price rally and ensure fuel supplies.
An official at the provincial coal administration confirmed its authenticity…
Shanxi’s request follows a Reuters report on Jan. 26 that four of China’s top utilities warned of heating and electricity shortages as China’s worst blizzards this winter snarled railroads and highways, cutting off critical supplies of the fuel ahead of and during the Spring Festival holiday.
The holiday, also known as the Lunar New Year, will start on Feb. 15 this year, with when hundreds of millions of people traveling vast distances to celebrate with their families.
Shanxi produced 845 million tonnes of coal last year, up 5 percent from 2016 and a quarter of the national total.
It’s not unusual for miners to reduce leave during the Lunar New Year holiday. Last year, some slashed leave and raised pay to cash in on high prices.
But the intervention of the provincial government illustrates growing concern about higher-than-usual heating demand due to the current cold wave, which is expected to last until Feb. 5…
The authorities want to avoid a repeat of December’s chaos, which saw serious gas supply shortages across the north after millions of homes were converted to gas or electric heating from coal as part of Beijing’s war on smog…
On Tuesday, thermal coal futures on China’s Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange were down 1.4 percent at 666.8 yuan ***($105.26) per tonne, on track for their biggest one-day drop in a month as worries about tight supplies of China’s favorite fuel waned as snowstorms eased…
Analysts say the drop may be shortlived as power producers will need to restock to shore up supplies for the busy holiday period. That usually starts a week before the holiday, which would be around Feb. 8.
Prices have gain 10 percent this year and risen 74 percent from a year ago amid resurgent demand for coal due to a particularly cold spell.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-coal/chinas-no-2-coal-region-asks-miners-to-cancel-or-shorten-holidays-idUSKBN1FJ0EY
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Well coal cant cut the mustard, clearly they need more renewables! what could possibly go wrong?
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30 Jan: Reuters: China’s Hebei halts coal to gas heating conversion project: report
by David Stanway
China’s Hebei province has halted an ambitious program to convert large numbers of coal-fired boilers to natural gas, after supply shortages left homes without heat over the winter, business magazine Caixin reported on Monday.
Caixin, citing a document issued by the local planning agency, said the conversion project would be delayed until 2020, when new pipelines delivering gas from Russia are scheduled to go into operation.
The move marks a significant U-turn by the provincial government, which had identified the switch from coal to gas or electricity as one of its major priorities as it continues to wage its war on pollution…
Highly-polluting coal made up 86.6 percent of Hebei’s energy mix in 2015, far higher than the national rate of 63 percent, and it was under pressure to cut coal production capacity by 40 million tonnes over the 2013-2017 period…
But gas shortages and a lack of infrastructure have disrupted the operations of industrial firms across northern China, and left some villages without heat amid sub-zero temperatures this winter, forcing authorities to suspend the conversions.
Gas suppliers have said a lack of communication between governments and producers had caused them to underestimate demand. Officials have also been accused of implementing the conversion policies with excessive zeal.
China’s environment ministry was forced to make concessions as early as December, saying in a notice it would allow cities to continue burning coal for heating purposes if the required gas infrastructure had not yet been completed.
Despite China’s efforts to switch to cleaner energy, nationwide coal production rose 3.2 percent last year. Coal prices have also soared to record highs this week after blizzards disrupted supplies.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution-gas/chinas-hebei-halts-coal-to-gas-heating-conversion-project-report-idUSKBN1FJ0CD
30 Jan: SteelGuru: China Shanxi to adds 10 billion tonnes of coal reserves
Xinhua Net reported that North China’s coal rich Shanxi Province has added nearly 10.5 billion tonnes of newly discovered coal reserves over the past five years.
Local authorities said that Shanxi produced more than 16.2 billion tonnes of coal from 1949 to 2014, accounting for one-quarter of the total coal output across the country.
By 2014, the province had found 294 billion tonnes of coal reserves…
https://steelguru.com/coal/china-shanxi-to-adds-10-billion-tonnes-of-coal-reserves/500904
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***Councils have not asked their ratepayers, Steffen. I will be lodging a complaint with Logan Council:
30 Jan: RenewEconomy: Climate Council Press Release: 70 Council representing 7.5M take climate action
The Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership, Australia’s fastest-growing national climate program for local government, today welcomed 35 new councils to the fight against climate change.
New additions to the Cities Power Partnership include sustainability powerhouses Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin, as well as metropolitan, regional and rural local governments from across the country.
Climate Councillor and international climate scientist Professor Will Steffen congratulated the councils pledging to tackle climate change in their own backyards, highlighting the enormous opportunity local governments have to be part of Australia’s climate solution…
“We’re excited to see a record number of councils jumping on board with the Cities Power Partnership,” he said.
“As the tier of government that’s closest to the community, local councils have the power to genuinely transform the way we generate and use energy.”
***“It’s clear that Australians support climate action from their council. We’re calling on all local governments to join the groundswell of climate action spreading across the country.”
The councils joined the climate fight at the launch of Australia’s largest floating solar farm, a groundbreaking project backed by Cities Power Partnership member Lismore Council and Lismore Community Solar…
EVENT DETAILS
DATE/TIME: TUESDAY 30 JANUARY 2018, 10:00AM AEST
LOCATION: East Lismore Sewage Treatment Plant, 313 Wyralla Rd, East Lismore
http://reneweconomy.com.au/70-council-representing-7-5m-take-climate-action-97877/
bogans no more:
30 Jan: River949: Logan’s Council takes aim at Climate Change in new partnership
The council is among 60 others across the country to sign-up to the Cities Power Partnership, pledging to fight climate change in our own backyard. Professor Will Steffen from the Climate Council said the initiative is all about driving change at a local level.
https://river949.com.au/christmas-top/christmas-promotions/40-articles/local-news/82528-logan-s-council-takes-aim-at-climate-change-in-new-partnership
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how ratepayers’ money might be spent:
30 Jan: CentralWesternDaily: Changes to council energy use planned under new power partnership
by Tanya Marschke
LED street lighting, changes to the council car fleet and changes to council energy use could be introduced in Orange as part of the Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership.
On Tuesday, Orange City Council and Bathurst Regional Council, along with City of Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin were among 35 new councils to join the climate change and energy saving program, bringing the number of participants to 70…
Professor Steffen said the council could make small changes to how it consumes energy in its operations, such as reducing travel, replacing cars with electric or hybrid cars and changing to more energy efficient lighting.
He said the council could also look at installing more insulation in buildings and introducing energy efficiency based education programs for the public.
The council can also look at introducing more docking points for electric cars and introducing LED lights to street lights and in the long term he hopes the council will look at how energy can be generated using solar or wind power.
“Getting emissions out of electricity generation that’s one that’s economically attractive so what can Orange do to bring in solar or wind?” Professor Steffen asked.
Orange councillor Stephen Nugent said the council’s Environmental Sustainability Community Committee will look at options and make five pledges to the council at its first meeting in April.
“There’s 32 different areas the we can develop pledges about, it’s up to each council,” he said.
“I’ve got some ideas of things that I would like to pursue and it’s up to the community and the council listening to the community about what it wants to pledge.”
http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/5197287/changes-to-council-energy-use-planned-under-new-power-partnership/
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In reporting, the annual Paris floods are blamed on Climate Change. Of course they have not hit the height of the flood of 1910, but it is still Climate Change. A bit like Australia’s millenium drought which was not as long as the Federation drought, but again Climate Change. It used to be a spring flood in Paris but now every annual event is Climate Change, perhaps due to the melting of record snows which were supposed to be a thing of the past too, thanks to Climate Change.
In Victoria, Daniel Andrews is blaming the power shortage and doubling of power costs on Privatization twenty years ago. Funny. It didn’t happen then but on his watch and he was personally responsible for forcing Hazelwood to close by tripling coal prices. So it doesn’t matter about the facts, just make something up and blame someone else. Climate Change. Labor doesn’t care. The Liberals could not care less. The Greens are cheering.
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