JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
“Mann and Lewandowsky’s polar bear paper enters bizzaroland: Climate change leads to more…neurosurgery for polar bears?”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/04/03/mann-and-lewandowskys-polar-bear-paper-enters-bizzaroland-climate-change-leads-to-moreneurosurgery-for-polar-bears/
For starters
“Indeed, there was the predictable reaction to the paper. Judith Curry referred to it as “absolutely the stupidest paper I have ever seen published.” ”
I’ve reckoned for a while that the worst possible paper that could be published would have a very high citation index because it would attract quotations from writers who didn’t really need to quote it but did to show their awareness of it.
Maybe a test here
122
Bi-polar Bears?
223
They have copious frequent flier points
20
Academics then?
“Huffington Post has noticed that many university academics are utter climate hypocrites, that many of them rate their personal importance by how many professional air miles they can accumulate every year.”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/04/01/huffpost-notices-academic-climate-hypocrisy/
50
There are two significant court cases in progress (count the years)
Dr Tim Ball vs Michael Mann. This appears completely stalled. Micahel Mann offered to provide all his data, obtained an adjournment and then reneged.
Various Californian cities vs major oil companies. As Delingpole comments, this is the Skopes Monkey Trial revisited, a decision by a judge ultimately on whether the oil companies have damaged the climate. Unfortunately for the litigants, the judge involved likes to get the facts right. He even learned to program in Java in a case involving the internet.
If either case proceeds, it will bring the house down. The technique of Global Warming activists is to shut down dissent with the 97% of scientists believe, the science is ‘in’ and the Polar bears are drowning. A judge will decide if any of these things are true.
233
I would be more interested in finding out the start date for the defamation case against professor Peter Ridd.
Success for him would be a huge dint in the Klimatariat’s armour.
180
I am not quite sued what the action by Peter Ridd is.
In his own words
Not defamation. Perhaps a direction from the Federal court to JCU to desist.
150
Thanks Peter, the right to be a civil heretic.
60
This link has all the court documents for California v BP and others:
http://climatecasechart.com/case/people-state-california-v-bp-plc-oakland/
The defendants case and tutorial fundamentally relies on the IPCC reports. It focuses on the levels of certainty and uncertainty in the reports through their progression. Apparently the basis of collusion from the plaintiff was an internal summary of one of the IPCC reports.
http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2018/20180321_docket-317-cv-06011_notice-3.pdf
The last two slides present a difficult proposition for California as they are selling State bonds on the basis that anything to do with climate change is uncertain. Hard to justify that position while claiming that change has already occurred and required vast sums in adaption/protection. The information on climate change has been in the public domain as long as any oil company had knowledge of it. I suspect that much of the adaption/protection required relates to things constructed since the information was in the public domain and there is still a high level of uncertainty about the extent of any change.
I doubt this case will shed any light on a judges view on global warming. I figure the defendants’ strategy is to prove all the information on global warming is publicly available and there is no case. Under that, a number of the companies are making a case for dismissal on the basis the court does not have jurisdiction.
So far most of the documents are related to procedure and dismissal. Anything on climate change relies on the IPCC position; essentially on both sides. So there is no argument there.
The fact this case has proceeded this far highlights how the US legal system sustains itself by leaching off society.
110
My concern here is that they will agree to desist, after all the lawyers have been paid off. The cities cannot win and the oil companies are winning as coal is being shut down around the world.
Consider that even in Australia, we are now importing vast quantities of overseas diesel to replace our free domestic coal in SA, Tasmania and Victoria. Now that is beyond parody as a Green development. Who wins there? Not Australia. As for lowering CO2, how does that work? What does ‘the science’ say about diesel versus coal?
260
There is a reasonable amount of installed diesel fuel generating capacity in the NEM amounting to 2.3% of capacity. However its actual fuel consumption is insignificant:
https://www.aer.gov.au/wholesale-markets/wholesale-statistics/generation-capacity-and-output-by-fuel-source
It might tick up a bit but I do not see diesels generating very often. They are essentially insurance.
Gas is the big winner in Australia. It now has 20% of the capacity and supplies 10% of the demand.
60
Agreed, the gas people, the oil people are aligned against the Coal people. The people on trial in California are the oil people. Both sides will drop this absurd case.
70
I read on a US site that the judge did Engineering before Law. Oh dear.
60
Judge is a smart guy, seems to do his homework and study material for the trials he is given.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19/16503076/oracle-vs-google-judge-william-alsup-interview-waymo-uber
20
Steyn v Mann is another fun one to follow, or maybe visit occasionally, not much happens.
40
What were the amounts that the ARC awarded Lewandowsky when at UWA? I’ve checked with the ARC website but it tells me nothing. Wikipedia’s page on Lewandowsky offers no hint of a question about his “work”: no surprise there, I suppose.
60
Paul, I posted on this in Sept 2012.
Lewandowsky gets $1.7m of taxpayer funds to denigrate people who disagree with him
Searching the ARC site is time consuming. http://www.arc.gov.au/
Unless things have changed it is difficult to add up all the funds to any one name.
I’ll be interested if anyone compiles a simple searchable document so I can update those figures.
It would also be interesting to report the latest government funded junk studies… anyone want to dig?
81
Thanks Jo.
There is this (very brief and undetailed) report on recent funding and subsequent prizes:
I wonder: does their method differ from that of BOM? Well, yes, it does. But the word ‘proxy’ appears often (see here, you’re probably familiar with this paper).
There seem to be assumptions of uniformity across the continent that I find difficult to accept. It also tends to parallel writing on, believe it or not, secularisation in Oz.
The writing I have in mind (Pat Jalland, Australian Ways of Death: A Social and Cultural History, 1840–1918 (South Melbourne: OUP, 2002) suggests smoothly occurring linear changes in behaviour—which the evidence, such as it is, does not support. But I can’t really comment on any scientific writing, for I have absolutely no training in reading such material.
20
They appear to have their dataset available in excel format, so it shouldnt be too hard to collate and report.
11
Turnbull is quoted in today’s Australian: “… a technology-neutral policy can deliver affordable and reliable power while meeting Australia’s emissions targets …”, a self-refuting falsehood.
If that were so why is his government supporting so-called renewable technologies which would otherwise be uncompetitive in price and that are driving legacy generators out of the market?
He also claims that pumped hydro is equivalent to coal and gas for ‘dispatchability’ as if it were a separate source of energy rather than an inefficient extortionate battery.
280
He does not explain why his government has chosen to restart a Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme project that was abandoned, not cost effective.
192
For anyone of the green “religion”, its a matter of “green piety”.
Its like Communism – it cannot work, never will work, but it never stops the green “faithful” throwing their efforts at it.
120
They only showed him the headlines
30
He forgot to add that only if massive subsidies were poured into renewable projects .
150
The NSW Liberals are committing the same hypocrisy. They’ve just approved a 1,000MW Liverpool Range wind farm in New England. Goes to prove the cancer has spread to both major parties. People must vote for some other party if they really care otherwise they should just stop whining to avoid being exposed as either fools and hypocrites themselves.
190
No one should be allowed to quote the nameplate capacity of any intermittent energy producer. The 1000MW wind subsidy farm should be rated at 300MW taking into account capacity factor. Furthermore we need to introduce a new nomenclature for such a rating to indicate that it is NOT continuous, reliable power but rather it is unreliable power.
Perhaps we could write 300MW(u). The (u) means unreliable. It would mean that it is dirty, useless and expensive power and thinking people should not buy it.
172
It just occured to me that 300MW(u) could also mean useless power.
93
I have noticed the latest deceptive description is “installed capacity”, in other words nameplate.
81
As I have several times pointed out recently. The generating capacity of a source is the minimum output in the best 364.75 days of a year. On that basis unbacked wind and Solar has Zero ( actually they are both slightly negative) capacity.
70
I take every opportunity to say so whenever comments are open. The 1000MW wind farm will never produce 1000MW or anything like it and over time falls back to the 30-40% window (being genrous) There isnt a solar panel in Australia that has produced its rated capacity.
30
It’s time the LNP at the federal level split and joined the ACP, and try to convince ON to join to offer a real alternative. We already know there are a significant number of LNP MPs there who are against Turnbull’s energy policy and desperately want to stop going down the suicidal path of economic self destruction by way of excessive reliance on renewables. They also know there is no hope of rolling Turnbull – he’s too arrogant and he has too many supporters in his own party who also have lost their way. The LNP is dead. It’s our only hope of even having half a chance at avoiding the crash and burn scenario. It still might not work as most voters are still ignorant and so might allow ALP to win but what the heck; there’s now little difference between the two major parties, even with the immigration level, which is yet another destructive force unleashed by the LNP. At least the split will stir things up a little. We might as well have some fun and excitement while the place burns down.
110
PeterS:
I have thought for some time that this is the last Federal Liberal government. The ‘centre’ is occupied by those in it for the money and prestige while they hand power to those who would destroy the nation. They enjoy lording it over us serfs.
The problem for us serfs is that we are disunited and in the majority of cases unwilling to “rock the boat”. That the last advice has no relevance as others bore holes in the hull doesn’t resonate, as most people go about their daily lives and never think about the country’s future. They believe that the Government has a big barrel of money and will hand out some to them if they winge loudly enough. That winging action works in the Public Services, the Health system, and in Universities and has been adopted with great success by the Greens. Our current politicians are quite happy to foster the idea as it is merely a matter of raising taxes, usually on a minority.
This idea and the utter incompetence of the current Federal government makes a Labor Government inevitable at the next election. Indeed they may even win the following federal election, although by that time the economy will be in such sad shape they won’t see out the full term. Only then will the majority of people look for something different, with the danger of extreme parties gaining support.
That might be prevented by another Global Financial Crisis with this time the Central Banks having no room to move as the mountain (range) of debt overwhelms them. Then we can foresee calls for a world government which, if delivered, would merely enlarge the same problems. If I were younger, and a bit better off, I would be ‘hedging my bets’ looking for a few acres of fertile, well watered land on a No Through road somewhere – the Greenie day dream. Instead I grit my teeth and do my best to survive.
Digging out my crystal ball I think that the coming climate cooling will be to Australia’s advantage, although not necessarily to the general public. More rain will result in more agricultural land being developed, which is already on the Chinese radar. They will need food supplies from warmer areas (hence their buying farms etc.) and there will be increased chinese control of things. That might be countered by an influx of (climate) refugees from northern Europe and the UK where their energy policy rivals our government’s for stupidity. It looks like we will be living in interesting times whether we want to or not.
160
Hi
Well put.
My thoughts would be to make sure you can also put a decent grouping together at 100m, down range.
Our personal food supply and defence against other unplesant critters might require it….assuming we havent been fully forcibly disarmed by then….
70
Pretty much 90% done, just a few rats and mice to clean up.
As we seem to have no rights, we have accepted permissions that are easily wihdrawn.
40
Every Man Should Have A Rifle
Henry Lawson, 1907
So I sit and write and ponder, while the house is deaf and dumb,
Seeing visions “over yonder” of the war I know must come.
In the corner — not a vision — but a sign for coming days
Stand a box of ammunition and a rifle in green baize.
And in this, the living present, let the word go through the land,
Every tradesman, clerk and peasant should have these two things at hand.
No — no ranting song is needed, and no meeting, flag or fuss —
In the future, still unheeded, shall the spirit come to us!
Without feathers, drum or riot on the day that is to be,
We shall march down, very quiet, to our stations by the sea.
While the bitter parties stifle every voice that warns of war,
Every man should own a rifle and have cartridges in store!
80
Episodes of deeply rational shooting be ahead of us you say?
00
In summary most people are asleep oblivious to what’s happening around them and to the dangers down road, and only interested in having fun at times to ease the stresses of their daily lives in a working jungle full of predators and scavengers. They don’t have time to concern themselves of the facts and so they are easily lead to believe anything that has the appearance of being true when it’s not. That’s what I’ve experienced throughout much of my working life, and it’s getting worse. The question is when will they wake up? Time will tell but if history is any guide the people will wake up only after it’s too late to avoid serious consequences. That’s the nature of humanity. If we all only spent a few hours a week to do some really serious research and thinking we as a society might be able to avoid social and economic disasters. However to many it’s considered to be boring, whereas I would consider it exciting and challenging. Perhaps it’s my Greek background who used to be great philosophers but that didn’t save them either. Each to their own poison.
90
Meanwhile the sheep remain in their pen. It’s very sad that most people do not have a clue what is going on.Too much comfort,poisoned inside a protective cocoon and arrive stillborn.
20
glen, don’t worry. In time they will learn the hard way. Too bad for the rest of us who already know what’s going on and is going to happen as we have to suffer along with them. That’s how the cookie crumbles.
40
Interesting find Man alive.
There is little doubt that the “carbon” profile of “intermittents / renewables” is higher than that of coal fired power.
The “carbon” cost of delivery to point of use, the small scale of plants, and the necessity for backup, in the form of either coal fired or diesel generation makes the whole concept of “renewables” a bad dream.
How come nobody is questioning the hypocrisy of this blatant tokenistic shambles.
Fact: More CO2 is produced per kWh of electricity delivered by Green Renewables than by conventional coal fired power generation.
Using the excuse of reducing CO2 emissions to promote renewables is contrary to the reality.
But then we are caught up in a world of Tokenism and don’t seem able to break out and back to reality.
If CO2 was really the issue we would be using coal fired generators.
KK
130
Nuke methinks.
Australia is one of the few places on the planet where you could place a nuclear reactor and no-one would get hurt even if it did explode (which of course they don’t)
40
That too.
10
Lance did a very interesting rundown on Thorium reactors. Does Australia have much Thorium?
We must make it plain to voters that the whole thrust of electricity generation has always been control by special interest groups.
Initially the unions and now politicians providing riverbed course changes to divert the good stuff to the right final destination.
It must be a government run thing, but as we see, even they are corruptible.
Power is not something that needs a profit margin riding its back nor should it carry any other burdens such as the RET.
KK
30
Australia has plenty of thorium. Not as much as India or as of uranium (although that could change if people went looking for it). A lot is concentrated in beach sands.
20
Sounds good.
10
Globalist wind-up toy Malcolm has been given “technology-neutral” and “dispatchability” for its new speaker sounds. The cronies who program the toy will love the contracts for Uphill Snowy and the public will love anything to do with those rugged ranges. Weren’t we all raised with images of sweaty but happy New A’s toasting their adopted land with their tin cups? Go-ee Snowy.
Still don’t like the green Malcolm toy with its new sounds? Before you toss it, just remember its likely replacement is Ben Ean Julie, even greener. Think before you toss!
But the choice is yours. You can have any colour if it’s green, and they’re so good at knowing what you like that they usually just skip all that election palaver. It’s called product placement.
110
Whos to say we’d elect labor or Greens?
Why not go bolshie and not elect any of them. The globalists would have kittens as their favourite toys have been discarded…
70
How often have those who intend to deceive already deceived themselves? And are in no wise receptive to reasoned argument.
60
When a battery has ‘despathed’ it’s charge then it’s ‘despatchability’ returns to zero and stays there till it is supplied and charged again from some primary source.
For Turnbull to assert that pumped hydro is equiv to coal and gas for ‘despatchability’ is clearly an untruth. It shows his utter ignorance of the energy system.
GeoffW
130
If you suspend disbelief, and assume there will always be enough water and enough wind and solar to pump it, then you can pretend its despatchable.
80
The further things progress the more they tangled up in Yes Minister-isms.
50
Indeed. We have been watching some episodes of ‘Yes Minister’ the last few evenings…some things don’t change much.
One of our favourite ones is ‘The Bishop’s Gambit’.
41
Red thumbed for daring to talk about Yes Minister, he really is a sad obsessive puppy isnt he?
20
Yes, pathetic isn’t it? I can’t be bothered with asking it what the problem is any more…I seem to be a trigger now! A pity it doesn’t try to use its brains a bit.
31
Annie
Remember Andy G’s scoring system
1 red = 10 green
And like Jock McLaren (One Man war) when shown the first Japanese price on his head poster he laughed and set out to raise the price
10
🙂
01
Clear solar influence on Arctic ice movement.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22854-0
10
Watching the news and they are reporting a buyer for Liddell power station found
50
Alinta want to buy it .
30
Interested, but subject to due diligence, according to SMH report.
Cheers,
Dave B
10
Due Diligence
‘Alinta Energy is an Australian generation, electricity and gas retailing private company that is owned by Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.’ wiki
40
Their stated interest in energy is in renewables, so guess what, they;s just do what AGL want to, but probably at a higher cost to us.
40
Alinta want to compete in every aspect of the energy market in Australia, but of course the big issue is strategic.
http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2079584/hong-kongs-chow-tai-fook-buys-australias-alinta-energy-us31bn
10
Paul Kelly has lost the plot over the plan to build a coal power station
“The conservatives fall into the trap the progressive side of politics can only dream about — making coal the issue. Imagine if the Turnbull government accepted this position and pledged a $4bn government-owned new coal plant. This would ignite the climate change brigade around a campaign to denigrate the Coalition as a pro-coal, dirty-energy, anti-renewable, denialist government. There are no prizes for guessing the outcome.”
Correct. Progressive Green Malcolm Turnbull would lose his job and the coalition would romp home.
250
He had no problem with pumping water uphill again for $6-$12Billion in a Rudd like mad publicly funded scheme without even costing the idea, proving the feasibility or any guarantee of success. Abbott is right. If you can do one, you can do the other.
190
There is a more humorous point, that Kelly has called the Conservative group “Coal Power Socialists”. Now that’s funny. Demanding Conservatives stay on their side of the fence.
So while supporting every progressive cause known, Kelly presumes to tell Conservatives not to build government owned power stations as that would make them Socialists?
As I remember the power stations were built by conservatives in the first place and then sold when Labor Unionists took over and shut them down at Easter, Christmas and any time they felt like it.
In Kelly’s strict world, only progressive socialist governments are allowed build power stations. He is fuming that Conservatives dare.
180
He also fears that this is timed to allow the Monash group to challenge his hero, Progressive Malcolm when the 30 Newspolls come up and the unelectable Malcolm is rolled. The fear is not that Malcolm will win, but that Abbott might win again and entirely on the cost of electricity.
210
Elections, among many other very odious things, have become little more to me than a wonderous opportunity to sellect my preferred flavor of electricity scammers, and ABC chaff-bag holders.
When dying, first, stop drinking the poison.
101
So much less socialist to pay $3 billion a year in subsidies for wind and solar assets not owned by the governments on behalf of the citizens?
And provide company tax concessions in addition, the concessions/deductions some try to pass off as subsidies when referring to coal fired power stations.
51
The problem, as we have observed before, is one of trust. No private firm or consortium could trust government sufficiently in order to invest in such a long-term project. One rule today, another rule tomorrow. For the time being at least, coal-fired power stations have to be built and operated by government—whether Paul Kelly likes it or not.
60
I’d call Paul Kelly a stooge…but that would be unfair to Mo, Larry and Curly, whom I still kind of like.
Let’s just say that Kelly uses his front-of-flagship position (though not many verbal skills!) to persuade us that next century’s version of last century’s submarines is the greatest thing since last century’s Snowy River Scheme done in reverse. (To be fair, Uphill Snowy should be finished well before next century.)
That’s not called being a stooge. That’s called being Editor-at-large of The Australian.
150
Paul Kelly continues to decrepitate.
60
I can sorta see Kelly’s point about the Labor/Green pushing the renewable agenda against “dirty coal”‘ but this group with this proposition would set the debate alight.Conservatives must push the issue of affordable and constant power for all its worth.Corey Bernardi seems against.Kelly seems to lack sound reasoning,maybe spent too long in the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
31
I might also post here, if Alinta were to bypass the need to buy LGCs by selling on direct contracts to the big industrialist, it would bring the house down. They could buy directly at say 4-9c a kw/hr and get back to business without subsidizing windfarms. Manufacturing would boom, especially the big smelters, steel and aluminum. Even refineries.
The could not be accused of tax avoidance, as the LGCs are officially not a tax. That cleverness will backfire.
Then if the Government sought to Alinta to buy windmill or solar operator certificates, they would end up in court and the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2001 would fall over. It is beyond the proper ability of any democratic government to order one party to pay another and the whole disaster of teh RET would be tested in the High Court. It would fail and we would be free of this forever. Power prices would plummet.
Alinta, go for it. There is a fortune to be made and hero’s medals to be given and a terrible wrong to be righted, but the first two will do.
180
Logic TdeF?
Are you really allowed to use logic here in the modern, progressive, liberal, ecologically aware post coal world.
Sounds good though.
120
Logic TdeF?
Are you really allowed to use logic here in the modern, progressive, liberal, ecologically aware post coal world.
Sounds good though.
20
TdeF
Upthread I mentioned Chow Tai Fook Enterprises which presumably gets instructions from Beijing, so the long game is conducted with patience and perseverance.
80
Both Alinta and ERM did not meet their LGC obligations in 2016, However they made commercial decisions to accept the shortfall charge at the time. This is some detail on ERMs position:
For Graeme#3 the $65/LGC is a shortfall charge. It is not a fine so all they have done is made a commercial decision to sell the LGCs that they had produced or acquired at a higher price than they are worth to surrender for the power sold at retail level.
40
Yes, I know. And it is not tax deductible.
00
Actually I have re-read the act and it prevents this, declaring that if the Generator bypasses the retailer, the generator is deemed to be both generator and notional wholesaler. The clever people made very sure no one was allowed even sell directly except on a dedicated single line. So not a tax, no direct sales of electricity and no mention of the word carbon. We have been stitched up by the people who wrote this Act. You wonder if the Liberal party under John Howard realised then and even now what they have done? It was highway robbery then and still is.
80
What it means is that Tony Abbott would have to repeal the RET. The day he does, electricity prices will plummet. Of course the windmill people will scream but they have paid off and own most of the windmills anyway with our cash, so now they can print money and charge us again for our own windmills.
90
Actually this is the weakness, the act compells payment to a third party that is illegal and it levies a federal tax on state government GBEs which is a constitutional violation.
40
wrong again. all reports talk of Iris being “northeast” of wherever. how about reporting how far from the coast it is? nah. too boring:
4 Apr: 9News: Cyclone Iris fails to intensify, weakens
Residents in Queensland’s Whitsunday region have been spared the worst of Tropical Cyclone Iris after it failed to strengthen overnight.
Forecasters had predicted it would intensify into a category three system in the early hours of Wednesday.
Instead, it weakened.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Narramore said conditions weren’t conducive to maintaining a cyclone, and Iris remained a category two.
Mr Narramore said it should weaken into a category one later on Wednesday and turn into a tropical low by nightfall.
Tropical Cyclone Iris is located about 295km northeast of Mackay, and is moving southeast along the Queensland coast at about 9km/h.
A cyclone warning remains in place from Bowen to Yeppoon, including Mackay and the Whitsunday Islands, but a watch zone for further south has been cancelled.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/04/04/05/37/warnings-of-wilder-weather-from-iris
50
So far the highest recorded windspeed was on Hamilton Is – 106kmph at 5:41am. Wind speed – 87kmph at 10:07am.
Seems to be getting closer to the Whitsundays and winds increasing. Back in the day this would have been a Cat 1.
CATEGORY 1 (tropical cyclone)
Negligible house damage. Damage to some crops, trees and caravans. Craft may drag moorings.
A Category 1 cyclone’s strongest winds are GALES with typical gusts over open flat land of 90 – 125 km/h.
70
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR241.loop.shtml#skip
Have you ever seen a more sorry excuse for a BOM “tropical cyclone”? Well, actually, give BOM’s track record, you may have, that’s now a distinct possibility.
There was no actual tropical cyclone present, at any time, it was a deep NNW-SSE trending trough, at no time did it develop a cyclone’s characteristic structures.
What a farce.
l
And they still have the temerity to call it a Cat 2.
Shameless BOM.
92
Sorry WX, if its weather it needs adjusting.
20
😀
But it’s still a raging Cat 1 though:
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR241.loop.shtml#skip
A decent coastal shower is worse.
22
You can’t get any more precise than that Ian. Better luck next time BoM and media.
21
Jo You’re mentioned!
“Clouds Down Under”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/04/03/clouds-down-under/
20
“Now, the average difference between morning and afternoon clouds in Australia is 4.6% … which would imply a decrease in afternoon sunshine on the order of 4.6 W/m2. This is a significant amount of cooling.”
What effect on the estimation of solar power generation?
40
Clouds?
What clouds?
I am a climate modeller so don’t try to confuse me with clouds.
21
That well known modelling dictate – “If in doubt leave it out”
10
EVs and the Wobbles.
Following Jo’s article of last Wednesday “Another way to destroy a grid: add a million electric vehicles”, I was motivated to have a closer look at what’s going on in EV land.
http://joannenova.com.au/2018/03/another-way-to-destroy-a-grid-add-a-million-electric-vehicles/
All’s not well is what I found, especially in Tesla EV land.
In fact, it seems the wheels are falling off. Literally. Suspension failures. Top ball-joint stem separations. Air suspension failures. Steering knuckle failures (made from hollow cast aluminium). Broken axles. Non-disclosure agreements.
All of 210 miles and the front left suspension snaps off. See Case No 13 in teslabears, it’s a classic, (keep the page open, you’ll need it again):
http://teslabears.club/t/new-thread-keefs-complaints-with-photographs/107/45
Unsafe at any speed? The one-car accident, waiting to happen all over again? This is not funny. Ask Ernie Kovacs. And, despite all the Tesla/Elon “Bankwupt” April Fool joking, this is not one of them. This is serious.
We hear from NBC, no less, that poor Elon has had to recall almost half the cars Tesla ever built – which, granted, is not all that many when compared with the professional motor vehicle manufacturers. But recall he has. A grand total of 123,000 of them. Can the USA taxpayers recall their subsidies?
“According to an e-mail sent by the company to owners, 123,000 Model S sedans built before April 2016 are equipped with steering bolts that could suffer from excess corrosion. In some cases they may crack or completely fail”.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/tesla-recalls-almost-half-cars-it-ever-built-shares-tank-n861421
Corrosion? Spin more like.
Have a look at the bolt in Case No 82 in the teslabears URL above. Do you see any corrosion there? Nope. It’s snapped. No doubt. But from corrosion?
Who made that corroding bolt? Who supplied it? Who tested it? Watch as Tesla seeks to blame shift in a most sophisticated, progressive, way.
Chevy makes bolts doesn’t it?
Anyway, to make matters worse, Elon’s wealth has tanked and continues to do so. He lost 17% of his net worth in the past month; $US3.6 billion. There’s a view that he’s running out of money faster than a Dodge runs out of gas. Tesla stock fell 25% in March just gone; probably its worst month ever since going public in 2010. It lost 8% last Wednesday alone, as Jo was up-loading her article. Now that’s what you call cut-through.
Any takers that Chevy would ever make a bolt like that?
140
Chickens are coming home to roost.
A bit of noise possible.
60
I know people have been saying it for a while but all of the above overlayed with:
– a billon dollars in debt coming due
– SEC investigation
– NTSB investigation
– continuing negative cashflow
– continuing Model3 prod issues
– parade of departing executives
It would seem something is starting to hit the fan
Hopefully SpaceX has been well seperated from Tesla, then the Govt wont have to bail out both.
60
Tesla statement.
The truth is not in them. Or they’re being tricky. Or both.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/1DIN0UyenlRL8Bo9gYKPcg
20
The other problem is that there is NO third party repair shops for a Tesla vehicle.
Once you buy one you’re locked into Tesla’s agreed repair and maintenance system, complete with nondisclosure, and that applies (certainly in the USA) even if you buy a second hand one.
40
Oops forgot the link…
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/10/tesla-doesnt-want-work-cars/
40
Thanks tomomasom,
Another reason to not own a Tesla or a share of the stock.
30
Recent commentary Tesla with some Model 3 feedback now they are in the wild
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com.au/2018/03/tesla-update-model-3-production-and.html
30
And here’s a typical account of what the owners face for repairs:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/holy-crap-repairs-are-insanely-expensive-beware.86514/
Fools/money/easy.
30
Plus see Another Ian’s comment at 38 below on running running cost comparisons.
00
Well, they do look like an over-sized slot car vehicle, maybe the local hobby shop could fix them?
🙂
30
Hit a curb (chuck hole, rock…) and end up with a 5 figure repair bill? Wow! It is not a car built for use in the real world. Virtue signaling for the sake of virtue signaling is never a really good financial plan. Reality always takes payment in full in a way you can least afford.
I thought replacing the battery was going to be its downfall. Apparently, to make it light enough to move, they made it just strong enough to drive it off the show lot. If you actually do manage to get it home, leave it parked in the driveway. Otherwise, hit a bump and consider it totaled.
30
Cant imagine what insurance premiums will be for this car. That will get conveniently left off cost comparisons.
Not sure how Tesla will swing monopoly servicing and parts supply in Oz, its specifically not allowed. I am guessing they will try and play the safety card.
30
A Tesla should mechanically be dead easy to fix, its basically a alu box with a wheel at each corner, not complicated. In fact, unless its a power control / software issue, in theory anyone can fix what is just an expensive go cart…..
10
How about a kangaroo?
00
Re – Case No 82
My casual (and peer reviewed) failure mode analysis of this ‘corroded’ bolt says that has been over torqued. This would suggest a problem in their assembly procedures rather than a design error as such. Maybe, it’s been a while since I had to deal with FRACASs on a regular basis.
Not seeing much evidence for corrosion, at least on this example.
What also confuses/concerns me is the ‘welded together in the ball joint stem’ comment. Maybe something lost in translation there but doesn’t strike me as wise engineering practice.
Definitely something of engineering concern happening in Musk land.
31
And he’s building space craft? Seriously?
20
Yeah.
Part of me thinks that he doesn’t have to be smart to build spaceships, he just has to be smart enough to hire the right people and get THEM to build space craft.
Then I look at these sorts of things with Telsa and his Boring Company and I think he’s building space craft? Seriously?
20
MudCrab
Similar. I’ve had to deal with two Indian made workshop vices.
Which put a whole new and terrifying aspect on an Indian atomic bomb.
10
Sam
You didn’t mention flex life.
Steel has a flex life if it is loaded heavily – like when you break a piece of steel wire by flexing back and forth. If it is lightly loaded though flex life is not a problem.
Aluminium on the other hand has a flex life independent of load. You can meet an example with an aluminium tennis racquet when the frame cracks.
20
You hear from everywhere that the renewables of choice, wind and solar are now cheaper than coal fired power, a meme repeated so often now that it has become pretty much accepted.
Whenever you hear this, there’s a way you can counter it, so copy this down for reference if you need it.
Take Bayswater as the example. It has a Nameplate of 2640MW, so that’s the example, to replace that amount of power.
The idea is to replace that power with power from (a) wind and (b) solar, and here I will use the two most recent of both, Macarthur Wind and the proposed solar plant for South Australia.
Macarthur has a Nameplate of 420MW and a Capacity Factor of 30%, and explain that as the power generation efficiency of the plant, its intermittency. So, 420MW at 30% now gives us an actual power generation Nameplate of 126MW. Now divide Bayswater (2640MW) by Macarthur (126MW) and you have 21 as the result, in other words for the same generated power you need 21 Macarthurs. Macarthur cost $1 Billion, so to effectively replace the power generated by Bayswater, the end cost will be $21 Billion.
The Solar plant in SouthAus has a Nameplate of 140MW and a CF of 40%, no matter what anyone says about this being 24/7/365 power, that is a flat out ‘porkie’. So, that gives us an effective nameplate of 56MW. Divide 2640 by 56 and you get 47.
The proposed cost for this is $650 Million. So to replace Bayswater, you’ll need 47 of these solar plants, so an end cost of $30 Billion.
True, there may be other factors in play, all of them minor, and not adding up to the horrendous extra cost just for construction, but this IS just construction costs alone. For effect, you could also mention that the renewables only last half as long, which doubles the price of both renewables, so $42 Billion for wind, and $60 Billion for solar, just to replace the [power delivered from ONE coal fired power plant.
Whatever, there is no way known on Earth that a new coal fired plant would cost as much as either the wind or the solar plant.
So, whenever you hear this ‘cheaper than’ meme, be aware it is most definitely not cheaper at all.
Tony,
190
Thanks Tony.
I have lobbed this (shortened a bit) onto the comments in The Australian, on the Judith Sloan article.
It was out of in record time; obviously the censor thought that I knew what I was talking about. Little did he know.
100
Just when I think we should start subscribing the The Australian, I see something like this and think ‘No, I’m not subscribing to something that can’t bear to publish sensible comments’.
73
You see, there’s the point.
I can do the Maths explaining the Nameplate, the Capacity Factor, and what they both mean, then convert it to MegaWatt Hours supplied, and do that for each type, (coal, wind and solar) then spread that across a whole year, and explain all that, and then that while ever coal is being fed in at the front end, the generator supplies its full power, while wind and solar are dependent upon all their variations, then explain the life span, and why, and then extrapolate out all the factors involved with costs of construction, etc etc etc.
People will turn off before I get past ….. “now listen closely”.
They just don’t have the comprehension to be able to understand the technical things, and hey, I can fully understand that. It’s frustrating for me, so I have to reduce it to the lowest common denominator I can, to simplify it to something they can identify with, and that’s the simple multiplier associated with Dollars, and that oddly enough works in my favour, because after doing it like that, they have a puzzled look and then want further explanation, so I can build it up from there.
It’s sometimes hard because some engineering types are not keen that I do simplify it like that, saying that I need to explain it exactly, not realising that while they CAN understand the technical aspects, 95% of the people cannot understand the first point about it.
Try asking the simplest question of all ….. “How do they convert coal to electricity?” I have not found one person who can answer that and understand the process enough to be able to explain it.
It’s your typical Scylla and Charybdis moment.
Tony.
110
you need to run with swimmimg pools, harbour bridges and lighting Tasmania as key units.
30
Too true about some people not understanding. The first comment I got was from someone saying that I was wrong because there were other costs (he meant fuel costs) which meant that renewables would be cheaper to run. (I have been kind to his comment which showed him up as economically innumerate). I just pointed out these costs had to be paid by the customers who would find that the difference vastly favoured coal. It seems that a lot of renewables supporters glaze over at the mention of billions & cost and assume that those will come from the big barrel of money the government has (according to people who don’t think).
The other comments were all favourable. One suggested I send it to my MP but as my Federal member goes around lecturing school kids on Climate Change I don’t see the point.
20
Indeed Tony it has become accepted given the propaganda blasted almost daily on ALL MSM outlets that renewables are cheaper. So what hope do we have the public will support a party in sufficient numbers to win government promoting coal or even nuclear for that matter? I rate it zero. As a consequence we have to suffer the crash and burn scenario before people wake up to reality. I hope I’m wrong but I can’t see it any other way.
30
Tony,
Wind is very competitive with coal if wind capacity factor is 100%.
The fact that CF averages about 30% doesn’t seem to matter to esteemed folk like Paul Kelly and M Turnbull.
Solar is very competitive when the sun shines brightly for 24 hours per day.
The fact that it shines brightly for about 8 hours per day is also lost on these esteemed people.
The fact that renewable energy at this stage in the progress of technology is a crock of sh*t is also lost on these esteemed people.
The CO2 horsesh*t has to stop.
70
The government will find a way. You can be certain of that. Inflating the cost of a project is about the only thing government does well. Especially since it is not its wealth it spends. It is socialize costs and particularize benefits from top to bottom with the lion’s share taken out to cover the ever expanding overhead.
20
3 Apr: Townhall: AP: Auto sales up 6.3 percent in March as SUV, pickups dominate
Automakers sold more than 1.6 million vehicles for the month as buyers came out of hibernation after a cold, snowy winter in much of the country.
Truck and SUV sales rose 16.3 percent while car sales plunged 9.2 percent, according to Autodata Corp. Nearly two-thirds of all vehicles sold were trucks or SUVs…
— General Motors posted the biggest sales increase at 15.7 percent to 296,138 vehicles. It was led by the Buick brand with a 28 percent increase.
— Fiat Chrysler reported almost a 13.6 percent increase to 216,063 vehicles. It was led by a 45 percent increase in sales of the all-SUV Jeep brand.
— Ford said its sales rose 3.5 percent to 243,021. Ford brand sales were up 3.7 percent.
— Toyota sales also went up 3.5 percent to 222,782, led by Toyota brand sales, which rose 4.5 percent…
— Volkswagen sales were up 13.5 percent to 52,992 as new SUVs helped it continue to recover from a diesel engine emissions cheating scandal.
https://townhall.com/news//business/2018/04/03/auto-sales-up-63-percent-in-march-as-suv-pickups-dominate-n2467445
3 Apr: Daily Signal: EPA Revision of Obama-Era Fuel Standards Will Make New Cars More Affordable
by Nicolas Loris
In a victory for American families and consumer choice, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has announced the agency will be revising aggressive fuel economy standards set in place by the Obama administration.
Working with the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the EPA will revise efficiency standards for cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2022-2025.
A 2016 Heritage Foundation analysis estimates the Obama fuel economy mandates increased new car prices $6,800 more than the pre-2009 baseline trend, and eliminating the more aggressive standards would save 2025 car buyers at least $7,200 per vehicle…
Nor would the Obama standards have had a significant “climate benefit”—in fact, there would have been virtually no effects. Increased fuel efficiency often leads to more driving, which cancels out some of the reduced carbon dioxide emissions. But even if fuel economy standards reduced carbon dioxide as much as the Obama administration purported they would, the averted warming would be at most a thousandths of a degree Celsius by the year 2100.
In fact, when the EPA and the Transportation Department implemented the first phase of fuel economy mandates for model years 2011-2016, the Transportation Department’s own analysis proved what paltry climate impact the regulations would have, estimating that the mandate would slow warming by seven-thousandths of a degree Celsius and reduce sea level rise by six-hundredths of a centimeter by the end of the century.
Ultimately, consumers, not government bureaucrats, should make decisions about what cars they drive…
Pruitt has taken an important step in the right direction by beginning the process to revise egregiously aggressive Obama-era vehicle mandates…
https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/04/03/epa-revision-obama-era-fuel-standards-will-make-new-cars-affordable/
50
“In fact, when the EPA and the Transportation Department implemented the first phase of fuel economy mandates for model years 2011-2016, the Transportation Department’s own analysis proved what paltry climate impact the regulations would have, estimating that the mandate would slow warming by seven-thousandths of a degree Celsius and reduce sea level rise by six-hundredths of a centimeter by the end of the century.
…”
And that’s assuming the estimates of climate sensitivity to co2 are even realistic. The Obama people figured that they would have gasoline up to $8-10 per gallon in the USA in few years at the time; forcing people to give up private transport or forcing them into green approved alternatives as a one two punch with the regs. The fracking revolution happened, though.
30
“Nearly two-thirds of all vehicles sold were trucks or SUVs…”
Tesla would appear to have a niche within a niche.
20
If you bury it right, it becomes a useful retaining wall that wont rust quickly….after filling it with concrete first….
00
I don’t know what’s going on globally, but Approx. two weeks after the spring equinox we still are in winter where I live. -15 degrees C this morning and a skiff of snow. Meanwhile over in New York the Yankees home opener was snowed out yesterday.
I wonder if Chiefio ever got any tomatoes last year?
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2017/07/14/mid-july-no-tomatoes/
30
Don’t worry Dave, it’s all balanced out.
All energy accounted for.
Here on the East coast of Australia we have had a fairly warm winter.
40
Actually, that was a really cool summer.
40
Here in North Central Victoria we had a long cold winter….very damaging to my citrus trees.
43
Also, during what was left of summer and now in early autumn we have had temps. of 2, 3 and 4C although we have then had warm sunny days.
33
Sorry not winter.
I meant warm Easter.
40
thank god for that, I was in seasonal confusion
60
I get confused all the time.
10
It seems wind isn’t that reliable even before it is built. From this mornings The Australian (paywalled?)
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/great-gusts-blow-out-silverton-wind-farms-debut/news-story/a2490ade8c0d1e804631aee7c6e50173
10
Paywalled.
22
update:
3 Apr: military.com: USS Little Rock Finally Leaves Montreal After 3 Ice-Bound Months
An icy pit stop that lasted about three months is finally over for the crew of the USS Little Rock after the ship left Montreal on Saturday to continue its journey to Naval Station Mayport.
The Navy’s newest Freedom-class littoral combat ship would have arrived in Northeast Florida in January if it weren’t for colder-than-normal temperatures late in December, said Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hilson, a Naval Surface Force Atlantic spokeswoman…
Safety was the main factor in the decision to have the Little Rock’s crew wait out the Canadian winter, Hilson said. She said ice in the St. Lawrence Seaway has now melted away enough to allow a safe passage to the Atlantic Ocean…
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/04/03/uss-little-rock-finally-leaves-montreal-after-3-ice-bound-months.html
2 Apr: gCaptain: USS Little Rock Departs Montreal After 3 Months Stuck in Ice
The ship, USS Little Rock, was supposed to head to Naval Station Mayport following her snowy commissioning in Buffalo, New York last December. But, while transiting the St. Lawrence River on her way to the Atlantic Ocean, some relatively minor damage to cables sent her back to Montreal for repairs. By the time repairs could be made in early January, however, winter ice had already set in and the ship and her crew were stuck pier-side for the winter.
After three months of winter, Little Rock finally departed Montreal last Saturday under escort by the Canadian Coast Guard ship Des Groseilliers…
Little Rock’s departure from Montreal comes just a few days after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway’s navigation season…
http://gcaptain.com/uss-little-rock-departs-montreal-after-3-months-stuck-in-ice/
50
Tax the rich, feed the poor, till there are no rich no more(Tenyears After)
Carbon pricing would address gaps in Sask. climate change strategy, says U of R economist
20
Then everyone can starve, except the lefty ‘elite’ of course.
42
If things go according to one possible scenario the lefties will not be around because the Chinese will take over and get rid of the lefties for being so much against coal and nuclear. The irony is a communist country like China loves coal and nuclear for obvious and legitimate reasons, which the lefties over here have no clue about because they are less intelligent than a small rodent.
40
try http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/04/us-australian-german-eu-high-tech.html
00
Dolter is a dolt. No doubt.
00
Di Natate will be verbal projectile vomiting at the National Press Club in 15 mins.
Bought to you by ABCLGBTQ-24
There will be repeats, so see your televiewer for gratuitous detail.
51
No thanks!
72
FUREY: Looks like Canada is gearing up for a carbon tax showdown
Anthony needs to be introduced to joannenova.com.au.
50
bad news, according to CAGW mob – EU economy grew 2.5 percent last year:
3 Apr: Reuters: EU carbon market emissions rise for first time in 7 years in 2017
by Susanna Twidale
Emissions regulated under Europe’s carbon market rose for the first time in seven years in 2017 due to stronger industrial output, data published on Tuesday by the European Commission and examined by carbon analysts at Thomson Reuters showed.
FILE PHOTO CAPTION: Smoke billows from the chimneys of Belchatow Power Station, Europe’s biggest coal-fired power plant, in this May 7, 2009 file photo
Around 45 percent of the European Union’s output of greenhouse gases is regulated by the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the bloc’s flagship policy to tackle global warming by charging for the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO2).
The ETS is expected to contribute around two thirds of the reductions needed to meet the EU’s target of slashing emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels…
According to the analysts’ interpretation of the data, emissions totalled 1.756 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) last year for companies under the ETS excluding airlines, up 0.3 percent on the previous year.
Capped emissions from power and heating generation fell by 1 percent, but the overall figure was lifted by a 1.8 percent rise in emissions from industry.
“The European economy grew 2.5 percent last year. Solid growth in the European economy resulted in increased activity leading to higher emissions,” Ingvild Sorhus, lead carbon analyst at Thomson Reuters, said..
The benchmark EU carbon contract traded at 13.08 euros/tonne at 1140 GMT, down 1.5 percent from the previous day’s close…
After further reviewing the preliminary data, the analysts forecast emissions from aviation rose 6.1 percent year-on-year in 2017 to 65.2 million tonnes, due to an increase in the number of flights, the analysts said.
With aviation included, total EU ETS emissions were 1.821 billion tonnes, up 0.5 percent year-on-year, the analysts said.
Under the ETS, airlines have to report emissions for all flights that begin and end within the EU.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-carbontrading/eu-carbon-market-emissions-rise-for-first-time-in-7-years-in-2017-idUSKCN1HA1J7
30
3 Apr: ClimateChangeNews: Megan Darby: Shipping climate talks begin amid protests and concerns over influence
PHOTO CAPTION: Activists stage a protest on the shores of the Thames River, near IMO headquarters in London
Talks on reigning in shipping’s carbon footprint started in London on Tuesday with ongoing transparency issues foremost in the minds of those outside the room
The UN shipping regulator has been stacked with industry representatives, undermining efforts to tackle the sector’s carbon footprint.
So warned (LINK) Transparency International on Tuesday, as talks on a climate target for international shipping started in London…
The TI report also criticised restrictions on media and civil society participation.
Journalists may report on the outcome of talks but not who said what. This is “very surprising for a UN body,” said Böhmer, adding that shielding national delegates from public scrutiny is “not acceptable”.
Campaigners who wish to play a formal role in the process, meanwhile, must promise to “be fully in harmony with the spirit, functions and principles of the IMO”. That may inhibit their freedom to make robust arguments on the issues, the watchdog said…
Activists held a ???rare demonstration outside the IMO headquarters on Tuesday morning, urging countries to agree carbon cuts in line with the Paris Agreement. “IMO don’t sink Paris” was written in large letters on the embankment of the River Thames facing the building.
Drawn from the Campaign against Climate Change and the Green Party, a dozen people waved placards saying “no more dirty secrets” and “100% by 2050”, referring to the emissions reduction target they want to see. People dressed in matching costumes gave delegates “boarding cards to a ship of the future”…
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/04/03/shipping-climate-talks-begin-amid-protests-concerns-influence/
???what’s “rare” about CAGW activists protesting?
31 Mar: SaturdayStarSA: Sheree Bega: South Africa trying to sink climate change fight on high seas – claim
In an internal document submitted ahead of crucial meetings of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) next month to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the international shipping industry, South Africa, together with Argentina, Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, has argued strongly against a cap on the sector’s emissions.
“As shipping emissions are a function of global emissions, setting an absolute overall cap to greenhouse gas emissions would represent an undesirable hindrance for world trade and the development of all countries,” the nine countries affirm.
They request the Marine Environment Protection Committee to agree that the initial strategy to be adopted in 2018 is a zero draft. “The final decision should not be taken without prior analysis of impact on international trade, particularly for developing countries,” they state…
Many companies around the world are pushing forward on clean technology and renewable energy in shipping.
“South Africa has some of the best conditions for renewable energy in the world and could profit hugely by using its influence at IMO, and its leadership role on the continent, to support a serious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from shipping at the crucial IMO meeting,” says the (ANONYMOUS SHIPPING) expert.
Shipping is the backbone of world trade, carrying about 80% of the total volume of trade and plays a significant role in ensuring global development, says Saliem Fakir, head of the policy and futures unit at WWF-SA…
But Collen Msibi, spokesperson for the Department of Transport, disputes that South Africa is trying to block a meaningful deal to tackle climate change.
“Specific issues to be taken into consideration are evidence- based decision-making and impact assessments focused on developing countries, taking into account that shipping activity is directly related to economic activity and reduction in the activity or emissions (which would require technological investment and thus increased shipping costs) would have a bearing on the economies, particularly developing economies.
“South Africa is of the view that there can be no agreement on any quantum of reduction above the principle (which it supports) until the implications are fully understood. This obviously contradicts the position of the developed countries, which have a historical responsibility as well as access to technologies that would come at a cost to developing countries.
“We hope to progress the discussions and see meaningful resolutions that are taken on an equitable basis.”
https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/sa-trying-to-sink-climate-change-fight-on-high-seas-claim-14219040
50
I note that Saudi Arabia got some more snow…
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/photos-saudis-region-gets-covered-in-snow
I welcome them to a global warming ‘hole’.
40
as with the South African report, China not on board:
1 Apr: BusinessStandardIndia: IANS: IMO to begin talks on reducing ship emissions
A more conservative approach led by China and supported by India and Brazil calls the targets to be data driven and for the adoption of a common but differentiated, responsibilities principle as it is in the Paris Agreement,” an Indian negotiator, who is attending the London meeting, told IANS…
Zero emissions from shipping by 2035 is the most ambitious proposal on the table at the IMO, made by the climate-vulnerable Marshall Islands and allies.
This report, therefore, directly undercuts the arguments made by Japan that only 50 per cent decarbonisation much later by 2060 is technically feasible.
The main driver for the growth of global shipping emissions is the rise of international trade, projected to almost double by 2035 and growing at a rate of approximately three per cent per year until 2050.
By 2035, China and India could dominate global trade with 23 per cent of global export flows.
The share of export values from Europe might be reduced to 26 per cent of the global export flows in 2035, compared to 33 per cent in 2015.
According to OECD 2015 estimates, South and South East Asia will be the most affected by sea level rise, with the highest impact in India and other developing countries in the region…
http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/imo-to-begin-talks-on-reducing-ship-emissions-118040100330_1.html
30 Mar: HellenicShippingNews: T&E: “Shipping industry sells out on Paris agreement on eve of UN talks”
Faig Abbasov, shipping officer with T&E, said: “The April negotiations are the last chance for the member states of the IMO and the shipping sector to respond to the Paris agreement’s goal of global warming not exceeding 1.5ºC. Having earlier said they would not pick sides because it was for governments to decide, the lead shipping organisation, the International Chamber of Shipping, has now decided to align itself with proposals from Japan and China against a high-ambition coalition of states and environmental NGOs. In the same breath the ICS cynically calls for ambition while touting proposals that will sink the entire Paris agreement.”…
Japan is proposing that the sector’s emissions be cut 50% by 2060 over 2008 levels. This, however, will overshoot shipping’s 1.5ºC carbon budget by a 21Gt – 16 times Japan’s total annual CO2 emissions – and see shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions continuing for many years beyond Japan’s proposed target year of 2060. Full decarbonisation is not even envisaged by then. China is against even the adoption of any long-term reduction objectives in April…
A report released by the International Transport Forum earlier this week concluded that the maritime sector can be fully decarbonised by around 2035. Another report released in December last year by University College London and the Lloyd’s Register ship classification society concluded that, with the right carbon pricing, the sector can use battery-electric propulsion and alternative fuels like liquid hydrogen and ammonia to eliminate its carbon footprint in the near future.
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/te-shipping-industry-sells-out-on-paris-agreement-on-eve-of-un-talks/
20
Ah, those were the days, eh.
The Sovereign Of The Seas, the fastest clipper ship ever. In 1854, she set the fastest time for a sailing ship of 22 Knots, (25MPH, 41KPH) still the record to this day. 2421 Tons.
The First ship to sail 400 nautical miles in a 24 hour period.
Honolulu to New York in only 82 days.
I’m certain that WalMart will build hundreds of these for their China U.S. routes.
Yeah! Right!
Tony.
90
But then we can delight in using the old maritime phase of events/freight/feelings “being in the doldrums”.
30
err, that’s phrase, I’m the one in the wrong phase. 🙂
20
but China is on board in this manner: http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/04/us-australian-german-eu-high-tech.html
00
bizarrely, Wall St Journal has a different lineup of pro and against!
3 Apr: WallStJournal: Maritime Regulator Seeks to Overcome Deep Divisions on Shipping Emissions
An International Maritime Organization meeting this week comes as vessel operators say they face a patchwork of rules without common global targets
By Costas Paris
The debate has deep political fault lines, with many mainly developing countries arguing that strict emission standards will hurt their economies…
The European Union, Japan, China, and several other Asia nations are pushing for ambitious reductions in emissions, while the U.S., Argentina, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, among others, want lower targets.
“It’s a highly-charged debate to find acceptable pollution levels that could cost the industry hundreds of billions of dollars,” said Basil Karatzas, a New-York based shipping consultant. “The IMO emission cuts are necessary and must be adopted, but a number of operators won’t be able afford it and could either go belly up or get out of shipping altogether.”
The cost comes on top of an estimated $40 billion bill for the industry to cut sulfur emissions, either by using cleaner fuels or by installing a device that treats a ship’s exhaust before releasing it…
Options for vessel operators may include using clean-burning fuels like methanol, hydrogen and ammonia, as well as implementing electric propulsion, hull design improvements and slower sailing speeds…
The biggest concern to shipowners is that if the IMO fails to come up with solid plan, the European Union will include shipping in its Emissions Trading Scheme, where a cap is set on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by various companies.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/maritime-regulator-seeks-to-overcome-deep-divisions-on-shipping-emissions-1522766972
BBC’s Harrabin talks tough…and omits China altogether!
31 Mar: BBC: Roger Harrabin: Shipping faces demands to cut CO2
A battle is under way to force the global shipping industry to play its part in tackling climate change.
A meeting of the International Maritime Organisation in London next week will face demands for shipping to radically reduce its CO2 emissions…
A group of nations led by Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Panama and Argentina is resisting CO2 targets for shipping.
Their submission to the meeting says capping ships’ overall emissions would restrict world trade. It might also force goods on to less efficient forms of transport…
The UK is supported by other European nations in a proposal to shrink shipping emissions by 70%-100% of their 2008 levels by 2050…
Guy Platten from the UK Chamber of Shipping: “The public expects us all to take action, they understand that international trade brings prosperity, but they rightly demand it is conducted in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. We must listen to those demands, and the time for action is now.”…
A (Clean Shipping Coalition green group) spokesman said: “The Paris temperature goals are absolute objectives. They are not conditional on whether the global economy thinks they are achievable or not.”
So the pressure is on the IMO to produce an ambitious policy. The EU has threatened that if the IMO doesn’t move far enough, the EU will take over regulating European shipping. That would see the IMO stripped of some of its authority.
A spokesman for the Panamanian government told BBC News his nation supports the Paris Agreement.
“But”, he said, “Panama, as a developing country that depends on the maritime sector for its progress, and aware that the welfare of its population relies on shipping, believes in the necessity of a well though-out and studied strategy that allows sustainable and efficient reduction of emissions.
“To haste into an uncalculated strategy that aims to reduce emissions to zero by the year 2050 does not take into account the current state of technology.”
A spokesperson for another of the nations resisting targets told BBC News: “My country pushed very hard to get the deal in Paris. But you will notice that many of the countries opposing the restrictions on CO2 are developing countries that are distant from some of their markets.”
Campaigners say huge improvements in CO2 emissions from existing ships can be easily be made by obliging them to travel more slowly. They say a carbon pricing system is needed.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43584963
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While Australians argue as to why we should bother building a new coal fired power plant, United Arab Emirates has announced they are to build their second coal fired power station. I wonder if they are going to use our coal given they don’t have any of their own. Are we stupid or are we stupid?
Also, next door Saudi Arabia has approved plans to build 16 nuclear reactors during the next 20 years. They say the new reactors will provide affordable, emissions-free power for approximately 10% of the Saudi electrical grid.
Meanwhile we have LNP politicians scurrying around like meerkats hoping someone will buy Liddell to keep it going for several more years, and proposing to waste billions on a huge water battery that won’t actually produce any net power.
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behind paywall:
2 Apr: UK Telegraph: New generation of streetlights could damage eyesight and disrupt sleep
By Steven Swinford, Deputy Political Editor
A new generation of LED streetlights could disrupt people’s sleep and even damage their eyesight, Public Health England has warned.
Hundreds of thousands of streetlights have been switched over to LEDs because they are cheaper to run and result in lower emissions.
However Public Health England warned that many people find them “uncomfortable” and said that in the long term they could that they could even “cause damage to the retina of the eye”.
It also raised concerns about the increasing use of LED lights on new cars, suggesting that they risked dazzling oncoming drivers – especially if they are elderly.
The concerns were raised by Public Health England in the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report…
if the first pic of a building is an example, it hurts my eyes just looking at it online! lol:
3 Apr: UK Express: New streetlights HEALTH RISK: Experts say LEDs could damage your retinas
MODERN streetlights could be disrupting people’s sleep and even causing lasting damage to their eyesight, health chiefs have warned.
By Simon Osborne
The worries came to light in the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report which pointed out councils are increasingly replacing mercury and sodium lamps with LED alternatives.
Kent County Council is installing 118,000 LED streetlights, Leicestershire 68,000, Manchester 56,000, Gloucestershire 55,000 and Surrey 40,000.
Around 30 percent of the roads under Highways England control – which include motorways and A roads – have already been converted to LED lights…
Public Health England: “If this is done purely on the basis of energy efficiency and cost, it is possible to end up with installations that may not be fit for purpose.
“Some streetlight luminaires have LED sources that can be seen physically projecting below the luminaire, becoming a glare source or light pollution.
“The light spectrum may be enriched in the blue, which may be beneficial for keeping drivers alert, but many people will find the light uncomfortable.
“High levels of blue light are known to cause damage to the retina in the eye.”…
A Local Government Association spokesman said: “Councils have switched to LED street lights to help the environment and manage funding pressures while ensuring street lighting can be be maintained.
“LED street lighting luminaires are carefully designed to make full use of the light that they generate by directing it only to those areas that need to be illuminated, which in itself is one way of reducing energy consumption and related emissions.
“Both natural and artificial light has the potential to damage the eye.
“It’s best to avoid looking at any light source directly for any length of time.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/940778/led-streetlights-sleep-disuption-permanent-retina-damage-local-authorities
from the comments:
Bit late now is this another Diesel scam.
What comes next I wonder? A tax on LED lighting systems?
They do more harm than just damage to the eyes.
Its not only street lights, all new cars fitted with these dazzle in a way the ordinary headlights don’t.
Those things blind the bejeebies off people with poorer eyesight.
LED spotlights that council put up at back of our house on sheltered housing Passively come on with Central heating boilers steam/Vapour and drive us nuts in our beds at night On & off all the damned time.
50
Give it time….some lout will kill the light with a half brick eventually….
10
Today I saw in a clothing store a garment that had a tag that said “energy saving garment”.
How sad that Australia is becoming so Third World with its high energy prices that people have to wear such garments indoors to save on power.
61
I’ve got an energy saving shirt, it’s hanging on the back of my chair. I keep cooler that way.
40
We are paying 1.77 litre for 98 ron fuel where we are, the servo operators reckon price hikes are coming, and im thinking ” yep, and no one will buy much fuel and the fuel companies greed will actually strangle them…serves them right….”
20
Expensive energy based upon the lie of global warming is one of the methods being used to destroy our Civilisation. I think we all know what the other one is.
If we survive the attempted destruction of Western Civilisation by the Left we need to have something like the Nuremberg Trials whereby every single vermin involved in doing it is tried and if found guilty imprisoned. Subject to trial would be politicians, public serpents, members of the media that told lies in support of the destruction and violent social justice warriors that suppressed freedom of speech. There are probably other guilty parties as well.
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And it *will* happen. Hitler thought his 4th Teich would last a 1000 years, and he wound up dying like a rat in a sewer in his bunker.
The Leftists might be smug now, but it will turn around and they will be scurrying for cover….
Bring on Climate Nuremberg, but make sure those in the shadows who are the true evil, are pillored and sentenced with extra heavy sentences…..
30
Madame Defarge the Tricoteuse is making notes as we speak.
10
In which city do you suppose she will start her knitting while awaiting the tumbrils?
00
Perhaps but first things have to get pear shaped (100% certainty) and we will crash and burn. Then things will get better as we come out of the ashes once people come to their senses. In the meantime as we drive towards the cliff’s edge most people, not just the politicians are having a good time playing games, and that will continue on until the realise they are past the edge. Then they wake up as they fall. With people like the Greens now offering “free” money to everyone without working the music is getting louder and the party is becoming bigger drowning out more of reality. The insanity will get worse over next few years.
20
I’m interested what people think of this video. (43 mins)
https://youtu.be/_I_lsZCAWi4
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Do you know the similarity between a piece of toilet paper and the Starship Enterprise? They both circle Uranus looking for Klingons!
I guess it could be labelled CNGC (Catastrophic Natural Global Cooling). Should improve conditions in some parts of Australia.
51
Good video…worth watching.
Puts it all in perspective.
Nasty…
40
Hi Dave,
I watched the video, and while I cannot say that I accept everything there as ‘reasonable and prudent’, he does have some valid points, in my opinion, but some parts are a bit far-fetched.
Curve fitting is always an interesting exercise, and the various cycles this gentleman found are also interesting, but no two “famine” events played out in the same way; viz., one famine/drought cycle affected this region of the world, the next one affected that region of the world, or even affected the whole world to some extent. I would not bet the farm on the ‘next’ one having some deterministic effect, per the video discussion.
Obviously, one significant difference is the level of technology available to us today; no, it will not eliminate any future problems, but just what we developed in the 20th Century alone is a quantum leap above the available technology of the last cooling spell in the 19th Century. Yes, I believe it will have an impact, but the nations who have put their faith (FSU, PRC, etc) into developing a military instead of such things as hydroponic farming, aquaculture, irrigation, soil conservation, etc etc etc, will likely fall the hardest. I do not see any of the Centrally-planned economies being able to conquer their neighbors; if that neighbor is as bad off as you are, what is the advantage in ‘conquering’ them? I think an equally-likely scenario is that the totalitarian nations will be busier trying to quell the unrest within their own borders, and would be unable to consider any opportunistic military adventures.
For me, the people I see suffering the worst are the ones who, in my little corner of the world, are the most dependent upon technology. By and large, with any number of exceptions, the people I see who use/depend upon technology the most are the ones who rail against it, and most vociferously. Yes, I’m talking your typical greenie environmentalist, who fails to see his/her own hypocrisy. While they rail against private ownership of firearms, and the attendant hunting (“survival”) skills, and against coal-fired powerplants (while charging their cell phones, tablets, and EV’s with that same coal-derived electricity), and Face-Tubing their incessant rants all around the world, to their fellow travelers, I’m out there honing skills that allow me to face up to the type of challenge the video predicts.
We have our garden, and barring uncooperative weather, we often have a decent supply available for canning or preserving in some form or fashion; I do not know how well the family would do if push came to shove, and while I hope it never comes to pass, my sense is that some parts of the world would implode, and most of Western Civilization would continue to thrive.
Peace, prosperity, health, and long life to you and yours Dave, and thanks for linking to that video,
Vlad
30
Thanks for your comments, Vlad.
21
Thanks for the link. Interesting to say the least. Some of it no doubt will come true – the question is which parts and how much. Only time will tell. One interesting point is how close it and some of his other videos match the Biblical Great Tribulation and subsequent Wrath of the Lord to come so closely, and in most cases exactly.
30
What utter nonsense.
///The rapidly falling cost of renewable energy and batteries is “chilling” for the future of the fossil fuels sector, raising doubts about the viability of new coal power stations.///
https://amp.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/falling-renewable-costs-chilling-for-fossil-fuels-20180329-p4z6vb.html
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According to whom? Such a bold statement needs citation. Frankly I don’t believe it, otherwise we would have lithium batteries in our conventional cars. The market is big enough.
60
Cost of electricity supplied at “only” $US209 a kWh?
I pay $A0.29c a kWh. Surely there is some journalistic unit confusion? They dont seem to have much affinity with SI units.
60
2 Apr: SouthChinaMorningPost: A new coal war frontier emerges as China and Japan compete for energy projects in Southeast Asia
Frederick Kuo says Southeast Asia’s appetite for coal has spurred a new geopolitical rivalry between China and Japan as the two countries race to provide high-efficiency, low-emission technology
by Frederick Kuo
As China is expanding its influence, Beijing’s foremost strategic competitor in Asia, Japan, is being forced to step up efforts to combat its shrinking influence in the region. The booming energy sector of Southeast Asia, especially coal, is proving to be the new front line in the geopolitical rivalry between Asia’s two industrial giants…
However, Chinese energy planners have realised they cannot relinquish coal as a major power source for the foreseeable future. The country remains highly dependent on coal, with coal sources accounting for roughly 73 per cent of China’s electricity production in 2014, according to World Bank numbers. Instead of abandoning coal, China is developing cleaner and higher-efficiency coal plants – and, as a boon to its plan for greater regional influence, aims to export the technology abroad…
Coal consumption across Asia is slated to outpace that of China over the next 20 years, coupled with an absolute increase in global coal demand over the next seven years. The more than 1,600 coal plants scheduled to be built by Chinese corporations in over 62 countries will make China the world’s primary provider of high-efficiency, low-emission technology.
Because policymakers still regard coal as more affordable than renewables, Southeast Asia’s industrialisation continues to consume large amounts of it. To lift 630 million people out of poverty, advanced coal technologies are considered vital for the region’s continued development while allowing for a reduction in carbon emissions.
Clearly, the countries providing this technology will inevitably expand their sway with regional governments. As a consequence, a race between Tokyo and Beijing over the construction of coal plants is already under way…READ ON
http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2139667/new-coal-war-frontier-emerges-china-and-japan-compete-energy?utm_source=CCNet+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e173cecd48-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_04_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fe4b2f45ef-e173cecd48-36413593
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followup from previous thread:
3 Apr: Quadrant: Tony Thomas: Mad, Rad and Dangerous to Knowledge
Green/Left groupthink at Monash University has reached the point where the brains trust thought it a good idea to woo prospective students with a collage of violent social-justice film clips presented against a soundtrack of violent rap lyrics. Here’s a better idea: don’t send your kids there.
Urgent! Urgent! If you’ve got a degree from Monash University, don’t let anyone know. Your alma mater has completely lost its mind. Who would want to be associated with its agitprop video for recruiting teenagers? There are more than 11,000 views so far and a swathe of hostile responses from once-loyal alumni and potential students…VIDEO
A Monash University spokesperson responded to on-line criticism (emphasis added),
“As an institution, we firmly believe in its message. This is us drawing a line in the sand about what we think a top university [Monash ranks equal 80th worldwide] has to contribute to the world. In 2016 we encouraged our community to challenge the status quo and question what is put in front of them in order to move forward. Now we want people to take action.”…READ ALL
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2018/04/mad-rad-dangerous-knowledge/
30
such precision…the ending re the modelling is very funny:
2 Apr: CarbonBrief: Daisy Dunne: Limiting warming to 1.5C could ‘substantially’ cut risk of ice-free Arctic summers
Two new studies find that, under 1.5C of warming, Arctic waters could experience ice-free summers around 2.5% of the time, or one in every 40 years. Under 2C, ice-free conditions could occur 19-34% of the time – or once every three to five years.
However, limiting warming to 1.5C will likely be not enough to prevent ice-free summers from occurring altogether, the researchers note.
The new studies, which are both published in Nature Climate Change, focus in on how efforts to curb climate change could affect summer sea ice cover in the Arctic…
The new research finds that limiting warming to 1.5C rather than 2C could “substantially” reduce the risk of ice-free conditions in the coming decades, says Prof Michael Sigmond, a research scientist at the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis at Environment Canada and lead author of one of the new studies…
A similar result was also obtained by Prof Alexandra Jahn, a climate modelling scientist from the University of Colorado Boulder and author of the second study…
https://www.carbonbrief.org/limiting-warming-1point5-could-substantially-cut-risk-ice-free-arctic-summers
10
They make it sound like never in the history of the universe has there been low/no ice in areas of the Arctic
https://www.navalhistory.org/2011/08/11/uss-skate-ssn-578-becomes-the-first-submarine-to-surface-at-the-north-pole
20
Who’d a thunk it:
So it seems murders are a result of attitude, not availability of guns.
80
mmmmmm…..content of their character and all that
still, it could have been worse. Imagine if they hadnt totally banned hand guns? somebody might have shot a miscreant.
20
The large majority of London’s murder victims were mozzies.
Now who would have thought that to be the case?
20
Anything new about the Notch Delay theory?
20
Stop press ! ABC is reporting its humid in Darwin, very humid even off the charts humid .
30
Sorry the BS link
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-04/dew-point-explained-after-darwin-april-record/9617574
30
Peter Claassen knows that the BoM is good at cooking things.
31
Humid in the tropics? OMG, the climate has gone mad, this is a tipping point!!!
10
That’s true, a sort of tipping point, its the 60 year PDO cycle which entered its negative phase in July last year.
A cursory look indicates that it has a precipitation impact.
00
Treasurer Scott Morrison says energy from a new coal-fired power plant would be twice as expensive as current coal power and it’s “false” to think otherwise. He also says “The days of subsidies in energy are over, whether it is for coal, wind, solar, any of them”. I’ve heard people make arguments that are contradictory and circular at the same time but this one must take the cake. If the government did get rid of subsidies for renewables wouldn’t that make coal the cheapest form of power generation? If other nations can build coal fired power stations and import coal from afar to produce lower cost power how come we can’t produce low cost power with coal right under our noses? Someone is either deliberately telling fibs or gone completely insane. Either way we are doomed no matter who is in government, Labor or Liberal.
120
As managing director of a manufacturing business I am well aware of accountant’s advice as compared to engineering and manufacturing executives.
31
Morrison is not an accountant’s ar*ehole.
30
Scomo is a LIAR!
Unfortunately what he said will be widely reported as fact.
The punters in la-la land will gobble up all the fantasy about unreliables being cheaper, coal costing double etc. The narrative being that coal is the reason that the power prices have risen so much.
Is it any wonder that people detest politicians so much? What he said is a blatant lie. Subsidies are ongoing for solar and wind unreliables, that is a fact! If you remove subsidies for unreliables and open the energy market to all comers, coal will always be cheaper than unreliables. Notwithstanding that, do we want power available 24 hours per day every day, or just when the unreliables are able to generate?
Seriously, the Turdball Libs are getting as bad as the greens!
80
wal1957, the Turnbull Libs are much worse the Greens. The reason is simple. At least the Greens are open and honest enough about what they believe so that the people for sure where they stand. On the other hand the Turnbull Libs are deceitful, dishonest and inconsistent. I sense though Turnbull will soon be rolled. I hope it’s not just wishful thinking.
50
This is why politician-vermin should not be allowed to make scientific or engineering decisions!
61
Correction: They should not be allowed to make decisions.
60
It’s not their fault. It’s the fault of the voters who place them in government and keep them there. That goes for both major parties. The solution is simple (ACP) but very few are willing to give it a try, mostly because they are not hurting enough. Perhaps when they do hurt enough they will try it but even then I doubt it given too many by then would be scared of the medicine that needs to be taken to solve many of our problems. In other words, it’s too late to fix the problems in a reasonably painless way as we have done in the past. Any medicine now will kill the patient. Hence we have to go through the crash and burn scenario first. It’s that simple.
10
Not only fiddling costs of power
“The Electric Vehicle Mileage Fraud, Updated: Tesla Model 3 Energy Costs Higher than A Prius, Despite Crazy-High eMPG Rating”
http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2018/04/the-electric-vehicle-mileage-fraud-updated-tesla-model-3-energy-costs-higher-than-a-prius-despite-crazy-high-empg-rating.html
10
3 Apr: SmallCaps: Genex Power gets nod to develop Kidston stage two solar farm in Queensland
By Lorna Nicholas
Genex Power has been given the nod to develop its Kidston stage two solar project, which will add to the existing Kidston stage one 50MW solar farm within the company’s Kidston Renewable Energy Hub in Queensland’s north.
The Etheridge Shire Council has formally granted development approval for the second stage solar project, which allows Genex to build up to 270MW of renewable solar power.
Genex is evaluating building the solar power component in stages to remain in line with energy offtake and transfer capabilities.
In addition to the solar component, stage two comprises a 250MW of pumped storage hydro project…
“After several months of market engagement, we are now in negotiations in regard to securing debt funding for our Kidston stage two projects with a select group of partners,” Genex managing director Michael Addison said…
At the end of March, Genex reported its Kidston 50MW operation had generated 9,223MWh for March, affording the company almost A$1.4 million in revenue for the month.
The operation created nearly A$3.8 million in revenue for Genex between December and March.
By the end of March, the solar farm was generating 45MW and is expected to ramp up to full capacity by July…
***Kidston stage one and stage two have both received a slice of government funding, with the government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency granting Genex A$8.9 million for Kidston stage one and a further A$9 million for the Kidston stage two solar and hydro projects.
***Additionally, the Queensland Government has provided a 20-year support deed for the Kidston stage one project via its Solar 150 program, with Genex’s projects deemed “critical infrastructure” to the state…
Shares in Genex dipped more than 3% in mid-afternoon trade to A$0.29.
https://smallcaps.com.au/genex-power-develop-kidston-stage-two-solar-farm-queensland/
10
It doesn’t say much for the viability of pumped storage that the Kidston project has sat on the back burner for so long.
All the infrastructure is already there, HV transmission line to the lease, a water pipe to the Burdekin with a water allotment for starters. It’s hard to imagine a cheaper project. One issue that springs to mind as I type is that the input power has to come from well south with the accompanied transmission losses. That said, if Kidston isn’t a no-brainer pumped storage is a lost cause.
10
He was good as immigration minister but that’s where it ends ,now just another oxygen thief pretending to be a politician.
20
He was good as immigration minister when Abbott was telling him what to do.
It worked!!!
So he went it alone and was an abysmal failure.
So Chairman Mal gave him the second most important/influential job in the country.
AND ………
He failed dismally.
The message in all this – he works well when he works for Abbott and Abbott tells him what to do.
00
what I don’t want to see happen here:
3 Apr: CleanTechnica: Canadian Pension Fund Acquires 396 Megawatts Of Local Wind & Solar Portfolio
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has this week announced it has acquired a 396 megawatt (MW) wind and solar energy portfolio from NextEra Energy Partners for $582.3 million.
The acquisition, which was made official on Monday, will see Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) take ownership of a portfolio of four wind projects and two solar projects with a total capacity of 396 MW located in Ontario. NextEra Energy Partners will continue to act as the operator under a long-term agreement…
The six projects are…ETC
This is CPPIB’s third recent investment in the global renewable energy sector, and also comes at the same time as it announced an additional $247 million investment in ReNew Power Ventures to support its acquisition of Ostro Energy.
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/04/03/canadian-pension-fund-acquires-396-megawatts-of-local-wind-solar-portfolio/
fighting back:
4 Apr: TurnTo10: Plans for highly-contested solar project in North Kingstown delayed
by DANIELLE KENNEDY, NBC 10 NEWS |
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WJAR) — Plans for a proposed solar project in North Kingstown were put on hold Tuesday night…
“We’re very passionate about climate change, we’re very passionate about reducing our carbon footprint, and solar is the right way to do that,” said Adam Beal, who is the executive vice president of development for TurningPoint.
North Kingstown’s planning commission voted to deny a request to continue the pre-application hearing for TurningPoint Energy after the company said it plans to make changes to the project…
About 200 people attended the meeting, which was postponed last week due to an overcrowded room. Tuesday night’s meeting at the Beechwood Senior Center in North Kingstown was also at max capacity, with people asked to leave.
TurningPoint Energy has not submitted a formal application for the project, but original plans called for a 32-megawatt ground-mounted solar facility on 567 acres of land near Shermantown and Tower Hill Road.
Now, the company said it’s looking to reduce the size of the project by about 60 percent…
Many people opposed to the project said they’re concerned about its impact on the environment.
“We are struggling to understand how taking down trees on almost 600 acres of land is in any way consistent with a green policy,” Schaumberg said…
Schaumberg said she and many others are not against the idea of solar, but feel the project could be developed at a different location.
TurningPoint Energy said energy from solar is cheaper and better for the environment.
But some said they don’t want it in their backyard.
“I have a lot of concerns about my two-year-old playing in the backyard next to a 13-megawatt solar facility,” said North Kingstown resident Keith Healey…
The Town Council recently passed a solar ordinance, which led the way for this first-of-its-kind project in North Kingstown…
“It’s aroused quite a bit of interest and I think it has the Town Council wanting to look at the ordinance again,” said Planning Commission Chairman Gardner Palmer.
http://turnto10.com/news/local/plans-for-proposed-solar-project-in-north-kingstown-delayed
10
4 Apr: The Advocate: Tasmania’s largest solar farm in Latrobe will supply the national grid
by Leah McBey
Two solar power projects are in the pipeline for Latrobe, one of which is the biggest in the state to date.
Epuron Projects Pty Ltd’s 12.5 megawatt scheme and Powercom Solar’s smaller array are both in the permit process with Latrobe Council.
Epuron’s proposed solar farm at 213 Mill Road, to be called the Wesley Vale Solar Farm, will be able to produce up to 25,600 MWh of electricity a year, enough to power 2900 households.
It is claimed to be the biggest solar farm in the state, and the aim is to feed power into the national energy market.
Project manager Shane Bartel said in the application that the farm could comprise either fixed solar panels, or tracking arrays, whereby panels followed the sun as it moved across the sky. The arrays would be sited around the 35 hectare property.
He said Epuron picked that site because it had a ‘strong available solar resource’, ideal climatic conditions and was close to the Wesley Vale sub-station.
There were minimal harmful effects on the environment, as the land had been cleared and grazed.
The site is close to the Devonport Airport, so Epuron has advised the airport operator about possible effects. If permit is granted, the project would start late 2018 and would be built in stages.
The Powercom application is for a smaller fixed array scheme for the landowner at 32 Cherry Hill Road…
Five years ago, power costs meant solar was not viable, but the electricity landscape had changed since then.
“The main factor in all this is the cost of energy is more than doubling. Usually you can off-set 30 to 40 per cent of your bill.
“The larger (farms) may have costs of $500,000, so then there’s a big saving. In agriculture, if you can reduce ongoing costs by 30 per cent, that’s a big saving…
http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/5319149/tasmanias-largest-solar-farm-to-supply-national-grid/
20
26500 MWh nameplate or 4240 MWh annualised average or 1325 MWh reliable equivalent. So that’s 72MWh a day nameplate for 2900 households or 25KWh per household, but this is nameplate , including CF that’s just 4KWh or assuming 24h storage, a guarantee of just 1.1KWh per household. That’s enough for each household to get a guaranteed 45 watts, which could boil your lossless 1.8l kettle in just 3.7 hours! (Unless of course you want to charge your iPad at the same time)
This is the problem, the minimum power generation of solar even with storage is just 5% of nameplate because of clouds, and winter.
2900 homes my a$$
20
I live alone in a very well insulated RV! Even your name plate 25kWh/day cannot supply even my modest needs for heating & cooking; let alone well water pumping & other et cetera! I would save lots if my 10kW Kohler generator need only run 10% of the time! Yes; I have despicable rooftop solar/battery/guns to keep night-time varmints at bay
All the best!-will-
11
all in Tasmania, at over 41 degrees South
10
The guaranteed output of any solar generator at any location is precisely zero. There is no part of the globe that gets 24 hour sunlight for 365 days a year.
If the 12.5MW solar generator included a 25kWh battery it could guarantee, at 99.9% reliability, 4kWh per house. That would take the project cost to around $100M or $34,400 per household. With that amount of money a smart household could get about twice the power output.
00
25MWh battery!
00
Extrapolating to the the whole of Australia and given there are roughly 10 million households and using say $30,000 per household to take them off the grid, that means it would cost $300 billion. I think that sort of money would be better spent on several new coal fired power stations, and still be left with a lot in change.
00
7.30 report is going to be doing a story on the coal loving Monash forum liberals , don’t really have to watch it to know what the ABC opinion is but will watch anyway .
50
You’re a braver man than me
60
It wasn’t the ideological pasting I was expecting actually far from it .
20
Haha
20
It was balanced, aunty must be waking up to herself.
00
Like this?
http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ttalk&th=1925918
20
The next Federal election will be the most important in Australian history. It is the turning point which will determine if Australia becomes another Venezuela or by some miracle we get a Trump-like leader who will turn the country around and start to repair the damage of the Krudd, Gillard and Turnbull years.
41
It will only become the most important turning pint in Australian history if neither ALP+Greens nor the LNP get elected as government in their own right and the ACP holds the balance of power. Given that’s very unlikely to happen we will be heading for the cliff as usual, then crash and burn. Of course the wild card is Turnbull is replaced with someone with real vision and substance who also manages to attract much acceptance by the voters – a virtually impossible task in the current political scene. So I see that unlikely as well. An even bigger wild card is Shorten becomes PM and goes through some miraculous transformation to be more Hawke-like and does a 180 on most of his policies, including the scrapping of the RETS and anti-coal and anti-nuclear stances. That of course I rate the least likely. We all better stop hoping for the best and instead prepare for the worst as there is no in between no matter how one tries to paint it.
20
Alan Kendall says:27,Mar,18:7:09
Mr. Rudyard L.Istvan’s, alleged “e-ravings”. Remain well appreciated by each and every devout CLIMATE CHANGE DENIER; capiece?
All the best!-will-
21
///Hundreds of scientists involved in 40 recent scientific papers say the scare about global warming is based on hysteria and false science.
Over 40 scientific papers on the global warming hoax have been published in just the first three months of 2018. What their charts show is that “nothing climatically unusual is happening.“///
http://yournewswire.com/40-scientific-papers-global-warming/
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dennisambler says: 04,Apr,18:13:16
Can we hope dat foul Moshpit refers to the wacked out views of NYC-NASA-Goddard,(soon to be De-funded)?:-)
11
Quite frankly, anything that loudmouth ignoramus, Mosher, has to say is IRRELEVANT to common sense, sanity and science.
He is a “paid for” mouthpiece of a deliberate con job, (BEST),
… nothing more, and probably a whole lot less.
11
Geoff Chambers Says :03,Apr,18:21:28 pm
Perhaps comments by ‘interested observers’ rather than,’ignorance’, be best posted at http://cliscep.com oder http://joannenova.com.au; where those observant hang out! 🙂
01
“Delingpole: Of Course Not All Vegans Are Dangerous Lunatics, But…”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/04/04/delingpole-of-course-not-all-vegans-are-dangerous-lunatics-but/
10
dougieh says: 03,Apr,18:22:19
TRUE but can you explain that? Skilled craftsman, always worry of ‘what if’, and if the wing ‘breaks’ always cry, and demand hugs from ‘mommy’ What do the elite academic educators do ‘when wing breaks'(the inevitable ‘aw shit’)? Perhaps impose more regulation on only those already bustin der ass. 🙂
All the best!-will-
11
Solar roadway update
“The Road To Hell Is Paved With Solar Panels”
“Now, my home electricity is expensive due to the asinine “renewable mandates” put into place by Governor Moonbeam here in Californistan. I pay $0.15 per kilowatt-hour, which is about double the cost charged in neighboring states where they haven’t drunk the green Koolaid.
And at that rate, the total of 246 kWhrs of electricity that cost $4,450,000 is worth about $36.86.”
More at
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/04/04/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-solar-panels/
00
“Shocking! The SEC rules that activist shareholders can’t force oil companies to stop being oil companies!”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/04/04/shocking-the-sec-rules-that-activist-shareholders-cant-force-oil-companies-to-stop-being-oil-companies/
10
“The Global Warming Cat-ass-trophy Award”
More at
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2018/04/04/the-global-warming-cat-ass-trophy-award/
00
Canada. No doubt we’ll try to follow
” Over the years, federal environmental assessments have measured everything from the number of endangered lynx near a proposed New Brunswick mine to the presence of dragonflies and butterflies at a British Columbia hydro site.
But under new federal legislation tabled in February, the scope of impact assessments is being broadened well beyond fauna, requiring project proponents to take into account “the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors.”
Part of the Liberal government’s embrace of gender-based analysis, the new provision has left environmental lawyers puzzled over how the provision will work if the bill becomes law.”
“It’s not designed to “work”. It’s designed not to work — until all the right palms are greased.”
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/index.php/2018/04/04/oh-shiny-prime-minister/
10
I would love that above ground Keystone pipeline with triple drip pans below. So easy to inspect and correct every oops! The US Ogallala aquifer must never be contaminated by Alberta crap; no-mater how-much Exxon southern refineries want such! What is wrong with Exxon Alberta refineries? Put the crap back down locally; until such becomes profitable to again extract and refine; shipping only the refinement through skinny pipelines; that never ever leak!
01
Joanne; PayPal and Ebay has been totally corrupted by whoever!, not likely USlocal for any way to contact their security via Internet! BEWARE! I will get you more chocolate somehow!
All the best!-will-
01
Well, here it is, 0800 hours in Eastern Australia and our great
re-newable state, South Australia, has 1 MW of “wind and other” power.
That is not a misprint. ONE Mega Watt! Astounding effort fellas.
And, Victoriastan is a little better off at 42 MW.
Just love these “ruinables”.
60
The cost to produce that 1 MW would be horrendous. So much for renewables being cheaper than coal. At that rate we will have to spend trillions of dollars to build more wind and solar farms just to keep the lights on but nothing else after all our coal fired power stations are forced to close for allegedly being non-competitive. When this insanity runs its course I suppose it’s too much to ask those responsible are to be held accountable and eventually placed behind bars along with other scam artists.
40
About $1.5tr would meet the current needs of the NEM. Before that entire sum is consumed, those who can will make their own. Those business who cannot make their own will go bust or close shop in Australia and individuals will be disconnected then put on government funded hardship programs.
The South Australian grid is dead as an economic entity and the rest of the Australian States have programs in place to pursue the same path to economic suicide.
The three certainties in Australian life are death, taxes and ever rising cost of grid electricity. There is this ridiculous horror fantasy that consumers subsidising wind and solar generation into the grid can some how lead to reduced power costs.
20
At 1130 hours EST South Australia’s “wind and other” has climbed
DRAMATICALLY to 5 MW. Unbelievable. That’s a 400% increase.
Victoriastan had not done so good, rising only to 69 MW… less than 100%…
Oh, let the wind blow…..
20
Canadian pension makes a really, really bad investment…
https://www.windpowerengineering.com/business-news-projects/nextera-selling-ontario-wind-solar-assets/
Remember those Timberwolf CDO’s Goldman Sachs sold? Who in their right minds buys old farms past their prime????
https://www.google.com/amp/beatricedailysun.com/news/local/causes-of-turbine-failures-remain-a-mystery/article_5674ff7e-0c36-5cb7-aac2-1dfc75b46ea4.amp.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.desmoinesregister.com/amp/376780001
00
4 Apr: CBC: Nearly a third of Canadians don’t believe humans, industry ‘mostly’ cause climate change: poll
‘Without B.C.’s carbon tax, emissions would be five to 15 per cent higher than they are right now’
by Peter Zimonjic
PHOTO: CHIMNEY, “SMOKE”
An online poll by Abacus Data found that 30 per cent of Canadians do not believe in the science of climate change and 42 per cent said the incoming carbon tax isn’t designed to change behaviour but rather to generate revenue for the government.
The poll, commissioned by Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission, examined Canadian attitudes on climate change and the policy responses offered by governments, with an emphasis on examining attitudes toward the carbon tax as a possible solution…
VIDEO CAPTION: ‘What really matters I think is a well-designed carbon price, and then there needs to be a discussion about why it works,’ says Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission’s chair Chris Ragan. 7:09
Only 28 per cent of those polled said the evidence for human-caused climate change is conclusive, with another 33 per cent describing the evidence as “solid.”
But from there the numbers start to slide — with 27 per cent saying there is some evidence, but it’s not conclusive. The last 11 per cent claimed there is little to no evidence to suggest human-caused climate change is real.
Asked “If the earth is warming, do you believe that cause is mostly…?,” 70 per cent of those surveyed chose “human activity and industrial activity such as burning fossil fuels” — while the remaining 30 per cent chose “natural patterns in the Earth’s environment.”…
When it comes to taking action to combat climate change, the number of people who said they want government to focus less on policy to reduce emissions has doubled from eight per cent in 2015 to 16 per cent in 2018…
These numbers can perhaps be explained by looking at what those surveyed say are their top public policy priorities. Climate change comes in near the bottom of the list, at 21 per cent; improving health care services came in at 46 per cent…
***Having said that, 78 per cent of respondents said they had a positive view of carbon pricing, compared to 22 per cent who said they had a negative view of the policy.
Clarifications
•This story has been updated to include the full text and responses for the question about the cause of climate change. The headline has been updated to make it clear the question asked what respondents believe ‘mostly’ causes climate change.
Apr 04, 2018 9:28 AM ET
(5,283 Comments AT TIME OF POSTING)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poll-abacus-carbon-tax-1.4603824
such poor results for the CAGW mob, even when the polling is commissioned by Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission!
Wikipedia: Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission is an independent economics organization formed in 2014 by a group of Canadian economists from across the country. Chaired by McGill University economist Christopher Ragan, the group seeks to broaden the discussion of environmental pricing reform beyond the academic sphere and into the realm of practical policy application…
In 2015, the Commission released three reports on the subject of provincial carbon-pricing in Canada—making a case for subnational carbon pricing policy, laying out principles for an effective cap-and-trade policy in Ontario, and explaining carbon competitiveness, respectively…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%27s_Ecofiscal_Commission
00
The ones changing their mind are likely the older ones who remember the Global Warming scare rather than Climate Change scare. The 2017/18 winter in Canada is a good indication that Global Warming is dead:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/new-year-begins-with-record-breaking-cold-for-4-canadian-provinces-1.3741419
Long live Climate Change. Its descendent, Climate Disruption, is the next big thing.
01
setting aside the Monash descendants having nothing whatsoever to say about: Quadrant: Tony Thomas: Mad, Rad and Dangerous to Knowledge (see comment #32 above), we now have MAXIMUM OUTRAGE and MAXIMUM FREE P.R. FOR THE MONASH FORUM GINGER GROUP!
4 Apr: SMH: Deadheads of coal wars aren’t worthy of a giant like John Monash
By Tony Wright
(Tony Wright is the associate editor and special writer for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald)
What a pathetic moment in Australian history.
To have pulled this stunt, clearly designed to undermine their own prime minister, serves only to prompt the thought that none of the members of the new pro-coal Monash Forum is worthy of licking the boots of a giant like Sir John Monash.
Why, they didn’t even have the courtesy of inquiring of John Monash’s descendants whether it might be all right to use the name Monash in their cause…
Almost a century later, the members of the Monash Forum, climate change deniers and sceptics among them, want governments to continue focusing their energy and their treasure on the production of electricity by coal, including brown coal, ahead of alternatives. This is not news…
For all anyone knows, Monash – who spent much of his life looking at what was accepted theory and finding alternative solutions – might today have covered the state in solar farms, wind farms, tidal turbines and geothermal power plants.
No one can know: Monash died in 1931…
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/deadheads-of-coal-wars-aren-t-worthy-of-a-giant-like-john-monash-20180404-p4z7ow.html
5 Apr: SMH: ‘Horse-and-buggy era’: Monash descendants slam government’s coal push
By Latika Bourke
The descendants of Sir John Monash have issued a blistering statement asking a rebel group of climate sceptic government MPs to stop using the Australian war-hero’s name to push for “horse-and-buggy era” policies…
Mr Abbott told 2GB Radio on Wednesday that he would mark Malcolm Turnbull’s expected 30th straight Newspoll loss by riding his bike for his annual fundraiser, the Pollie Pedal, through the Latrobe Valley…
Dr. Ariel Liebman from Monash University’s Energy Materials and Systems Institute said Sir John would be “rolling in his grave”.
“I imagine the call to roll back technological progress by investing in more brown coal generation would have Sir John rolling over in his grave,” he said.
Dr Liebman said if Sir John were making the same decisions today about how to power the country, “he would go with wind, solar and pumped hydro energy storage as well as electric batteries such as the Tesla super battery in South Australia”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/horse-and-buggy-era-monash-descendants-slam-government-s-coal-push-20180405-p4z7th.html
more to come.
10
Interesting that Gen. Monash’s descendents presume to know what his opinion would have been re. coal mining and electricity generation. I would never presume to speak for my great great grandfather and try to guess at his opinion on the matter. He was an explorer, artist and photographer who discovered the Ajanta caves in India. Who knows what he might have thought of the deterioration of the Ajanta cave paintings and the tourists who visit them? We don’t know, do we?
11
One of my family subscribed to a genealogy site. Seems I’m a descendant of Charlemagne. (Yeah, I know, everyone white fella who pays up gets to be descended from him, but I’m sticking to the story.)
Anyway, as a descendant of Charlemagne I’d like to say that Big Chuckie would be rolling in his grave at the thought of clapped-out peashooter technologies like wind and solar being used as mainstream power. They say you can hear those mighty bones rolling and rolling in that big sarcophagus in Aachen every time the South Australians put up another whirlygig.
I mean, now that we can read our forebears’ minds…
20
“The Monash movement is borne of frustration over a leader who either doesn’t understand our energy predicament or should be a paid-up Greenie. As said here a few weeks back, “Barnaby can now go buy a beer for Abbott and plan the eventual downfall of Turnbull”. I believe that is what he has done.”
More at
http://pickeringpost.com/story/the-sunday-school-pair-is-not-after-turnbull-well-not-just-yet/8199
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Loved reading the Pickering article.
It’s good to know that that sort of comment is available to the public.
20
“Very Important Economic Confrontation: Neil Cavuto -vs- Larry Kudlow…”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/04/04/very-important-economic-confrontation-neil-cavuto-vs-larry-kudlow/#more-147723
00
Interesting.
00
Durre twice speaks favourably of Monash Uni.
admits they have no legal authority, only “moral” authority.
ABC’s Karvelas begins with: “The Monash family is not happy its name is being used in an anti-science and anti-intellectual argument by Liberal & National backbenchers”, ensuring repetition of that line:
AUDIO: 5mins08secs: 4 Apr: ABC RN Drive: Descendants of Sir John Monash demand Monash Forum withdraw use of his name
Presented by Patricia Karvelas
Mark Durré is the great grandson of Sir John Monash.
He, and other descendants of the revered Australian engineer, have objected to the use of his name by the Monash Forum, an informal political faction lobbying in favour of coal.
“He wouldn’t have a bar of that sort of thing,” he told RN Drive.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/descendants-of-sir-john-monash-demand-monash-forum-withdraw-use/9619552
from comments at CatallaxyFiles, an ultimatum published in The Australian apparently:
4 Apr: CatallaxyFiles: Wednesday Forum: April 4, 2018
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha: Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer has demanded MPs behind the ginger group the Monash Forum change its name by sunset Friday.
Mr Fischer is chair of the Saluting Monash Council and has joined General Monash’s great grandchildren in objecting to the use of his name.
“The name of John Monash deserves to be treated with great respect, indeed he deserves to be posthumously promoted to the rank of Field Marshall,” Mr Fischer said.
From the Oz. Seems Tim Fischer’s joined the push…
http://catallaxyfiles.com/2018/04/04/wednesday-forum-april-4-2018/comment-page-2/
Monash family call for coal power politicians to change name of their group
by Olivia Caisley
Australia 13h ago
In a scathing statement released by the Monash family this afternoon, the group said “it has come to our attention that a group of conservative politicians have formed themselves into a lobby group for coal, calling themselves the ‘Monash Forum’”.
4 Apr: Twitter: Sky News: David Speers: From descendants of John Monash
TEXT
(final line) “We are sure that, today, he would be a proponent of the new technologies, e.g. wind and solar generation, rather than revert to the horse-and-buggy era.”
5 Apr: SBS: Sir John Monash relatives slam pro-coal Coalition MPs, demand name change
Relatives say Sir John Monash was pro-technology for his time, and would have supported renewable energy generation like solar and wind
By James Elton-Pym
Living descendants of Sir Monash have criticised a group of pro-coal Coalition MPs for naming themselves the Monash Forum, arguing their “intellectual and scientific” forebear would have been pro-renewables instead…
“We dissociate ourselves specifically from the Forum’s use of the Monash name for their anti-science and anti-intellectual argument, to give that an air of authority. And we are asking that they withdraw the name,” Mark Durre, a signatory and Sir Monash’s great-grandson, told ABC Radio…
The family members said Sir Monash was “no left-wing radical in his personal politics” but he was “intellectual and scientific”…
The RSL has already criticised the Forum for using the Monash name, saying the decorated Army commander’s name ought to be “sacrosanct”…
the horror, the horror of “the John Monash”:
4 Apr: RenewEconomy: Giles Parkinson: Monash family appalled by Coalition’s “horse and buggy” approach to energy
The family of the John Monash have expressed their horror at the actions of Coalition backbenchers who have hijacked his name to promote their push for new coal fired power generators in Australia…
Great grandson Mark Durré, who spoke on behalf of seven descendants, later told ABC Radio:
“He wouldn’t have had a bar of that sort of thing (reverting to coal technology). He would be very much an advocate of that new technology.
“We must move forward with new technologies. If you think about what it was like 100 years ago, coal fired was the cutting edge technology,” Durré said.
“Nowadays it is wind and solar. To go back 100 years … if Monash had done that, that would put them back into horse and buggy era, if you see the analogy.”…
10
In short, green minded technically stupid people who are not across the technologies and the real world operational factors.
Horse & Buggy comment assumes that the fossil fuel is the generator of electricity in coal fired power stations and ignores the intermittent inefficiency and cost of subsidised toys by comparison.
31
Also ignores that fossil fuelled power has supported every industrial and technical development into the country for the last 50 years , right up to today and for the forseeable future.
Also ignores that opponents accept solar and wind are acceptable in an appropriate niche. They are just not a mainstream supply answer, and imagining they are wont make it so.
30
These are the plaintiffs answers to the judge’s questions on Climate Change.
http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2018/20180323_docket-317-cv-06011_exhibit-1.pdf
Slide 8 is revealing. The Plaintiff’s advisers should be jailed for proposing that radiation breaks a fundamental law of physics.
00
AUDIO: 7mins13secs: 5 Apr: ABC Breakfast: ‘Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia’
As Australians we’re all aware of the power Mother Nature wields — bushfires, storms, floods and drought.
Some say it’s always been this way while others put the increasing frequency of these events down to climate change.
A decade ago, the award-winning climate scientist Joelle Gergis set out to resolve this question by reconstructing Australia’s climate history for much of the last thousand years.
This work went on to win a Eureka Prize in 2014.
Now, it’s the basis of her book ‘Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia’.
Guest: Dr Joelle Gergis, Award-winning climate scientist and writer, University of Melbourne
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-history-and-future-of-climate-change-in-australia/9621040
Jo’s threads re Joelle Gergis:
Gergis Australian hockeystick is back: How one typo took four years to fix…
Gergis hockey stick withdrawn. This is what 95% certainty looks like in climate science…
300,000 dollars and three years to produce a paper that lasted three weeks: Gergis… ETC
http://joannenova.com.au/tag/gergis-joelle/
10
no questioning of the following in NZ:
$30b gain in becoming a low carbon economy – report
Radio New Zealand-3 Apr. 2018
Early climate action saves billions
TVNZ-3 Apr. 2018
3 Apr: TVNZ: Early action on climate change will save billions, report finds
A study has shown that billions of dollars could be saved if action on climate change is taken sooner, including phasing the agriculture sector into the Emissions Trading Scheme
VIDEO: 8mins51secs: Fair Go (consumer affairs program) sheds light on a weather trap that could have insurance ramifications for thousands of New Zealanders.
The Climate Change Impact Report commissioned by Westpac was released on Wednesday and shows that $30 billion can be saved if early action is taken to keep global warming to less than 2C.
The average Gross Domestic Product growth is forecast at 2.015 per cent per year until 2050 if industries take early action on addressing climate change but if action is delayed this falls to an average of 2.005 per cent, the report shows.
The research carried out by EY and Vivid Economics models two scenarios differentiated by the introduction of agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme…
The “central scenario” would include phasing the agriculture sector into the emissions trading from 2020 to 2030 while the “shock scenario” models a rapid decarbonisation from 2030 with agriculture phasing into the ETS within only 2-5 years.
The agriculture sector contributes nearly half of all New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
A longer transition period into the ETS would reduce economic impacts on the agriculture sector, the report found.
The “central scenario” would also include the capping of international trading to 20 per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions, more electric vehicles, the purchasing of carbon credits and increased forestry growth.
Westpac New Zealand chief executive David McLean says the research shows New Zealand needed to accelerate its response.
“The alternative is waiting and taking action later, but that is likely to require more drastic changes in behaviour and over the long-term hit people harder in the pocket.”
The report highlighted that sectors that can decarbonise the easiest will fare the best including energy, transport and manufacturing.
Households would face higher prices for carbon-intensive products such as meat and air travel, while less carbon-intensive goods and services like bread and internet connections would be relatively less expensive.
Under both scenario’s New Zealand could transition to a net zero emissions economy while continuing economic growth.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/early-action-climate-change-save-billions-report-finds
btw clicking “view all” for two news groupings re the above led to untold, unrelated CAGW scare results. google is definitely on a big CAGW roll this week.
00
fantastic China!
4 Apr: Policy Forum: China starts national emissions trading: a big step, but the journey is long
Could China lead the charge for the next generation of carbon pricing schemes?
China’s new emissions trading scheme will start small, but comes with big potential, Frank Jotzo writes.
(Frank Jotzo is Director of The Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at The Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy, and an ANU Public Policy Fellow)
The promise for more market-oriented climate policy in the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitting country is enormous. But it will be a gradual start and many big obstacles need to be overcome for the scheme to become an effective part of China’s climate policy portfolio.
Emissions trading puts a price on carbon dioxide and thereby provides economic incentives to industry and consumers to move to cleaner technologies and products. It, or its cousin the carbon tax, is the policy instrument of choice for economic efficiency. China taking the plunge with this quintessential market-based instrument for environmental policy is a big deal.
There is ***added spice in the fact that emissions trading was ‘invented’ and first applied in the United States, but it has been politically impossible or undesired for successive US administrations to introduce it federally…
In China’s energy and industrial sector there is extensive state ownership and there is extensive state regulation and directed investment, including to reduce emissions. In this situation, how can emissions trading work?
In a paper published this week in Nature Climate Change, my co-authors and I evaluate initial details of the staging and design of the policy released by the Chinese government…
If China’s government decides to turn its emissions trading scheme into an instrument that has real impact, then this will have global repercussions. China could inspire and lead the next generation of carbon pricing schemes, this time in industrialising and developing countries…ETC
This piece is based on an article in Nature Climate Change, ‘China’s emissions trading takes steps toward big ambitions’ (LINK) by Frank Jotzo, Valerie Karplus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Michael Grubb (UCL Institute of Sustainable Resources), Andreas Löschel (University of Münster), Karsten Neuhoff (German Institute for Economic Research and Technische Universität Berlin), Libo Wu (Fudan University), and Fei Teng (Tsinghua University).
https://www.policyforum.net/china-starts-national-emissions-trading-big-step-journey-long/
WaPo shares the love:
3 Apr: WashingtonExaminer: Democracy Dies in Communism: Washington Post runs Chinese propaganda op-ed
by Tom Rogan
On Monday, the Post published Chinese venture capitalist, Eric X. Li’s endorsement of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent eradication of term limits for his office.
And by goodness is it an endorsement.
Xi’s lifetime centralization is “institutionally fusing the party and the state. This reform is good for China,” says Li, “simply because the party has developed into the most competent national political institution in the world today.”
Think about those words…
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/democracy-dies-in-communism-washington-post-runs-chinese-propaganda-op-ed
10
Please allow this post! Chinese strategy is close to this: http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/04/us-australian-german-eu-high-tech.html
10
Rob I’m conducting a straw poll, do you think Australia should abandon the US Alliance?
00
We will have to find another “partner” eventually as the West declines and collapses. The question is will Australia become just another province of China? Probably. Look on the bright side – at least Sharia Law won’t have a hope of taking hold here.
00
Li said “the party has developed into the most competent national political institution in the world today.”
Yep, a supreme benevolent dictatorship is better at getting things done.
10
Thought they had already had a couple of cracks at that approach
10
more threats. advice to any country which values its sovereignty. opt out of Paris NOW:
4 Apr: ClimateChangeNews: Shell threatened with climate lawsuit in the Netherlands
Friends of the Earth has warned it will take the oil giant to court unless it overhauls its business plan in line with international climate goals
By Mat Hope for DeSmog UK
Friends of the Earth Netherlands sent a formal letter to the company today, outlining the steps the campaigners believe Shell must take to bring its business plan in line with the global climate goals as set out in the Paris Agreement.
The legal action was started after Shell announced it planned to continue to put around 95% of its investments into extracting more oil and gas. It expects to invest only around 5% in sustainable energy…
Craig Bennett, chief executive of the UK branch of Friends of the Earth, said in a statement: “Science tells us that time isn’t a luxury we have where climate change is concerned. When world leaders met in Paris in 2015 they agreed to end the fossil fuel era, but in the meantime, Shell continues to invest in new oil and gas sources.
“Shell must now move on from its history of earth damaging fossil fuel extraction and play a major part in the transition to a sustainable future, to keep temperature rises to near 1.5C. Currently, Shell and companies like it, are acting like big tobacco in decades past by failing to take responsibility for the harm that they cause.”
Sophie Marjanac, a lawyer with NGO Client Earth, said the case has “huge implications”…
Shell had not responded to a request for comment at time of publication.
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/04/04/shell-threatened-climate-lawsuit-netherlands/
10
4 Apr: WaPo: Jason Samenow: Unusual, record-breaking April cold to crash into eastern U.S. Friday through the weekend
On Thursday, the polar vortex will unleash a winterlike blast of cold into Montana and the Northern Plains. By Saturday, abnormally cold weather will extend from Bismarck to Baltimore.
This “ridiculous late season arctic outbreak” is likely to threaten many cold records, tweeted Michael Palmer, a meteorologist for the Weather Company.
The harshest of the cold weather is set to target the north central United States on Friday, when temperatures may fall 30 degrees below normal. Wind chill temperatures are forecast to plunge below zero early Friday from Minneapolis to Billings and to the north. The actual air temperatures are predicted to remain well below freezing even through the afternoon in these areas.
These are almost like midwinter conditions.
The coldest April day ever recorded is forecast for Minneapolis on Friday, when the high is predicted to reach only 21 degrees.
On Saturday morning, most locations in Minnesota and North Dakota will see lows plummet into the single digits, which is record territory. Minneapolis is expected to fall to 5 degrees, which would mark its second-lowest April temperature on record…
This frigid cold heads into the Twin Cities after nine inches of snow fell Tuesday, its eighth-biggest April snowfall on record.
The Arctic air will moderate as it heads south and east. But it is still expected to be cold enough to support rare April snow in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday, from Washington to Boston, where the temperature will be 10 to 30 degrees below normal (depending on location and time of day)…
By Sunday morning, half the nation is predicted to have freezing low temperatures, including areas as far south as Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee…
Temperatures in the Arctic are forecast to be about 30 degrees above normal, offsetting the cold in eastern North America.
***In other words, this pocket of cold in no way refutes or invalidates the planet’s long-term warming trend.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/04/04/unusual-record-breaking-april-cold-to-crash-into-eastern-u-s-friday-through-the-weekend/?__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true&utm_term=.5d28664
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can’t be bothered listing the authors:
3 Apr: Nature Climate Change: The case for systems thinking about climate change and mental health
It is increasingly necessary to quantify the impacts of climate change on populations, and to quantify the effectiveness of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Despite growing interest in the health effects of climate change, the relationship between mental health and climate change has received little attention in research or policy. Here, we outline current thinking about climate change and mental health, and discuss crucial limitations in modern epidemiology for examining this issue. A systems approach, complemented by a new style of research thinking and leadership, can help align the needs of this emerging field with existing and research policy agendas…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0102-4
3 Apr: Nature Climate Change: Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss
Climate change is increasingly understood to impact mental health through multiple pathways of risk, including intense feelings of grief as people suffer climate-related losses to valued species, ecosystems and landscapes. Despite growing research interest, ecologically driven grief, or ‘ecological grief’, remains an underdeveloped area of inqury. We argue that grief is a natural and legitimate response to ecological loss, and one that may become more common as climate impacts worsen. Drawing upon our own research in Northern Canada and the ***Australian Wheatbelt, combined with a synthesis of the literature, we offer future research directions for the study of ecological grief…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0092-2
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Oh good grief! What next for our poor SJW snowflake mob?
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4 Apr: Reuters: Developing nations to study ways to dim sunshine, slow warming
by Alister Doyle
Scientists in developing nations plan to step up research into dimming sunshine to curb climate change, hoping to judge if a man-made chemical sunshade would be less risky than a harmful rise in global temperatures.
Research into “solar geo-engineering”, which would mimic big volcanic eruptions that can cool the Earth by masking the sun with a veil of ash, is now dominated by rich nations and universities such as Harvard and Oxford.
Twelve scholars, from countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica and Thailand, wrote in the journal Nature on Wednesday that the poor were most vulnerable to global warming and should be more involved.
“Developing countries must lead on solar geo-engineering research,” they wrote in a commentary.
“The overall idea (of solar geo-engineering) is pretty crazy but it is gradually taking root in the world of research,” lead author Atiq Rahman, head of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, told Reuters by telephone.
The solar geo-engineering studies may be helped by a new $400,000 research project, the Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative (SRMGI), which is issuing a first call for scientists to apply for finance this week.
The SRMGI is financed by the Open Philanthropy Project, a foundation backed by Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook, and his wife, Cari Tuna, the scientists wrote…
“The technique is controversial, and rightly so. It is too early to know what its effects would be: it could be very helpful or very harmful,” they wrote…
Among risks, the draft obtained by Reuters says it might disrupt weather patterns, could be hard to stop once started, and might discourage countries from making a promised switch from fossil fuels to cleaner energies…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-geoengineering/developing-nations-to-study-ways-to-dim-sunshine-slow-warming-idUSKCN1HB007?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
3 Apr: Nature: Developing countries must lead on solar geoengineering research
The nations that are most vulnerable to climate change must drive discussions of modelling, ethics and governance, argue A. Atiq Rahman, Paulo Artaxo, Asfawossen Asrat, Andy Parker and 8 co-signatories.
People in the global south are on the front line of climate change…
A decade ago, there were serious concerns that solar geoengineering might produce stark winners and losers and might disrupt the monsoons. Research has allayed these worries…
International and non-governmental, SRMGI was launched in 2010 by the Royal Society in London, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in Trieste, Italy, and the Environmental Defense Fund in New York City…
Further outreach and research in the developing world will require extra support from governments, universities and civil society worldwide. Research funders in advanced economies should fund collaborations with scientists in developing countries. We would like to see an IPCC special report on the risks and benefits of solar geoengineering…
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03917-8
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Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative (SRMGI): Partner Organizations: Past and present
includes:
Greenpeace, Netherlands – Stakeholder partner
The Royal Society – Convening partner
WWF UK – Stakeholder partner
http://www.srmgi.org/about/stakeholder-partners/
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sounds like the start of abad sci fi movie. I wonder if they want to shade the earth with flying sharks? Solar Sharknado! the final solution.
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Others are noticing
“WIND DIES, VIC AND SA PAY”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/wind-dies-vic-and-sa-pay/news-story/2d9fd3b2446ebe642942928d1c12bfb8
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More power stations needed, Hazlewood for example that supplied 25% of Victoria’s energy
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insane?
3 Apr: Vox: It’s time to think seriously about cutting off the supply of fossil fuels
A new paper makes the case for supply-side climate policy.
By David Roberts
There is a bias in climate policy shared by analysts, politicians, and pundits across the political spectrum so common it is rarely remarked upon. To put it bluntly: Nobody, at least nobody in power, wants to restrict the supply of fossil fuels.
Policies that choke off fossil fuels at their origin — shutting down mines and wells; banning new ones; opting against new pipelines, refineries, and export terminals — have been embraced by climate activists, picking up steam with the Keystone pipeline protests and the recent direct action of the Valve Turners.
But they are looked upon with some disdain by the climate intelligentsia, who are united in their belief that such strategies are economically suboptimal and politically counterproductive.
Now a pair of economists has offered a cogent argument (***LINK) that the activists are onto something — that restrictive supply-side (RSS) climate policies have unique economic and political benefits and deserve a place alongside carbon prices and renewable energy supports in the climate policy toolkit…
***As the authors — Fergus Green of the London School of Economics and Richard Denniss of the Australia Institute — point out…READ ON
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/4/3/17187606/fossil-fuel-supply
***links to Springer publication: “Cutting with both arms of the scissors: the economic and political case for restrictive supply-side climate policies”
4 Apr: OilPrice: Farmers Hit Hard As Trump Backs Big Oil
By Nick Cunningham
The Trump administration seems to be leaning towards allying with the oil refining industry in its fight against Big Corn and federal rules requiring the use of corn ethanol.
Reuters reports (LINK) that the U.S. EPA apparently granted an exemption to Andeavor, a large oil refiner, from having to comply with blending requirements as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) last month. The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels, such as corn ethanol, into their refined fuels. If they can’t or find it too costly, they are required to purchase credits…
It has brought a windfall to corn country, although the environmental benefits have always been suspect.
The oil refining industry hates the law, because it forces them to pay for biofuels or pay for credits in lieu of blending ethanol into their fuel.
The latest waiver is notable because Andeavor is not in financial trouble, and could easily comply with the rules.
EPA gave the refiner an exemption at three of its smallest refineries, and as Reuters notes, it “marks the first evidence of the EPA freeing a highly profitable multi-billion dollar company from the costly mandates of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard.”…
…the move comes after a recent EPA decision to absolve Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), the largest refiner on the east coast, from some of its biofuels liabilities, which the company said helped force it into bankruptcy…
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Farmers-Hit-Hard-As-Trump-Backs-Big-Oil.html
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Wild weather. I went out at 05:15 on Easter Sunday and got back 22:00 Wed. night. Monday morning in Pennsylvania I cleaned 4″ of wet heavy global warming off the truck before I took off. Later that day and into Tuesday morning I drove through multiple deluges/thunder storms in Ohio and Indiana. Today (Wed.) I was up in Rochester and Buffalo NY fighting winds gusting over 60 mph and the occasional squall line of blinding wind blown snow in “thunder snows”. Truck driving is work in that kind of weather. Drove by two trucks that had been blown over. It’s just a matter of if you have enough weight in the trailer and if your in the wrong place at the wrong time. Over 10,000 people up there without power and lots of trees down. On I-190 in Buffalo that runs along the shore of lake Erie the ice was piled high because it had been blown against the eastern shoreline by the powerful west winds. Waves built to 17′ with some up to 19′ possible on Lake Erie today. If that wind had been out of the north I wouldn’t be home writing this right now because I would have found a place park it and hole up and wait it out. But the wind was out of the west and I was heading into it instead of catching the predominate wind from the side. A little later I actually saw a dead tree about a food in diameter blown over in a wood line ahead and to the right of me when driving west on I-90 west of Buffalo. Really is a pretty wild and considerably colder than average spring here this year but at least the tornado incidence is way down. Though I do have a big branch to cut up that fell into my yard from a tree that belongs to the 90 year old widow next door. But not till it dries up.
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Is there a liberal party spill?
My son just told me that a “respected journalist” has tweeted that Dutton is to challenge. Good on him I say. How you?
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Neither would win a popularity contest and if I’m honest is there anyone in the liberal stable who could turn things around for them ? Maybe Craig Kelly .
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Anyone who wasn’t lazy and had a bit of mongrel in them would be an improvement but it seems to have been just another furfy.
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