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
Sa-aay, is anybody out there?
80
People say that I am “really out there”, but I don’t think that’s what you mean?
101
Are you a mind reader? If so, what is it that you think I think about your post?
60
People ask me “how are you going”? all the time.
Usually i reply that i am going by car….if it is raining due to global warming then i say i am going with an umbrella and so forth…
80
Personally, I think its rather rude to ask someone “how are you going” when they have only just arrived !!
32
It seems to be the case that maybe we’re all out there…somewhere. But I can’t tell for sure. Empirical evidence is lacking.
No matter though. Good morning and whoever is out there, if you’re out there, have a great day on me. 🙂
40
Hi Beth,
Just to keep you company. The state of Oregon USA is being repopulated with wolves but it isn’t anything natural. They were shipped in from some place to the adjacent state of Idaho from where they are crossing borders.
Have a good day, Jerry
50
Is Yellowstone in Oregon? There are videos about reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone, the wolves predated the deer which moved from the lowland which allowed regrowth of trees which stabilised the rivers etc.
Fascinating!
30
A friend emailed the video about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and how it changed the whole ecosystem of the area.
Amazing video. (only 2.18 long, no sound, other than some muted music)
The Miracle in Yellowstone.
And all it took was fourteen wolves.
Tony.
100
here is a short vid with narration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
20
Yep all those wolves waiting for Yellowstone to go bang again!
10
Can I reintroduce wolves into the House of Representatives and the Senate? That might get them off dead center. There’s no motivator better than a hungry wolf chewing on you backside.
50
Yes. I am.
50
A mind reader????
10
Say, this was an interesting exercise.
I’m doing this daily power generation data thing, and I was curious as to the power splits between the States, you know, how much power is consumed by each of the 5 States in this AEMO coverage area.
Took a while, tedious work hovering the mouse and then copying down the figures for the 24 hourly totals for each State then adding them up and averaging them and then finding the percentages for each State, and it’s just for the one day, (Friday, yesterday) but that would be pretty indicative, and I wanted it to be on a work day, when all people were at their places of work, and schools etc, when power consumption is higher than it is on weekends.
So, the total power consumption on this day was at an average of 24,330MW per hour. (so 584GWH for the day, more than half a TeraWattHour ….. per day) Power generation is (naturally) higher and for the Friday that average was 24700MW.
With respect to consumption the breakdowns were:
NSW – 37.64%
Qld – 26.01%
Vic – 24.06%
SA – 6.74%
Tas – 5.55%
Keep in mind here that Qld, with less population than Vic is a vastly bigger State, hence more decentralised, and Victoria uses more natural gas in homes for heating cooking and hot water, hence less electricity, so that’s why their consumption is less in Victoria.
Tony.
270
Interesting figures Tony, would it be possible to calculate how much electricity in each state is sent or received between them via interconectors?
70
During the recent calm in the south Qld was exporting around 1.3 GW for much of the time which must be the capacity of the feeder. The Atherton Tableland hydros have a nameplate of 118 MW but we have been generating more hydro than that, currently 356 MW. Don’t know where they find that, maybe the Splityard Ck pumped hydro.
NSW has been consistently short for months now so Qld generators must have pocketed a nice bonus of over $1 mill/day. I doubt even Tony would tackle that calculation though. 🙂
40
That Interconnector from Qld to NSW (the Western one, not the Terranora one which is the smaller of the two at only 200/40) is the biggest in Oz at 1120/270MW.
If it is transmitting at or close to max (mostly 1000MW of 1120) then it’s income to Qld (to the Government owned entity selling the power) of around 90K per hour, so it could be as high as $2.2 MIllion per day, depending on the cost of electricity, highest at Peak RRP. Hard to calculate correctly, but that might be close to ‘ballpark’.
Can you see why Qld said they are not closing any of their coal fired plants by that 2030 renewables target date.
$800Plus Million per year is a nice little earner for the State Government, when all they need do is, umm, burn some coal.
Tony.
220
The capacity of an arial HV transmission line varies according to conditions. It can carry more amps before overheating on a cold winter morn with a breeze across it than it could on a still summer’s day. I recall the ginger beers at the [then] Northern Electric Authority wondering if they could get a reliable measurement of that by sensing vibration of the wire [I think]. Once overheated a conductor is permanently damaged.
Note: I am repeating smoko room talk, not personal experience.
60
We periodically get helicopters slowly travelling along the power lines near our place looking for hot spots with heat imaging.
We are about a km away from the main NSW-VIC interconnector.
20
Then there is the small matter of state royalties on the coal burnt. LOL
80
Interesting Tony.
The immediate thing that jumps out for me is it is ridiculous to hold up SA as an example for wind/solar renewable “success” for Australia as a whole (especially when we know they often import from their neighbours).
180
Aha! Ross, you’ve seen that little problem then.
Wind and solar are problematic even in a State with only six percent odd of total power consumption.
If they can’t get it to work smoothly on such a small scale, there’s buckley’s chance on the larger scale.
Tony.
280
Let us not forget that the Queensland government (current) wants to have 50% ruinables by (I think) 2030. So, what are they going to use to pump into that interconnected to NSW then? To trash 50% fo their guaranteed coal-fired electricity generation, they have to replace it with something – or trash the entire state economy, which is likely to be their preferred option, even if it costs them all that lovely moolah.
Electrikery at its finest!
51
FIFTY PER CENT RUINABLES? … MADNESS Takes Its Toll!
Oh no, oh no, ‘do not go gently into that dark night.
Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.’
H/t Dylan Thomas (and the Industrial Revolution.)
71
If/when QLD trashes their power stations to achieve the 50% renewable target…it will be “all over red rover” for the remainder states with the exception of Tassie (providing the umbi cord doesnt breakdown again)…
There would be major blackouts now occurring.. if not for the reliable “coal turbines” in QLD.
71
“SA – the diesel state”….
Anyone want to modify their SA number plates to poke a bit of fun at the SA Politburo?
Any takers?
60
SA – the Powered Sometimes State
30
So, with all the hooha about SA being ‘50% renewable’. they are only < than 7% of Australia's total power use? Interesting figures Tony! Interesting indeed.
Now, how would each state fare, if there were no interconnectors?
I know Tassie did it recently, when BassLink was down.
60
What is occurring in Oz at the present, is similar to whats gone on in countries in Europe over past years….
One Country sounding off to the World their “green energy” was achievable…but not letting on their was an “extension cord” over the border into the Country next door…
Germany is a prime example…Coal fired power form Poland….or Nuclear from Fance…
Silly Australia has NO such convenience…
Wonder if anyone has thought of going back to burning whale oil ??? We’ve got plenty of that…(sarc)
90
The Leftist ACT govt has loudly trumpeted that their aim is by 2020 to be 100% renewable powered…never mind they cant produce that much power with the 2 tiny solar farms they have.
Then they took the interesting step of saying the trams would all be renewable powered – so only usable during daylight hours then?
I shake my head….
60
agree it might all be nonsense. The ACT is actually counting “renewables” outside the territory and counts its direct investments in those.
41
It’s called “Dissemination”.
10
I remember reading one of the fanboys on Renew saying “it will take a special kind of stupid to be pounding out renewables sceptic comments on your PC in Canberra when there is 100% renewables coming out of the powere socket”
He really belived that the the power he would get in Canberra would be 100% renewable, not just whatever mix was happening in southern NSW at the time. A special kind of stupid indeed.
60
They are obviously not interested in high speed rail, a state of the art Maglev cannot run on renewables.
30
I was heading north from Brisbane on the tilt-train last evening, pretty much on schedule. Then, just south of Nambour, all but the emergency lighting went off, and we came to a halt. The carriage attendant told us not to worry, that this has happened before (!), and we simply needed to wait for the power to be restored. In all, we sat there for about twelve minutes. I commented to a lady sitting nearby that solar panels don’t work in the dark, and there didn’t seem to be any wind turbines in sight. Is this to be our future?
81
Hopefully not Horace, its so Third World.
00
100% renewable powered in ACT…easy, if you have the Snowy Hydro in your own “backyard”..!!
10
Why not? It’s a renewable after all. Is that sarcasm?
30
Well Hanrahan..just throwing it out there….whale oil is definitely renewable and organic…couldn’t get much better than that !!(sarcasm yes…but hey its coming down to survival in coming years..so nothing should be ruled out)!:)
Also additionally …
Im hanging out to see the reaction of the Animal Welfare brigade ..when they realise that thousands of head of cattle and sheep (land locked) will have to be slaughtered in the next 12yrs ..ALL for the sake of “saving the planet” from that putrid pollantant…CO2 !
When that fails to reduce the Co2 concentrations …do we start on the >85yr olds or people with disabilities.??????..Hmmmm
Maybe drop concrete bombs to seal all the active volcanoes, also has to be on the agenda.!( the underwater ones may present a challenge though) 🙂
This Country is bloody mad …and mostly run by politicians who are total idiots !
11
If you an example of how states will fare if disconnected from the NEM, why not WA? Does very nicely thanks – no problems and power costs are reasonably cheap.
20
Graeme#4 — but that’s the thing, power is not cheap in WA. The RET reaches here too, even without an interconnector. Plus we have surging levels of solar, and a state government which controls the monopoly on electricity and is using it to repay state debt. I think we pay 25c/KWh.
00
Hi Tony
I reckon that our government’s antipathy towards using our own coal in new High-Efficiency-Low Emissions (HELE) power stations in favour of up-hill pumping of water has a potential solution.
All those ships that carry our coal overseas return here empty. If Snowy 2.0 is such a crash-hot idea, why not have the returning ships bring us rocks and soil, from which we can build additional mountains up which to pump more water? What is the downside? Future historians will champion our genius!
31
Is Saudi Arabia the next big heritage tourism destination?
A massive survey in a remote part of the desert kingdom reveals archaeological wonders, including huge, mysterious structures that are baffling experts.
Team members say they have already identified thousands of archaeological sites, found evidence suggesting that people have lived in the area for much longer than was previously thought, and encountered bizarre structures, the function and meaning of which are shrouded in mystery.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/20/middleeast/saudi-archaeology/index.html
It also has around 50 inscriptions of the pre-Nabataean period and some cave drawings.
… the rock art date back to when animals like giraffes and elephants roamed the surrounding desert.
“Climate change records show that after this time, the landscape transitioned from savannah to desert.
As the environment dried up, these animals were driven south to their current range in Africa.”
There are also common graves that date back up to 6,000 years – to 4,000 BC, the style of which archaeologists say they have never seen before – triangular shapes built in the direction of piles of stones.
https://nypost.com/2018/06/22/mysterious-ancient-civilization-left-signs-across-vast-desert/
> If only they had a carbon (sic) tax …
111
But! BUt! BUT!
If there had been a “successful carbon (sic) tax” there wouldn’t have been enough water in the Red Sea for it to part and save Moses & Co.
Think of the history.
40
Maybe they faked it? Hollywood does that all the time …
10
if you are lucky you might get to see the occasional heritage beheading
30
Friends who used to work in Libya in the 80s and 90s tell me that (hand) amputations were televised, so there was no need to leave the comfort of your home to see history in action.
40
“Delingpole: ‘Bees In Peril’ Is Just Another Green Lie”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/06/22/no-bees-arent-in-trouble/
132
I have always been skeptical of this.
I think the reports of colony collapse disorder were mainly related to malnutrition.
If bees have a sufficient balanced food supply they will do fine.
Though there will always be some loss to disease.
My backyard hive is healthy and swarming each spring.
Give them plenty of room with a balanced diet and they boom.
82
I wonder if the red thumber is trying to sell pyrethroids?
31
No … its school work experience time again… its takes a big comittment to click that any red thumbs….
23
You know..
No excuses for any deliberate “red thumers”… But it is possible that many of those “red hits” could just be accidental touches from clumbsy touch screen readers (like me !) who casually flick the screen to read down the thread.
Maybe if it needed a double touch/click or a “confirm” command, some may be prevented.
PS..sorry for the accidental “red” on this !!!
41
why is it an issue? its a feature of the blog, do you really want people just to agree and say attaboy! all the time? Thats one of the building blocks that gave us the snowflake generation.
20
True enough, I guess the red thumb response sometimes also indicates weve hit a nerve of the snowflakes, which is also useful intelligence.
21
We have lots of bees in our place all year. At the present they are buzzing happily around the loquat and the ash (fraxinus) trees, which are both flowering. We do not keep hives as I am allergic to bee stings but I am very happy to see them around all the same. We avoid poisons as far as possible.
31
Mystifyingly in moderation, comment re. bees. Maybe the evil word ‘p01sons’ set it off…substances we avoid on our small farm.
31
The moderator is a b……
00
“Just wait till the Tide pod generation hears about it:
https://nypost.com/2018/06/20/woman-claims-drinking-her-dogs-urine-cleared-up-her-acne/ ”
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/index.php/2018/06/21/reader-tips-2/#comment-1124639
I’m glad I’m passed the acne age in case it becomes mandatory
110
That reminded me:
This past Spring Semester (NH) my class advised me that there was, in fact, a SECOND stupidest question in the Universe.
I’d always taught my classes that there was ONLY one ‘stupidest question in the Universe’ (and, in case you are wondering, the stupidest question in the Universe is the one that is never asked).
Then, I found out that there is a second, stupidest question: “Should I eat this Tide pod?”
We can only hope these Darwin Award candidates carry out their destiny with all deliberate speed.
Regards to all,
Vlad
20
”
Europe in crisis and the new politics.”
https://thepointman.wordpress.com/2018/06/22/europe-in-crisis-and-the-new-politics/
50
‘This would happen because electorates would become alienated from the established parties of both the right and left, whose unpopular policies were so close you couldn’t slide a fag paper between them.’
Yep, its happening in Australia too.
120
Our big two parties have merged into one on the two policies the electorate want a choice: Legal immigration rates [a qtr mill/yr! Really?] and electricity policy.
130
Yes, those policies are screwed down tight shut to invisibility leading to an election with, as it were, pre-spoiled ballot papers.
30
Add selling real estate to China. No strategic thinking. Short term instant gratification to vested interests and there advocates/ lobbyists. Either way, middle Australia and our future generations suffer.
20
Umm …
‘The United States and United Kingdom are the biggest investors in Australia, followed by Belgium, Japan and Hong Kong (SAR of China).
‘China is our ninth largest foreign investor, with 2.0 per cent of the total. However, the levels of Hong Kong (SAR of China) and Chinese investment in Australia have grown significantly over the past decade.
Dept Foreign Affairs and Trade
30
The outline by Pointman is brilliant.
The media reports over the last 10 years have indicated the problems but certainly not the depth.
The picture painted in the comment is just what you would expect but not able to see because of PC Censorship.
The people who voted for Brexit had been closer to the situation and physically involved and in that light the Brexit vote should not have surprised anyone.
Pointmans article is depressing in that it confirms the collapse of a previously strong corner of world civilization and common sense then leads to inevitable internal war between the interlopers, those who aid and abet those raiders and the poor occupants now being enslaved and forced to pay for the mess as well as suffer complete removal of freedom.
Considering the real situation in Europe it is hard to imagine the collapse of such a formidable functioning civilization.
Where now is the heart of hope in the world.
Possibly a restored Britain, the bogeyman, the USA?
It is bizarre to think that the Social Justice Warriors could have created a situation where only Britain and the USA are all that remains of Hope and Freedom in the world.
KK
111
Well to be blunt – the Americans, if strife is stirred up internally by Leftists, will certainly deal with it.
Australians and the Brits who are effectively disarmed, may fall prey to armed leftists.
Although , that said, the Brits are proving to be handy with knives now…. London has a higher murder rate via knives, than the murder rate of New York which use guns. Knocks the whole left-wing gun control nonsense into a cocked hat.
The Brexit thing is what many have expected – the Elite are stirring up the rent a crowd mob to overturn the democratic Brexit vote to maintain the UKs bondage to the EU Soviet……
61
Steve
The gun thing. Depends where you are. Farms and isolated areas, O.K.
If I felt the need to carry a gun I would feel that I had been let down by the government and really resent it.
When guns are in the suburbs the results of petty arguments in homes and neighbourhoods can easily escalate.
Suicides too often involve guns, spur of the moment thing.
The fact that Bikie gangs and criminals recently “saved” from their home countries by social justice egalitarianism warriors now infest our country and freely use guns is unacceptable.
Politicians and judges should answer for this breakdown in society.
Our society doesn’t need guns, it needs working, functional politicians, screening of immigrants, social security cutoff after 2 years and only available thereafter if person has worked and paid taxes for 10 years.
Deport any criminals or non workers to that big building on the shores of the Potomac? river in New York marked for the attention of Christina Figueres.
Vote buying by politicians has just about wrecked Europe and it should be strongly resisted by Australians.
KK
60
KK says:
“Deport any criminals or non workers to that big building on the shores of the Potomac? river in New York marked for the attention of Christina Figueres.”
If you mean the UN site in NYC:
It faces the East River, a salt water tidal estuary that connects Long Island Sound (north) to Upper New York Bay to the south.
The ” West Side Highway” is along the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan. This is the highway James Hansen thought would be underwater by now (or soon).
Washington DC is mostly associated with the Potomac River (west) and the Anacostia River (east). Search for RFK Stadium.
Search for ‘ Buzzard Point ‘ for more about the land/river locations.
30
Thanks John
I had a feeling that wasn’t right but was too lazy to check.
Have been to New York and spent a week there. Really enjoyed it.
10
‘Deport any criminals or non workers …’
If they are legal citizens that might be a problem.
10
Can you seriously imagine any party doing that.
They’d lose all the SJW votes.
10
Not the British Steve, thankyou. The trouble stems from importees who do not share our cultural values and politicians, judiciary, police and the various media who are all studiously ignoring reality. That’s not to say there are no original toe rags around but their ranks have been grossly swollen by policies of Merkel and the EU. Why do you think so many support Brexit? Why the clampdown on news about the terrible injustice meted out to T0mmy R0b1nson?
31
KK & Annie
Violence is never the answer to anything, and as a general comment I abhor violence ( also a reminder to the Mods ), despite what people might think. I don’t however shy away from nor apologize to be armed as needed.
That said – if as in the state of south africa whereby many people are leaving with their families due to the general break down of law and order, I get that. I’d rather leave than have to resort to carry a firearm most times. I mean, what is the point if you cant enjoy your normal day to day?
Europe appears to have been sabotaged by the powers that be. I mean going and bombing a country back to the stone age then stupidly ( or by design? ) let in the seething angry relatives who survived …..hmm….what might happen next? This is pretty much the state of europe. IMHO its been done to create a chaos that the elite will then “solve”, probably with martial law at some stage.
Now look at the USA – the democrats have all but admitted their plan is to allow masses of illegals into the country to effectively replace republican voters, in effect a slow motion revolution. The thing the democrats never counted on was the Donald, who is now holding them responsible and they are squealing as a result and the MSM is all but inciting a violent over throw of the gummint, which is called treason.
“Our society doesn’t need guns, it needs working, functional politicians, screening of immigrants, social security cutoff after 2 years and only available thereafter if person has worked and paid taxes for 10 years.”
— that might apply, if it wasn’t for what appears for all intents and purposes that we seem to being undermined by the powers that be and as such what you’re suggesting will unlikely ever happen. Europe comes to mind.
Its a bit of a sticky wicket, were in the midst of a pretty nasty period of time.
61
Not looking for trouble,but well prepared for it.
10
I like the way some want another vote. It wasnt democratic enough last time, this time it will be different and we will get it right. Like socialism.
30
We’ve seen that twice recently:
The Brexit vote and The Trumpit vote.
If it doesn’t go your way there was obviously a mistake in the process.
That says all that needs to be said about how they feel.
The others,, us, are to be disenfranchised because we are to be enslaved and kept in a moralistic prison.
KK
20
“Delingpole: Snowflake University Scared by Rommel Quotation”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/06/22/delingpole-snowflake-university-scared-rommel-quotation/
The quote:-
“One cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles.”
72
As I put it to our boys
You can’t grab every chance that comes past in life. You have to try and grab the significant ones.
20
I had a headhunter ask me at an interview what my “career plan” was. I told him that I thought career plans were bullsh1t, and it really wasnt possible to plan it out meaningfully. I just kept looking for opportunities and made a choice to act on them or not. He thought my views were “refreshing” , whatever that meant.
10
I read a good book about Rommel many years ago…I just had a look at our shelves and can’t find it. It must be a victim of our too frequent moves, along with several others I deeply regret giving away. I have a strong impression of a good and decent gentleman in Rommel so that nonsense by those snowflake ‘students’ very amply demonstrates their ignorance. I think Montgomery thought he was a good man, if I remember aright.
11
I’m no history buff but there are certain things a basic education should inform students/school children.
11
I think you’re right Annie. My understanding is that he was respected not only by his own business men, but by ours also. And he was in the group who opposed Hitler.
Cheers,
Dave B
20
Don’t know where the word “business” came from, but it certainly wasn’t intended.
Cheers,
Dave B
10
Auto auto correct.
10
“Climate Engineering Technology”
https://realclimatescience.com/2018/06/climate-engineering-technology/
“The equipment shown above is the latest technology in climate engineering. Designed by God** – it has the following features.” and more
“** No government funding or climate scientists were involved in the development of this remarkable technology. Recovering the solar energy requires very low cost equipment, used by both George Washington and Ronald Reagan.”
70
The ideal piece of technology.
40
The problem with that technology is that it reaches plague proportions and depletes the resources it relies on for survival. Without continuing human intervention on a truly massive and global scale it will remain in survival mode with only the most efficient converters thriving while the less efficient converters rely on human intervention to avoid extinctinction.
40
Rick
If you look closely at the photo you can see that social security recipients on a “work for the dole” programme have cleared away all nuisance growth beneath and around the main operating unit. It looks great.
40
How many, these days, would:
1. know how and be able to use the technology?
2. know how to care for (sharpen) the technology?
No need to panic about resource depletion IMHO… 🙂
10
Here is an interesting article I stumbled across:
“Could The Energy Loss From Radiating Stars Explain Dark Energy?”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/06/23/ask-ethan-could-the-energy-loss-from-radiating-stars-explain-dark-energy/#22f70afe29bc
30
“HOW TO INVADE A COUNTRY”
http://pickeringpost.com/story/how-to-invade-a-country/8340
90
How to secure a country and eliminate god botherers who think their deity is great.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-24/uighur-community-in-australia-fear-reports-of-crackdown-in-china/9824554
30
That’s a good one too.
Lots of perspective on things we may have forgotten about in all the one sided shouting in the media.
30
MSM summation
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/06/23/june-23rd-2018-presidential-politics-trump-administration-day-520/comment-page-4/#comment-5555489
“Zippy says:
June 23, 2018 at 2:24 pm “
40
Chris Kenny in the Oz.
‘Our climate gestures have no impact on the global environment, so the hardship and expense is all for nothing.’
190
A good article.
30
Look at Communism in Russia – 70 years of pain and suffering, and for what?
Some paid-up boofhead called Marx ( who was funded by the Elite, anyway…) to write an anti-human manifesto that goes against the very nature of humanity. I mean, taklk about an own goal.
The only benefit to the Banksters that funded Marx was that they got a controlled Cold War struggle to feeed the Wests Military-Industrial monster….
20
Lots of memes in there Steve.
For a start he wrote Das Kapital in an age when America was still importing African slaves.
Slaves were the labour saving device of choice for thousands of years, until the Industrial Revolution made them redundant.
The other thing is that the Dictatorship of the Proletariat was not in his Manifesto, so the pain caused in his name should not be blamed on him.
10
A pay-up-or-else licence fee,
For a one-sided service TV,
From a government arm,
Of fake climate alarm,
Where warmists hold court and agree.
140
There’s a shortage of CO2 in the UK. Who would ever have thought you would see a headline in the Guardian starting with that?
Oh wait, it’s not a carbon shortage. Never mind.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/20/co2-shortage-could-hit-uk-beer-and-chicken-supplies-during-world-cup
50
We Americans are the most litigious society on earth, I believe. We probably make more law in our courts than we do in our legislatures.
On reason may be that courts tend to let issues ripen and mature before rendering decisions (another way of saying that the wheels of justice move ponderously slow).
We have seen some recent probing as to whether or not climate change damages can be used as an excuse to extract huge sums of money from energy companies. The tobacco settlements have proven it possible to extract huge sums from companies selling a legal product;
the asbestos settlements have proven that a company making a product for the government to government design under wartime exingincies can be bankrupted due to damages.
Sooner or later a case will have to address the essence of the problem: is there climate change, caused by man. There can be no damages if the phenomenon does not exist, or is indeterminate.
I suppose one could sue for fears caused by potential climate change, likely in California, but initial attempts have proven a two edged sword that can’t proceed unless plaintiffs agree to accept that they issued at-risk bonds without admitting to the risk. Tsk tsk.
How would a court proceeding go? Courts deal with science all the time, in chemicals, drugs, and various engineering matters. It is worth remembering that any “scientific” testimony is subject to cross examination. Any data presented as, say, a government record must have a valid chain of custody. The courts aren’t generally thrilled with an expert who makes an assertion, but says “you can’t see my data”. So its likely any suit will try to find a reason to litigate where climate change is a foregone conclusion, validated by some government regulation, where the argument can be made that the court’s business is compliance, not the underlying science.
There will be conflict as some judges look at facts and some do not.
The supreme court has some general rulings on expert testimony. However, there are likely to be experts on both sides with compelling arguments. The suggestion that 97% of Climate scientists blah blah blah is not likely to survive in court.
We now have 30 years of unadjusted satellite records. This is a significant fraction of the often cited 100 year forecast. It may well be that the case on appeal will involve trying to demonstrate to a court why the satellite data is less valid than the generally accepted temperature series. This may be the point where the inner workings of NOAA are brought into public view; a conclusion where the ‘expert’ is unwilling to make the data available (as opposed to the public satellite record….and the questions sure to arrive under cross examination regarding adjustments of recorded temperatures to some other value, will be interesting.
The courts will not, I imagine, decide the science. The case is likely to involve tort damages due to climate change. They are likely, I think to reject the case on the grounds that the conventional evidence cited to ‘prove’ warming does not meet judicial standards. The IPCC documents will also be subject to legal scrutiny…and the court will not rely on the headlines or the executive summary.
It may be interesting to watch.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and have no legal education. I enjoy watching the court, as it is, I believe, the essential distillation of our political winds, where the direction is set, for good or ill, on all our conflicts. I still think Wickard was an abomination constitutionally but it distilled a political view of federal power. I think the politics of climate change is ripe for direction setting.
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Richard looks like you need fewer lawyers in the US.
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Frank Devine
“Final advice to Journalists
Read Claude Emerson, Reporter by John O’Hara, the best short story about our vocation
Never quit a job until you have something better in view. Don’t necessarily go quietly when fired. Indignant caterwauling may yield rewards.
Cherish objectivity. It’s practice is likely to make enemies and sometimes lose you a job. But it represents a journalist’s sole path to high status. Judges, constitutional monarchs and the nicer military dictators are the only ones who get a regular go at it.”
The link to where I got this no longer works.
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Another Ian,
thanks for this.
Back at the start of the 70s, I was expanding my reading away from what was popular among, umm, ‘young men’ at the time, Harrold Robbins, because the reading bug hit me. I would get hold of fiction, and I wanted thick books, rather than thin ones, because I perceived there was more of the actual story in those thicker novels. So, I got hold of some of those early/mid 20the Century American authors, Irving Wallace, Calder Willingham, and John O’Hara, and I was never disappointed.
From those thicker novels, and in the liner notes, they always had ‘previous novels from this author’, and that’s how I chased up their other novels from that, and in the case of O’Hara, his collections of short stories, and the one you mention is from The Cape Cod Lighter.
What these novels did for me, was to give me insight into what ‘life’ (per se) was like back in the times when they were all written.
O’Hara I really liked, perhaps the best of all of them, because he could really tell a story. I read around a dozen or so of his novels, all of them good. Oddly, perhaps the one I liked least was Butterfield 8, which was translated (poorly) to a film starring Elizabeth Taylor, (probably in her natural role) and she won the Academy Award for best actress, in a film she hated all her life, hmm! probably because it portrayed her in her, umm, most natural role.
It’s funny, because that’s where I got the nickname I affectionately call my good lady wife, ‘Bob’.
One of his leading women in the novel was called Barbara (my wife’s name) and in those days of the 40’s and 50’s the name was more common in the U.S. than it is now, and the nickname it was shortened to was Bobbie, which I have shortened even further to Bob.
For most years of her life before I came along, my wife’s name was shortened to Babs, and she hated it with a passion, so when I first called her Bobbie, and then shortened it even further, she was intrigued as to where it came from, because she did like that in an ironical sense. I told her that her name was common in the U.S. in the 30s 40s, and 50s, and that’s our little secret name now. I even gave her my faithfully kept O’Hara novel with that name, and she read it also, and liked it, mostly for the evocative images of life from an earlier time.
Good luck finding his novels now, and try second hand book stores, but I think you’ll even be hard pressed to find them there, but they are well worth the read.
Tony.
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Tony With your service background try
John Steinbeck’s “Once there was a war”
(even though it is slim)
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It’s odd really, I was a huge reader, something I got out of when I married in 1981.
Then in 86 at Christmas, I got back into it, thanks to our children I inherited from my good lady. I was always willing myself to get into the classics, but I was hooked on fiction, well, (relatively) modern fiction anyway.
This time around, I decided to mix it up, and gradually work into perhaps a classic or two.
I started out with some of those thinner ones, Conrad, Huxley, Orwell, and then in at the deep end with Les Mis. Great novel really, and I was so surprised. Then I took that big leap of faith I always thought I might do, and ‘did’ War And Peace, and that shocked me the most , because I could hardly put it down, something that was so unexpected, because I always thought people who ‘claimed’ to have read it said that out of pretentiousness. Then, with every two modern fiction I got hold of, I also got one classic. I still think Anna Karenina is the best of them. Did Steinbeck’s Grapes novel. Yeah, it was okay.
I even tried the Salinger novel, after hearing so much about it from, well, you know, and what was all the fuss about.
Oh, and if you want a good military novel to read, try Once An Eagle by Anton Myrer.
Funny, I read Atlas Shrugged (three times now) after 20 years of not being able to find it. That one I just could not put down. At the end first time round, I thought that was it for me for reading, because I would never read anything as good as that again. I haven’t and I doubt I will, but I still read avidly.
There’s a lot of good stuff around now. My good lady wife knows she can get some good ‘time’ when we visit a new shopping mall anywhere, because I find the book store and spend time in that.
Reading is a lot like Music really. You have to stretch your boundary out.
Speaking of music, here’s a little light hearted song for you all to listen to.
There’s an interesting back story to the album the song is lifted from, and that’s also interesting, so, rather than link to the youtube clip. I’ll link into my own Post on the song.
Sunday Music – Sir Bodsworth Rubblesby III
Tony.
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There is the Bernard Cornwell “Sharpe” series based around the career of the Duke of Wellington from India to Waterloo.
They’re based on history though somewhat written to a formula which varies sufficiently from book to book to at least keep my interest.
He has another series based on around Alfred the Great.
Plus a singularity called “The Fort” about one battle that the US didn’t win in the War of Independence. Likely banned in Massachusetts.
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I’ve read a lot of Bernard Corwells city and country novels like Paris, New York, Russia etc.
The Sharpes were a bit less “grand”.
One book read a couple of times was Thus spake Zarathustra: an amazing book for a translation. Whover did the translation was brilliant.
War and Peace was much better in one translation than the other.
I may have an unread copy of Atlas, and after Tonys comment am tempted to try to find it.
KK
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Russka
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Tony
You can get quite a few of things like this via the Qld Library service. Patience required though.
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John Ohara Books are all over Book Depository, but that may not interest if you like the thrill of the hard copy chase.
My favourite book is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Stumbled on to it by accident, took me a couple reads to work out what was going on (I am a bit slow) but found sections of it struck a chord with me. Instantly explained why I like silence rather than a radio blaring when I am working on cars 🙂
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I found a couple of Boney novels in a second hand bookshop in Falls Church Virginia, a long way from home.
Only have 2 or 3 left to go.
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Jennifer Marohasy on Ridd.
‘On the first day of the preliminary hearing Barrister Ben Kidston for the applicant (Dr Ridd) argued eloquently about how the case was about ‘academic freedom’. He went-on for over an hour moving from the big picture to the detail with respect to specific clauses in a code of conduct and the enterprise agreement, and back again. All the while His Honour and the audience listened intently – no one interrupted. Again yesterday, His Honour cited the poorly worded specific clause which the university has been relying on to silence Dr Ridd, and observed that it was open to two interpretations.’
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Here is the post.
https://jennifermarohasy.com/2018/06/can-universities-lawfully-bully-academics-silence/
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ex-NPR’s Poon tries hard to see the upside:
22 Jun: CityLab: Sleepy in Songdo, Korea’s Smartest City
The hardest thing about living in an eco-friendly master-planned utopia? Meeting your neighbors.
by Linda Poon
(Linda Poon…previously covered global health and development for NPR’s Goats and Soda blog)
While there are no holograms or robot butlers, Lee says that as far as futuristic conveniences go, Songdo does deliver. Pneumatic tubes send trash straight from her home to an underground waste facility, where it’s sorted, recycled, or burned for energy generation; garbage—and garbage trucks—are virtually nonexistent. Everything from the lights to the temperature in her apartment can be adjusted via a central control panel or from her phone. During the winter, she can warm up the apartment before heading home.
As for that vibrant community? That’s been harder to find.
“When I first came here during the winter,” Lee says, “I felt something cold.” She wasn’t just talking about the weather, or the chilly modernism of the concrete high rises that have sprung up all over town over the last decade. She felt a lack of human warmth from neighborhood interaction. “There’s an internet cafe (online forum) where we share our complaints,” she said, “But only on the internet—not face to face.”…
The New York City architecture firm of Kohn Pedersen Fox designed the city’s plan, with developer Gale International serving as the majority partner in the project. The cost? Around $40 billion.
What it doesn’t have: enough people.
Originally slated for completion in 2015, Songdo remains a work in progress. Tax incentives and other perks were supposed to attract a thriving community of foreign businesses and workers, but in the last 15 years, only a handful of companies, nonprofits, and universities have opened offices in Songdo. They include the Green Climate Fund, which occupies the landmark 33-story G-Tower, IBM, George Mason University, and the State University of New York. The population of the entire city has now exceeded 100,000—with over half of the population residing in the business district…
“I had expected this city to be like Singapore and Hong Kong, where there are many foreigners, but that has not been the case,” 45-year-old Paik Dae-Il, who’s lived in Songdo for the last 10 years and works in the hotel industry, tells CityLab through an interpreter. “Projects for big offices often get canceled. Instead, it’s been apartments, apartments, apartments.”
So what did Songdo get right? And is it too late to fix what’s going wrong?…
For a place that is striving to become car-free, the roads of Songdo are crazily wide, spanning as many as 10 lanes…
In practice, though, cars are still a common sight in Songdo, and, for residents like 32-year-old Lindy Wenselaers, an essential tool. An expat from Belgium who’s lived in Songdo for over a year, Wenselaers ended up buying a car only five months in—she could no longer face a 20-minute walk to the nearest grocery store in the Songdo’s wintry weather…
The high-tech amenities, however, haven’t helped her connect with other people. She laments the lack of direct connections from one part of town to another; on weekends, she often drives an hour to Seoul…
Wenselaers did find a way to meet other Songdo residents—on Facebook…
Despite the delays in reaching the project’s earlier population benchmarks, Gale says he’s thinking long term: The company’s goal is to create a resilient city, one that can “last for decades, and, hopefully, for centuries.” And, well, that can’t be rushed.”…
Some observers of these utopias-in-progress acknowledge its relative success compared to, say, Dubai’s ghostly Masdar City, whose “greenprint” is only 5 percent completed…
https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/06/sleepy-in-songdo-koreas-smartest-city/561374/
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Masdar City is planned in Abu Dhabi, not Dubai; still in the UAE of course.
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Oh dear.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/tesla-electric-cars-no-cleaner-than-petrol-rivals/news-story/2e5f4e93a9be049e0d619489250c81b9
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More text.
Enough to give one the Teslas!
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I hear the sound of something being swept under the carpet
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No – worse, based on their past form, they will use this info as an excuse to shut more coal powered stations to make sure we not only have no economy , but will be forced to run electric cars without the jobs to pay for the electricity. But then the extreme greenies also advocate culling humans to protect their mythical “Gaia”.
These people are beyond stupid sometimes. How do you get that stupid?
Its clearly cult-like behaviour…..
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finally someone in the MSM notices:
22 Jun: WSJ: A California Billionaire Sets Michigan’s Energy Policy
Tom Steyer cuts a deal with utilities to promote alternative fuels, obviating the need for voter input
by Jason Hayes
Michigan’s two largest electricity companies struck a “breakthrough agreement” last month with billionaire California environmentalist Tom Steyer to boost the Wolverine State’s clean-energy requirements. Earlier this year, Mr. Steyer had funded a ballot initiative slated for August to force Michigan’s electricity providers to source 30% of their overall sales from renewable options such as wind and solar by 2030. But under the new agreement, the utilities will aim to produce a minimum 25% of their energy from renewable sources and a further 25% from energy-efficiency measures by that same year. This 50% green-energy goal will effectively govern the state’s energy policy for at least the next decade.
News of the deal between Mr. Steyer and the utilities— DTE Energy and Consumers Energy—has left many in Michigan wondering what happened to the established process for setting energy policy. The deal hasn’t been approved by state officials or voters. How is it possible that two utilities and a single special-interest group can independently agree to raise the state’s renewable energy mandate and get away with it?
If DTE and Consumers Energy were private businesses operating in a free market, the specifics of their contracts with outside organizations would concern only their investors and boards. But the companies are state-regulated monopolies, shielded from competition by Michigan’s laws. And the going has been good for them recently: The Michigan Public Service Commission has approved 15 separate rate increases for the two companies since 2003.
The role of national environmental groups in driving the agreement has deprived voters of influence even as proponents of green energy gripe about the interference of advocacy groups opposed to their measures. The Sierra Club complained in 2014 that corporate money is “polluting our democracy and our environment”…
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-california-billionaire-sets-michigans-energy-policy-1529706888
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A very important observation.
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It’s been around a while but I had not done this until today.
The Gapminder Test 2018
http://forms.gapminder.org/s3/test-2018
Tests your knowledge of various global facts and statistics.
I thought I did fairly well on my first go, guessing 9 out of 13 correct. That’s even better when you consider that two of the questions I got incorrect were questions about the future, and based on United Nations modeling. You have to question the impartiality of a quiz that treats UN computer models of the future as in the same category as observable facts!
And if you’re wondering… yes I got the token climate change question correct. After all, they were explicitly asking what “climate experts believe”, not what will actually happen. 🙂
Have a go, and my tip for GapMinder success is to think positive as it turns out the world is generally going pretty well.
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22 Jun: NewIndianExpress: PTI: Developing nations need adequate finances, technologies to combat climate change: Sushma Swaraj
BRUSSELS: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj warned today that all the effort put in by countries to tackle climate change would face a setback if developing nations did not get adequate finances and technologies to translate their political commitments into tangible initiatives…
She said that the capacity of developing countries to translate their political commitments into tangible initiatives and projects gets constrained by lack of predictable, sustained and adequate finances and technologies…
“The scale of resources required for the ambitious and effective achievement of the Paris Agreement or the 2030 Agenda is enormous. The need for global partnerships, in this regard, is recognised in these processes and is at the core of all solutions offered therein.”
“If these major documents are not implemented to reflect equity and principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility, or fall short of the targets because the developing countries did not receive the requisite support, it would be a setback to all the effort put in by countries in a spirit of togetherness,” she said…
She said that the schedule for phasing out of hydrofluorocarbons under the Montreal Protocol could be achieved as it was accompanied with a robust financial package to help developing countries make the transition to cleaner technologies.
“The world needs a similar roadmap for finance and technology if we have to achieve the goals set out in the Convention and its Paris Agreement,” Swaraj said.
“In its absence, developing countries will face serious constraints in achieving their existing (Nationally Determined Contributions) NDCs. Any expectations of them to enhance their ambitions should be matched with enhanced support,” she added…
http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2018/jun/22/developing-nations-need-adequate-finances-technologies-to-combat-climate-change-sushma-swaraj-1832061.html
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Does anyone know how much diesel generation has been installed in Australia to compensate for the destruction of coal power stations?
The insanity is beyond belief!
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Good question David. Those that supply the grid are listed at Anero.id sourced from AEMO, but how many more are there “behind the meter”?
Wasn’t the submarine builder in Adelaide going to provide their own diesel generators?
And AEMO has a list of reserve suppliers who have generators in their factories (RERT Panel) willing to provide power (or curtail their own demand) during peak periods.
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A punt at the fuel consumption
Seems that it takes about 2 hp for each KVA (at least in smaller ones). So 25,000 hp should handle around 12,500 kva.
Figures from elsewhere for a 25000 hp Rolls Royce gas turbine on pump duties was around 30,000 US gallons a day.
Point 6 of its start-up list was “Order 100,000 gallons”.
Tony might have a better idea.
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David
You highlight an important point about the amount of Gas Fired electricity being generated: or at least installed, and therefore Costing.
The government is now boasting that they are able to bring down gas prices next year.
The general public only hears the headline and it is put in a way that suggests all our troubles are over.
The fact is that having to install any has powered generation is a big FAILURE. Our industry will be uncompetitive with world competition in direct proportion with the number of Gas generators installed.
Gas generators are very expensive and even more so when sitting idle waiting for a government created emergency to occur.
KK
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19 Jun: NZ Herald: Kurt Bayer: Kiwis warned of global investor scam that has allegedly duped Kiwis out of life-savings
VIDEO: 4mins: Manfred Bredl poured $525,000 into what was believed to be a sophisticated global investment scam. He warns others against being taken in.
Authorities are looking into the apparent ruse which has allegedly duped other Kiwis out of their life-savings.
Manfred Bredl, 63, believed he was investing in a groundbreaking carbon emissions scheme, reportedly backed by the Mexican government.
But promises of a NZ$1.8 million cash windfall by charismatic, smooth-talking operators failed to materialise and Bredl now fears he’s lost the lot in a sophisticated con.
He believes he’s been duped by individuals behind two dummy companies – FM Wealth Management Ltd, purportedly based in the Cayman Islands, and private share company Eco-Plant Corporation.
Bredl claims they masterminded sham social media accounts and company newsletters, and even alleges fake photographs of company directors on the website.
“I’m university educated, I’m not a dumbbell, but they were so good at disguising what was a very smart sales pitch. It was very sophisticated,” said Bredl, a Lower Hutt telecommunications engineer…
Bredl has lodged complaints with New Zealand police. He said he was aware of three other alleged FM Wealth Management victims.
In correspondence seen by the Herald, police say Bredl’s complaint will be assessed before deciding whether an inquiry will be launched.
But one police staff member said Bredl shouldn’t get his hopes up: “As I am sure you are aware there is little hope that we as the NZ police can recover any funds for you given it is outside of our jurisdiction. We can, however, forward a relevant file overseas through Interpol if the investigator deems it.”
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has blacklisted FM Wealth Management and, in December, New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) issued a warning for Kiwi investors to steer clear of the company…
The companies, which reportedly have offices in Cayman Islands, Toronto, and Buenos Aires, did not respond to phone calls or emails from the Herald…
The CO2 recovery and transformation technology company, Matthews told Bredl, had patented technology developed with the cooperation of the governments of Mexico and Chile. It also reportedly had several prototype facilities in Mexico and Santiago…ETC
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12073078
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most of the remainder of article is given over to the “activists”:
22 Jun: Reuters: Exclusive: India speeds up environmental approvals in industry, alarms activists
by Neha Dasgupta; Additional reporting by Malini Menon and Suhail Hassan Bhat
PEDAVEEDU, India – India is fast-tracking environmental clearances for projects like power plants and coal mines in a bid to propel growth, setting off alarm bells among environmentalists and affected residents who say the decisions are being made too quickly.
In a country where state machinery typically moves slowly, the environment ministry under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slashed the average time taken to grant clearances to 170 days from 600 days, said two government sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
“We’re standardizing processes and taking decisions swiftly,” said one of the officials, who did not want to be named, citing government policy. “We know the basic issues, and merely taking more time for approvals does not mean much.”
The environment ministry did not respond to requests for comment…
The push appears to be similar to U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to speed up infrastructure approvals – his administration has said it wants environmental reviews for major projects to take no longer than 21 months, instead of years…
Projects across the country cleared by the environment ministry this year include three new thermal power plants, a carbon black manufacturing facility, two cement plants and the expansion of four coal mines, according to government data…
Earlier this decade, the company (Gujarat Agrochem Pvt Ltd, an insecticides, chemical and herbicide manufacturer) had to wait two years to get the go-ahead to build a herbicide plant in Gujarat. By the time the approval came, in 2013, the project’s estimated cost had jumped 28 percent and demand for the particular product waned, Nair said.
“It seems they are now adhering to a fixed time-frame,” Nair said, welcoming the faster clearance process under the current government…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-environment-exclusive/exclusive-india-speeds-up-environmental-approvals-in-industry-alarms-activists-idUSKBN1JI1B7
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23 Jun: Motley Fool: Tesla’s Solar Plans Aren’t Working
If the acquisition of SolarCity was working out as planned, we would have seen the evidence by now.
by Travis Hoium
The problem is that retail has never been a place where solar sells well. Solar is a high touchpoint sale that’s often pushed into the market, not pulled from suppliers by strong consumer demand. So, asking customers to come to Tesla to get a solar system was always a stretch, and there’s no indication right now that it’s going well…
If this trend continues, the $2.6 billion buyout of SolarCity may need to be written down entirely. That would be a black eye for Tesla in renewable energy, but without a winning strategy, I don’t see much hope for Tesla in the solar business…
https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/06/23/more-bad-news-for-tesla-solar.aspx
23 Jun: WatertownDailyTimes: Unfavorable forecast: Reports document concerns raised about wind turbine projects
Reports recently issued by two organizations echo concerns about wind turbine projects in the north country.
The Tug Hill Commission, a non-regulatory state agency, released “The Montague Doppler Radar, An Overview” earlier this month as part of its Issue Paper Series. It documents the adverse effect that wind turbines have on the Montague Doppler Radar used by the National Weather Service and Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield at Fort Drum.
“Additional wind farm construction could create additional radar interference, depending on the final details of the various proposals. The wind turbines create clutter that appears to the radar to be real weather,” according to the report. “The wind farm signatures can mask real, weak weather features that are precursors to lake effect snow development. They can also obscure tornadoes and high wind signatures during severe weather. The clutter also erroneously increases the precipitation estimates, making it harder for forecasters to gain an accurate picture of snow or rain totals for forecasts and warnings. Turbines located closer to the radar cause interference at more elevation angles of the radar, meaning more real weather data is masked through a deeper portion of the atmosphere, further hindering forecasters’ ability to detect hazardous weather. Turbines also impact data for approximately 30 miles downrange of the wind farm, increasing the affected area.”
The report issued in April by the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust was prepared by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. It focuses on how the proposed Mad River wind project in the Tug Hill Plateau would affect the surrounding environment…READ ON
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/opinion/unfavorable-forecast-reports-document-concerns-raised-about-wind-turbine-projects-20180623
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That’s very interesting. Is that the reason that at times we see lines of cloud/rain (apparently) radiating from where the radar is?
This is something I’ve noticed quite often on the BOM radar.
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Tesla cars not so green?
FILE- In this June 14, 2018, file photo, Tesla CEO and founder of the Boring Company Elon Musk speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Tesla is suing a former employee at its Nevada battery factory alleging that he hacked into the manufacturing computers and disclosed confidential trade secrets. The federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, June 20, contends that Martin Tripp of Sparks, Nev., also made false claims to the media about information he stole, including claims that the company used punctured battery cells in the Model 3 electric car. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
JONATHAN LEAKE
Tesla electric cars may be behind the production of just as much greenhouse gas as their petrol and diesel rivals, say analysts.
The Australian
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FYI
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-09-15/how-cattle-farmers-survive-world-s-worst-drought
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Also if you use Facebook try Bushbumpers.
The one linking farming and beverages is magic IMO
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In May, AEMO published their Energy Adequacy Assessment Projection for the next two years. Among their findings:
There is a risk of supply interruption in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria over the next two years, mainly during peak summer periods, although the annual expected level of unserved energy is below the reliability standard.
This risk exists irrespective of the rainfall scenario, and is primarily driven by increased vulnerability to other climatic events such as extended periods of high temperature, corresponding with low wind or solar availability and unplanned generation outages.
Of interest is the new generation capacity (nameplate) expected to come onstream:
Bodangora Wind Farm New South Wales 113.2MW Aug-18
Crookwell 2 Wind Farm New South Wales 91 Aug-18
Hunter Economic Zone New South Wales 28.8 Sep-18
Collinsville PV Queensland 42.5 Sep-18
Darling Downs Solar Farm Queensland 110 Sep-18
Daydream Solar Farm Queensland 167.5 Aug-18
Hayman Solar Farm Queensland 57.5 May-18
Kennedy Energy Park Solar Queensland 15 Dec-18
Lilyvale Solar Farm Queensland 100 Sep-18
Oakey 1 Solar Farm Queensland 25 Aug-18
Oakey 2 Solar Farm Queensland 55 Dec-18
Ross River Solar Farm Queensland 116 Summer 2018-19
Rugby Run Solar Farm Queensland 65 Summer 2018-19
Sun Metals Solar Farm Queensland 125 Apr-18
Coopers Gap Wind Farm Queensland 453 Jun-19
Kennedy Energy Park Wind Queensland 43.2 Dec-18
Lincoln Gap Wind Farm Stage 1 South Australia 126 Oct-18
Willogoleche Wind Farm South Australia 119 Winter 2018
Barker Inlet Power Station South Australia 210 Sep-19
Granville Harbour Wind Farm Tasmania 111.6 Summer 2018-19
Bannerton Solar Park Victoria 88 Jul-18
Yatpool Solar Farm Victoria 81 Apr-18
Crowlands Wind Farm Victoria 80 May-19
Mt Gellibrand (additional) Victoria 66 Jun-18
Salt Creek Wind Farm Victoria 54 Jun-18
Hornsdale Battery storage South Australia 100 Operational
The list includes 777 MW of solar and 496 MW of wind in Qld, 233 MW of wind in NSW, 245 MW of wind in SA, 210 MW of new gas in SA (by AGL, replacing some of their old Torrens units), 169 MW of solar and 200 MW of wind in Vic, and 112 MW of wind in Tas.
So the big mover is Qld, and I’m sure Tony will want to comment on what that does to Qld coal stations.
AEMO also do another medium term report, but for some reason that seems to be only available to market participants. “AEMO completed the MTPASA redevelopment project on 10 May 2018. The MTPASA graphs are available through the Participants Markets Portal area at https://portal.prod.nemnet.net.au.”
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That totals about 1300 MW of new intermittent wind, at a capital cost of order $2.5 billion, and 950 MW of solar at a capital cost of order $1.4 billion.
So with a 30% capacity factor for wind and 25% for solar, that’s an intermittent average supply of 630 MW or 5520 MWhr per year for $3.9 billion, with no backup.
With an annual operating cost of say 3%, amortization of the capital over 20 years, so 5% pa, and a 6% return on capital, that requires income of $550 million per year, or about $100/MWhr. So no sign of any lower electricity prices. Of course the cream for these investors is the added sale of renewable energy certificates at $80/MWhr giving them a further $440 million per year income for as long as that
subsidyscamconsumer ripoff continues.50
Ah some good news at last, so thanks for this Robber.
This takes Queensland’s current total from renewables, wind and solar power from 1.3% all the way up to a monumentally huge 5.8%, well on the way to 50% renewables by 2030. At this rate, they’ll be almost to 20% by 2030.
50%. Tell him he’s dreamin’.
Tony.
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and not least: http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/06/earthly-flowers-are-sole-living-bond.html
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2/3 world has herpes; and here are 2 curative methods: http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/06/3-ingredients-that-may-overcome-herpes.html
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another angle: http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/06/huawei-history-in-usa.html
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Its strategic, the Alliance leader has spoken.
‘Chinese communications giant Huawei has slashed its local research spending to zero, while revenue has fallen and staff numbers plateaued, as the Turnbull government prepares to block it from crucial contracts to build 5G networks.
‘The company is struggling to achieve the targets it set for the Australian market in the face of growing doubts about its links to Chinese authorities and the potential security risks to the next generation of mobile networks.
‘Huawei’s financial reports show its research spending in Australia fell to zero last year from $81,000 the previous year, $8.3 million the year before and $10.1 million the year before that.’
SMH
10
I love it when the Americans bleat about Huawei doing for China , what they had Cisco and others doing for the USA ever since technology arrived on the world stage.
20
The troof of the matter is that Beijing has developed a new form of capitalism and Washington is concerned, so they are playing the strategic distraction card.
Beijing likes to get their hands on the power generation along the Belt and Road, a middle class cannot develop without reliable energy, so lifting people out of poverty is their primary consideration. Its a benevolent dictatorship intent on commercial advantage, but not at the expense of humanity.
I’m presuming Huawei will get knocked back on strategic grounds.
10
More from Delingpole and Breitbart:
Surely after 30 years there should be incontrovertible proof or, in it’s absence, the believers should see the error in their ways.
100
And the video, linked by WUWT:
https://youtu.be/J2u_TIWPupw
20
23 Jun: NiagaraFrontierPublications: Grand Island Town Board: Whitehaven residents blast planned solar array at public hearing
By Larry Austin, Island Dispatch Editor
At a public hearing before the Grand Island Town Board Monday, residents had their opportunity to voice their opinions on a special use permit application and solar array project planned for 42 acres of privately-owned land west of Stony Point Road between Bedell and Whitehaven roads near a power line and substation. Solar Farm Energy LLC is eyeballing the parcel to install a ground-mounted solar farm.
Opponents of the project said the solar project isn’t as green as it’s cracked up to be. They claimed its construction would be detrimental to wildlife and feared its would require cutting down white oaks to reduce shade. Several residents objected to siting a power plant in a residential neighborhood, with one threatening a lawsuit if the board approves the project.
Tom Guzek, managing general partner of Solarpark Energy, a Saratoga Springs company that makes community solar projects, spoke on behalf of the applicants. He said the state has a “very large commitment” to build community solar projects throughout New York. The governor has “a vision” by 2030 of having 50 percent of the energy in the state provided by renewable energy projects, he said.
“In order to do this, you have to do solar,” Guzek said…READ ALL
https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/featured/2018/06/23/133122/grand-island-town-board-whitehaven-residents-blast-planned-solar-array-at-public-hearing
10
23 Jun: Press&JournalUK: Scottish Government’s climate change ambitions a ‘bigger threat than Brexit’ to the farming sector
The Scottish Government’s climate change ambitions and the wider anti-red meat lobby pose a bigger threat to the farming sector than Brexit, according to the chairman of the industry promotional body, Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).
Speaking to politicians and farming leaders at the Royal Highland Show’s opening breakfast, Jim McLaren said advice regarding the proposed Climate Change Bill highlighted potentially “devastating consequences for many sectors of the Scottish economy, including agriculture” if a “net zero” target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 were to be legislated for now.
Mr McLaren warned of the possible end of viable livestock farming in Scotland even as thousands of the country’s top livestock entered the judging rings, and his words were later echoed by the farmers’ union president, Andrew McCornick…
“Setting a legal net zero target now would require 16,000 ha of woodland planting per year, the use of GM crop technology and zero livestock production,” Mr McLaren said.
He also criticised what he described as a “totally inadequate” system for measuring emissions from agriculture.
“At the very core of every emissions reduction measure, is the reduction of waste and the more efficient utilisation of all resources,” he said.
“In agricultural terms, this includes improvements in animal health and welfare, increased conception rates, more efficient use of artificial fertilisers through soil testing and targeted lime application, and better use of grazed grass. Yet, under the current method of assessing emissions, every one of these measures increases the carbon footprint of agriculture – despite the fact we all know they are greatly reducing the emissions per unit of production.”…
Mr McLaren went on to urge the Scottish Government to develop a means of measuring emissions from agriculture that recognises emissions per unit of production.
He said the transport sector measured emissions at the exhaust pipe of the vehicle, based on grams of CO2 per kilometre travelled, but if the same system as is used for agriculture were applied to transport, it would simply be a case of counting the number of cars, with no regard for their individual levels of pollution.
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/business/farming/1504606/scottish-governments-climate-change-ambitions-a-bigger-threat-than-brexit-to-the-farming-sector/
21
FYI – the occult Elite appear to have adopted pushing people ( by legislative force, if necessary ) into a vegetarian diet.
This is to protect their mythical “Gaia”.
None of this suprises me.
00
It’s been 30 years since the first alarm on global warming was sounded
How much money has been wasted world wide in that time all for nought?
How many electric cars, windmills and solar panels must Australians own and install before we prevent our first drought?
But causes for optimism of changing the climate remain for those who know not much … “Prices of renewable energy also continue to slide, dislodging fossil fuels, the main emissions source.” Absolute BS! Even with huge subsidies.
“We can turn this around,””It’s not hopeless.” .. some people believe that it is possible change the climate from rooms in political edifices. Fools
https://goo.gl/RxqP2s
70
The money was not “wasted”.
Someone got it and they really appreciate it.
50
If they appreciated it why didn’t I get a “Thank You” note?
50
https://stopthesethings.com/2017/03/13/born-lucky-stars-align-perfectly-for-pms-son-with-mammoth-bet-on-wind-power-outfit-infigen/
60
Hanrahan
It might be like this.
Years ago the Grafton gliding club members came up to training courses at Kingaroy where there was a railway line across the road from the airstrip. One of those blokes had never seen a train there.
He worked out that Qld only had one train and it was never Kingaroy’s turn in August.
So there is only one thank you letter and your turn hasn’t come up yet.
Mine either
50
KSC – flew there several decades ago, when I was young and somewhat charming! Good memories.
00
It’s not something they want to brag about.
10
How much money has been wasted world wide in that time all for nought? Clearly not enough. Both LNP and ALP have joined forces to make sure we as taxpayers spend much more on renewables and nothing on bolstering our existing coal fired power stations let alone building new ones. Good luck on deciding who to vote for at the next federal election. A vote for either major party to form majority government will guarantee the continuation of the current madness, which in effect means Australian voters by and large are mad too. We do have other options but at this stage it appears not many voters even care enough to bother. So Turnbull and all other career politicians (Shorten etc.) are only doing is what they perceive the public wants them to do, not what they think is best for the nation. Enjoy the ride while it lasts.
80
‘Enjoy the ride while it lasts.’
If a good number of the ginger group cross the floor against the NEG, it will change everything.
61
I hope you are right but I won’t believe it until I see it happen. It would appear though a change in energy policy away from renewables will actually increase the risk of the LNP losing the next election. That’s thanks to a combination of the mass media campaign and educational institutions rejecting coal fired power stations, and the lack of critical thinking being conducted by the populace. Having said that it would still be worth the risk. After all there is currently not much difference between the two major parties wrt energy.
51
To mitigate the current propaganda against coal if the LNP changes leadership they will precious little time to re-educate the populace the truth about climate change and coal fired power stations. That’s going to be an even harder struggle for them than changing leadership. For starters that would require either the shut down of the ABC or new legislation to force them to stop propagandising. Good luck on that one. If I hear the new leader announce the withdrawal from the Paris Accord I would be jumping up and down with joy.
30
‘….if the LNP changes leadership they will precious little time to re-educate the populace the truth about climate change and coal fired power stations.’
You can see with the Ridd case that we won’t find a breakthrough there so its up to the politicians to be outlandish and say CO2 does not cause global warming, James Hansen was wrong and the science it pretty much settled.
The MSM would ridicule them and we would finally have a debate and coal fired power stations.
40
The new LNP will have to come down hard and fast, something that’s rarely seen, unlike the ALP. They will need to come out loud and clear stating that CAGW is not only a hoax but prove it using real science. What I’m getting at is if the LNP is to change the course of this nation with the support of enough people to win government they will have a Herculean task ahead of them. I very much doubt they have the skills let alone the courage and the conviction to do so, but we all can live in hope.
30
If they don’t cross the floor and say outrageous things then its up to Cory, putting on Donald’s cloak.
20
How can the ginger group cope with this?
‘Australia’s emissions over the past year were again the highest on record when unreliable data from land use and forestry sectors are excluded, according to new data from NDEVR Environmental.
‘If the country’s greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trajectory, Australia will miss its Paris target by a billion tonnes of CO2, which is equal to about two years of Australia’s entire national emissions.’
Guardian
00
My wife had some fould up at her public sector workplace happen, and they blew $50K.
She was concerned. My response was compared to the money the public sector has wasted on CAGW boondoggle, 50K is a drop in the ocean. I said if they shut down the CAGW monster, the public would be millions if not billions better off, and 50K , so what?
10
Without checking my facts, drones are less expensive than a boondoggle.
00
the “circular economy” – how did I miss it until now? made me wonder if the so-called “single-use” plastic bag business was part of it:
19 Jun: nine.com.au: Plastic bag ban can help jump start Australia’s ‘average’ circular economy
By Mark Saunokonoko
Australia currently lags behind European nations and countries like Japan, which have far more advanced environmentally-friendly circular economies…
Australia’s “middle of the global table” circular economy needs more government regulation and investment by the public and private sector, the peak representative body for the Australian waste industry told Nine.com.au…
“In terms of circular economies, if we were to compare ourselves to the rest of the world we would be about average,” Pete Shmigel, Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) chief executive, said…
Mr Shmigel said, if voluntary commitments are not working, government needs to step in with robust laws which force companies to use recycled content in its products…
By law, global behemoths such as Nestle and Unilever must abide by mandatory recycling targets in Europe.
In 2015, a report by research firm McKinsey & Company, found circular-economy principles could generate a net economic benefit in the European Union of $2.8 trillion by 2030…
In April China’s decision to restrict foreign waste imports had a huge impact in Australia, halting the annual export of 1.3 million tonnes of recycled waste.
That policy shift by Beijing forced Federal Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg and his state counterparts to quickly review Australia’s recycling strategies…
https://finance.nine.com.au/2018/06/19/11/28/plastic-bag-ban-can-boost-australias-circular-economy
seems circular economy has been a Davos feature for some time:
Dec 2014: UK Telegraph: Jeremy Warner: Another industrial revolution is coming; it’s circular
Welcome to the next industrial revolution – it’s circular. Everyone has heard of the “shared economy” – Uber, Airbnb, and so on. Well this is similar, only its about manufacturing, and it’s getting industrialists excited and alarmed in equal measure. It’s also the subject of at least four major sessions at next month’s World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos…
What’s the point of owning your own power drill when you use it perhaps as little as four or five times a year? Similarly, is there much to be gained by having a £20,000 hunk of metal parked outside your house when you only drive it once a week?…
According to research by McKinsey and the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, the cost of a mobile phone could be reduced by 50pc by applying these principles. Similarly, the cost to the consumer of a high-end washing machine could be reduced by a third if they were leased rather than sold, and their parts recycled into new machines. The economic saving from raw materials alone by applying these techniques is estimated at $1 trillion a year by 2025…
This is all well and good, but why would any business want to adopt such a model?…
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/11306108/Another-industrial-revolution-is-coming-its-circular.html
20
I think Edward Bellamy came up with a similar idea in the 1880’s…see his book “Looking Backward” which was published in 1888.
20
Edward Bellamy had a big impact on Australia’s political culture, along with Henry George, more Utopian than Marx’s Das Kapital.
00
comment in moderation re: 19 Jun: nine.com.au: Plastic bag ban can help jump start Australia’s ‘average’ circular economy
8 Feb: EurActiv: A plan for plastics
By Dave Keating
The plastics strategy is the culmination of years of data-gathering and preliminary measures. It was first envisioned by the circular economy action plan in 2015 which came along with a ban on free plastic bags…
The importance attached to the strategy was reflected in who announced it. Although the file belongs to Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella, its announcement was made by the Commission’s two “top guns”, as chief spokesperson Margaritis Schinas described them. Vice Presidents Frans Timmermans and Jyrki Katainen gave a high profile press conference and then made the rounds on European broadcasters including the BBC…
***Some have called for recyclers to be given credits in EU emissions trading as a motivator…
One idea is setting a tax on plastics…
leasing a light bulb!
19 Jan: CNBC: There’s a new type of economy in town — and some businesses think it could change everything
by Elizabeth Schulze
Leasing a car or an apartment is part of everyday life. But what if you could also lease daily household products like a washing machine or a lightbulb?
The circular economy aims to do just that…
“The circular economy is in essence the way of moving forward from 200 years of linear value chains,” said Peter Lacy, senior managing director at Accenture Strategy and author of “Waste to Wealth – the Circular Economy Advantage.”…
The circular economy is at work in the London office of the National Union of Students (NUS), a non-profit that represents students across the U.K. Rows of LED lights illuminate the office, turning on and off based on movement in the room. Instead of buying the lightbulbs, NUS signed a 15-year lease with Philips Lighting to receive light as a service.
“At the end of the life of the lights, the lights belong to Philips,” said Jamie Agombar, Head of Sustainability at NUS.
NUS pays Philips a quarterly fee for the light, which covers all maintenance and replacement costs over the 15-year period…
Agombar added that paying a fixed price for light allowed the NUS to make other sustainable investments, including solar panels and rainwater harvesting. “A lot of that has been afforded because we rented the lights,” he said…
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/19/some-businesses-think-the-circular-economy-could-change-everything.html
00
leasing light bulbs works for Philips!
26 Jan: Fortune Mag: Clifton Leaf: 7 Takeaways From Davos
5. Companies still want to make a difference
…On Monday night, I had the privilege of awarding the Fortune Award for Circular Economy Leadership to the CEO of Philips, Frans van Houten. The recognition program, which was created and is still sponsored by Accenture (I’m not quite sure how this became a “Fortune” award—but thanks, Accenture), was replete with examples of companies large and small putting environmental sustainability at the forefront of their strategic business planning…
http://fortune.com/2018/01/26/7-takeaways-from-davos/
10
Pat
“The circular economy”
Isn’t that the one that ends up in the circular file?
30
Or the floor-mounted circular filing cabinet?
00
“circular economy” is code for a lack of wealth generation, in effect its a net zero outcome thats only really shuffling money around, not creating it, aka Socialism,…..
10
See Pointman today….a good example in the RH column! Sorry, didn’t get the link.
00
27 Jan: EurActiv: Circular economy in the limelight in Davos
By Giulietta Gamberini
The first Circularity Gap Report indicates that merely 9% of the world’s exploited natural resources are re-used. EURACTIV’s partner La Tribune reports…
The Dutch think-tank Circle Economy made the most of the annual meeting of world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos to publish its first report on the circular economy, titled the Circularity Gap Report…
This waste completely goes against the environmental commitments discussed by governments and corporation at the COP21…
Indeed, 67% of greenhouse gases are emitted by the exploitation of natural resources. A fully circular economy would enable us to cut these emissions by 72%, according to the report. A crucial contribution if you take into account the UN’s last Emissions Gap Report published in October, which served as a reference to the Circularity Gap Report…
Circle Economy’s partner the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a network of 200 companies working to reach he goal of accelerating the ecological transition, presented their programme on circular economy, Factor10. With 30 members across 16 sectors, collectively acumulating $1.3 trillion in revenues, Factor10’s aim is to promote collaboration for circular economy solutions. Peter Bakker, the president and CEO of WBSCD said: “Factor10 represents the critical mass of private sector support needed to implement the circular economy at a global scale. We look forward to seeing the companies involved shape the transition to a sustainable future.”
One of WBSCD’s new members, Danone, has already made a step towards circular economy last week with its brand Evian by promising to use only recycled plastic for its bottles by 2025…
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s focus in Davos was on research and startups, as it announced the winners of its Circular Materials Challenge on 24 January. The challenge seeks alternative recyclable and compostable packaging solutions with a $200,000 prize and will join a 12-month programme where they will work with experts to make their innovations marketable.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/circular-economy/news/circular-economy-in-the-limelight-in-davos/
Wikipedia: Circular economy
Scope
Most schools of thought advocate a shift from fossil fuels to the use of renewable energy, and emphasise the role of diversity as a characteristic of resilient and sustainable systems…
Impact in Europe
On 17 December 2012, the European Commission published a document entitled Manifesto for a Resource Efficient Europe. This manifesto clearly stated that “In a world with growing pressures on resources and the environment, the EU has no choice but to go for the transition to a resource-efficient and ultimately regenerative circular economy…
The European environmental research and innovation policy aims at supporting the transition to a circular economy in Europe, defining and driving the implementation of a transformative agenda to green the economy and the society as a whole, to achieve a truly sustainable development. Research and innovation in Europe are financially supported by the programme Horizon 2020, which is also open to participation worldwide.
The European Commission introduced a Circular Economy proposal in 2015…
In January 2012, a report was released entitled Towards the Circular Economy: Economic and business rationale for an accelerated transition. The report, commissioned by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and developed by McKinsey & Company, was the first of its kind to consider the economic and business opportunity for the transition to a restorative, circular model…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_economy
10
The recent discussion about selling the ABC reminded me of an episode of “Till Death Do Us Part”…season 5, episode 1.
Alf Garnett refuses to pay his 2 month overdue TV licence. The reason being he does not allow the BBC channel to ever be on. But the inspector calls. The fine is about 50 pounds. He can’t pay it. So his son in law says the TV is his and pays much to Alf’s disgust.
30
great example of how the same story gets spun in opposite directions
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/06/thirty_years_and_were_still_waiting_for_global_warming_predictions_to_come_true_comments.html#disqus_thread
https://www.axios.com/how-much-earth-has-warmed-since-hansen-testified-b6f8fdb4-484e-477f-b8b6-6ee320994dc0.html
40
I hear stories that more and more cities around the world are running on 100% renewables. London is expected to reach that goal by the end of this year. Let me guess. What they mean is they will run on reneweables 100% SOME of the time and use coal/nuclear power from other areas the rest of the time. Not to worry. One day soon we can all say we are running the whole planet on reneweables “100% of the time”. Of course that will only ever be possible thanks to the hundreds of coal fired power stations being built by China all over the world. Thank you China! Perhaps the alarmists can find a way to make the new power stations look like wind and solar farms so the public won’t be confused. Better still how about telling the public those new coal fired power plants are not actually using coal but using some new technology converting wind and solar to electricity. Everyone then will be happy, except for Australia since we won’t be left with enough of the old style coal fired power stations and so we crash and burn. Perhaps then we can beg for China to come in and build the new
coal fired power stationssolar and wind farms.60
‘Coalition elder statesmen are urging the government to support coal-fired power as they seek to avoid new government infighting.’
Joe Kelly / Oz
30
The ginger group prepare to cross the floor.
‘Malcolm Turnbull has rejected Tony Abbott’s demand for a special party room meeting to thrash out the national energy guarantee.’ Oz
40
Not a surprise. After all Turnbull dislikes Abbott so much and liked Rudd for his original energy polices. There is only one way to reverse the LNP energy polices – get rid of Turnbull and his cohorts, announce the withdrawal from the Paris Accord, scrap all renewables incentives and introduce incentives to bolster existing coal fired power stations and the building of new ones. Anything less is a total waste of time. Although not really necessary, also allow the building of nuclear power stations. There is absolutely no reason to keep blocking them in this day and age of modern nuclear power stations. The likelihood is they can’t compete with even the new generation coal fired power stations but if they could then there is no reason to stifle competition. Let market forces dictate the viability of building them.
40
The National Energy Guarantee. If ever there was a grossly and deceptively misnamed document. Read it and weep. Count the number of times the word emissions appears. Count how many times reliable power supply doesn’t appear.
http://coagenergycouncil.gov.au/sites/prod.energycouncil/files/publications/documents/National%20Energy%20Guarantee-June%202018%20Consultation%20Paper-Commonwealth%20Design%20Elements.pdf
70
The biggest recent diversion has been the much publicised reduction in gas prices that is coming to a decade near you.
The fact that gas powered electricity is much more expensive is irrelevant: one of the “friends” will be making a big kill out of “gas”.
KK
60
So Malcolm has his “Australian Carbon Credit Units”. This is what cost him his job in 2007. His vengeance on Tony Abbott is complete. The new word is ’emissions’.
90
EITE Emission-intensive trade-exposed. All the talk of Goldmann Sachs from the former partner of Goldmann Sachs and GM of Goldmann Sachs Australia. It will make fortunes for so many bankers and middle men. No one mentions Turnbull’s actual profession of rich merchant banker. These are the people who created and profited from the GFC. Now it’s Emissions Intensity. Money for nothing.
110
Every time I hear that name I feel a wave of disgust.
People say “he’s hopeless” but they’re missing the point.
He’s extraordinarily competent but he’s not working for us.
No concern for any of us.
100
KK,
I am afraid I can not agree with your observation that he is “extraordinarily competent”.
My own observation is that he is horribly incompetent. That has been confirmed by two of my friends. One went to school with him and the other did business with him at Macquarie.
50
Too right,
If you’re saying he doesn’t do a good job as PM, I agree.
Thing is he isn’t doing the job of PM, he’s working for himself, Golden Sacks, friends and family.
His sons almost miraculous hit on Infigen : and you think he isn’t competent?
Sure, he’s paid to do the job of PM but he has bigger fish to fry.
I wish I was as incompetent as him and could afford to live on Sydney Harbour.
🙂
70
While with Macquarie he was notorious for being indecisive. That has not changed unless you believe the writings of Nikki Savva.
What competent leader of a country publicly insults the President of the USA?
What competent leader of a country ignores the indigenous population of their country?
What competent leader of a country is sucked in by shysters (Snowy 2.0, tax on vehicle fuel economy, carbon taxes, subsidies, etc)?
What competent leader of a country makes decisions based on the whims of a far left leaning national broadcaster.
Sorry KK, but to me POOR DECISIONS ARE THE MARK OF GROSS INCOMPETENCE.
Sorry old mate, Malcolm Turnbull is grossly incompetent.
70
Yes I agree, but the main point I was making is that he doesn’t care.
His own agenda is doing fine.
We don’t count. We have no consideration or loyalty from him.
As you say, he’s a ditherer, you can tell by his lack of animation that he didn’t play with the other kids at school.
He probably played with himself.
KK
30
Very competent at incompetence?
31
Annie, I am reminded of G&S here ( my Dad who was a G&S devotee would have approved….)
Album: Hms Pinafore
Sir Joseph.
When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an Attorney’s firm.
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,
And I polished up the handle of the big front door.
Chorus.
He polished up the handle of the big front door.
Sir Joseph.
I polished up that handle so carefullee
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Chorus.
He polished up that handle so carefullee,
That now he is the ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Henry Lytton as Sir Joseph 1920
Sir Joseph.
As office boy I made such a mark
That they gave me the post of a junior clerk.
I served the writs with a smile so bland,
And I copied all the letters in a big round hand.
Chorus.
He copied all the letters in a big round hand.
Sir Joseph.
I copied all the letters in a hand so free,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Chorus.
He copied all the letters in a hand so free,
That now he is the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Sir Joseph.
In serving writs I made such a name
That an articled clerk I soon became;
I wore clean collars and a brand-new suit
For the pass examination at the Institute.
Chorus.
For the pass examination at the Institute.
Sir Joseph.
That pass examination did so well for me,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Chorus.
That pass examination did so well for he,
That now he is the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Sir Joseph.
Of legal knowledge I acquired such a grip
That they took me into the partnership.
And that junior partnership, I ween,
Was the only ship that I ever had seen.
Chorus.
Was the only ship that he ever had seen.
Sir Joseph.
But that kind of ship so suited me,
That now I am the ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Chorus.
But that kind of ship so suited he,
That now he is the ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Sir Joseph.
I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament.
I always voted at my party’s call,
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all.
Chorus.
He never thought of thinking for himself at all.
Sir Joseph.
I thought so little, they rewarded me
By making me the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Chorus.
He thought so little, they rewarded he
By making him the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!
Sir Joseph.
Now landsmen all, whoever you may be,
If you want to rise to the top of the tree,
If your soul isn’t fettered to an office stool,
Be careful to be guided by this golden rule.
Chorus.
Be careful to be guided by this golden rule.
Sir Joseph.
Stick close to your desks and never go to sea,
And you all may be rulers of the Queen’s Navee!
Chorus.
Stick close to your desks and never go to sea,
And you all may be rulers of the Queen’s Navee!
20
OriginalSteve,
Good ol’ HMS Pinafore – one of the best.
10
Missed that earlier OS. Gilbert and Sullivan so often hit the nail straight on the head. Great stuff!
00
Fun, fun, fun. One of my favorite sites for free online courses is edX. They just sent me an announcement of several new courses, including this gem (https://www.edx.org/course/making-sense-of-climate-science-denial-0):
The course is sponsored by the University of Queensland, Australia. The listed instructors include John Cook, Dana Nuccitelli, and Gavin Cawley, among others.
90
As a card carrying member of the Denialati and a lover of science, the course is useless
“The course description clearly states it is not about the science of climate change, but examines the science behind denial.” — Previous Learner
100
“Denialati” – Love it! I’m stealing that :-).
40
Denial? Isn’t that a river in Egypt?
30
This sounds like a course in how to defeat the logic of religious sceptics, the athiests and agnostics and scientists. Such courses were common in the 1950s as religions fought back against science, a sort of rational approach to religion. A total failure. The key to religion is to suspend disbelief and rely entirely on blind faith. I wonder if Global Warming groups can now get tax exemption as religious organizations?
83
They should, but do the anti-cult laws apply to the CAGW cult?
00
Mike
I sent this to a fellow UQ graduate whose response was
“Is this for real??????”
A good excuse to go into “auto-educate”.
10
The Left have won their war against cheap and convenient electricity.
In Australia they have won their war against cheap (free) and convenient supermarket plastic bags.
What will their next war be against?
82
Democracy, Western civilization, Christianity and their heroes and beliefs.
80
Yes, of course. And Christianity is targetted as it under pins the western moral structure, which communists hate as they consider the State to be thier “god”.
21
Christianity is based on European fables, so naturally Marxists are atheists.
‘…they consider the State to be their “god”.
Not true, they are no different to us and only seek a happy secure life.
The coming Federal election should be a battle over energy and immigration, but the pseudo Marxist consortium in Canberra will try to evade that debate.
11
“Not true, they are no different to us and only seek a happy secure life”
That might be true of the rank and file, the leadership however, clearly have different ideas…like Mao, Stalin et al.
“Christianity is based on European fables, so naturally Marxists are atheists.”
Funny though how Christinaity ( when not hijacked by Nationalism ) been an incredibly enduring and positive thing. I have no issues with atheism except from my point of view, its a waste of time. Coming to christianity late in life, my requested level of proof of Gods existance was rather much higher perhaps than most, but after quite a few million-to-1 happenings, it sealed the deal.
Yes, I suspect the Marxists will try and stay low and hide behind the fridge ( so to speak ) , so they can avoid being removed from power….
10
I think I saw something the other day about activists in the UK targeting over supply in the garment industry.
So soon we will be able to eat our cold vegetarian dinners while clothed in hessian bags!
60
My! That will be fun, won’t it?
51
As long ast they promise to go about in only their knickers in a UK winter for “the cause”, only then will they have some cred….
00
We are nearly at the end of the first month of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It seems to be still pretty darned cold with winter not willing to let go: with this plaint at NoTricksZone.com.
I bet everyone is going to be waiting with baited breath for next winter.
I can’t help but wonder, especially after hearing/reading the absolute idiocy of “global warming causes cold,” if we’re going to have a repeat of the 1970s: we’re sliding into a new ice age” 🙂 (possibility/probability looks better than continuous warming to 2100 …)
And: “cold is caused by burning fossil fuels.”
Ah me, those take me back, to the middle of the 1970s no less. This time they can’t blame the atmospheric testing of atomic weapons. Nope. Stupidity is as stupidity does, and too much of mankind does stupidity really really well.
70
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/index.php/2018/06/23/reader-tips-4/#comment-1125219
“AGW Fail
“Canada shivers, “unprecedented” this late in June
Also much of Canada has been cold and the forecast for the next 15 days shows little warming. ”
“Labrador may not get a summer, most snow in 50 years”
30
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
Did “unprecidented” cause that?
30
Ian,
It is so cold in Canada at present that your eyebrows fall off.
30
BTW, I landed at Labrador City early December 1976. It was MINUS 72F (with wind chill factor). I left 5 days later and it had warmed to minus 35F. When I landed in Montreal it was minus 5F which seemed very warm after Labrador City. I think Labrador City’s record for wind chill factor is minus 78F.
During the time in Labrador city there were many cases of broken rail and truck axles (brittle steel at those temperatures).
For that trip I had purchased my thermal underwear in Miami – which doesn’t carry a very large range of thermal underwear.
20
AEMO Data Dashboard just now
Negligable wind, all states but Tas over $200, Sa over $300
50
I have rarely looked at the WA electricity market, but my interest was piqued by the AEMO report on the 10 year outlook for the south west grid in WA. That market averages about 2300 MW, with a peak of about 3,700 MW and an average price of $78/MWhr. The fuel mix is reported as coal 46%, gas 40%, wind 14%.
Among the findings:
Rapid uptake of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) continues to reduce peak demand and operational consumption. Rooftop PV installations are forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 8.7% over the outlook period under the expected growth scenario. AEMO expects 134 MW of rooftop PV to be installed annually on average, resulting in 2,273 MW of total installed rooftop PV by 2027-28.
The Reserve Capacity Target for the 2020-21 Capacity Year is 4,581 MW.
Under the expected growth scenario, the installed capacity of battery systems in the SWIS was projected to increase at an annual average growth rate of 28% from 47 MWh in June 2019 to 436 MWh in June 2028. This rate of growth is primarily attributed to the expected reduction in the cost of battery systems over the forecast period.
The EV proportion of the stock of registered vehicles was projected to reach 1.6%, 10.9%, and 19.4% by 2028 under the low, expected and high growth scenarios respectively. Projections for EV uptake assumed a slow start, due to limited infrastructure, the narrow range of models currently available, and the cost relative to conventional petrol or diesel vehicles. The market share of EVs has been projected to undergo a rapid growth phase driven by improvements in the relative financial attractiveness of EVs from the late 2020s.
10
How does the WA average price of $78/MWh compare to other states?
00
https://www.aemo.com.au/Electricity/National-Electricity-Market-NEM/Data-dashboard#nem-dispatch-overview
00
What do they mean ‘somewhat unseasonal’?
‘A somewhat unseasonal trough will form over Australia’s eastern interior during the coming days, producing rain for some areas suffering from severe rainfall deficiencies.
‘On Monday, a trough looks to form over western parts of Queensland, and will deepen on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be fed by moisture from the tropics as well as the Coral and Tasman Seas, and by Thursday some areas could have the best rain they’ve seen in months.’
Weatherzone
20
What they are not saying is that the subtropical ridge has lost its intensity, allowing unseasonal troughs to penetrate south east Australia, which proves beyond reasonable doubt that regional cooling has begun.
50
Is Australia’s unreliables policies the most obsessive in the world?
Australia is the only country that has absolutely ruled out the building of new cheap and reliable power generation such as coal and nuclear plant in the future.
No other government is this insane!
102
It must be due to the flood of Californian Democrats who were going to leave the USA when Trump became president, bringing their loony green ideas with them. Either that or we have our OWN GREEN LOONIES.
40
How about Scotland? They have closed ALL of their coal plants (their last, Longannet, was closed in 2016)
50
Amazing.
40
Has Scotland so soon forgotten the Scottish Enlightenment?
Forgotten James Watt, Glasgow instrument who adapted the model
of Thomas Newcomben’s steam engine to solve the problem of
inefficiency from wasted steam. Watt worked on the engine problem
for more than a year. Then out walking one afternoon, in 1765, he
passed by the old washing house…
‘I was thinking upon the engine at the time,’ he wrote later,
‘when the idea came into my mind that as steam was an elastic body
it would rush into a vacuum, and if a communication were made
between the cylinder and an exhausted vessel, it would rush into
it and thereby be condensed without cooling the cylinder … I had
not walked further than the golf-house when the whole thing was
strong in my mind.’ ( ‘ The Scottish Enlightenment. The Scots’
Invention of the Modern World.’ Arthur Herman. Ch 12.)
… And Scotland’s pretty cold too, better put on extra warm
woolen tights under those kilts, yr going to need them when the
power is in short supply, as it will be…
60
Tsk! Instrument ‘maker.’
20
Here’s another one – Japan!!
A 7 GW Wind Farm isn’t very productive – who da thunk??
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/06/25/national/wind-power-system-off-fukushima-performs-poorly-sources/#.WzHGW9o2u70
00
Whoops – 7MW. Got my units mixed up in conversion
00
25 Jun: 2GB: Alan Jones Show: ‘Not something we can sit by and watch happen’: Liberal MP fighting Turnbull energy policy
Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly has signalled he may cross the floor if the federal government’s energy policy is too onerous.
The government is negotiating with the states and territories to sign the National Energy Guarantee (NEG).
But some Coalition MPs are worried it will do very little to reduce electricity prices and would harm industry.
Mr Kelly joined Alan Jones in the studio, saying the agriculture sector would be decimated by the policy.
“We’re looking at around about the culling of 690,000 dairy cows, the culling of about seven million beef cattle, the culling of around about 20 million sheep.
“I don’t know how you can get around these numbers.”
Mr Kelly says Australia’s abundance of coal is our “comparative advantage” and to “surrender that” would be madness.
“To give that away and just to allow these other countries to eat our lunch Alan is not something that we can just sit by and watch happen.”
(SCROLL DOWN PAST SHORT VIDEO TO AUDIO: 15mins18secs Liberal MP Craig Kelly on the National Energy Guarantee)
https://www.2gb.com/not-something-we-can-sit-by-and-watch-happen-liberal-mp-fighting-turnbull-energy-policy/
60
I heard this on 2GB radio this morning, Allen Jones interviewed Liberal MP Craig Kelly. Craig reall knows his stuff. He is one of the few parliamentarians who cares about the green madness that is destroying our power sector.
We all know the electrical emits only part of the greenhouse warming gasses. If the alarmists in this country are allowed their way they will legislate to make greenhouse gas reductions in our farming sector by culling huge numbers of farm animals. The cost to the farming industry would be enormous and we would all suffer. All to appease the Paris Accord.
Already the government intends to put taxes on the transport industry via domestic car emmissions.
If the greenies get their way we will all end up as vegetarian fruit baskets riding our bikes to work. There is no end to their madness.
GeoffW
71
Heard a report on radio today about Freudenberg and his insistent pushing of our need to fulfill our climate obligations ‘re the Paris accord.
Appalling drivel that does no good for the planet or Australia.
His main focus is on keeping the momentum achieved by the liberals in passing the tax changes.
Total self serving rubbish that benefits only the Liberal Leaders.
KK
81
Keith these people are traitors to our nation.
They care more about ideology than they do about our welfare.
GeoffW
71
What obligations?!?!
…Obligations to a
Klimatariat from Gaia?
(exclamation mark!)Say,
that’s a financial
n’ hive-career-wise
Lew*-crative move,
buzz-buzz …
*…’ndowsky Recursive Fury
Quest-ionnaire.
10
behind paywall:
24 Jun: UK Times: Green car giant Tesla ‘no cleaner than petrol rivals’
by Jonathan Leake
Tesla electric cars, marketed as being among the planet’s greenest vehicles, may be behind the production of just as much greenhouse gas as their petrol and diesel equivalents, according to energy analysts.
They have calculated the amount of greenhouse gas generated in building Tesla’s luxury cars and added this to the CO2 from the power stations that produce electricity to charge them. This was compared with the emissions from making and running normal cars.
“Teslas are not cleaner to run than the average car in the UK,” said Jonathan Harris, of Engaged Tracking, a London-based company that analyses the sustainability and “greenness” of firms for potential investors.
“The annual emissions of a UK car is 1.5 tons of CO2, based on an average of 7,800 miles a year. Both the Tesla Model S vehicles we analysed have the same emissions [as an ordinary petrol car] of 1.5 tons of CO2 per year.”…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/green-car-giant-tesla-no-cleaner-than-petrol-rivals-3hklmcg50
50
24 Jun: WUWT: LEAKED: A look inside the ClimateWorks Foundation $66 million campaign to foist climate laws on local governments
by Anthony Watts
This document, from 2016 is part of the cache of John Podesta emails (campaign manager for Hillary Clinton), is a meeting packet for an NGO called The ClimateWorks Foundation. They say this on their web page…READ ON
Here is the entire 208 page document, feel free to browse and post items of interest in comments (LINK)
h/t to “JB”.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/24/leaked-a-look-inside-the-climateworks-foundation-66-million-campaign-to-foist-climate-laws-on-local-governments/
40
Money speaks louder than science.
Money and power.
Money and control.
With power and control you can squeeze even more money.
Stuff planet and the serfs.
KK
50
Fake science speaks louder than real science (partly due to the cowardice of most of the real scientists who remain silent).
00
22 Jun: NBC: Cities can’t ban plastic bags, Texas Supreme Court decides
By: KXAN Staff
The Supreme Court cited the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act, a state law that says “[a] local government … may not adopt an ordinance …to … prohibit or restrict, for solid waste management purposes, the sale or use of a container or package in a manner not authorized by state law.” The justices wrote in their opinion that the law is clear, and local ordinances cannot trump it.
“We must take the statutes as they are written, and the one before us is written quite clearly,” Chief Justice Nathan Hecht wrote…
Laredo had passed an ordinance in 2014 banning plastic bags in order to reduce the amount of waste that ended up on the streets and creeks, as well as landfills. The Laredo Merchants Association sued, and while the initial court said the city could have a bag ban, an appeals court said it could not.
The city tried to argue that plastic, disposable bags did not fall under the definition of a “container or package,” but the Supreme Court decided it did. Since banning bags isn’t outlined in state law as a manner in which a city can regulate those containers and packages, Laredo and other cities can’t create ordinances to ban bags.
The decision is specific to the bag ban in Laredo, but it likely opens the door for legal challenges to bag bans in Austin and other cities which could cite the Supreme Court ruling that they are illegal…
If cities wanted to keep or create bag bans from here on out, they would have to lobby lawmakers to create a new state law. That could be tricky because of the legislature’s conservative makeup and because Gov. Greg Abbott has criticized bag bans in the past, saying they’re an unnecessary regulation.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the court’s ruling saying he hopes Austin will “voluntarily bring their ordinances into compliance with the state law.”
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/cities-can-t-ban-plastic-bags-texas-supreme-court-decides/1256352989
I’ve read comments either here or elsewhere by people claiming plastic bags are manufactured from oil waste, which would otherwise be burned, but I don’t know if that is true or not.
this website has a ton of stuff about plastic bags, and is discussing Canada/gas on this page:
AllAboutBags: The Oil Myth
Fiction: Plastic shopping bags used in Canada are made from oil, and are a waste of a non-renewable resource.
Fact: In Canada, plastic shopping bags are primarily made from a by-product of natural gas production, ethane…
The bags actually help conserve the resource. They are made from a strand of the natural gas refining process, that is burned off to lower the BTU value of the gas so that it doesn’t burn too hot when used as fuel in our homes and businesses.
Instead of allowing this by-product from natural gas production to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, the ethane gas is captured and essentially frozen into a solid form to make a plastic shopping bag.
More Detail
•Polyethylene bags are made out of ethane, a component of natural gas. Ethane is extracted to lower the BTU value of the gas in order to meet pipeline and gas utility specifications and so that the natural gas doesn’t burn too hot when used as fuel in our homes or businesses. The ethane is converted, and its BTU value is “frozen” into a solid form (polyethylene) using a catalytic process to make a plastic shopping bag.
•Plastic bags were introduced as a replacement for paper grocery bags, to protect our forests from the needless cutting of trees.
http://www.allaboutbags.ca/oilmyth.html
40
That gas story is a bit distorted. Ethane and Methane are two close cousin fuels CH4 and C2H6. Typically found together in natural gas. Ethane does not burn particularly ‘hotter’ than methane. It does change the fuel:air mix required for an ideal burn. So pipeline gas has an acceptable range of methane to ethane in the mix. Too much ethane and your blue flame will start to burn yellow (not enough oxygen in the mix) which is cooler not hotter. Adjust your furnace for more air and the flame will return to blue.
Plastic, and in particular poly-ethylene made of “many” “ethylene” groups, can be made from ANY carbon source. Typically this is turned into “synthesis gas” first (a mix of CO and H2 ) and then on to make various chemicals. Typically the cheapest source is used. Historically this was coal, then oil, and finally now we mostly use natural gas as it is so cheap these days.
But at least Eastman Chemical company was still using coal a few years back, and were I building a plastics factory in an oil rich, gas poor, place; I’d set it up to use oil.
Ethane has lots of uses, and it is a political spin to call it a “waste product”. It would be just as accurate to call gasoline a “waste product” from kerosene production from oil. (It was once… then they figured out how to use in in gasoline engines and we moved on from kerosene lamps).
But in essence, yes, it’s silly to say plastic is made from oil and we must conserve it. There’s a couple of companies making plastics out of garbage (again via gasification to synthesis gas) and we are in no danger of running out of garbage. But as long as natural gas is so dirt cheap, it will dominate “petro” chemical production – especially in the USA where fracking has delivered such an abundance of it. Note that it is typically used as natural gas, not just the ethane fraction. Methane makes great synthesis gas too.
20
Sometimes you see renewable followers cherry picking really good days for wind power and going over the top.
For the WHOLE OF LAST WEEK, all seven days, wind power delivered an average of only 3.6% of the power required to keep Australia running.
The average for wind power for the week was only 825MW out of a Nameplate of 5222MW at a Capacity Factor of 15.8%.
During the peak time of power consumption, wind delivered 2.1% of the power required for the week, and on two days it was below 1%, with a low on Thursday when, at Peak Power consumption time at 5.30/6PM, wind power was supplying 0.3% of what was being consumed.
What do you do at times like that, now a whole week, when wind is all you have and the coal fired plants have been closed down, supposedly replaced by wind plants, and wind power is only delivering 3.6% of the power required.
Incidentally, for this week, coal fired power delivered a tick under 75% of every watt of power being used in the Country, and those dreaded fossil fuels (with natural gas fired power included) supplied 84% of the power.
Makes you think just how important coal fired power really is, eh!
Tony.
140
24 Jun: ABC: Consumer products giant Unilever calls on Australia to step up its battle against plastic pollution
By business reporter Phillip Lasker and Jenya Goloubeva
Multinational Unilever, one of the world’s biggest consumer products companies says it is being held back in the push to deliver more sustainable packaging…
The Government has not set a target for how much recycled content it wants to see in packaging, so Unilever says it has been “leading from the front”, re-inventing its packaging to include recycled plastic.
It recently launched a locally-manufactured plant-based laundry detergent in a bottle made from 25 per cent recycled plastic, estimating that a year of average sales for the product would be equivalent to removing 7 million single-use plastic bags from the environment.
The company now plans to expand its use of recycled plastic to other brands…
“To what degree can the Government help industry take the right decisions and provide incentives?” Unilever Australia and New Zealand chief executive Clive Stiff said…
Mr Stiff said it would be “great” if Australia introduced a similar agreement to the UK’s Plastics Pact, which has committed some of the world’s biggest companies — including Unilever — to a set of sustainability targets…
“To the degree that such an agreement could be monitored and binding, so much the better.”
An agreement would also establish certain and predictable demand for post-consumer recycled plastic, which is still scarce in Australia and more expensive than virgin materials, Mr Stiff said…
Marcus Gover, the chief executive of NGO Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), which was instrumental in bringing about the UK’s plastics agreement, welcomed Australia’s new plastic packaging target, but said it was only the first step…
Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said setting the target was a big move in itself.
“That’s a significant change. It’s an ambitious target and we could reach it earlier,” he said.
Mr Frydenberg said it was “a message to industry to adjust, to put in place new processes, new guidelines and to deliver on that objective by 2025 or earlier”…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-24/consumer-products-giant-calls-for-step-up-in-war-on-plastics/9902612
30
I have never understood why some of these companies, like Unilever, seem to think making improvements to their product packaging – “greener” and less wasteful – must come about via government mandate. I mean, please, they just proved it doesn’t take the government to redesign their laundry detergent bottles, right?
Government targets are political spin. If Unilever and others are truly concerned, they can change product manufacturing to be more in line with they feel is green and a “right decision” without being pushed into it – and when selling this fact, they really ought to be wary of demanding targets – they might get one they can’t meet.
10
Twitter: Paul Polman, Unilever
24 Jun: TWEET: We must come out of our unconscious mode of existence and become more conscious in how we produce, consume, work, relate, and live.
Before we reinvent the economy, we must reinvent ourselves
(LINK TO FAST COMPANY ARTICLE – SEE BELOW)
https://twitter.com/PaulPolman/status/1010942151092506624
***following links to study by European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate for Sustainable Resources etc:
20 Jun: FastCompany: Before we reinvent the economy, we must reinvent ourselves
A sustainable economy won’t mean much if we are still driven by a desire for unceasing consumption and mired in unhappiness and alienation.
by Navi Radjou
Navi Radjou is a fellow at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School. He is the coauthor of Jugaad Innovation (2012), From Smart to Wise (2013), and Frugal Innovation (2015). His next book, Conscious Society: Reinventing How We Consume, Work, Relate and Live, will be published in 2019.
The bioeconomy–a sustainable economic system based on clean energy and natural products–aims to eliminate our dependence on finite fossil resources and enable equitable use of renewable biological resources and ecosystems. The bioeconomy will use frugal innovation to reinvent agricultural and industrial systems, so we can produce healthier food, drugs, and other products for more people with fewer inputs and greenhouse emissions.
The bioeconomy has great growth potential. In the European Union, the bioeconomy employs 18 million people (***LINK) (8.2% of total labor force) and generated $2.6 trillion of turnover in 2015. The Indian bioeconomy is poised to grow from $42 billion today to $100 billion by 2025. Growing at 15% annually since 2011, the Chinese bioeconomy is expected to be worth $1.5 trillion in 2022. All this sounds very promising…
In many parts of the world, we live in capitalistic societies that favor winner-takes-all competition and extol the virtues of individualistic consumerism, which is satisfied by resource-intensive and heavily polluting mass-production. In this context, we operate unconsciously driven mainly by the energies of our three lower chakras–fear (“I want to survive”), desire (“I want more”), and power (“I want it all”)–that are all about self-preservation…
https://www.fastcompany.com/40587024/before-we-reinvent-the-economy-we-must-reinvent-ourselves
01
behind paywall:
31 Aug 2017: The Economist: The parable of St Paul
Unilever is the world’s biggest experiment in corporate do-gooding
PAUL POLMAN runs Europe’s seventh-most valuable company, Unilever, worth $176bn, but he is not a typical big cheese. A Dutchman who once considered becoming a priest, he believes that selling shampoo around the world can be a higher calling and detests the Anglo-Saxon doctrine of shareholder primacy, which holds that a firm’s chief purpose is to enrich its owners.
Instead Mr Polman preaches that companies should be run “sustainably”–by investing, paying staff fairly, and by making healthy products with as little damage as possible to the environment…
https://www.economist.com/business/2017/08/31/the-parable-of-st-paul
Wikipedia: Paul Polman
Unilever has now seen eight years of top line growth, averaging twice the rate of overall market growth, whilst improving the bottom line and delivering a total shareholder return of 290%…
In 2016 Polman was selected by former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to be an SDG Advocate, tasked with helping build widespread support for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Polman is co-chair of the Global Commission for the Economy and Climate, with Nicholas Stern and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Polman
10
I had a thought over the weekend about assessing the cost of power delivered by renewables v traditional sources.
Now we all know that the renewables crowd love to quote LCoE since it totally disregards intermittency and unpredicatability by assuming all power generated MUST be purchased AND is useful. The consequences of depressed power prices are ignored under the simplistic “lower prices is a good thing” assumption.
So the proper means of removing this distortion must allow for the lowered ROI due to depressed power prices. The best way I can think of doing this is to obtain the annual Income Earned through Power Generation and this income figure must be generated from the market rates during the generation periods hence it will EXCLUDE ANY PPA OR LRET CERTIFICATE SALES. This income can then have the LCoE subtracted to find the true annual ROI.
For comparison purposes, the Income Earned through Power Generation inclusive of PPAs and LRET Certificate sales will then show the direct subsidy costs.
Anyone can then see the uneconomic proposition of renewable generation and the lie that underpins the “economy through scaling” argument. Of course this only works for plants/farms that are in operation but it would show the continual failure of renewables to ever justify their existence (outside of exceptional circumstances)
20
Very good video about how the Left manipulates language. Under 5 mins.
https://youtu.be/K-58HoTHWQk
22
Very good.
22
This deserves to be up again if it is already posted – IMO
“Government of Turnbull eats cake while we peasants are waking up to them”
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2018/06/government-of-turnbull-eats-cake-while-we-peasants-are-waking-up-to-them.html
41
Compare and contrast
“President Trump cancels party for taxpayer funded officials – donates food to veterans”
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2018/06/president-trump-cancels-party-for-taxpayer-funded-officials-donates-food-to-veterans.html
00
https://contrakrugman.com/ep-144-how-to-answer-climate-alarmists-read-their-own-reports/
This is economics, not science. Bob Murphy just takes the IPCC scientific conclusions at face value and then explains the strangeness of things like “social cost of Carbon” and whether it’s cheaper overall to fix the problem late or early (presuming there is a problem).
20
Media watch just had an episode of the ABC.
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4858440.htm
A defence against privatisation.
Paul Barry countered the argument that people who never watch ABC should not have pay for it
by saying that they people pay for commercial channels when they don’t watch them because banks buy advertising and that is ultimately paid for by their customers.
?????????
30
sorry meant to say
Media watch just had an episode about privatisation of the ABC.
10
behind paywall:
24 Jun: UK Times: No 10 ‘fixes’ Heathrow runway vote
Downing Street has ordered a no-holds-barred effort to “fix” tomorrow’s crucial Commons vote on Heathrow’s proposed third runway, including sending the most high-profile opponent, Boris Johnson, on a trip to AfricaMPs won’t see a report warning of a big rise in CO2 emissions, and Boris is sent abroad
by Jonathan Leake and Caroline Wheeler
Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, has scheduled the vote days before publication of a government report warning that surging aviation emissions would destroy Britain’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. It means MPs will have had no chance to read the report, from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) on Thursday, before voting.
***The report will warn that aviation and other emissions are growing so fast that homeowners and businesses may have to sacrifice gas cookers, central heating boilers and petrol cars for Britain to meet its climate change targets…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-10-fixes-heathrow-runway-vote-msjbw9fx6
00
Do I read that correctly, that ordinary folk [sorry about the Obamaism] must go without heating so the millennials can fly the world conveniently?
Tell ’em that they can only fly on an EA. [electric aeroplane]
It took many thousands of years for homo to progress from being hunter/gatherers. One assumes that if we can’t afford gas to cook with we can’t afford refrigeration so we revert to being so in just a couple of generations.
Note: I’m only half joking. There is no other logical possibility if alarmists get their way.
30
25 Jun: Pensions&Investments: CalPERS director gets seat at Vatican meeting on climate change
When Pope Francis gathered leading oil company executives in early June to talk about how they can help address climate change, Anne Simpson, director of corporate governance at CalPERS, also was in the room, said Priya Mathur, president of CalPERS’ board, at its June 20 meeting…
“It’s not every day that an organization gets invited to a meeting of this caliber,” Ms. Mathur said…
Among its actions, in 2017 alone, CalPERS called on fellow shareholders of Exxon Mobil Corp., PPL Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. to vote for a non-binding proxy ballot resolution requiring the global oil and gas company to report on environmental risks and opportunities associated with climate change. The proxy resolution passed…
“I believe it’s the commitment and dedication of this board and our investment team in the area of sustainable investments that gave us a seat at this table,” Ms. Mathur told the board.
http://www.pionline.com/article/20180625/PRINT/180629919/calpers-director-gets-seat-at-vatican-meeting-on-climate-change
2 pages: 24 Jun: Forbes: New Study Finds Climate Change Shareholder Resolutions Have No Impact
by David Blackmon
(David Blackmon is an independent energy analyst/consultant based in Mansfield, TX. David has enjoyed a 38-year career in the oil and gas industry, the last 23 years of which have been spend in the public policy arena, managing regulatory and legislative issues for various companies, including Burlington Resources, Shell, El Paso Corporation, FTI Consulting and LINN Energy)
A new study finds that the climate-based shareholder resolutions being so actively pushed by proxy advisory firms and their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-based institutional investors have “no statistically significant impact” on a company’s bottom line, either positive or negative. The study, funded by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), was led by the highly-respected PHD economist Joseph Kalt, Senior Economist at Compass Lexecon and is the Ford Foundation Professor (Emeritus) of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
This was an interesting finding given the elevation of the demands from this kind of investor activism in the past several years, especially against fossil fuel companies, and the recent decision by several big institutional investor firms to use their market position in an attempt to frighten major oil and gas companies away from attempting to explore for oil in the always-controversial Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR). The study’s lead finding will no doubt not sit well with the proxy advisory firms who place such high priority on having their clients push climate change-related shareholder resolutions, or with the companies for whom such resolutions can create onerous new administrative burdens…
“We focus on climate change resolutions both because of the growing activism on the part of certain large institutional investors around climate change disclosure and because of the argument upon which that activism is predicated, i.e., that such additional disclosure provides meaningful information to the marketplace and therefore serves to benefit shareholders. Our analysis fails to find support for such assertions.”
The report’s authors are unsurprised by their study’s findings. Noting the “stridency of arguments” that often accompany the debates over such proposals, the authors go on (to) point out the reality that “The fundamental drivers of risk and the impact of an issue like climate change on the ability of management’s decisions to enhance or detract from shareholder value are political.” Which is, of course, absolutely correct…
But this study indicates that what the proxy advisory firms are actually engaged in is a whole lot of sound and fury that at the end of the day signifies nothing…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2018/06/24/new-study-finds-climate-based-shareholder-resolutions-have-no-impact/#696ac0f45dd1
10
Irish editions of UK Times and UK Sun – a pattern is emerging. soon farmers will simply give up!
behind paywall:
25 Jun: UK Times Editorial: Climate for Change
If the government does not stand up to the farming lobby and we do not reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we will all end up suffering
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/climate-for-change-8fvxq0sfg
CarbonBrief re the above: “Given how much is at stake for this island, there still appears to be a lack of urgency in the government when it comes to taking the drastic and rapid steps that are needed to cut our greenhouse gas emissions,” says an editorial in the Irish edition of the Times. The statistics on Ireland’s emissions “make grim reading”, the paper says, “Ireland’s emissions are rising, and are projected to do so for most of the next decade”. Part of the reason, the article explains, is that emissions from farming – “the single biggest source of carbon” for Ireland – are on the rise. “To show it is serious about climate change, ministers must face down rural lobby groups that want farming to be exempt from carbon taxes and that demand the government continues subsidising power stations that burn peat, the most damaging fuel in terms of global warming,” the editorial argues.
24 Jun: UK Sun: Oliver Callan: Ireland is sleep-walking into a long term agri-food crisis as extreme weather conditions and too many cattle pose threats
Climate change is driving the extreme conditions that brought two wind storms to the country within six months, a deluge of snow in March that caused a fodder crisis and near-drought conditions this June which are threatening another
Everything scientists have been warning us about for years is coming to pass.
Climate change is driving the extreme conditions that brought two wind storms to the country within six months, a deluge of snow in March that caused a fodder crisis and near-drought conditions this June which are threatening another.
The signals have been there for years. Nothing was done to prepare for future issues after a series of floods in 2012 and 2013 caused a major fodder problem.
Remarkably, the demographic worst-hit by climate change, farmers, are the group most in denial. Environmental groups last year warned that Ireland was the least climate-efficient country in Europe.
The Irish Farmers’ Association accused the experts as engaging in a “continuous campaign of undermining the agri-food sector”. After 2015, the lifting of milk quotas led to a massive 300,000 increase in our dairy cow population.
Later that same year, the Government signed up to the Paris Climate Agreement, promising to reduce emissions by 2020, despite this commitment relying on a need to reduce the national herd.
The country is facing massive EU fines in just two years and again in 2030 as it now appears inevitable that we will fail to reach emissions targets. We now have a scenario whereby the Government’s agri-business strategy to increase production is in direct conflict with its commitments to reduce emissions.
Farming alone causes 36 per cent of our greenhouse gases, the harmful substance causing our climate to heat up…
The cost to the taxpayer of both the impending fines and the rising frequency of bailouts to farmers to cover fodder shortages calls into question the value to the economy of ramping up production in agriculture. The fact is the Irish agri-food business is unsustainable.
Each time a new export market opens up, the headlines are spun as fantastic news for the country. It may not even be good for the sector. Farmers’ groups say the fanfare over the reopening of the US market to Irish beef in 2015 and the Chinese market his year has not benefitted farmers themselves.
What it certainly does is put more pressure on emissions targets and contributes to the global climate crisis…
Our rich natural heritage is being abused and destroyed for short-term gain from ***tourism, food and other industries. Anyone who begs for each of these industries to become more sustainable is dismissed as an anti-business crank…
https://www.thesun.ie/news/2755822/ireland-agri-food-weather-cattle/
10
24 Jun: The Atlantic: Can Anyone Fill the U.S. Leadership Vacuum on Climate Change?
American withdrawal from the Paris agreement is a test for the future of the globe, but also for the international order.
by David A. Graham
“The absence of the U.S. at a political level is visible. I was at the Conference of Parties in Bonn in November and the absence of the U.S. is absolutely felt,” Todd Stern, the Obama administration’s lead negotiator on Paris, said Sunday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, hosted by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic. “There’s a lot of countries trying to pull back and backslide and it wouldn’t be happening the same way if the U.S. was there.”…
“If the U.S. is not in there, the likelihood that you’re going to get other countries doing their best is just reduced,” he said…
***“China is definitely pushing forward. India, definitely pushing forward. They’re doing that domestically,” said Christiana Figueres, former longtime executive secretary UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The motives behind that aren’t always altruistic: China’s leadership views clean technology as a huge economic growth opportunity…
China is an emerging superpower, and pundits have long speculated that it could replace the U.S. as the dominant force in international agreements. So far, however, that isn’t happening, Stern and Figueres said. They’re making strides domestically, but can’t seem to translate that into leadership among other countries. “It’s hard for other countries to align their political message with what is going on on the ground,” she said…
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/06/can-anyone-fill-the-us-leadership-vacuum-on-climate-change/563594/
***25 Jun: ClimateChangeNews: Mysterious emissions of banned greenhouse gas traced to Chinese factories
Illegal production of CFC-11 in China has a climate impact equivalent to 16-20 coal power plants, the Environmental Investigation Agency estimates
By Megan Darby
Chinese factories are illegally producing chemicals that damage the ozone layer and the climate.
That was revealed in a survey of manufacturers carried out by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and corroborated by the New York Times on Monday.
The EIA identified eight companies in four provinces that were using CFC-11 in the production of plastic foams, which are most commonly used for building insulation. It is one of a group of chemicals banned under the 1987 Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer…
Its findings go a long way to explain mysteriously high levels of the pollutant detected by air monitors, in data published in Nature (LINK) last month…
Evidence of other illegal production hotspots has been passed to the Chinese authorities…
“It is outrageous that industrial climate-killers banned several years ago continue to be produced, used and emitted at this scale in an industry where better technology is easily available. This could undermine not just the slowly healing ozone but also the global efforts to battle climate change,” said Mahapatra…
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/06/25/mysterious-emissions-banned-greenhouse-gas-traced-chinese-factories/
00
Before I made my last post SA was charging it’s BBB, importing 40 MW. That’s OK, that’s what it is supposed to do BUT they were paying >$100/MW for the privilege. I’m not sure that’s what was touted to the misinformed public.
BTW Has the new SA government made any earth shattering announcements on how they will fix their power supply? They had plenty of time in opposition to come up with a plan and enough time since the election to get it to a vote in parliament. Crickets!
20
I meant to say that it was supposed to recharge with cheap wind power, not the “expensive” watts generated in Qld by black coal. Bit of a bummer that without Qld, Australia would resemble Sth Africa: You can have power whenever you like, as long as you like it when you can get it.
40
comment in moderation re: 24 Jun: The Atlantic: Can Anyone Fill the U.S. Leadership Vacuum on Climate Change?
24 Jun: Union of Concerned Scientists: Press release: NOAA Mission Statement Change Would Threaten Climate, Conservation Work
Statement by Andrew Rosenberg, Union of Concerned Scientists
https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press-release/noaa-mission-statement#.WzDnNeQnbIU
NYT on the above speculation:
24 Jun: Toronto Star: A leading U.S. climate agency may lose its climate focus
By John Schwartz, The New York Times
The Trump administration appears to be planning to shift the mission of one of the most important federal science agencies that works on climate change — away from climate change.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is part of the Department of Commerce, operates a constellation of earth-observing satellites. Because of its work on climate science data collection and analysis, it has become one of the most important U.S. agencies for making sense of the warming planet. But that focus may shift, according to a slide presentation at a Department of Commerce meeting by Tim Gallaudet, the acting head of the agency.
In the presentation, which included descriptions of the past and present missions for the agency, the past mission listed three items, starting with “to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans and coasts.” In contrast, for the present mission, the word “climate” was gone, and the first line was replaced with “to observe, understand and predict atmospheric and ocean conditions.”
The presentation also included a new emphasis: “To protect lives and property, empower the economy, and support homeland and national security.”…
While the past mission for the agency was focused on resiliency, including “healthy ecosystems, communities and economies that are resilient in the face of change,” the present mission, according the presentation, replaced that with a focus on “a safe, secure and growing economy empowered through accurate, reliable and timely environmental information.”…
The presentation by Gallaudet, an oceanographer and retired Navy rear admiral, was part of a Department of Commerce “Vision Setting Summit.” While it is common for agencies to shift priorities under a new administration, sweeping changes to the core mission of an agency are unusual…
Another NOAA scientist said that he doubted the statements would lead to broad change. “This is really not a big change in the core mission,” said the scientist, who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to comment. “It’s all in how you interpret the slides. Climate won’t be highlighted but it will remain a fundamental part of the NOAA mission.”
Kevin Trenberth, a climate expert at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said that the presentation “does raise alarm bells.” In an email, he asked, “Where is climate?”
“Instead of protecting and preserving ecosystems, it is one of exploitation,” he added. “The latter is especially offensive and short-sighted.”…
Trenbeth said that trying to eliminate climate from NOAA’s mission was in line with previous congressional attacks on the agency. However, he said, there’s no getting away from the centrality of understanding climate change to the agency’s mission. “The fact is that improving weather and seasonal forecasts is now a climate problem: it inherently involves interactions among the atmosphere and ocean and land.”
“The omission of anything related to climate, which includes El Nino, is extremely negligent,” he said.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/06/24/a-leading-us-climate-agency-may-lose-its-climate-focus.html
10
Is Trump saying NOAA should report, not editorialise? Sounds fair to me.
40
The end of the beginning?
“Report: NOAA Set to Abandon Climate Change Mission”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/06/25/report-noaa-to-give-up-on-climate-change/
00
The Labor party are so confident of victory, they are now pushing the idea of an Albanese takeover.
In the other camp, even John Howard has to openly declare that Turnbull would win, which is as puzzling as it is unlikely. The continued 47% to 53% is a landslide for Green Labor. Meanwhile Frydenberg’s NEG is as obscure as possible, all things to all men but he says it will guarantee adequate power while delivering the Paris agreement for ‘clean’ energy. Of course.
Clean. This is the continuing thread in government. As if coal is ‘dirty’. Where? It’s all language and deceit. So ‘clean’ diesel in our cities pushing out nitric acid is preferable to ‘dirty’ coal in the country pushing out carbonic acid? Not only is this nonsense, it has led to cities now taxing and even banning diesel while clear air Australia, Tasmania and South Australia are reliant on giant imported diesels with imported diesel for city power?
This is a win for madness, where the Federal environment minister openly categorises utterly harmless and essential and invisible CO2 as ‘dirty’ and emissions and obviously pollution. If carbonic acid was deadly, perhaps we should ban soda water, lemonade, bread, cheese and champagne? Real science was the first casualty of the Climate Wars started by James Hansen and his sponsor, now billionaire senator Al Gore.
Albanese will restart the human tragedy of the boats, double down on stealing money for replaceables and closing more coal power, crippling this country and of course, importing more hundreds of thousands of people to vote for him, turning Australia into Venezuela a resource rich country crippled by socialism.
Can we please have our real PM back, before Malcolm retires to his Emissions Intensity trading business? It is so called as no one wants to call it a carbon tax.
40
“Yes, that’s right folks, climate change drives global warming!
The stupid, it burns.”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/25/monday-mirthiness-climate-cluelessness-comes-full-circle-climatenexus/
20
Here is a fascinating video about the extinction of ancient giant insects. They could survive because at that time atmospheric oxygen was as high as 35 percent.
https://youtu.be/_r2xvRU_mhY
In the documentary it is also stated that coal stopped forming when a fungus evolved that would digest dead plant material rather than allowing it to accumulate on forest floors.
02
Did the fungus evolve after all peat was formed?
00
“Democrats Getting Back To Their Roots”
https://realclimatescience.com/2018/06/democrats-getting-back-to-their-roots/
10
Reminds me of something – – –
”
don morris
June 25, 2018 at 1:29 pm
Yes,I have great confidence in the Trudeau government. I am very confident that no mater what the issue, this government will screw it up. Trudeau has failed in all important trade negotiations due to his diversity and gender equality BS, and his team’s ineptitude as negotiators. Chrystia Freeland is another journalist who believes her own PR, only a fool would have appointed her Minister of Trade.
The LPC may very well try to pull off an early election as Chretien did so often, but they may be overestimating Trudeau’s popularity and mistaking the Canada versus Trump issue for voter’s confidence in Trudeau, which is pretty low right now.
Btw,the CPC leader is Andrew SCHEER. The LPC intends to run an Andrew Sheer against him in his Riding to confuse the voters. They may also run an Andrew Shear,if they can find him.”
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/index.php/2018/06/25/top-hands/#comment-1125391
20
Ezra Lavant of Rebel Media is scathing of Trudeau and his tariff war with the US, one he can’t win especially after stabbing Trump in the back [according to Trump, I have no idea] His weird holiday in India did him no favours, that’s for sure.
20
Now the Left have a climate war against cows.
Great idea! If there is no food everyone will die and the planet will be saved…
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/cattle-the-next-target-in-climate-war/news-story/b9ad6c729ac9560f3fb061ec5c315c0f
Cattle the next target in climate war
Storm clouds have gathered over the long paddock as beef production becomes the target of a building global campaign that threatens to make cows the next coal in climate change action.
Australia’s biggest integrated cattle and beef producer, Australian Agricultural Co (AAC), has been thrown on to the defensive after it was named and shamed as a global laggard.
AAC, the oldest continuously operating company in the nation, claims a “high risk” rating by a group representing investors worth $5.9 trillion was more due to poor communication than bad management.
But a war of competing scientific views has been ramping up over the impact of cattle on climate, with Oxford University research rejecting the benefits of grazing and claiming diets with less meat of any kind were needed to save the planet.
(See link for rest of article, paywalled.)
31
I’ve noticed a stronger and much more vicious push by some vegans to ‘persuade’ others to become vegans too. As far as I’m concerned….you want to eat vegan, you do it…leave me and others to our choice without persecuting and bullying us. What do they think grazing animals in their billions have done? I’m talking about the wild ones now, not livestock, why are they all so ignorant?
31
There is already a UN push for people to eat more insect protein, presumably the elites will get to keep eating juicy steals, however.
31
Good plan, begin with the leftist parasites.
40
I started looking at SA electricity supply/demand data.
From Anero.id I looked at monthly data for 2018 and found wind averages about 500 MW (range 0-1200 MW) and gas supplies an average 700 MW (range 400-1800).
That comes from wind nameplate of 1810 MW (so 28% CF), and gas nameplate of 2690 MW (so 26% CF).
There is also 660 MW of diesel generation capacity, but that is rarely used. And of course the big battery that delivers up to 30 MW intermittently.
What I couldn’t find is average demand on the grid in SA.
From AEMO I can see that current daily demand is averaging about 1800 MW with a range of 1200-2300 MW, and I believe a summer peak close to 3000 MW.
From Anero.id I get average generation of 1200 MW with about 40% wind, but that is well below average demand of 1800 MW.
I then found an AEMO report for SA 2016/17. It shows:
Gas 5596 GWhr
Wind 4343 GWhr
Rooftop PV 1013 GWhr
Diesel 122 GWhr
Imports to SA 2889 GWhr
Exports from SA 164 GWhr
So that’s an average 640 MW gas and 390 MW wind, with imports of 330 MW on average for a total supply of 1368 MW (excluding rooftop that is “behind the meter”.
Hazelwood in Vic closed in Mar 2017 so the interstate balance may have shifted since then.
SA continues to lead the way with an average electricity price of $98/MWhr for 2017/18. closely followed by Vic at $92, while those coal burning cockies in Qld lag behind at $72/MWhr (but see #31 above, they intend to join the party). Hard to find comparable data for WA market.
Any suggestions on how to improve this analysis with more up to date information?
20
26 Jun: 9News: Abbott not convinced energy policy will make power reliable or cheaper
By Lane Calcutt
Former prime minister, Tony Abbott, has again refused to rule out crossing the floor, and voting against the government’s energy policy.
Mr Abbott, for one, wasn’t convinced after a meeting of the coalition’s energy sub-cmittee and business and industry leaders.
Asked if he was committed enough to changing the National Energy Guarantee to vote against it, Mr Abbott said “the short answer is yes”.
Before the meeting, Mr Abbott said the power system is being “run to reduce emissions, not to produce affordable, reliable electricity”.
“It’s time we ended the emissions obsession and get back to giving ourselves affordable, reliable power,” Mr Abbott said…
Mr Abbott and a small band of coalition colleagues want the policy to ensure a future for based load power like coal, and gas.
“It’s bizarre a country with the world’s biggest reserves of coal, gas, and uranium should have some of the world’s highest power prices,” he said…
“The bottom line is we need affordable, 24-7 base load power and by far the cheapest is produced by coal.”…READ ON
https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/06/26/10/10/abbott-says-he-could-cross-the-floor-on-energy-policy
behind paywall – don’t know who wrote it:
NEG glosses over disaster of climate-change policy
The Australian-10 hours ago
The fact that “a broad coalition of stakeholders” believes this rubbish shows what a pernicious hold the climate-change fraud has over otherwise sensible people…
30
comment in moderation re:
Abbott says feels strongly enough to cross floor
9news.com.au · 31 mins ago
although the headline has been changed, as per the comment I posted.
10
behind paywall:
Nationals’ party room has demanded changes to the Turnbull Government’s key energy policy
Daily Telegraph – 25 mins ago –
It comes as Liberal MPs Craig Kelly and Tony Abbott have indicated they would be prepared to cross the floor to oppose any legislation on the NEG…
30
Mark Butler (ALP Shadow for CC and Energy) is in full p@nic mode this morning foaming at the mouth saying that the Cabinet needs to stamp out any talk of new coal fired power plants.
So, then, we have wind power with a Nameplate of 5222MW, Solar power plants with a Nameplate of 966MW and Rooftop Solar with a Nameplate of 7800MW, so we have a nameplate of (almost) 14000MW.
14000MW.
Think of that for a minute. There’s only 23000MW Nameplate of coal fired power plants in the whole of Australia.
So, these two renewables of choice, wind and solar make up 61% of the WHOLE coal fired fleet of plants.
Amazing, utterly amazing.
So, at the time of peak power consumption just yesterday, Monday 25th June 2018, at 6PM, all that renewable power of choice was delivering the following:
Rooftop Solar Power – ZERO. (The Sun has set)
Solar Power Plants – ZERO. (The Sun has set)
Wind Power – 150MW.
The AEMO coverage area of those five States was consuming 30870MW.
So, the renewables of choice, wind and solar power were delivering a grand total of
of the total power required.
Less than half of one percent of what was required to keep Australia running.
Quick, build more wind and solar plants, we have some catching up to do here.
Tony.
150
May I have permission to repost that Tony?
41
Repost it anywhere, well everywhere really.
It needs to be shouted out from the treetops.
Mention it in the party room, no yell it out.
Show it to Mark Butler, and the ALP Caucus room.
Point it out to The Greens. (and as you do that, watch DiNatale point off into the distance and and say, hey, isn’t that Tony Abbott Abbott Abbott Abbott)
The rank stoopidity of all this is just mind boggling.
Tony
90
Tony, I reposted it several places on Facebook and got many favourable comments. Perhaps you could write a similar piece looking at annual production of the unreliables?
00
Thanks Tony, very telling figures, to say the least.
41
A great outline Tony.
Short, simple with a huge punch.
The other aspect that you’ve exposed is the idle periods and therefore a cost aspect that is kept out of sight and therefore out of understanding.
The coal fired generators run 24 hours a day and only stop for repairs or maintenance.
If say 10 million dollars has been invested in the plant then it is earning, or capable of earning a full income.
With solar power it starts work at 6 am and finishes before 5 pm in winter. Similarly for windmills which have much less wind at night without the Sun to power the breezes.
At the very maximum even in summer you wont get 50% time on the job from these renewables.
If you paid 10 million for the Solar and Windpower you are barely getting work out of them for 50% of the day.
Then on top of this there are the additional “losses” due to “Deliverance”.
Transforming to a.c. and trying to deal with the extreme variability of production is a nightmare.
Delivering renewable energy is extraordinarily costly and difficult. It is still in the experimental stage, why are we being forced to put up with the deceit that it is cheaper than coal?
I was going to say, Total nonsense, but it is much worse, Total deceit for the reason that a few of our citizens can use the ” dream of renewables” to get themselves elected into a cushy job with benefits.
KK
100
But at least the utilities aren’t “gold plating” their systems with overbuild in generation and transmission…
00
So, you know how everyone gets paid the same cost for every MWH of power they generate, look at this then. Just from the sale of their electricity alone, here’s the breakdown on a State by State basis for those three States which have coal fired power, the total for the day, all 24 hours, based on the AEMO prices for each of those States.
Coal fired power only, wholesale cost, eg, the money paid by the retailers for the electricity they purchase from the grid, just generated from coal fired power.
NSW – $18.5 Million
Qld – $13.9 Million
Vic – $13.2 Million
Total – $45.6 Million.
The total price paid for ALL the wind power generated yesterday, to be split up by every wind plant according to what they contributed to the grid across the full 24 hours was $1.29 Million.
Tony.
30
Do you have a reference document? This all goes towards my true ROI assessment for ALL power producers
10
Each night (at a couple of minutes past midnight) I work out how much power was generated by each and every coal fired power plant in Australia. This gives me the totals for each State.
The totals for Monday wer as follows:
NSW – an average of 7450MW per hour for 24 hours
Qld – an average of 6400MW per hour for 24 hours
Vic – an average of 4750MW per hour for 24 hours
From that, and for the purposes of the exercise here, I used the price tables at the AEMO, at the site at this link, and here use the RRP for each State, the left hand column, the average cost per MWH across all 24 hours for each of the three States.
So, average MW X 24 X cost per MWH
For wind power, and because it was so small, I averaged the total cost from NSW and Victoria, (RRP) and applied that to all wind plants, and the total generated power from wind for this same day was 490MW per hour for 24 hours. It could be more it could be less, but not by very much with such a low total.
Tony.
60
I’m willing to bet that the small contribution of wind (and solar) would shrink to be infinitesimal if scaled by actual real time market value.
Average price is what the renewables proponents would like to be used for comparisons because like LCoE, the effect of depressed pricing when renewable output is high gets ignored or, even worse, gets held up as a ‘victory’ in the name of affordable power.
I may have to do some homework to satisfy my curiosity on just how much market value renewable energy sources actually generate.
10
Fossil power generation.
The heartbeat of the nation!
31
TonyfromOz – but Giles is ecstatic:
25 Jun: RenewEconomy: Giles Parkinson: Solar pushes mid-day electricity prices below zero in Queensland
Last Tuesday, June 19, wholesale electricity prices in the state dipped below zero -– an extremely rare occurrence, but one that might be expected to become increasingly common in coming years.
According to Paul McArdle at Watt Clarity, the (5 minute) dispatch price fell below zero on a number of occasions, highlighting the change in the shape of the energy market with the introduction of solar. According to his data, the prices went negative on five different occasions.
During this time, around 20 per cent of Queensland’s electricity supply came from solar – some 128MW of large-scale solar, and nearly 10 times that much (1270MW) from rooftop solar…
The fall into negative prices is because demand is low – there is no air conditioning required – and the Queensland government has riding instructions on its main government-owned generators to keep running, to ensure prices stay low. They probably weren’t thinking about them being this low.
“You will see this happening more and more,” McArdle says, noting that the shape of the energy load has changed from a two-humped camel (loads in morning and evening), to what is commonly required as the duck curve…
Queensland has barely scratched the surface of its new developments. Solar farms at Longreach (15MW), Sun Metals (124MW) , and Clare (100MW) have joined the grid in recent weeks, although they are still not operating at anywhere near full capacity…
They will then be followed by another dozen projects, including the Emerald, Collinsville, Daydream, Hayman and Ross River solar farms, among others – all bigger than Kidston.
On top of this, rooftop solar continues to increase at a rate of around 30MW a month, with households and increasingly, small and medium-sized businesses putting solar on the roof to offset high electricity prices…
https://reneweconomy.com.au/solar-pushes-mid-day-electricity-prices-below-zero-in-queensland-70680/
30
25 Jun: AFR: Angela Macdonald-Smith: New Energy Solar takes first plunge into Australian market
The $113 million deal sees New Energy Solar ***take over the operating 50-megawatt Manildra project in central-west NSW from US player First Solar. The plant, which started generating power into the grid in April, is underpinned by a 10-year power sales contract with EnergyAustralia, with an option to extend for a further two years to 2030…
The Manildra plant will become exposed to wholesale market prices once the power purchase agreement with EnergyAustralia expires, so forecasts for spot prices affect valuations of the venture…
New Energy Solar chief executive John Martin: “The fundamental changes has been a recognition that wholesale electricity prices won’t go up for ever. Renewables are going to help push prices down.”…
Mr Martin said that with the changes in the market he expects more solar acquisition opportunities in Australia to arise for NES. He described the political uncertainty and debate around the National Energy Guarantee policy as “noise” that is not preventing those in the industry from “just getting on with it”…
Funding for the Manildra deal is from cash reserves and a new Australian dollar debt facility from the federal government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
CEFC chief executive Ian Learmonth described NES’ plans to expand its portfolio with Australian solar farms such as Manildra as “great news for investors and for large-scale solar in Australia”.
“By working with New Energy Solar we’re looking to catalyse further private investment that supports the sector and contributes to the on-going decarbonisation of Australia’s electricity network,” Mr Learmonth said…
The Manildra plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of June, when it will start selling power and large-scale renewable energy certificates to EnergyAustralia, which signed up to buy offtake from the plant in December 2016…
https://www.afr.com/business/energy/solar-energy/new-energy-solar-takes-first-plunge-into-australian-market-20180622-h11q25
00
BREAKING: California judge tosses global warming lawsuit against oil companies
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/25/breaking-california-judge-tosses-global-warming-lawsuit-against-oil-companies/
10
At its core, that’s bad news.
Man Made Global Warming is legally “Real”.
Legalism strikes.
I haven’t followed this and don’t really know any more than what was given in the preliminary commentaries some time ago.
If the ” fossil fuel companies ” didn’t go down the route of trying to disprove CAGW it tends to suggest that they see future profits on the other side.
Maybe they are pushing into renewables and the new golden boy of fossil fools; Gas.
That the major fossil fool companies have avoided the issue is sad.
Man Made Global Warming is not real.
There is no scientific process that makes CO2 any more of an issue than any other gas.
In other words, if CO2 was totally absent from the atmosphere the earth would still lose heat at the same rate.
Other gases would take up energy from the Earth’s surface by collision rather than IR absorption and move it up by convection and then radiate it into space.
The only drivers of the dissipation of Solar energy from Earth’s surface, including oceans, is the temperature differential between that surface and deep space.
I recently flew at 10,000 metres altitude in a commercial jet.
The outside temperature was given as minus 58°C.
That’s a temperature differential of about 73C° with the surface.
The idea that with a dying star and more CO2 we are going to get really really hot is just absurd.
Our biggest problem is what happens when this interglacial ends.
Of course the big one is still some time off.
In a couple of billion years the Sun will collapse any all of the planets will be swallowed in the fireball.
Still if we give Christiana Figueres enough money she might be able to delay that a few days.
KK
31
behind paywall:
25 Jun: New Scientist: An entire Arctic ecosystem could vanish within the next decade
The Barents Sea, home to a diverse array of wildlife, could be completely gone in just a few years – perhaps the most dramatic impact of climate change yet seen
By Andy Coghlan
An entire Arctic ecosystem suddenly started shrinking within the last 10 years and could be gone within another decade. The collapse could be the largest, fastest impact of climate change seen to date.
“It could happen within the next few years, or within 10 or 20 years,” says lead author Sigrid Lind of the Institute of Marine Research in Tromsø, Norway. “We can’t say precisely.”…
25 Jun: Phys.org: Researchers discover volcanic heat source under major Antarctic glacier
University of Rhode Island
A researcher from the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography and five other scientists have discovered an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica.
The discovery and other findings, which are critical to understanding the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, of which the Pine Island Glacier is a part, are published in the paper, “Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier,” in the latest edition of Nature Communications.
Assistant Professor Brice Loose of Newport, a chemical oceanographer at GSO and the lead author, said the paper is based on research conducted during a major expedition in 2014 to Antarctica led by scientists from the United Kingdom. They worked aboard an icebreaker, the RRS James Clark Ross, from January to March, Antarctica’s summer…
Does that mean that global climate change is not a factor in the stability of the Pine Island Glacier?
No, said Loose. “Climate change is causing the bulk of glacial melt that we observe, and this newly discovered source of heat is having an as-yet undetermined effect, because we do not know how this heat is distributed beneath the ice sheet.”…
LINK
In addition to Heywood, Loose worked with Alberto C. Naveira Garabato, of the National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom; Peter Schlosser of Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University; William Jenkins of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts; and David Vaughn of the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-volcanic-source-major-antarctic-glacier.html
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surprised Guardian has published this:
25 Jun: Guardian: Morrisons’ paper bag switch is bad for global warming, say critics
Production and disposal of paper bags has greater climate impact than plastic, says Environment Agency
by Adam Vaughan
The Environment Agency found that paper carrier bags, across their lifecycle of production, use and disposal, had a greater global-warming impact than plastic ones. The agency’s study (UK GOVT LINK) found paper ones were only better than plastic if they were used four or more times, but that was unlikely due to durability of paper bags.
While the research was published seven years ago, the government’s top waste and recycling advisers, Wrap, said the findings were still relevant today.
Chris Goodall, an author and environmental expert, said: “This is a retrograde step, moving back to paper.”
He agreed the impact of plastic pollution on marine life was very serious, but said: “Most of the plastic in the sea comes from a small number of rivers, it does not come from me buying green beans in Morrisons.”…
However, Friends of the Earth said that it welcomed Morrisons’ switch and that green issues other than climate change should be factored in…
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/25/morrisons-paper-bag-switch-is-bad-for-global-warming-say-environment-agency
25 Jun: Deutsche Welle: Dave Keating: Biofuels: Good or bad for the environment?
Industrialized countries have subsidized the use of biofuels in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But campaigners say a focus on bio-based crops for fuel may actually be doing more harm than good.
Bloom is off biofuel rose
Shortly after these laws were passed 10 years ago, problems began to emerge.
Farmers across the world, particularly in South America and Southeast Asia, were incentivized to start growing crops for fuel instead of food. Government targets meant an artificially inflated market, which began to drive up food prices and change land use. The changes have resulted in food shortages, according to nongovernmental groups.
That change in farming land use, experts say, is actually causing more carbon emissions than biofuels are able to abate in the transport field, because farmers are razing forests in order to grow biofuel crops…
A study made public in 2016, commissioned by the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, concluded that the EU’s renewables law has probably increased carbon emissions since it was put in place in 2009 (LINK)…
Environmental groups are continuing to push to end subsidies for food-based fuels, and put policies in place ***that will incentivize the development of advanced biofuels…
http://www.dw.com/en/biofuels-good-or-bad-for-the-environment/a-44354834
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25 Jun: PublicNewsService: Add a Basement Apartment to Your Home, Fight Climate Change?
SEATTLE — For most cities in Washington state, cars are the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions. Could a change to the state’s zoning policies get more Washingtonians out of them?
Margaret Morales is a senior researcher with Sightline Institute. She said most houses in the Evergreen State are single-family homes, and that’s because cities put a lot of barriers in the way of residents who would open up their homes to more people.
She said cities could cut some of the red tape for accessory dwelling units – that is basement apartments, backyard cottages, or other small dwellings in homes – to make neighborhoods more dense, and thus more walkable; and argued the current single-family housing model leads to sprawl…
Morales noted that sprawling zoning policies in Washington cities were put in place at a time when cars were thought of as the future of transit. But with the specter of a warming climate, a change is needed to get more people out from behind the steering wheel…(LINK)
https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2018-06-25/climate-change-air-quality/add-a-basement-apartment-to-your-home-fight-climate-change/a63048-1
25 Jun: LA Times Editorial: It’s time for L.A. to put up or shut up about building denser housing around transit
When the Los Angeles City Council decided earlier this year to oppose SB 827, a controversial bill in the state Legislature that would have overridden local zoning rules to allow higher density housing near transit stops, council members acknowledged the critical need to build more homes and the wisdom of putting them near public transportation. But the bill went too far, they argued, in wiping out local control and eliminating cities’ power to use planning and zoning to address community needs. Land-use decisions, council members said, should be made at the local level, not Sacramento…
Well, here’s their chance.
The City Council will soon vote on the Expo Line Transit Neighborhood Plan, which is the first in a series of “transit neighborhood plans” that rewrite the rules for development in communities directly around rail stations to allow more homes, offices and shops. The plan has sparked opposition among neighborhood groups worried that denser development will worsen traffic and erode community character, so the vote will be a test of the City Council’s commitment to addressing the housing shortage. It’s also an opportunity to show Sacramento that “local control” isn’t code for “no development.”
Taller, denser, more walkable and more affordable development around transit stations represents the best way to solve two of L.A.’s worst problems — the staggering cost of housing and the crushing toll of traffic. Concentrating new development near rail and bus lines can help reduce Angelenos’ reliance on cars, ease traffic congestion and cut vehicle emissions that are polluting the air and fueling global climate change…READ ON
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-expo-transit-plan-20180625-story.html
00
26 Jun: BusinessInsider: Tesla has left salespeople confused over when customers will get the Powerwall and solar roof
by Mark Matousek
• Tesla salespeople have been given shifting timelines for when the Powerwall home battery will be available, current and former employees told Business Insider.
• Salespeople most often said they told customers they would receive their Powerwall in around six months, but customers were more likely to wait over a year for installation, current and former salespeople said.
• The company has failed to give salespeople a clear, consistent timeline for when the solar roof will be available, current and former salespeople said.
• These employees said they either were instructed or chose to avoid talking about the solar roof with customers.
“I hated when I sold a Powerwall because I knew I really didn’t know when they were going to come in,” a former salesperson said.
In addition to providing uncertain delivery timelines, former salespeople said Tesla eliminated the commission they would receive for selling a Powerwall, which further decreased their desire to sell it…
Tesla began taking reservations for the solar roof in May 2017, but the company has failed to give salespeople a clear, consistent timeline for when it will be available, sources said…
Current and former salespeople said they either were instructed or chose to avoid talking about the solar roof with customers due to uncertainty about its availability and the fact that they would receive little or no compensation for getting a customer to reserve one.
“Those were unicorns, as far as we’re concerned,” a former sales manager said. “There is no clear communication as to what’s going on with the roof.”…
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/tesla-energy-products-not-meeting-delivery-timelines-salespeople-say-2018-6?r=US&IR=T
20
I see the warmers are moving on to cattle and methane. Must have decided the CO2 cover has run its course and need to get another ’cause’ for global warming.
1.This probably makes two questions redundant then:
What is the CO2 lifecycle over history (not plant conversions of the moment)? CO2concentrations have been hugely higher than current. What happened to it?
2.What happens to CO2 when the globe cools, and on what time scale? We know the [CO2]atm rises well after warming. Is the cooling followed similarly?
3. If the TSI is constant as said by warmers, so has minimal or no effect on global temperature, how is cooling explained (without planetary shifts)?
I know I am cheating by simply not looking it all up, but there is knowledge source here that can probably summarise it all in a couple of sentences.
30
DOC,
I understand that this response is only one part of your overall comment here, but this cow belching thing is nothing new.
I actually contributed a Post at my home site on just this subject, and it’s still worth reading even these days.
See the date at the top of the Post, as I mad all this back in September of 2008, almost ten years ago now.
Also, note at the bottom of the Post, I have added an ‘Edit’ to it. It was read by a keen observer, who then picked me up on one of the points I made in my original Post, and in fact, that gave me an added insight into the subject.
The Post is at the following link:
That Thing Cows Do
Tony.
20
BoM admits to tweaking.
“All of the models that we look at are giving a realistic possible scenario for the future,” Ms Duell said.
“When you’re forecasting a long way ahead, up to months and seasons, the difficulty is there’s a lot of chaos in the environment.
“Very small, tiny changes to what you feed into the model at the very beginning can have quite a different outcome in the future.”
Ms Duell said that they deal with all the different possible scenarios from the tiny, little changes by running the model multiple times, making little tweaks to the initial conditions.
“We run 33 different scenarios, called an ‘ensemble’, and all of the models that we look at do a similar sort of thing,” she said.
ABC
42
26 Jun: Reuters: Europe’s first solar panel recycling plant opens in France
by Geert De Clercq
French water and waste group Veolia has opened what it says is Europe’s first recycling plant for solar panels and aims to build more as thousands of tonnes of ageing solar panels are set to reach the end of their life in coming years.
The new plant in Rousset, southern France, has a contract with solar industry recycling organization PV Cycle France to recycle 1,300 tonnes of solar panels in 2018 – virtually all solar panels that will reach their end of life in France this year – and is set to ramp up to 4,000 tonnes by 2022.
“This is the first dedicated solar panel recycling plant in Europe, possibly in the world,” Gilles Carsuzaa, head of electronics recycling at Veolia, told reporters.
The first ageing photovoltaic (PV) panels – which have lifespans of around 25 years – are just now beginning to come off rooftops and solar plants in volumes sufficiently steady and significant to warrant building a dedicated plant, Veolia said.
Up until now, ageing or broken solar panels have typically been recycled in general-purpose glass recycling facilities, where only their glass and aluminum frames are recovered and their specialty glass is mixed in with other glass. The remainder is often burned in cement ovens.
The robots in Veolia’s new plant dissemble the panels to recuperate glass, silicon, plastics, copper and silver, which are crushed into granulates that can used to make new panels.
Veolia said it aims to recycle all decommissioned PV panels in France and wants to use this experience to build similar plants abroad.
Installed solar capacity is growing 30 to 40 percent per year in France, with 53,000 tonnes installed in 2016 and 84,000 tonnes in 2017, Veolia said…
Worldwide, Veolia expects tonnage of decommissioned PV panels will grow to several ten of millions of tonnes by 2050…
IRENA estimated that global PV waste streams will grow from 250,000 tonnes end 2016 – less than one percent of installed capacity – to more than five million tonnes by 2050. By then, the amount of PV waste will almost match the mass contained in new installations, it said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-solar-recycling/europes-first-solar-panel-recycling-plant-opens-in-france-idUSKBN1JL28Z
10
Dismal wind generation across the AEMO today with the high pressure system slowly traversing The Bight
Less than 20% peak capacity over the past 24 hours with the average closer to 10%. Thank goodness those lucky South Australians did get a peak of just over 30% around the busy midnight period, though, with the wind farms falling back below 5% by the sleepy mid-morning (as it was for the quiet period prior to 6pm last night)
https://anero.id/energy/wind-energy/2018/june/26
I guess South East Australia isn’t large enough for geographic dispersal to enclose that “somewhere” where the wind is blowing
60
We are shredding millions another way now with a solar farm at robertstown
10
Has construction started or is it still a proposal? The website is not clear on this.
00
25 Jun: Bloomberg: Solar Records Set to Be Broken in Europe’s Heatwave
By Rachel Morison
A heatwave hitting Britain and France will extend to the rest of northwest Europe by next week, breaking solar power records.
The U.K. is poised for its hottest day of the year on Monday after notching up a solar generation all-time high last week. German sun-power output is forecast to reach a record at the weekend.
By next week, temperatures in the Netherlands and Germany will reach 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) with the hot weather likely to last into July, data from Radiant Solutions show. The U.K. maximum temperature is forecast to climb as high as 32 Celsius on Monday, according to the Met Office.
Britain’s solar power output reached 9,380 megawatts on Friday, more than was forecast, data from National Grid show. Solar levels are expected to stay high for the rest of the month. German solar production is expected to reach a new peak of 29,179 megawatts on July 1.
***U.K. day-ahead power prices are trading at the highest for the time of year since 2008, and in Germany, they’re at the highest since 2011.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-25/solar-power-records-abound-in-europe-with-heatwave-set-to-spread
00
loads of detail:
25 Jun: EnergyInstitute Haas (UC Berkeley): Does Rooftop Solar Help the Distribution System?
by Lucas Davis
California’s rooftop solar mandate is an opportune moment to revisit a pair of prescient studies by Michael Cohen and coauthors.
A couple of months ago I wrote a blog post called “Why Am I Paying $65/year for Your Solar Panels?” Readers offered many interesting and, er, colorful responses. One of the objections was that my calculation failed to incorporate the benefits of rooftop solar to the distribution system.
Today I want to dig into this argument. I review the evidence of distribution system impacts, focusing on a pair of peer-reviewed studies by Michael Cohen and coauthors. The studies find that rooftop solar does help the distribution system, but that the magnitude of the benefit is very small. When you actually quantify these benefits, they are way too small to be used as an argument to prefer rooftop solar over grid-scale renewables.
Peer into the Peer-Reviewed Literature
The pair of studies (here LINK and here LINK) are appropriately titled, “Effects of Distributed PV Generation on California’s Distribution System” Parts 1 and 2, covering engineering and economics. The first paper is by Michael Cohen and Duncan Callaway; the second paper is by Michal Cohen, P.A. Kauzmann, and Duncan Callaway. The papers were published in 2016, but are more relevant today than ever…
Both studies are peer-reviewed. This matters. The peer-review process is not perfect, but it imposes a discipline on researchers. Both papers carefully describe all data sources, methods, and assumptions. Refreshingly, the papers are also upfront about potential limitations of the analyses, and don’t try to oversell their results.
What I like most about these two studies is that they are based on real data. Solar City provided the authors with 15-minute data on 7,000 California rooftop solar systems, and PG&E provided the authors with historical financial data on distribution system costs. The authors build a numerical power flow model, and the analyses are grounded by these data from actual solar customers and an actual utility…READ ALL
https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2018/06/25/does-rooftop-solar-help-the-distribution-system/
00
first you speculate, then you report:
25 Jun: USA Today: NOAA won’t drop climate and conservation from its mission, agency says
by Doyle Rice
The United States’ top weather, climate and ocean science agency – NOAA – will not drop “climate” from its mission statement nor will it de-emphasize research into climate change and resource conservation, the agency said Monday.
This follows a report Sunday from a science advocacy group, the Union of Concerned Scientists, that said the acting head of NOAA, Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, proposed a new mission statement for the agency — one the Union said would “undermine the agency’s vital work on behalf of the American people.”
However, in a statement Monday, Gallaudet said his proposal “was not intended to exclude NOAA’s important climate and conservation efforts, which are essential for protecting lives and the environment. Nor should this presentation be considered a final, vetted proposal.”
He said that along with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and the Department of Commerce, he supports NOAA’s climate and conservation emphasis and also is “fully aware of the congressional mandates and will continue to adhere to them.”…
Andrew Rosenberg, director of the center for science and democracy at the Union, said if the proposal were enacted it would be “a shocking change in the mission of one of the nation’s premier scientific agencies…
Jane Lubchenco, the first head of NOAA under President Obama, tweeted Monday that redefining NOAA’s mission would be “a serious threat to the breadth of science, services and stewardship that NOAA provides.”…
Gallaudet is still NOAA’s acting administrator. He remains in charge because AccuWeather’s Barry Myers, President Trump’s choice to head NOAA, is still unconfirmed by the Senate.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/06/25/noaa-wont-drop-climate-and-conservation-its-mission-agency-says/731304002/
10
“Busted: Climate Advocates Have Identified a Genuine Fossil Fuel Subsidy”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/25/busted-climate-advocates-have-identified-a-genuine-fossil-fuel-subsidy/
But marvel at what it is.
10
Reply to DOC at Comment 91 is in moderation, no idea why. Must have found another key word.
Tony.
20
25 Jun: TimesOfIndia: TNN: Smart City projects only talk, no action
LUDHIANA: Civic authorities have failed to complete even two projects that were inaugurated on 25 June last year amid fanfare. The two projects — installation of solar panels in government buildings, and smart signboards at various locations — were inaugurated last year on the occasion of anniversary of the Smart City Mission. Out of these two, only installation of solar panels is complete, but panels are not in use and the signboards project is still only at the survey stage…
After inauguration of the installation of solar panels on 25 June last year, the company could start the installation process only from January this year. As of now, the panels have been installed in a few MC buildings. But they cannot be used in the absence of electricity meters. The MC had applied for installation of meters from the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), but there is a shortage of meters with the power department, so civic officials have been asked to wait for them. Unless these meters are installed, solar panels cannot come into use. The total cost of this project is Rs3.53 crore.
Similarly for road signboards, first of all some court case hampered the initiation of the project, and now when the work has been assigned again, the company is conducting a survey in the city. As of now, some locations are finalized, but installation is yet to be started. The total cost of the project was Rs9.13 crore.
Chief executive officer-cum-MC commissioner Jaskiran Singh said they had applied for the meters, but there was a shortage with the power department. He said they could not install the meters on their own due to technical problems, and only the power department can get it done. “We are also at a loss, as even after installation, we are unable to utilize the solar panels,” he added.
Notably, three years have gone by since the Smart City Mission was launched, but not a single project has been completed in the city…(READ ON)
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/smart-city-projects-only-talk-no-action/articleshow/64725424.cms
more talk, no action:
25 Jun: ClimateCentreOrg: EU to world: time for action on climate, security, peace
The ICRC Brussels delegation and the Red Cross EU Office took part in a major high-level event (photo) organized by the European External Action Service that “drove home both the urgency and importance of tackling the risks that climate change poses to security and peace,” the EEAS said.
“Ministers from around the world, top United Nations officials, and leading experts testified to the many real and potential security threats deriving from climate change,” it added.
The half-day session – Climate, Peace and Security: The Time for Action (LINK) – was opened by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, who pointed out that “for the second year in a row climate impacts have displaced more people than war”; this reality, she said, remained “an untold story”…
She said that in the Sahel region of Africa, for example, “thousands of jobs are being lost because traditional agriculture is not sustainable any more”.
In the modern world “the only comparable risk [to climate change] is weapons of mass destruction”…
Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary, also argued that there is a clear link between climate impacts and global security.
“Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, making many of the biggest challenges humanity faces even worse,” he said.
“The way forward is for the world to deliver on the promises contained in both the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”…
In her remarks to the Brussels session, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said: “Floods and droughts force people to flee; they affect food security and livelihoods.
“Island populations’ entire habitats are disappearing. We must develop our tools and invest in climate action…
https://www.climatecentre.org/news/1012/eu-to-world-time-for-action-on-climate-security-peace
00
‘On the topic of high pressure ridges, BOM climatologist Andrew Watkins said May had seen an enormous high pressure anomaly.
“May saw the Australian mean sea level pressure difference from normal almost off the scale in terms of high pressure,” he said.
Stock Journal
20
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/06/16/british-reliance-french-energy-increases-quarter/
10
“wheatietoo says:
June 26, 2018 at 4:09 am
Haaaa.
A first! CNN accidentally airs a Fact.
A fact was mistakenly aired on CNN tonight.
21
Europeans touched on Australia in the 13th century.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/26/images-of-cockatoo-on-13-century-vatican-manuscript-inspire-trade-route-rethink
30
Frydenberg eyeing coal circuit-breaker
Highly Cited-The Australian-20 hours ago
am presuming much of the following is from the above, which is behind paywall:
26 Jun: Energy minister would welcome new coal-fired power plant
Josh Frydenberg sends the positive signal about coal before Tuesday’s internal government deliberatio
by Katharine Murphy
Energy minister Josh Frydenberg has declared he would welcome the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Australia ahead of meetings on Tuesday where internal critics of his electricity plan are expected to voice their objections.
Frydenberg used an interview with News Corp to send the positive signal about coal before Tuesday’s internal deliberations, with some Nationals still on the war path about the government either subsidising new coal plants or bankrolling the refurbishment of existing assets.
While economic modelling associated with the national energy guarantee assumes there will be no new coal built under the policy, Frydenberg said: “I would welcome a new coal-fired power station for our country because it supplies reliable baseload power and it has served us well in the past and will continue to serve us well in the future.”
Frydenberg said the national energy guarantee would prolong the operating life of the existing coal fleet – an eventuality which some of the state and territory governments, which will ultimately make or break the policy, profoundly object to.
“We have twenty coal-fired power stations in Australia today with an average life of 27 years,” the federal energy minister said. “While they may not live forever, they will certainly live longer than that 27 years and the Neg will provide that level of stability for the investors and the owners of those assets.”
He said under the guarantee, “the reliability that coal provides the system will be valued and [coal is] much more likely to be staying in the system under the Neg than not”…
Nationals MP Mark Coulton told Guardian Australia before Tuesday’s discussion the Neg was “heading in the right direction” but he said the government needed to be highly attentive to safeguarding reliability and power price reductions.
“I think we are on the right track but we have to look after affordability and reliability,” Coulton said. “Wherever this lands I’m concerned to make sure my oldies [in his electorate of Parkes] can still afford to run their air conditioners.”…
Fellow National John “Wacka” Williams said he believed the Neg was “a step to defeat an emissions trading scheme or a carbon tax”.
But like Coulton, he said lower power prices and reliability needed to be paramount in the government’s thinking. He said power companies “had to guarantee supply and if they fail to do that, it gives the government the option of stepping in to guarantee supply, and that means building a coal-fired power plant”.
Victorian National Andrew Broad, who is a supporter of the Neg, has been pushing behind the scenes for months for the government to supplement the policy by funding the refurbishment of the existing coal fleet to extend the operating life of the new coal plants and lower their greenhouse gas emissions.
“I think the government should provide a fund to assist with that process,” Broad said…
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/26/energy-minister-would-welcome-new-coal-fired-power-plant
00
also from The Australian article:
Frydenberg eyeing coal circuit-breaker
The Australian-21 hours ago
The push came as former deputy prime minister John Anderson called for government intervention to help facilitate the construction of a new high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) coal-fired power station. … “The latest and new coal-fired power stations are more efficient and they …”
20
26 Jun: BBC: £1.3bn Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project thrown out
Plans to build the world’s first tidal power lagoon have been thrown out by the UK government.
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said the £1.3bn project was not value for money, despite claims by developers Tidal Lagoon Power (TLP) a revised offer made it cheaper.
The decision has been slammed by local politicians across the parties, including the Conservatives.
The scheme off Swansea Bay had £200m backing from the Welsh Government.
But the UK government said it would not pay TLP the fee it wants for energy…
Mr Clark told the Commons: “Securing our energy needs into the future has to be done seriously and, when much cheaper alternatives exist, no individual project, and no particular technology, can proceed at any price.”
Government analysis estimated that the lagoon would cost the average British household consumer an additional £700 between 2031 and 2050…
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said: “I realise the disappointment this decision may cause, but ultimately this project did not meet the threshold for taxpayer value.”…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-44589083
25 Jun: BusinessGreen: Heathrow: MPs prepare for crunch vote as debate over environmental protections rages on
by James Murray
The government also faced accusations yesterday that it had scheduled today’s vote to ensure it came before the latest report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) this Thursday.
The CCC’s chief executive Chris Stark joked last week that the report would be a “pain in the arse” for the government. It is expected to show the UK is still not on track to meet its medium term carbon budgets for the late 2020s and early 2030s and will call on the government to introduce a host of new policies to close the emissions gap.
It is also expected to reiterate warnings that aviation emissions are growing rapidly and expansion of Heathrow can only be made compatible with UK climate targets if new greener aviation technologies are developed and steeper emissions reductions are achieved in other parts of the economy.
The CCC recently wrote to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to express disappointment over his failure to mention climate change when originally announcing the government’s backing for a third runway and warn an ambitious new aviation strategy was needed to manage future emissions.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who is MP for Hayes and Harlington near Heathrow, said the third runway should be blocked on climate grounds.
“Monday’s vote on Heathrow expansion isn’t just about the 10,000 people whose homes & community will be destroyed or the poisoning of the air we breathe but also whether MPs are serious about saving our planet from the devastating impact of climate change,” he wrote on Twitter. “I will vote against.”…
The project is now expected to face a series of legal challenges as campaigners prepare to continue the fight against expansion…
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3034706/heathrow-mps-prepare-for-crunch-vote-as-debate-over-environmental-protections-rages-on
00
comment in moderation re: 26 Jun: BBC: £1.3bn Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project thrown out
10
25 Jun: UK Independent: Heathrow expansion: Would a third runway stop UK meeting its climate change targets?
by Josh Gabbatiss, Science Correspondent
“A vote for a new Heathrow runway is a vote for more climate change, more air pollution and more noise,” said Greenpeace UK policy director Dr Doug Parr…
According to Friends of the Earth, an expanded Heathrow would produce as much carbon as the whole of Portugal…
In a letter addressed to (transport secretary, Chris Grayling), Lord Deben and Baroness Brown of Cambridge from the CCC reminded the transport secretary of the essential place aviation plays in meeting the government’s targets under the Climate Change Act and the Paris climate agreement.
The CCC stated the economy-wide target of reducing emissions by 80 per cent below 1990 levels could be achieved only if emissions from the UK aviation industry do not exceed 37.5 million tons – the level seen in 2005.
However, a report released by the Department for Transport has already revealed that aviation emissions will hit 43 million tons by 2030 if the Heathrow expansion goes ahead…
What about the government’s plan to achieve ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050?
“Net zero” – the point at which annual greenhouse gas emissions are balanced by the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere – has been touted by experts as the only way to met the goals set by the Paris climate agreement…
Beyond Heathrow, what does the future of UK air travel look like?
Leo Murray, director of campaigning group Fellow Travellers, said that while international air travel emissions had an ambiguous place in the UK’s climate goals, the future of domestic flights is very clear.
***“If Britain moves to a net zero 2050 target to honour the Paris agreement, all domestic flights will need to end pretty much immediately,” he said.
https://www.independent.co.uk/infact/heathrow-airport-expansion-vote-third-runway-climate-change-chris-grayling-a8415881.html
26 Jun: UK Independent: Heathrow expansion: What will happen with the airport’s third runway now
After MPs overwhelmingly backed a third runway at the UK’s busiest airport, what happens next? The answers to the key questions
by Simon Calder
MPs voted by 415 to 119 – a majority of 296, and a ratio of 3.5 to 1 – to approve the government’s chosen scheme, contained in the Airports National Policy Statement…
The third runway will allow an increase from the current 480,000 takeoffs and landings each year to around 740,000 – an increase of 54 per cent.
In terms of passenger numbers, a third runway could increase capacity to 130 million, two-thirds more than the 78 million who passed through Heathrow last year…
Dept of Transport: “A new runway at Heathrow would provide benefits of up to £74bn to passengers and the wider economy and create tens of thousands of local jobs.
“It will better connect the UK to the rest of world with an extra 16 million long-haul seats available by 2040.”
The TUC concurs. The general secretary, Frances O’Grady says: “The case for Heathrow expansion was proven long ago. It will create thousands of high-quality jobs and apprenticeships. And it has the backing of airlines and many other businesses…
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/heathrow-airport-expansion-third-runway-parliament-debate-vote-gatwick-a8416611.html
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Gee whizz! The roads around LHR are bad enough already without extra traffic. We’ve been avoiding it for years. LGW has been a nightmare lately too, especially the rotten signposting around the airport itself. BHX is better, NCL better still and GLA too. MAN was good last encountered but roads can be a bit ghastly; last time we arrived late enough in GLA for the busy time to be well over and roadworks stopped for the day (it was a Sunday).
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22 Jun: Daily Caller: The World’s Largest Solar Companies Keep Failing
by Tim Pearce
China’s solar market is the largest by far, accounting for roughly 70 percent of global demand, according to Bloomberg…
Many of the top producing companies have had problems (LINK) with quality control. As output increases, attention to detail may suffer, especially if fast growth forces companies to buy up older or outdated equipment and low-quality supplies to keep up production…
***China has yet to develop a plan for disposing broken solar panels, which are difficult to recycle. The effect could be up to 20 million metric tons of waste filled with hazardous materials with nowhere to go.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/22/jinkosolar-chinese-solar-panel-companies/
above links to:
15 Jun: GreenTechMedia: The Top Solar Manufacturers Are Not Necessarily Making the Highest-Quality Modules
Can PV module manufacturers maintain reliability as prices tumble? Takeaways from the 2017 PV module reliability scorecard report.
by Eric Wesoff
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/top-solar-manufacturers-are-not-making-the-highest-quality-modules#gs.uzQ6UsU
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“The Old Man” Harrison of Pawn Stars has died @ 77. Hardly notable, people do that at that age.
What caught my attention is a comment where they were working out whether that is young or old with one guy saying “young”;
Are there people so poorly informed that they think you can charge a car in that time without blacking out the whole suburb?
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