Old coal plants don’t have to die, they just need to be fixed
Vales Point, Power Station, NSW, Australia
The Vales Point Coal plant (Part B) was built in 1978. It was sold for $1 million in 2015 by the NSW government. It’s now making a bumper profit. If it gets a $750 million renovation it could keep running til 2049 when it will be 70 years old. Vales has a nameplate capacity of 1,320 MW.
On the other hand, we could follow South Australia and spend $650m and get a 150MW solar plant that only works half the time.*
When is an old coal plant on death’s door a better bet than the worlds largest solar plant? — Every hour of every day. Plus you get free fertilizer.
Profits to keep Vales Point coal-fired power station going for another 20 years
John Stensholt and Perry Williams, The Australian
The Vales Point power station near Lake Macquarie, which supplies about 4 per cent of power for the national grid, could receive a $750m injection to ensure it runs until 2049, making it the nation’s last standing coal station, with the country’s other facilities due to be shuttered over the next 30 years.
The closure of Hazelwood improved profits for every surviving generator in the NEM (National Electricity Market).
Vales Point had a bumper 2018 financial year, according to documents lodged with the corporate regulator and obtained by The Australian, with the asset making a strong $113m net profit from $505m revenue, compared with a $35m net loss from $382m revenue last year.
The story of how Big-Gov can turn $500 million into “One”
The bumper profit comes less than three years after the rich-list duo paid the NSW government only $1m for the ageing asset on Lake Macquarie on the state’s central coast, which after a revaluation is now worth $555m. Sunset Power’s balance sheet is carrying $339m in net assets, including $36m in cash.
At the time of the sale, then NSW treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said the $1m price was “above its retention value”.
The plant was going to be shut down in 2021
[SMH, Oct 2017 ] Ms Berejiklian at the time said the sale would save the state from ongoing losses and liabilities associated with the plant’s scheduled shut down in 2021. Ahead of the sale the state wrote down its value by more than $370 million.
Sunset has also generated electricity sales 40 per cent higher than those achieved during its final year under state operation, going from $270 million in sales under the NSW government to $380 million under Sunset Power International.
The Vale point owners insist they are not gouging prices to turn this neat profit. In the NEM all successful bidders are paid the price of the highest successful bid. The NEM wholesale prices have doubled in Australia since 2015.
*I’m being generous. While solar “works” half the time, solar thermal only generates about 25% (at best) of it’s nameplate capacity. So the 150MW solar plant is more like a 40MW plant.
One can still see the posters on poles advocating public retention of power assets.A combination of union and left-wing action saying such things as:”You WILL pay more” and other such slogans.So ironic.
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It wasn’t always like this. In earlier times governments did pick winners, and successful winners too. Why are governments no longer competent to do this?
Take Telstra’s predecessors for example. Despite visible inefficiencies, Telecom when it was a government owned monopoly gave us the world’s best telephone service under one of the world’s worst sets of conditions in terms of population density. I don’t know how it compared on the cost basis, but everybody had it with up to date technology. As technology advanced we saw National Competiton Policy force the breakup of the system, bringing changes which made it impossible to maximise the benefits of the new technology.
None of our dams would have been built if the economists had had their say, but those dams secure Australia’s plentiful, cheap food supply. What the economists are not capable of knowing is what the price of food would be without the dams.
Just as they were not capable of knowing that closing Hazelwood would cause the price rise that we saw. And the effect that this announcement about Vales Point will have and is having on today’s price, next month’s price, and next year’s price.
Where would we be today if the “valueless” Vales Point had been closed?
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JO,
What we need is a fair and realistic “Cradle to Grave” comparison that clearly details and compares the costs of all aspects of the 2 systems with common start point and life – say 1,000 MW over 50 year life.
10
It cannot be done ColA.
You cannot directly compare a continuous supply (coal, gas, Nuclear, etc). with an intermittent , unreliable supply such as solar or wind.
Even if you “over build “. the solar /wind capacity, and add in storage, its impossible to know how much storage (and generation). may be required to cover an unpredictable number of days with little wind or sun.
The only sure solution is do do as SA and Germany have done,..and include 100% capacity back up using coal or gas etc.
So the answer for a reliable RE based generation system will be RE + Fossil costs .
For Australia, to be fully RE powered, that could mean we might expect to have 30 GW of RE supply ..(that means 100-150 GW actual installed ! ). BUT , we would also have to retain the existing 30 GW of fossil generation also for those wet windless days.
10
Thanks Jo. We aught to be ashamed of our politicians and bureaucrats energy policy.
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Pause a moment to think..Nothing to be ashamed of…
All this started or had its origins in the seemingly innocuous game of “Simon Says”.
Later this popular children’s game was adapted to promote various causes.
For example…“Simon says, sell all your coal”, and players must scramble to sell all their coal…and so on…
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“Simon Says “Save The Climate!” Ep. 1″
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL8mgrwgS58
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No Environmental Skeptic,
This all happened when some lame brains said,
“Global cooling is not going to do anything to line our pockets, what say we try global warming. To which the academic nitwits said yea yea and after 5 milliseconds of deep thought said ‘What can we blame it on?’
Another lame brain said ‘What about CO2?’ to which the ever expanding band of nitwits of all persuasions said yea yea.”
And hence global warming for nitwits such as yourself was born.
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toorightmate, you covered the whole process pretty much. That saves me having to research on the latest thing CO2 Simon is saying.. when he said, “Simon Says,…”sell all your power stations” and everybody did it, it took me back a bit. Thinking of the question of how is it possible eventually led me to the idea that maybe human suggestibility is the cause of it all.
40
Lets keep this plant
smokingvaping before it becomes heavily regulated and illegal to………..never mind.121
It’s just “steam”……..
30
No it isn’t, it’s smoke – at least, it’s coming from where smoke would come from.
Those tall, thin stacks you see – all chimneys for “smoke” (although most solids are precipitated out before it gets to the chimney).
Cooling towers (none shown in this photo, but Bayswater and Mt Piper both have them) are short and squat compared to the chimneys – chimneys are quite tall, cooling towers quite short. At Liddel, the air force pilots used to fly *between* two chimneys, but there is no way they could fly between cooling towers at Bayswater – they are shorter than the power house itself!
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No cooling towers at Vales Point Kneel. The warm/hot water from the turbines feed directly into Lake Macquarie via concrete channels.
P.S. I live on the opposite side of the lake.
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I should add, I have lived here my entire life, almost 57 years. Never have I seen ‘smoke’ coming out of those chimneys like which is portrayed on a regular basis by the alarmists.
Also as a young tacker in primary school (very early ’70’s), the school had an excursion through the old A Plant.
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NO NO…. that black smoke is CO2!
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Yes, definately chimneys, not cooling towers – as you say, the thing is literally on the lake so no need for cooling towers (so close in fact, you can drive into the lake from the grounds of Vales Pt – I was in a car that very nearly did this!)
You generally don’t see much smoke from them, it’s true (they precipitate the “solids” out, then pipe them to an ash dam, where the ash settles out and the water runs off – they use the ash for concrete filler, toothpaste “grit” etc etc) But even Eraring (which is newer) will show a “haze” above the chimney when you catch it in the right light.
Odd rules for them too – can’t dump cooling water back into the lake unless it’s less than 2C above lake ambient water temp. So they pump considerably more water through than they actually need, and mix “raw” cooling water to the “waste” cooling water to drop the temp. Since you’ve lived there a long time, I presume you know where the Eraring outlet is – best fishing on the lake!
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NO, IT’S WATER VAPOR NOT SMOKE, THAT IS JUST GREENIE LIES !!q@$!@$#@@!!!
DO SOME OF YOUR OWN THINKING!
21
Nebuliser?
20
Dr. Peter Ridd interviewed by Stefan Molyneux about his firing. Thought Jo might be interested but see no Contact Us page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgLjKFzYvIM
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Yep, about to draw attention to the same thing and recommend a listen to the 50 minute exercise of free speech sometimes unavailable to Stefan. Nice interview with physicist Dr Peter Ridd highlighting the obvious problems that infect tertiary education in Australia in general and James Cook Uni in particular, and indeed much of the western world in the sciences and softer sciences, overwhelmed as they are with emotive, hand-wringing scientivists generating policy-based evidence, 50% of it unreproducible, in an incestuous circular funding racket. Among other things the discourse draws attention to the Stalin-esque nature of university administration at James Cook University, the requirements to conform to the narrative or face downright vicious totalitarian treatment, in which an ideologically corrupted immoral administration brazenly assume the mantle of judge, jury and executioner, while the silent majority of effete academics look away into the distance, forgetting that they’ll be next.
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Another example of politicians deceiving their constituents, the citizens they are elected to serve.
Both sides stand condemned with some MPs excepted.
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Ha..even more ironic is you dont say one word about the bumbled sale of Vales point..its okay..you can say it..the public was ripped off..you can say that as well…
And we are paying more since a lot of the grid was privatised..just a coincidence I guess..
And this is interesting..
surely not from the public purse since its now a private company..that would look good on a pole. 🙂
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AGL Ltd purchased Bayswater Power Station in the NSW Hunter Valley and was given Liddell Power Station not far away for nothing I understand.
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AGL effectively valued Liddell as $0 for 2000MW.
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It was a pretty crappy joint in the ’80s – but they kept it running because they don’t need to wash the coal to burn it, while at Bayswater (same mine), they do. I saw tarps thrown up to prevent live steam from getting too far away from a leak, and it was way dirtier/grubbier than any other power station I’ve ever seen – even the old Balmain & White Bay power stations were cleaner after not being in service and essentially abandoned for decades!
Trivia: you should see Lidell when it gets covered in Bogong moth larva. Thousands of the bastards had to be swept off the doorstep of the Comms room every day!
20
I understand the deal for Vales Point was a price of $1 million with the purchasers taking on the leave entitlements of employees which were about $20 million.
It was offered for zero cost initially. AGL rejected the offer as it included decommissioning costs on closure. The consortium eventually agreed to take it for $1 million with the NSW government to meet the decommissioning costs on closure. This is contrary to the story that the sale would obviate the liability of the government to decommission and rehabilitate the site.
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While I try hard to find something that I can admire in the two major political partis, it is nigh on impossible when presented with examples like this.
Skullduggery, you scratch my back ……, the elites playing games with our electricity system to see who can rip the most out of it.
You could be excused for imaging that there may have been cr$m$nal activity but legitimized by the government Seal.
MPAA.
Make Politicians Accountable Again.
KK
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NSW premier Gladys has to face the people in March 2019 and I predict she will be thrown out on her ear.
Apart from selling our coal fired assets for a song, she also sold the poles and wires to Beijing. If that was not enough to rankle the voters, she spent the money on road building in Sydney and then sold that to a multinational.
I went on that new section yesterday and it was practically empty of cars in peak hour, the locals have all returned to Parramatta Road to avoid the toll. The stench of this government is overwhelming.
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mmmm, not the golden years of Bob Carr is it 🙂
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When the former NSW Government owned assets were sold, government owned private companies that replaced the NSW Electricity Commission, there was something like $5 billion of debt on the company books borrowed during Labor’s 16-years in state government and paid to the government as extra dividends.
That debt was retired from the sale of those assets.
Without charging road tolls new motorways would be unaffordable, public transport in NSW recovers about half the cost of operating.
Yesterday it was published that most income taxpayers pay less tax than the cost of the government services they use.
The NSW Government inherited many problems including rundown infrastructure city and country, many public schools had been sold even schools where the federal building the education grants were squandered by Federal Labor. And now there is a shortage of classrooms and land to build new schools on. The latest is a high-rise building of several levels instead of open play areas those areas are inside the building.
The alternative to the Coalition in NSW is lacklustre and led by Mr.Nobody.
However the Coalition has been far from perfect.
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History repeating.
You could pretty much change NSW to VIC and you would have the story of what Kennett had to do to turn VIC around decades ago.
Seems the NSW pollies learnt nothing as they watched that turmoil and went down the same road (the old Macquarie St superiority complex), much the same was both VIC and NSW seem to think SA is a good energy model today.
They have a very weird idea of what sucess and competence looks like.
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Success is a Big Bank Balance.
Personal, that is.
KK
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All of this firesale our our community wealth is to give governments a budget opening to spend our real tax dollars on “special” projects with lots and lots of consultants fees.
The examples you have given involve large amounts but here in Newcastle the same thing has happened but on a smaller scale.
The local “light rail” has all the hallmarks of Mafia planning.
The only reason I have to tend towards the Liberal Parti is that historically they have brought the budgets back to near balance after the ravages of the Laba Parti.
Doesn’t seem to be any difference now.
KK
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A pox on both their houses: Vote Informal
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A pox on both their houses: Vote minor party
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Vote for a minor party emphasis: In the Senate.
I intend to place Greens last, then Labor and then LNP candidate with a minor party first preference. I understand the preference voting system but hope that if enough of us deny the major parties our primary vote a clear message will be sent.
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Looks like your wish will come true in NSW.
‘Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation are among the 19 parties who will contest next year’s state election, as both sides of politics brace for the possibility of a hung parliament with right-wing parties holding the balance of power.’
SMH
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Exactly my view.
In homage to all those who, in the past, fought, and sometimes died, to get us that vote, I will use that vote to express my wishes.
The system may not be perfect, but it’s much more than what most countries have.
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Putting that aside, a quarter of the NSW electorate voting informally is a clear statement. That won’t happen so we can expect a possible hung parliament and continuation of the cultural Marxist consortium.
A couple of months later the federal election will be held, I won’t hazard a guess on how that will turn out.
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El Gordo, True, it is a clear statement. I suspect though that few will listen — it’s not a threatening statement.
A statement politicians cannot ignore is 1. Losing. 2. Money. 3. having to deal with independents. 30% of the voters in Longman Qld did not vote for the majors.
10
The NSW election could become our worst nightmare.
‘To win outright, Labor would need to steal back 13 seats, which might be a tough ask.
‘But if it manages to snatch about eight seats it could have the change to form a minority government with the agreement of the Greens and Independents.’
ABC
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The stench of this government is overwhelming.
It’s safe to replace “this” with “all” in contemporary Australia.
10
MPAA……
10
https://climatechangedispatch.com/utility-leader-warns-new-england-is-reaching-a-tipping-point/
It’s not just here. This in Trump’s US of A. Where, hopefully, he may stand a chance.
“Dan Dolan, the president of the New England Power Generators Association, is calling on policymakers to bring back market competition into the region’s electricity generation industry, warning that rampant government regulations and subsidies will ultimately affect grid reliability and consumer costs……
“On the current trajectory,…… State subsidies will beget reliability subsidies, driving consumer costs ever higher and doing away with future market-based investments for new or existing power generation.”
Sounds familiar?
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I would now refer that sale decision to whichever police body handles that sort of thing in NSW. I would want to know for certain she had no relationship of any kind with the new owners. $1 million dollars. I have grave concerns that the process was corrupted.
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Certainly worth a look, but I think its probably a case of them seeing the world through the climate change prism and ignoring reality, engineering and accounting in favour of virstue signalling and posturing. You also cant ignore the presence of the public service in the deal, which would not help achieve anything like value for the public.
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I hold the opinion that beyond the question of corruption lies the long distance controlling arms of UN organisations and treaties, Agenda 21 and Agenda 30, Paris Agreement and many more effectively impacting on the sovereignty of ours and other nations.
Few realised that the National Energy Guarantee contained provision to make “emissions”, carbon dioxide emissions targets Australian Law to reinforce the ratification of the UN Paris Treaty. I understand that the reason is that no international law or treaty can be imposed in Australia unless the government of the day allows it and obviously supports it. This is why UN treaties were signed between member nations, to enable compliant governments to ignore constitutional law.
UN business via treaties is being imposed here at all three levels of government but our supposed to be elected REPRESENTATIVES fail to keep their constituents informed.
What does that make them?
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Dennis.
A damning indictment of our politicians who have transferred truck loads of our cash to other places, off shore.
Presumably a portion of it will be accessible to the individual Australian representatives when they retire.
KK
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They are in charge.
They should be held accountable.
KK
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Granted that there’s a lot of virtue signalling and posturing conducted in all sorts of areas that are harmless but when it comes to an area as vital as power generation for the economic and social survival of a nation there can be no room for virtue signalling of any kind. It is a serious situation and ignoring the facts is tantamount to committing a crime, and should be treated as such. Ignorance or stupidity is not a defence in such very important matters. Yes the PS can’t be ignored but don’t forget the buck stops with the politicians.
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It is nothing short of TREASON!
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Independent Commission Against Corruption, the ICAC.
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Antoine , more than likely just inept and incompetent but nonetheless both major parties have shown a willingness to sell the cow for some magic beans .
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Yes, it’s all part of a creepy plan to shape the world to the ends of the kakistocracy. Yes, it’s dreary collectivism calling itself cute names like Sustainable Development. Yes, the only solid goal and real outcome is murder, lots of murder. And, no, none of it is by merely local impulse or merely local design.
But it’s still NSW, and globalism doesn’t mean the old local game has to stop. There’s room for a lot of gratitude in NSW when 1 goes to 555, if you know what I mean. Liberal and Labor in NSW are best described as the sides in “Game of Convict Thrones”.
Now, would you like another sports stadium somewhere in Sydney? Of course you do. It can be connected to your favourite sustainable shopping mall and sustainable gambling precinct by a sustainable light rail. (There’ll be stuff about sustainability with Disney characters for the kids, but remember: always gamble sustainably.)
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The way things are going we all will also have to drink water and eat food sustainably, if you know what I mean. After all we can’t build dams or grow crops that fast.
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I was driving to work this morning in my polluting symbol of western achievement, and come to the conclusion things couldn’t have got this bad unless there was a spiritual aspect to all this.
Coming from my Christian viewpoint, I perceive a zombie-like spiritual quality to people these days, but it cant have just “happened” by chance. People don’t wake up one day and fall hook line and sinker for something that is so wrong from so many angles unless something in the spiritual “ether” has changed.
The Bible talks about a mass delusion occurring as sent by God, its possible it has occurred or may be occurring –
“9 The coming of the lawless one ( Antichrist ) will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,
10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” ( 2 Thess 2:9-12 )
Global warming I think that its part of the delusion.
If you observe the ferocity with which CAGW adherents defend the indefensible, the way those who appear to be the CAGW “custodians” guard those whom they have deceived ( to protect them from hearing the scientific truth )…..its not the truth of CAGW thats at stake here, CAGW is just a symptom of a much deeper and “where will you spend eternity?”- related problem.
This is not meant to be a sermon, just my take on whats happening, and the fact that I *cant* shake the thought that the mess is only possible as its driven spiritually, not physically or politically……
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“If you observe the ferocity with which CAGW adherents defend the indefensible, the way those who appear to be the CAGW “custodians” guard those whom they have deceived ( to protect them from hearing the scientific truth )…..its not the truth of CAGW thats at stake here, CAGW is just a symptom of a much deeper and “where will you spend eternity?”- related problem.”
100% agree with you OriginalSteve. A few years ago I send a two page letter to all the main Stream Christian churches in Australia. It was a challenge to convey the CAGW scam in two pages in laymen’s terms. Some churches have climate change departments! The two key questions in conclusion to this letter was:
1. How does the church justify deliberate action (dis-invest in fossil fuels, urge governments to take immediate action on climate change, etc.), impoverishing poor nations of cheap reliable energy and also escalate energy poverty on the vulnerable (poor, aged) HUMAN BEINGS.
2. How can any Christian church with these policies claim they and their followers believe in one God (our Creator, His Son and the Holy Spirit) if they worship creation (gaia/ Climate Cult) as well. You know what this means spiritually.
Not one acknowledgement of receiving the letter or any responses to date. Which was expected (How could I dare questioning the new religion!).
Needless to say, I have withdrawn all donations to our local church and withdrew as a member. I have researched all the Australian Christian churches in our area and found that they all worship the pagan god gaia.
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Yes its a concern, and I do consider that the christian church by and large as such has fallen away from the Christian ( Bible believing ) faith considerably, which is also part of End Times activity. That they would pursue a green false “god” is not surprising. All you have to do is see the recent national “vote” we had on a topic recently to know how far Australia has strayed from God. The problem is, there is a cost, and I suspect it will be a big one as God wont be mocked. We humans think we are clever…
I do know of churches who are Bible believing, so ask around maybe further afield than your local area. Bible believing churches are now put at odds with “civil” society, but govts legislating foolishness into law doesn’t make foolishness right or smart, it just means you wont get arrested for it.
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All I will say is denominational churches come in all sorts of forms. None are perfect, some are close enough to be worth following, many are far from perfect and some are so far from the truth it’s not funny (certain cults are classic examples). The one I attend follows the Bible very closely with very few exceptions.
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If your church chooses to follow the Bible, then they are onto a very good thing.
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The Pentecostal Church believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
31
Added to that, is the Pope’s comment about how gay/homosexual people could recover their situation and change back to normal by working with a Psychologist.
Coming from a man who has enormous resources at his disposal to enable him to build an informed opinion: he obviously didn’t bother.
His version of the truth is a disgusting, uninformed Opinion, totally devoid of science.
The local Uniting churches have billboards with a new saying every week.
It’s obvious from the messages placed there that adherence to commonly held dogmas is an essential tool of the modern Church.
The message is: Don’t Think for Yourself, We’ll Take Care of That.
The world is in a state of unreality.
KK
20
The Catholic Church is conducting a plenary conference here. Archbishop Costeloe is the chairman. I asked one of the local ladies who attended. She is in favour of SSM (Squadron Sergeant Major) and woman priest hood. I pray that Costelloe is able to resist these movements. The use of psychologists to cure homosexuals is not that effective due to the problem being spiritual rather than mental.
00
The social constructs that are built around this sad situation are part of the problem.
They don’t get at the Truth.
Things like the conference mentioned and the g$y pride march in Kings Cross don’t improve things.
This issue is based on known irregularities induced during pregnancy.
Why doesn’t the Pope spend some of the church’s money, hire some biologists to define the situation in easily understood terms, and present this truth to the public.
The Truth is that this infliction will not be eased by psychological help or an increase in Spirituality.
To believe such is like believing in Voodoo.
KK
00
Hi Len,
To solve a problem, you have to understand it and that includes the basic issues.
A conference is simply going to increase the confusion and pain for all.
KK
00
Comment in moderation.
Re church politicization.
The modern Church seems to be adopting a new cause or Idol every month when it should be looking at helping our people and communities.
Social Media is Not God.
KK
20
Your questions/statements 1. and 2. sum it up very well Staal. My OH has sent papers to bishops, politicians, etc. to absolutely no response despite a promise from one quarter. He has just sent another to the SJW department at the diocese, working hard on it before we left for overseas and making himself unwell in the process. I expect we’ve been written off as cranks. Engineers might say that cranks are needed to get things moving!
Anyway, no rest for the wicked, as they say. He has been invited to preach in our old benefice on Sunday! This is meant to be a break/holiday with family and friends.
30
OriginalSteve you are absolutely correct. I’ve come to a similar conclusion some time ago. It’s part of a much wider picture that includes UFOs and ghosts, which are all real but not what most people think they are. Demonic forces are everywhere. The biggest delusion is yet to come.
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‘… a much wider picture that includes UFOs …’
Crop circles are fascinating, yet remains an enigma, so its the mystical part of ‘disclosure’.
00
Brilliant!!
A real thought provoker of a statement.
The surface image is cute Disney world.
The Underlying reality, and I do emphasise the “lying” bit, is thuggery, harassment, corruption and other civilization destroying behaviour.
The worst aspect though is the loss of trust in government and sense of hopelessness that anything can be made to change for the better.
We must fight back but it’s hard while both sides, lib/lab, control the media.
KK
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“Sustainable”, There’s that communist word again…………..
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From 7 Billion People To 500 Million People – The Sick Population Control Agenda Of The Global Elite » Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!
http://www.infowars.com/from-7-billion-people-to-500-million-people-%E2%80%93-the-sick-population-control-agenda-of-the-global-elite/#content
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There is nothing funny about failed doomsday global warming …
… unless you’re laughing at the failed, low-info comedian who thinks trace CO2 is “the greatest existential threat facing mankind today” …
Language warning.
Sept 5, 2018, Tom Ballard DESTROYS Australia’s Climate Policy – Tonightly With Tom Ballard (their abc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stIYj4l2gAE
Laughing at you, not with you.
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The was a discussion on another thread about surface thinking and the tendency to be superficial. Ballard seems to have it mastered. If he made an effort to scratch one layer down he would find some real comedy gold, assuming he could understand what he was looking at.
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Yep….
I was laughing……
At Him…..What a moron…
00
Indeed our existing coal fired power stations must be bolstered. It’s mandatory if we are to prevent power prices from going even higher regardless of whether we start building new ones or not. If we had nuclear power stations we would be following Trump’s move to bolster them as well. I would have to state the obvious given the facts and fiction about climate change/global warming. Any power company who closes down and destroys one more coal fired power station here should have all the directors charged with terrorism. It’s that serious. I just don’t understand how anyone can see it in any other way.
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On the other hand, deliberately contributing to global warming is also terrorism, at least according to the 60% who hold that view.
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What global warming?
100
CO2
The gas of Life.
There is no mechanism by which CO2 can create a “hotter” atmosphere.
KK
113
Can you give a link on that?
14
Yes. University physics and chemistry plus modelling of thermodynamics of various systems.
You should try it, but I guess the course work and mathematical skills would be a bit out of your reach?
KK
20
You have been blathering on for years that models and modelling are useless.
Why the sudden change of heart?
01
Read my previous comments.
10
Thanks Mate but I still can’t see any explanation.
Looking at your reply to Peter it would appear you don’t really have a clue do you!
Alan Dundes must have been thinking of you when he stated “Light travels faster than sound. That’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak”
Cheers
00
so no link. Then insulting my intelligence is your best shot? Here is a equation for you.
dF = 5.35 ln(C/Co)
Where ‘dF’ is the radiative forcing in Watts per square meter, ‘C’ is the concentration of atmospheric CO2, and ‘Co’ is the reference CO2concentration. Normally the value of Co is chosen at the pre-industrial concentration of 280 ppmv.
13
I don’t have to try, you do that very well for yourself.
That equation looks like something out of the University of the United Nations.
A complete joke.
KK
11
BTW,
both the NEG and Paris are “gon pinis” courtesy of the new Liberal Parti.
KK
10
‘…at least according to the 60% who hold that view.’
We have found a way to change their minds, WIN/Fox.
60
Playing Simon Says, does that …..
“Simon says global warming from CO2 is real”….or “Simon says, you will all drown from melted sea ice”…very adaptable game and lends itself to inventive commands. It is forbidden for players to deny what Simon says, and many players consequently become very adept.
32
global warming is [snip]!
20
GLOBAL WARMING IS BS!
There, I fixed it for you!!
50
“Cynic of Ayr” used the word “b.u.l.l.s.h.i.t” and also was not censored.
Why are you victimizing me????
explain!
00
Get.
Off.
Your.
High.
Horse.
KK
20
And change your name.
Angry sounds too, angry.
Buy some chocolate.
Sit down and eat it.
Hang on, it’s not that sort of chocolate.
KK
30
60% BS!
Where did figure come from?
The GayBC!
32
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/2018-lowy-institute-poll
But I was responding to the terrorism statement
14
Ah yes 58% think climate change is a critical threat.
‘In another shift, concern about climate change appears to be accelerating, and the public preference for renewables over coal has hardened, despite concerns about energy insecurity which might result from coal power station closures.’
Tony Abbott says we should lift the ban on nuclear power, what do you think?
30
all for nuclear power, we have the raw material, and geologically the safest continent in which to build one
10
We have all the raw materials for coal fired power, too.
With the added bonus of releasing the gas of life, CO2.
Do you have any empirical evidence at all that enhanced atmospheric CO2 causes anything but enhanced plant and crop growth?
21
“On the other hand, deliberately contributing to global warming is also terrorism”
Then why are you continuing to do it?
You are using a computer,, electricity.
I bet you drive a car as well
Also I bet you shop at supermarkets, where everything is delivered by fossil fuel powered trucks.
House built using so much fossil fuel energy.. massive carbon footprint
etc etc…
You really aren’t displaying anything but extreme HYPOCRISY whenever you post idiotic comments like that.
20
I do all those things, as do you. However to conflate that with my first statement is a false equivalence as you well know.
11
Fair go Andy, old son.
Half the people here have a roof full of solar panels and you reckon Peter is a hypocrite.
Anyway you should go off grid, you wouldn’t want your fridge ingesting any of those nasty renewable electrons, now would you. You wouldn’t want to be seen as a renewable consuming hypocrite, hey!
Cheers!
00
I know my electricity is pretty close to 100% coal fired.
Just like everyone else’s 🙂
And yes, Its good that AusGrid is still able to stabilise the grid against the erratic, intermittent farce of so-called renewables.
Nice to see you so TOTALLY RELIANT on fossil fuel energy, guys. 🙂
00
A shit box hovel in Sydney sells for $1,000,000 .The real estate the power station sits on would be a bargain at the above alone. Governments in this country sell of the peoples assets at bargain prices to overseas interests, then in turn the people are ripped off by the new owners with profits going overseas. The 3 biggest criminal organisations in this country are Local, State & Federal Governments. This practice is not tolerated by our major trading partners, they are no doubt laughing all the way to the bank.
110
Hence Trump in America trying to drain the swamp comment , unfortunately it is a very large swamp and the swamp here is getting bigger every year.
We have a democracy and the power to vote the criminals out and then send them to court for their crimes against our country .
31
As we know Dr. Peter Ridd, former Professor at James Cook University in Queensland lost his job over his comments on the Great Barrier Reef. He was interviewed by Stefan Molyneux:
Science’s Replication Crisis | Peter Ridd and Stefan Molyneux
90
Disgraceful!
50
Jo:
I think you dismissed the new Aurora solar thermal plant in SA a little too quickly as they seen to have found a way to keep the sun shining at night.
For the 500GW annual generation claimed it requires the plant to operate at 38% CF for 24 hours a day for 365 days.
Alternately it needs to generate at 100% CF for 3333 hours per annum or 9.1 hours per day, every day.
As 38% is a rather high CF for this type of plant, and the annual hours of sunlight for that area aren’t quite that high, it seems that once again South Australia is buying another mirage. I think that the State is supplying $120 million subsidy and the late PM promised another $100 million.
110
Promises are great, reality for SolarReserve not so great:
“The 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes solar plant near Tonopah missed its 2017 contractual credit requirement by a “significant” margin — about 476,000 kilowatts worth of portfolio credits.”
https://elkodaily.com/news/state-and-regional/nv-energy-sells-credits-to-switch/article_4c039ab9-f287-576e-a180-7add2d2b6d1b.html
60
Graeme, you are right. Unless the PV panels can move and be controlled to follow the sun (very few do that because there is insufficient return on the investment and it gives a maintenance headache) the maximum capacity only occurs for about two hours when the sky is clear. The power output follows a bell shape raising slowly after sunrise, peaking when the sun is overhead and declining to nothing before sunset. The number of sunshine hours is only one factor in a combination of other factors. The latitude of the location is another factor. With stationary panels the output efficiency of the panels is only about 16% over a year of the rated capacity. It should be noted that each solar cell produces about 1/2 a volt and a current of about 30 milliamp. Cells have to be put in series to give sufficient voltage for charging a battery. It appears an array of 72 cells which give about 36 V sufficient to charge a battery of 24V (or two 12V in series). Arrays of cells need to be put in parallel to have sufficient power. It would appear that each panel (for domestic use) is about 180-200 watt so has about 4 arrays of 72 cells. This means not all the input power can be utilised for charging. If the power is used as input to a grid then will need to go through an inverter and transformer which both have efficiency factors. There are a lot of lies told about the capacity, efficiency and life of solar panels.
70
Not PV, mirrors. It’s solar thermal don’t forget. Presumably tracking mirrors.
In the link below is a damning graph of the Crescent Dunes output over 2016/17 from an article at Reneweconomy no less, by the arch renewables apologist David Leitch back in Feb this year. Even he arrives at the conclusion that it is a dud and that the SA clone should be put on hold until such time as its big brother starts to live up to its hype.
A recap on the Crescent Dunes project: cost — US$1 billion ; alleged capacity — 110MW; alleged molten salt storage — 10 hours; design capacity factor — 51%. Don’t laugh, they’re serious.
As at the start of this year, out of 26 months of “operation”, Crescent Dunes was completely offline for 9 months. On only 3 months did it met the annualized design goal. At no stage after it was repaired in June 2017 did it come anywhere near meeting its design capacity (see graph), and in fact it appeared to be shut down again from last November.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/solarreserve-still-falling-short-at-flagship-solar-tower-project-13928/
20
“ABC News maths” strike again
10
I said in my comment at 5.3 in the previous post on electricity costs http://joannenova.com.au/2018/09/engineers-warn-55-renewables-will-add-1400-to-electricity-bills-in-australia/ that the life of coal fired power stations could be extended and even upgraded to give more capacity. That especially applies to Liddell which has under designed and poor quality coal mills.
The article above is not correct about the possibility of Vales Point PS being one of the last. Qld has some good coal fired PS. Millmerran (Privately owned 850MW) was commissioned in 2002. It could easily run to 2050 and further could be upgraded to greater capacity. It has its own coal mine and supplies power to Toowoomba.
80
An interesting comment. I have not heard the argument that nuclear costs may be exaggerated. Presumably nukes threaten Big-Gov fans the same way coal does — any industry that doesn’t need a hand-out cannot be controlled.
To link directly to specific comments we can use the link in the Date Stamp. (Eg http://joannenova.com.au/2018/09/engineers-warn-55-renewables-will-add-1400-to-electricity-bills-in-australia/#comment-2042333)
100
Wikipedia provides quite a good explanation as to why Australia does not have nuclear power plants;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Australia
20
Russia and China are exporting nuclear technology.
10
Gorbachev Exposes Global Communist Environmentalism Conspiracy……..
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread525624/pg1
30
Why the Russians Conceived the Global Warming Scam………….
https://americasurvival.org/2017/06/why-the-russians-conceived-the-global-warming-scam.html
20
o/t
6 Sept: Daily Caller: Watch: ‘Brazilian Trump’ Brutally Stabbed During Rally
by Jason Hopkins
Jair Bolsonaro, a longtime politician and leading candidate in Brazil’s presidential elections, was brutally stabbed during a campaign rally Thursday…
The stabbing was just below the bulletproof vest he was wearing…
***Like U.S. President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has been a major critic of the Paris accord and has vowed to leave the agreement if elected president.
The conservative lawmaker is slated to win the presidential elections in October…
The man who stabbed Bolsonaro was identified as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, according to a report from the Guardian. His motive is not immediately clear.
https://dailycaller.com/2018/09/06/brazilian-presidential-candidate-stabbed/
the attack does not seem to be at all related to “Paris”, but note:
google translation:
Who is Adélio Bispo Oliveira, the left supporter who stabbed Brazil’s presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro
According to the magazine Veja, the attacker was affiliated with the leftist party PSOL (Partido Socialismo y Libertad, a rupture of the PT) between 2007 and 2014. The data comes from the register of members of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE).
The PSOL was created by a group of former PT militants who broke with the party in 2004 due to disagreements with its founder, Lula da Silva.
In the Facebook profile of Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, there are photographs in which he is seen in a demonstration posing next to a sign that reads: “Politicians useless”. Images are also seen in a protest for the freedom of the detained PT leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva…
https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2018/09/06/quien-es-adelio-bispo-oliveira-el-hombre-que-apunalo-al-candidato-presidencial-de-brasil-jair-bolsonaro/
7 Sept: Guardian: Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil’s far-right presidential hopeful stabbed at campaign rally
Son Flávio says Bolsonaro arrived hospital ‘almost dead’ from wound in abdomen after attack in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
by Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
A police spokesman confirmed that the alleged attacker – named as Adélio Bispo de Oliveira – was in custody after being badly beaten up by Bolsonaro supporters.
The G1 news website printed a leaked extract from the suspect’s police interview in which he said he had been ordered by God to carry out the attack.
“The Minas Gerais police reacted rapidly. Uniformed officers who were there arrested the attacker,” said Major Flavio Santiago, a police spokesman.
Santiago said such attacks were rare in Brazil. “The candidates in this political process of getting close to their public, they have their security, police are there,” he said. “In Brazil we don’t have the culture of this type of attack, where someone can break through security and attack a candidate.”…
But Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s successor, provoked some anger when she suggested that Bolsonaro’s extremist views could have provoked the attack.
“When you plant hate, you harvest thunderstorms,” she said in an interview with the Folha de S Paulo newspaper…
7 Sept: Bloomberg: Brazilian Front-Runner Jair Bolsonaro Stabbed on Campaign Trail
By David Biller and Flavia Said; With assistance by Simone Preissler Iglesias, and Vinicius Andrade
Ex-army captain Bolsonaro leads polls ahead of October voting
Candidate is in stable condition after serious injuries
Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who leads opinion polls four weeks ahead of the first round of voting, was stabbed during a street rally in the Southeast state of Minas Gerais on Thursday afternoon. He was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent surgery…
Brazil’s stocks and the currency jumped immediately following the attack. Bolsonaro, while a controversial and divisive figure in Brazil, is popular with many investors because of his free-market approach to the economy. They are now betting that the attack will wind up creating sympathy for the candidate and help propel him into the second round of voting, scheduled for October 27. The benchmark stock index Ibovespa climbed as much as 1.9 percent.
10
Which brings me to a word like “Sustainable” but not in the green marxist use..but in the real world
.sustainable
Then Coal mining is sustainable…the handwaving of
goes for everything..
You could extend that and claim that all the minerals used to make solar panels are finite..ergo.making the panels is NOT sustainable..
Meaningless words for the useful idiots to mumble..
I predict “they” will try and remove the Holocene warming by simply removing the Holocene epoch from books…
70
“all the minerals used to make solar panels..” Yep and to make useless windmills too! Many rare earth metals used to make the magnets, they arent sustainable either, and not mined environmentally either.
30
Nit-pick:
“The Vales Point power station near Lake Macquarie,…”
“Near” the lake? Bloody hell, I’ve driven right to the waters edge inside the grounds of this power station – many times. “By” or “on” would be more accurate…
60
PACIFIC FORUM FARCE……….
http://pickeringpost.com/story/pacific-forum-farce/8539
30
DO NOT FORGET IT WAS MALCOLM’S CAPTAIN’S CALL IN KERRY SCHOTT AUTHOR OF THE NEG AND HEAD OF ENERGY SECURITY BOARD WAS THE ADVISER WHO SOLD IT OFF!!! SHE WAS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEAD ON ARRIVAL DESAL PLANT IN NSW!! WITH SUCH A TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS AND SOUND ADVICE NO WONDER WHE KEEPS LANDING GOVERNMENT JOBS!!!
80
Australia sees record gold production and surging coal investment
“It’s been a strong year for Australia’s mining sector, particularly in gold and coal.
Statistics released this week have revealed that coal mining investment in Australia has surged by 20% in 2017-2018.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that coal mining expenditure over the last year reached $4.9 billion.”
https://www.miningglobal.com/investing/australia-sees-record-gold-production-and-surging-coal-investment
via: http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/09/05/australian-transition-coal-inevitable-report/
40
Science study: Rising CO2 producing “miracle” re-greening effects across the planet as global tree cover rapidly EXPANDS
https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-09-05-science-study-rising-co2-producing-miracle-re-greening-effects-across-the-planet.html#
80
This is a bandied about by the learned talking heads on the ABC etc. Unfortunately, too many others believe this also.
That furphy is that a Coal Power Station reaches the end of it’s life. This, readers, is bullshit!
Maintenance and periodical rebuilds relegate the only reasons for end of life, to end of fuel, or a sudden (more or less) replacement by another technology, like nuclear. And no, wind and solar ain’t it!
Hazelwood had poor fuel. Everyone knows that. But the fuel wasn’t the cause of end of life.
Hazelwood had eight units. I’ve never been there, but eight units would, to a fairly clear degree, have been separate, feeding into a common outlet. A unit could have been closed down for a period – a year or less – for replacement. No need for further power interconnections. No need for another mine. No need for further fuel delivery systems. No need for environmental studies to see if a few insects might have their noses – probosces? – out of joint.
This is always occurring in factories all over the place. My four local Sugar Mills have been doing it for years, and years and years. In fact, for 100 years or so.
At these mills, there is ample evidence of expansion, renewal and change. Redundant Tram lines go into the walls of buildings. Foundations of demolished buildings are car parks. New brick offices are built beside the old timber and iron offices, which are demolished or turned into something else, like storage. New steam boilers are built beside old ones. Controls are centralised and modenised.
Think about HELE. Apparently, a fine technology, well worth building. But what is it? It is a boiler. Nothing else but a boiler.
It doesn’t produce electricity directly. It boils water, over and over, and supplies pressurised steam to a turbine/alternator, exactly the same as today’s boiler does! No different!
The steam is the same stuff out of either boiler type.
There is no need to build new turbines/alternators, power infrastructure and so on. Just a bloody boiler!
The aforementioned sugar Mill don’t have the original boilers! Far from it. In my lifetime here, they’ve had several new boilers each. All they did was walk into the office of Babcock & Wilcox, and say, “A new boiler please. How much?”
If – if – it’s envisaged that existing Power Stations (boilers) be replaced with HELE, the reasons for new stations, rather then rebuilding or refurbishing present ones are:
Politicians like to open new stuff. They think it makes them look impressive. They don’t like to open repairs;
There’s a lot more money to be made by drawing up a completely new station on a new site, than drawing up some rebuild. Which one would a designer prefer? A small job or a big job?
Environmental. There’s millions of dollars to be made to investigate insect damage (as mentioned above) on a new site. It would also reinvigorate the greenies, who have been languishing in their digs on the dole, giving them new purpose in life – to continue to languish on the dole.
111
lengthy and confusing article:
6 Sept: AFR: Coal miners’ detente with Aurizon
by Matthew Stevens
The lack of brimstone and public fire from Queensland coal miners about an extended spike in the number of coal ships queuing outside the state’s key coal ports reflects a fragile détente that has emerged between Aurizon and its agitated customers.
“I would not call it peace in our time but maybe it is more like a fragile truce,” one coal miner told The Australian Financial Review on Thursday.
“There are back-channel discussions being held,” another said. “I would not want to over-play how they are going, let alone suggest they will lead to anything. But they are under way.”…
Earlier this week the Financial Review reported there were up to 50 ships waiting for berths at coal terminals as a result of a confluence of issues that included rail access. This was true, it remains the case and there is an expectation that the pressures are building as more ships are due to arrive in the coming week.
But we are assured by Queensland’s bigger coal producers that rail issues rank low on the list of causes for the fleet gathering outside two of the four major export terminals. We are assured, too, that the gathering fleet sits within historic norms and that, as it turns out, the backlog of boats is somewhat smaller than it was earlier this year when shippers were pushing schedules in an attempt to get their tonnes away ahead of the wet season.
The biggest bottleneck right now is outside the Port of Hay Point, about 40km south of Mackay. The port hosts two export terminals, one synonymous with its host port and the other called the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. And this time around it is DBCT that is the father of a 33-strong queue of boats.
The issue there is the delayed return of one of its three coal loaders from maintenance that was scheduled for July and ran into August…ETC
https://www.afr.com/business/coal-miners-detente-with-aurizon-20180906-h1514u
meanwhile:
7 Sept: TripleM: BREAKING: Another Anti-Coal Protest At Sandgate
It’s the third one this week…
Another protest has brought coal trains to a halt at Sandgate – the third one this week.
A climate change activist has locked herself to the side of a coal train, stopping trains from entering Newcastle Port.
Police are there ready to remove her…
“I have turned to direct action because I’ve tried signing petitions, I’ve tried going to rallies and its not enough. We need transition (to renewables) yesterday, we’re running out of time,” Cedar said.
The train line was also blocked by protesters on Monday and Wednesday, resulting in five people being charged.
Police have labeled their actions as “extremely dangerous”.
https://www.triplem.com.au/news/newcastle/breaking-another-anti-coal-protest-at-sandgate
30
7 Sept: GreenLeft: Newcastle youth blocks coal trains for third time this week
by Kerry Smith
Newcastle youth Ceder locked on to the side of a coal train in Newcastle, halting all supply heading into the world’s largest coal port on September 7. Ceder was later cut loose and taken into police custody.
This was the third protest action this week against Australia’s coal industry and its contribution to global climate change. The actions were part of the #EndCoal campaign initiated by Frontline Action on Coal (FLAC), in collaboration with Newcastle Climate Justice Uprising…
Ceder explained that activists have turned to direct action because “we’re running out of time”…
Coal has been described as the new asbestos: those people who have no choice but to live nearby are at risk.
“I’m scared. I want a future”, Ceder said. “I want to be able to live without polluted air, water and food, and eventually have kids of my own some day.”
Front Line Action on Coal is demanding an end to Australia’s extraction and export of coal. It is organising the Act Up to End Coal protest actions in Newcastle on September 12-16.
[A recorded livestream of the protest can be viewed on FLAC’s Facebook page.]
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/newcastle-youth-blocks-coal-trains-third-time-week
following is behind paywall, but GWPF has plenty of excerpts – tho I don’t agree with much of what he has to say:
4 Sept: GWPF: Walter Russell Mead/WSJ: Anti-Capitalist Climate Campaigners Have Failed
The problem isn’t climate-change denial. It’s doubt that climate activists have the answers.
Mr. Hulot is not alone among environmentalists in denouncing the hypocrisy and inadequacy of government action on climate change. The Paris accords are “a fraud, really, a fake,” said climate activist James Hansen in 2015. “There is no action, just promises.”
Three years later, Mr. Hansen’s words look prescient. Even ostensibly committed countries like Germany and France are on course to miss the voluntary 2020 targets they announced to such fanfare in 2015. The Climate Action Tracker estimates that only Morocco and Gambia are on a “Paris agreement compatible” path…
The world needs a green movement that can command more than lip service from politicians. Such a movement would be tech-positive, pro-science and pro-growth, recognizing that capitalism can deliver technological and social changes that offer humanity’s best hope of a greener and cooler future. A realistic green movement would not only embrace zero-carbon nuclear power as part of the solution to the climate problem; it would embrace the broader potential of the information revolution to raise living standards around the world while reducing humanity’s carbon footprint…
https://www.thegwpf.com/walter-russell-mead-anti-capitalist-climate-campaigners-have-failed/
2 Sept: Tony Heller: New Video : Climate Fraud At The New York Times
https://realclimatescience.com/2018/09/new-video-climate-fraud-at-the-new-york-times/
10
““I’m scared. I want a future”, Ceder said. ”
Bad luck Cedar, your attitude and criminal actions leaves you with no future.
A life of crime and street work beckons you.
20
a comment has gone into moderation.
7 Sept: AustraliaMining: Pembroke Resources achieves key step toward $1bn coking coal project
by Vanessa Zhou
Pembroke has achieved a major step toward developing its $1 billion Olive Downs coking coal project in the Bowen Basin in Queensland with the release of its environmental impact statement (EIS) for public comment.
The project is significantly backed by global energy and resources private equity firm Denham Capital, and was purchased from then-bankrupt Peabody Energy in 2016.
Once fully developed, the Olive Downs project will be one of the world’s largest coking coal mines for nearly 80 years.
Cameron Dick, Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning, said, “When the open cut mine is up and running, it could maintain an average of 1000 operational jobs and produce up to 15 million tonnes of coal per year.
“Importantly, Pembroke Resources will encourage workers to live in local towns like Moranbah, Nebo, Dysart and Middlemount and provide the necessary accommodation for them there.”
The project proposal includes coal handling and crushing facilities at the mine’s Olive Downs South and Willunga precincts; a rail link to transport coal to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal; and a water pipeline and power transmission line.
The Olive Downs project boasts JORC resources of 813Mt, including 514Mt reserves. Production is expected to commence in 2020 and will feed the demand of Asia’s steel industries.
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said, “It’s high-quality coal, close to ports and is produced at a lower cost to other markets including the US.”
Pembroke has had extensive consultation with the community and stakeholders in the areas of jobs and training. Last year, the company signed on an indigenous land use agreement (ILUA) with the Barada Barna traditional owners…
The company owns the Iffley, Deverill and Twenty Mile properties, covering over 41,000ha, which will enable joint development for environmental offset through mining and agricultural endeavours.
The draft EIS is available online and in local libraries until October 10.
https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/pembroke-resources-achieves-key-step-toward-1-billion-coking-coal-project/
00
6 Sept: Reuters: Commentary: India boosts purchases of Indonesian coal as prices drop
by Clyde Russell
LAUNCESTON, Australia – One of the standout commodity performers this year has been thermal coal, but not all coal is created equal and disparities in pricing may help explain why India’s imports have stayed strong despite the higher costs
The main benchmark for thermal coal in Asia is priced at Australia’s Newcastle Port, the world’s largest coal-export harbour.
The price has gained 11.8 percent so far this year, to close at $114.66 a tonne in the week to Sept. 2, according to assessments by Argus Media.
This isn’t far off the 6-1/2 year high of nearly $120 a tonne hit in July, with the price surge this year largely coming on the back of increased Chinese demand for coal to be burned in power stations.
What has been somewhat surprising is that India, the world’s second-largest coal importer behind China, has defied its prior history of being a price-sensitive buyer and boosted its imports this year…
India imported 128.7 million tonnes of coal in the first eight months of the year, up 10.6 percent on the same period last year, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Of this, 50.4 million tonnes came from Indonesia, making the Southeast Asian nation India’s top supplier…
Given the recent difficulties state-controlled Coal India has experienced in meeting domestic requirements, it’s little surprise that Indian buyers have ramped up purchases from Indonesia…
China has also struggled with domestic coal availability, mainly as a result of self-imposed output restrictions as part of efforts to combat air pollution.
This has boosted demand for imports, but it seems Chinese buyers are preferring higher energy content Australian coal over Indonesian grades.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-column-russell-coal-india/commentary-india-boosts-purchases-of-indonesian-coal-as-prices-drop-idUKKCN1LM17U
10
Gets driven home in fossil fuel powered car..enters fossil fuel powered house …sees no problem with her lifestyle.
I once met a Al gore devotee..the drone had been to his climate action training..had a photo of the Al in his house..I had to walk past two cars in the driveway..house was connected to the grid…seriously..these people are just brain damaged..
120
Germany’s public-funded broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, is in mourning, kind of:
PHOTO GALLERY ONLY: 6 Sept: Deutsche Welle: Charli Shield: 6 years of coal protest coming to an end at Germany’s Hambach forest?
Activists have uprooted their lives to save a German forest from being sacrificed to a gigantic coal mine. Now, German police are overseeing the clearing of the Hambach forest as the plans for mining go ahead.
https://www.dw.com/en/6-years-of-coal-protest-coming-to-an-end-at-germanys-hambach-forest/g-45382780
5 Sept: Deutsche Welle: Police clear protesters from Hambach Forest
German police have expelled protesters in the Hambach Forest near Aachen. Environmental demonstrators have for years opposed plans to expand one of Germany’s largest open-pit coal mines.
Several hundred German police officers moved into Hambach Forest in western Germany on Wednesday to expel dozens of protesters.
The forest, located between the cities of Aachen and Cologne, hosts one of the country’s biggest open-pit coal mines.
The RWE energy company, which owns the forest, has intended to clear some 100 hectares (247 acres) of land in the Hambach Forest to mine for lignite — a brown, low-grade coal considered to be one of the most polluting fossil fuels — only to see its efforts repeatedly disrupted by environmental activists…
Police officials said the operation had been mostly peaceful, although officers had reported two small skirmishes with protesters. No arrests were made.
Authorities said they seized several items designed to cause criminal damage or build barricades. However, officers were ordered not to raid the roughly 60 tree houses, some of which have been inhabited since 2012…
Regional interior minister warns of left-wing extremism
Two days before the forest raids, the interior minister for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, warned that police and RWE staff in the Hambach Forest were dealing with “extremely violent left-wing extremists.”
Reul added: “We don’t know for sure (when RWE can use the forest to mine lignite) but when the day comes, the police have to make sure that right can be enforced.”
Members of the protest group denied Reul’s assertions and said officials were merely trying to criminalize the entire movement…
https://www.dw.com/en/police-clear-protesters-from-hambach-forest/a-45357153
5 Sept: ABC: AP: Hundreds of police enter German forest protest camp
Two women were detained and a suspicious device was being examined by explosives experts, said Aachen police spokeswoman Petra Wienen.
Police also posted images on Twitter showing a tire fitted with long spikes that was seized during the search. Wienen said some officers had urine and feces thrown at them, but nobody was injured.
5 Sept: E&E News: Coal mine protesters, police clash in ancient forest
10
30 Aug: Deutsche Welle: Irene Banos Ruiz: Hambach: the battle between a forest and a coal mine threatens Germany’s environmental image
Hambach Forest in western Germany has become a symbol of resistance to coal mining, but its days may well be numbered. Can protesters save Germany’s green image as an environmental and climate champion?
Hambach forest in western Germany looks like an idyllic spot, with a community of some 150 people living in tree houses and walking around barefoot. But appearances are deceptive. These are protesters who have set themselves the tough task of protecting the forest from being sacrificed to a giant opencast mine to extract lignite or brown coal, one of the dirtiest fossil fuels…
After a long fight, RWE won permission to start clearing from the start of October. That would mean evicting the activists living there – and clashes with the police have already begun…
The activists want not only to save the forest, but also to send a message to the world. It’s time to phase-out coal mining, says Indigo, after sliding nimbly down a rope from a tree house…
She uses the pseudonym when she talks to the media. Indigo is convinced we also need to abandon consumerism and show more respect for nature:
“We want to change the system we live in, because we believe that the roots of the environmental problems we have are based on how our society works,” she added.
If the forest is destroyed, Germany’s green image could suffer badly
Kai Niebert, president of the environmental organization Deutscher Naturschutzring and a member of the German coal commission, told DW the expansion of the mine would make it almost impossible for Germany to reach its climate target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels — and align with the Paris Agreement goals…
Act before is too late
While discussions continue between political leaders and environmental groups, time is running out for the forest. In a few weeks’ time, RWE will begin clearing. If the politicians do not react quickly, the situation threatens to escalate.
There have already been hostile clashes between activists and police officers…
“I didn’t see anyone reacting violently around here,” Indigo said. “What I saw was police acting very aggressively. Four times in the last days we had to climb up the trees and pull all the stuff up because we were afraid of getting arrested.”…
But the police have a different view. Dirk Weinspach, the police chief in charge of Hambach forest operations, told DW the activists attacked them with slingshots and fireworks, and injured some of his colleagues…
An activist known as Clumsy, who has been living in the forest for six years, says this is a turning point for German climate policy. He believes it’s time to see “whether the state gives in to the lignite hardliners or gets sense and starts protecting our life support basis on this planet.”…
“We’ve managed to get the issue of lignite mining and climate change into the public discussion — and that’s quite a big achievement,” said Clumsy.
https://www.dw.com/en/hambach-the-battle-between-a-forest-and-a-coal-mine-threatens-germanys-environmental-image/a-45259809
***is this really the job of a public broadcaster?
30 Nov 2017: Deutsche Welle: Patrick Grosse: Tears and tree houses: The occupation in Germany’s Hambach Forest
The trees may soon have to give way to a coal mine expansion. But activists are building tree houses and blocking roads. ***DW spent three days in the ancient forest with them…
“The mood is very tense,” says Zobel. And around 200 people plan to put up a fight and defend their home.”
Activists such as Pello refuse to let the forest disappear. “I have decided to spend the winter here in the forest to protect it,” he says. Pello means business; he has even postponed his master’s degree for a year…
“It’s a beautiful community life here,” says Pello.
You have freedom in the forest, one activist explains: “Anyone can do what they want here, they do not have to do anything.” Within the camp there is no hierarchy or leader. And everybody can decide for themselves how they wish to defend the forest. “Most of us want to defend [the trees] peacefully, but there are also a few here who are willing to use force,” says a longtime forest dweller…
Zobel: “It’s all about the symbolism, getting out of coal is inevitable and that has now come to the attention of the public all around the world.”…
https://www.dw.com/en/tears-and-tree-houses-the-occupation-in-germanys-hambach-forest/a-41586331
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Sorry t be OT but couldn’t help it.
Now if Morrison can answer his critics 1/10th as well as how Trump did in the video below Shorten would be so embarrassed he might contemplate joining the Liberal Party to save face 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=gBL1GW2k3bE
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Can convert coal powered generation to gas powered. Was done at Huntly in NZ (North Is.) many years ago.
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Can also convert nuclear power to gas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Saint_Vrain
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OT for the thread but another hole in the IPCC data (or non-data if you prefer) and its good, as expected.
https://edberry.com/blog/climate-physics/agw-hypothesis/preprint-a-fatal-flaw-in-global-warming-science/
https://www.iceagenow.info/new-study-exposes-fatal-flaw-in-global-warming-science/
“Present human emissions increase the level by 18 ppm and present natural emissions increase the level by 392 ppm to produce today’s total level of 410 ppm.” etc.
Also
https://www.iceagenow.info/what-good-will-solar-panels-and-wind-farms-be/ watch this video Spock warns of coming Ice Age.
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Breaking Nooze
‘Scott Morrison to tear up Paris emissions target laws as he moves to stamp his authority over a new government policy direction.’ Oz
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Good News .
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Yeah its on.
‘Scott Morrison has declared the national energy guarantee dead and will seek endorsement from cabinet to tear up the Paris emissions target legislation when it meets formally for the first time on Monday, as the new Prime Minister moves to stamp his authority over a new policy direction for the government.’
GWPF
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Yee Hah!
Do we at last have a Leader?
KK
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New coal fired power stations mooted.
‘Australia does not need to quit the Paris climate agreement because our commitments are non-binding, and new coal plants can continue to be constructed, according to the resources minister, Matt Canavan.
‘Canavan told Sydney broadcaster Alan Jones on Friday he had never been to Paris, and was “happy to leave the Champs-Élysées for others”, but people needed to be clear the treaty Tony Abbott committed Australia to in 2015 “doesn’t actually bind us to anything in particular”.
Guardian
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I wish someone would give me a coal fired power station.
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And I’ll have a coal mine as well thanks.
I would then pay the scum windmillers and solar electricity ‘johns’ to get out of my way.
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“Maintenance and periodical rebuilds relegate the only reasons for end of life,…”
There are hard limits – after 50-60 years, the entire concrete structure is pretty much stuffed. That’s 50 odd years of 50Hz hum slowly crumbling the concrete.
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