Over the last century there was a remarkable decline in deaths due to hot days and heatwaves. (Not that the media seem keen to say so). Mortality on a hot day declined by fully 75% in the decades after 1960 when air conditioners started to be rolled out.
In the words of the authors from this 2016 study, the people of the US have largely adapted in ways that protect them from extreme heat. The kind of hot days they are talking about happen on average 20 days a year in the US.
There has not been a similar reduction in deaths from cold snaps.
First, we document a remarkable decline in the mortality effect of temperature extremes: The impact of days with a mean temperature exceeding 80°F (26.6C) has declined by about 75 percent over the course of the twentieth century in the United States, with almost the entire decline occurring after 1960. The result is that there are about 20,000 fewer fatalities annually than if the pre-1960 impacts of mortality still prevailed.
We achieved a lot of things in the 20th century, but when Barreca went through the statistics, it wasn’t the introduction of electricity that prevented most deaths — even though it brought fridges, and water, and fans — almost the entire effect was due to air conditioners. The researchers also considered health care access with doctors per capita, but that didn’t do it either.
In terms of money — Air conditioners add about 11% to the average household’s electricity bill, but in the long run save money.
“The present value of US consumer surplus from the introduction of residential AC in 1960, which is the first year in which we measure the AC penetration rate, ranges from $85 to $185 billion (2012 dollars) with a 5 percent discount rate.
Apparently most of the money saved comes from “avoided deaths” — and an economist might need to explain to me what that really translates into. In the 2015 version they admit there are a lot of benefits and costs that are not included — like improvements to worker productivity, or increases in pollution.
The paper is freely available. It’s an interesting history of mortality and technology in the last hundred years.
The graphs of how temperature affects the mortality rate
a/ 1904-2004 b/ 1931-2004 Click to enlarge
The big difference shows when the data is divided into pre 1960 (c) and post 1960 (d) curves below. Then the increase in mortality for hotter days is more obvious.
c/ 1931-1959 d/ 1960 – 2004 | Click to enlarge
If we want to save the poor in Africa from dying of heat waves, the best thing we can do is help them get air conditioning and the cheap electricity to run it.
Abstract
This paper examines the temperature-mortality relationship over the course of the twentieth-century United States both for its own interest and to identify potentially useful adaptations for coming decades. There are three primary findings.
First, the mortality impact of days with mean temperature exceeding 80°F declined by 75 percent. Almost the entire decline occurred after 1960. Second, the diffusion of residential air conditioning explains essentially the entire decline in hot day–related fatalities. Third, using Dubin and McFadden’s discrete-continuous model, the present value of US consumer surplus from the introduction of residential air conditioning is estimated to be $85–$185 billion (2012 dollars).
This paper provides the first large-scale empirical evidence on long-run adaptation opportunities through changes in the use of currently existing technologies. The empirical analysis is divided into three parts. The first part documents a remarkable decline in the mortality effect of temperature extremes: the impact of days with a mean temperature exceeding 80°F has declined by about 75 percent over the course of the twentieth century in the United States, with almost the entire decline occurring after 1960. The result is that there are about 20,000 fewer fatalities annually than if the pre-1960 impacts of mortality still prevailed. At the same time, the mortality effect of cold temperatures declined by a substantially smaller amount. In effect, US residents adapted in ways that leave them largely protected from extreme heat.
The second part of the analysis aims to uncover the adaptations that muted the relationship between mortality and high temperatures. We focus attention on the spread of three health-related innovations in the twentieth-century United States: residential electricity, access to health care, and residential air conditioning (AC). There are good reasons to believe that these innovations mitigated the health consequences of hot temperatures (in addition to providing other services). Electrification enabled a wide variety of innovations including fans, refrigeration, and later air conditioning. Increased access to health care allowed both preventative treatment and emergency intervention (e.g., intravenous administration of fluids in response to dehydration; see Almond, Chay, and Greenstone 2006). Air conditioning made it possible to reduce the stress on people’s thermoregulatory systems during periods of extreme heat.
The third part of the analysis develops a measure of the full consumer surplus associated with residential AC, based on the application of Dubin and McFadden’s (1984) discrete-continuous model. This analysis is conducted with household-level census data on AC penetration rates and electricity consumption, as well as data on electricity prices. We find that AC adoption increases average household electricity consumption by about 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) or 11 percent. We estimate that the gain in consumer surplus associated with the adoption of residential AC ranged from about $5 to $10 billion (2012 dollars) annually at the 1980 AC penetration rate, depending on the assumptions about the shape of the long-run electricity supply curve. This translates into an increase in consumer surplus per US household in 1980 of $112–$225. The present value of US consumer surplus from the introduction of residential AC in 1960, which is the first year in which we measure the AC penetration rate, ranges from $85 to $185 billion (2012 dollars) with a 5 percent discount rate.
It wasn’t electricity, fans, fridges or doctors that saved people from heat, it was air conditioners
We focus attention on the spread of three health-related innovations in the twentieth-century United States: residential electricity, access to health care, and residential air conditioning (AC). There are good reasons to believe that these innovations mitigated the health consequences of hot temperatures (in addition to providing other services). Electrification enabled a wide variety of innovations including fans, refrigeration, and later air conditioning. Increased access to health care allowed both preventative treatment and emergency intervention (e.g., intravenous administration of fluids in response to dehydration; see Almond, Chay, and Greenstone 2006). Air conditioning made it possible to reduce the stress on people’s thermoregulatory systems during periods of extreme heat. The empirical results point to air conditioning as a central determinant of the reduction of the mortality risk associated with high temperatures during the twentieth century. Specifically, the diffusion of residential AC after 1960 is related to a statistically significant and economically meaningful reduction in the temperature-mortality relationship at high temperatures. Indeed, the adoption of residential air conditioning explains essentially the entire decline in the relationship between mortality and days with an average temperature exceeding 807F. In contrast, we find that electrification (represented by residential electrification) and access to health care (represented by doctors per capita) are not statistically related to reductions in heat-related mortality
REFERENCE
Alan Barreca, Karen Clay, Olivier Deschenes, Michael Greenstone, and Joseph S. Shapiro (2016) Adapting to Climate Change: The Remarkable Decline in the US Temperature-Mortality Relationship over the Twentieth Century, Journal of Political Economy 124:1, 105-159 [Berkley PDF]
A working paper with the same title and authors was issued in 2013 by the NBER
That assumes there is electricity to run the air con. The way California is going that will be a big problem in a few years for the simple reason the unreliables won’t make enough when it is needed.
230
Californians will be fine. After all, there are all those big fans they can stand in front of….
130
Problem is you have to duck every 15 seconds or so…. 🙂
100
It already is a problem. My neighbor’s compressor is highly visible across the wall between our yards and there’s a little device attached to it that allows Edison to shut down his compressor whenever they please. Of course the air handler inside doesn’t know (or care) that the compressor is no longer running.*** It’s supposed to come with a break in the price of a KWh so I asked him what it’s actually worth and he said about a month’s Edison bill. I suppose that’s significant to a guy with a wife and kids.
I keep getting the letters offering me this marvellous cost saving device as if I can’t afford to pay the bill and I keep steadfastly refusing to fall for it. They already can shut you down completely during a time when the demand is about to exceed the supply.
Is there no one left who remembers how to build a generator with a boiler to run it? I guess it’s too complex a job when you can whip out your smart phone and play games all day. Or is it a problem of politics rather than engineering? Methinks politics explains it better than engineering or smart phone addiction.
40
*** You might think that if electricity is scarce they would arrange these things so they shut down your entire system. After all, the air handler in mine has a beefy looking motor on it that certainly doesn’t run without electricity. It’s just a matter of which wire it opens to stop everything. But one is inside the house and the other is more accessible. I could design the circuit either way in just seconds.
If you need a further argument, when my new phone decides it’s through charging I get a snide little message pleading with me to unplug the charger to save electricity. Of course, the grid doesn’t feel the unplugging of the charger any more than it feels the morning breeze starting at sunup. The charger just drives a USB port and is by itself, insignificant without a load on the other end of the cable. But we are now down to arguing over pennies while dollar bills are burning in Sacramento, millions at a time.
It’s politics all the way. And as of now at least, no argument to the contrary will stop the self-righteous who want a reason to get a pat on the back, even if they have to do it themselves.
40
It’s all about Control.
Here in Australia we have recently been “controlled” over the issue of plastic bags.
“He who can be Controlled over Little can later be Controlled over Much”.
Politics was once the job of serving those who elected you, but is now about Controlling them for personal gain.
KK
40
And the funny thing is, they usually control all the wrong things. Making electricity more expensive and less available is bound to result in backlash.
30
One of the dangers of keeping all the literature including specs for things is that you end up with something being moved to make room for something else. So In spite of my being fanatical when the A/C system was installed, I can’t find that big folder full of the numbers that might tell me what my furnace motor actually requires for power.
I do remember that it requires service capable of at least 5 amps at 120 Volts.
There are two motors when it’s heating since it’s a horizontal burner induced draft design. The air handler can run at any of four different speeds, any three of which can be individually selected for
1. fan only
2. heating
3. cooling
It runs on the fastest speed for cooling so there’s a good estimator that it’s a significant part of my power consumption when running air conditioning. But the compressor and its cooling fan are both orders of magnitude larger. The spec I remember for the compressor is 21 amps at 240 volts but we all know that the real load increases with outside temperature and today looks hot. My meter loves it.
I have no idea how to estimate the power required for the draft blower but it’s a standard single pole shaded pole induction motor design turning an 8 X 2 inch squirrel cage at close to the 60 Hz limit for induction motors, maybe 3,500 RPM. So I’ll bet it has a significant cost too.
Interestingly, the housing for that blower is some kind of plastic. I don’t know how hot it gets but I would never touch it once the burners are lit. The little elves keep on getting smarter and smarter.
The control circuit board inside looks like a big maze. You can’t tell much unless you can buzz it out and know what every part is. The startup sequence for heating reads like the checklist for takeoff in one of the airplanes I flew.
The more we get fancy with technology to make things more foolproof and more convenient, the more power they need. And big brother watches and shakes a disapproving finger in our direction.
30
Once again and I have said this before politicians spouting phrases and words like like Paris Agreement,Climate Change and Emissions really but don’t give a toss about energy poverty(apparently this is what happens to “other people”) like pensioners and the poor-this now effects something like 100,000 to 200,000 Australian families.No they operate on phoney surveys that tell them that the electorate want them to do moore on climate change by achieving by some mythical percentage on emissions (26 percent ,30,50 etc etc etc).
Meanwhile lobbyists, croney capitalists (like Mal T and his son Alex) are obviously involved in renewable energy investment for the greater good of their fellow Australians.Please note here that Warren Buffet (considered the most successful investor in the world) would not invest a penny in renewable energy if it were not for the tax breaks he gets .He actually says they are otherwise a useless technology. So now in Australia we are now at the stage where the introduction of “smart meters” will allow governments to turn down or off air conditioners across the State(s) because of the concept of Demand Management which really equals the damage they have done to energy security and of course the national grid.
Cheers Mike Reed
280
I think this is where solar comes into its own. It might be possible to have the house wiring split into 2 sections and run the aircon from the solar system.
Not fully up on the tech they use to shut down an aircon unit – does anyone know if they shut off the whole house or just tell the aircon to shut down?
You might have to disable any separate wifi/bluetooth/cable communication from the smart meter to the aircon
Interestingly :
https://www.aer.gov.au/consumers/my-energy-service/smart-meters
“Smart meter installation
What if I do not consent to having a smart meter installed at my property?
Retailers are required to install smart meters for new connections (eg. a new build house) and if your meter is faulty or has reached the end of its life and needs replacing. If your meter needs replacing, you can ask your retailer to disable the communications functions. There may be additional costs associated with the retailer having to do manual reads of your meter if you choose to have the telecommunications disabled.
If your current meter is working properly and a retailer wants to replace it with a smart meter, you can opt out of the smart meter installation. You can only opt out if you haven’t waived your right to opt out when you signed up to your current electricity contract.
Retailers are required to provide you at least four business days’ notice of any planned interruptions to your electricity supply to install the meter.”
60
Splitting wiring doesnt really help much once to get past lunchtime. We have done something similar by hard wiring a generator into the house and taking control ourselves if we have to. Capacity is limited but we can keep the fridge running and retreat to an AC’d bedroom if we have to.
I have serious doubts about the whole scenario of Smartmeter cutoff of specific appliances/outlets. While technically possible it doesnt align with reality of any house I have owned or built in recent decades. They can certainly power me down, but not just my AC. I think this is just media hyperbole like the “transition to renewable power”
60
What bugs me is that there is now an Australian/NZ Standard for the load shed interface. Now that it exists, it opens the door to push more of this lunacy forward faster. I have yet to experience a sensible govt program that is measured – there seems to be a fairly “one size fits all” approach, and given were dealing with a green religious push, it likely wont be sensible or measured…..
I think the turning point will be once we start seeing load shedding modules sold as standard for all new systems and then madated to be wired in. Smart meters are one thing, load shedding quite another.
I stopped and thought about it the other day – I dont recall a time in my life like this , where every news outlet screams “Warming crisis” and a plethora of other Left wing nonsense ( pick your poison ) and there is this massive push to tag, bag and flush humanity into a black hole. Surely other people must see it simialrly…..?
80
I worked for a power company in the USA in the early 1970s. Employees were asked to volunteer for a test program which would allow the company to turn off our electric water heaters. In those days there was a separate rate and meter for water heaters, and I think our rate was reduced by participating in the program. Never had any problems with lack of hot water, but left the state a short time later and don’t recall how successful the program was overall.
30
OriginalSteve, smart meters have only two functions, the prime function is to switch off EVERYTHING the meter supplies – there is no incremental switching, it is all or nothing. The secondary function is to spy on your power usage in the guise of remote meter reading – they can sample your power usage every two seconds and report that to central office.
The prime function allows them to control who gets power when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining and they have to start the diesel generators – some people, politicians, green activists will get power while the plebs won’t.
I will leave you to consider all the ‘interesting’ things that can be done with the secondary function from telling when you are not at home to having a good idea of what you are doing when you are at home.
Smart meters are a way to control the population and should be resisted by all sensible people.
60
Thanks
20
Splitting up the power bus won’t help.
When an air con (or other motor driven device) initially starts, the inrush (startup) current is approximately 6 times the running current, albeit for only a second or two. It is the Utility power that absorbs the power spike, not the solar or wind generators.
The spinning kinetic energy of the synchronized turbine-generator sets are coupled when the various plants are in phase. This is what absorbs the spike.
The inverters on solar arrays could never handle such large spikes. A typical 5 -7.5 kW home solar system cannot provide the 25 kW spike demanded by the compressor in a typical residential whole house air con. They will handle a refrigerator, or a window type air con. But if the connected inductive load is more than about 1.5 to 2 kW running load, then at startup the Utility power is still needed to kick those motors off of dead center.
As well, solar and wind systems do not provide assistance to the grid with respect to frequency stability or voltage stability. When additional reactive power is needed to prevent voltage collapse, solar and wind systems provide no help at all.
If the grid loads were simply resistive in nature, this wouldn’t be such an issue. But the grid load is comprised of inductive, capacitive, and resistive components. Unless of course, one envisions a world without induction motors.
I’m patiently awaiting the green’s discussion of the difference between kVA and kVARs.
50
After so many months went by during which it was clear that Edison was simply guessing at our consumption we enquired (read, complained). They had no excuse. But after years of being able to read my meter they were reduced to guessing.
They offered a solution if we were fanatical enough to want to be charged only for what we actually used, install a smart meter. It seems almost like being called unpatriotic or racist to want to do business honestly with the power utility. Of course, if I owed them an unpaid amount they were vry strict abut it — I never did.
So we put the smart meter on the house. The first thing that happened is that the last and current meter readings disappeared from my bill so I had no way to audit their newfound honesty. Explanation: the meter continuously records usage and reports it so they no longer can give me those numbers. The funny thing is that they can still determine a cutoff date for each month and bill me for what I have to take their word for is the correct usage. So thee really is a last and current meter reading in there somewhere, isn’t there.
Somehow with every new thing, the davantage shifts from being even for both to being in the vendor’s favor.
30
And I’d hazard a guess that deaths from extreme cold are significantly lower thanks to cheap and efficient heating. I think the Brits understand what cheap and efficient heating once meant.
160
And California is showing the world how it looks after the less fortunate while saving the planet, Tim Blair sums it up.
110
Good morning Jo,
Tick, Tick, Tick!
Listen as the “Doomsday Clock” gets ever so slightly louder each and every month.
Oh, and I don’t mean the end of the world doomsday clock, I mean the end of the “Greens” “Doomsday Clock”!
You see, sooner or later the masses are going to wake up to their “Warm & Cuddly” persona!
The Greens hate the “Four P’s”: “Progress, Peace, Power/baseload & People!” – And not necessarily in that order!
The only greens that will survive the inevitable anti-green Tsunami are the genuine ones that only do the genuine issues.
By this I am obviously referring to near-extinct species, very large scale habitat destruction, and pollution.
Not the current uber-trendy Shiite like global warming, climate change and anti nuclear.
These fau-greens are living on borrowed time and their Waterloo can’t come soon enough!
Tick, tick, tick!
Ever-increasingly warm regards,
Reformed Warmist of Logan (S-E Qld.)
221
I find some of my local greenies quite pleasant people, even though we agree to differ on AGW. They are more in the mold of getting off their backsides and clearing blackberries and weed infested creeks. Doing real things, I like it.
80
yarpos:
You should set up breeding stock. I know several blokes who clear blackberries and weeds and would never dream of them as Greenies.
I think you have the old-fashioned type of environmentalist rather than the currently fashional AGW plague.
150
There are plenty of the AGW screechers in the area too.
30
Yes that’s the kind of environmentalism that’s productive.
The left-wing inner city greens with the whiplash smile and snarl are the dangerous ones….ironically, when the inevitable grid-down scenario happens, they will die first, as they lack basic survival/campcraft skills.
Funny how things turn out….
120
On the powering of air conditioners – and other things
“There Has Never Been An Energy Transition”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/09/20/there-has-never-been-an-energy-transition/
51
I sent a link to this article to my local member. I hope she reads it. She does some good work but sadly seems to have drunk the AGW Kool Aid. I am hoping to at least make her aware that leading the charge on intermittents , might actually be leading the charge off a cliff rather than toward an imagined green nirvana.
60
Its been so pervasive, I think local MPs fear being labelled as “kooks” for actually thinking indepenedently…..
People have been shoved along by the loony left so fast, they havent had time to thn, and if they dare stop, they get screeched at and bullied and harassed by the left.
I have read reports of US govt officals being hounded at their homes and in restaurants.
Prediction – by 2020 in the USA, we will see Left-wing physical thuggery, violence and intimidation of voters and election candidates. I expect deaths to occur. That said, I do think the decent middle class voters may take on the left wingers and win petty mcuh every battle. If Trump is arrested on false charges, the Left wont know what hit them.
81
If only the Greens and greenies cared about people, this data would be meaningful to them.
But they don’t.
What this data does for them, is to reinforce the need to reduce available electricity, so that mortality from extremes increases. This leads to population reduction, WHICH IS THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL. Save Gaia, screw the humans.
But it will be their undoing 🙂
150
The Greens don’t care too much about animals either (unless they are on a ship for export).
Think the new Queensland “mulga is sacred” laws which forbid farmers from feeding their drought-affected stock on their own land.
Mulga country graziers struggle to understand new land clearing laws
And there is this one:
Government may prosecute farmer if he takes 300 cattle through national park for greener pastures
110
It’s hard to get excited about this type of “study”.
There are so many factors that could be addressed if you had the inclination to look and you have to ask, were there other factors.
The graphs show that mortality bottoms out at about 75°F.
To me, this proves that the increased number of deaths at lower temperatures is due to winter ice. Too many are slipping on ice.
As for the higher temperatures, it is well known that men like to drink more beer in hot weather and this is an acknowledged health risk. Alcohol is a known health issue.
I suspect that this study is a meta-analysis based on pre-existing data and may not carefully separate the effects of all factors present.
In summary, I question the usefulness of this study.
KK
50
It does rather tell us what we know (that people dont like it really hot or really cold) however that has never got in the way of a good academic study.
If I count vehicles we have 6 air conditioners. Does that mean I live forever or just to 150?
60
Wander into your nearest giant shopping centre on a hot day and count the number of elderly just sitting around getting the benefit of airconditioning without paying for it.
100
There’s no doubt about it, people just love comfort.
60
KK
Re effects of alcohol – a comment I saw recently went
“When I read about all the bad effects of drinking I gave up reading”.
60
That’s a sensible approach all too often absent in today’s society.
KK
20
You are right Mr. Kinky,
the study is complete nonsense
ignoring advances in medicine
that keep people alive longer
than ever before … until they
are old enough to get dementia!
Also, small changes in the assumptions
are likely to cause large changes
in the study results.
In addition, virtually 100% of studies
show unusually cold weather is far
more dangerous to one’s health
than unusually warm weather.
Humans evolved in hot weather —
a nude human with no clothing
could not survive outdoors with
the temperature under 70 degrees F.,
but with clothing, water and a camel,
can live in extremely hot climates.
40
Science marches on.
20
Rather than subsidies for renewables to resolve global warming subsidising air conditioners ( as well as keeping electricity costs down) provide a low cost solution if you happen to believe in it. Air conditioners are indeed the only way that man actually can change the climate.
80
While I have my boots on and ready to kick politicians,
does anyone have any idea of the usefulness of the heat pumps on storage water heaters that were a green mandated item for new houses.
One recent add suggests that they cut power usage by 37%.
Somehow I doubt that.
KK
70
KK,
your instincts are likely to be correct.
There are 2 problems, the first being my late father’s lament that politicians and public servants don’t understand air-conditioning. They read somewhere that a unit has a coefficient of 4 and assume that they can get something for nothing.
They fail to grasp that the test is a laboratory one moving heat from air at T℃ into a space at the same temperature T℃ . A temperature difference changes that. Trying to extract heat from a hot room and ‘pump’ it to even hotter air outside takes more energy. The A/C unit would be more efficient if it was trying to pump heat into a hot room, or chill down a cold room, but few people make those choices. A heat pump is just set to transfer heat into the water in all seasons. The American description as a heat pump is accurate, as the higher the temperature difference the harder it has to work.
So, in winter the unit is supposed to ‘extract’ heat from cold air and warm the water. Depending on the air temperature this might be very energy INEFFICIENT. In the USA a lot of heat pumps use ground water at 3-5℃ as the source of heat rather than the outside air at minus temperatures.
The other problem is that most people want more hot water in winter, so the heat pump has to work harder for longer, whereas in summer it can heat the water more quickly, so works less time (compounded by less people taking hot showers in summer).
I have no personal experience but my sister had one in a house she rented (while building) and refused to install one in her new house (mostly I think because of noise). And someone I know ripped one out and relies on bottled gas (and ‘instantaneous’ heating of the water) instead. Both in the Adelaide Hills where winters are cold.
70
A new house has just been completed alongside ours and it has a heat pump hot water service. The noise from the unit when operating is like a fan with rattly bearings, although it is obviously brand new. Doesn’t worry us greatly as we have a courtyard between us and the unit, however it is just outside the main bedroom of the house so we are waiting for the reaction of the owner to the noise when he finally moves in. A friend had one installed a little while back and reckons it is the worst choice he has ever made – noisy and doesn’t give him hot enough water!
80
now you’ve got me thinking.
Just assumed they had an element.
40
Basically they are just a glorified air conditioner running in reverse. We have one as a pool heater but haven’t used it in anger as the power prices started to skyrocket just after we installed it. – now it is just an expensive bit of pipe in the filter water return!
40
Yes. That’s why I mentioned it.
We built two properties in the space of 6 years and were forced to use the heat pump system by Local Government.
By the time we finished the second property the first heat pump had failed. We replaced it with a standard unit.
The second one also failed after a few years.
I could go on about other instances of tokenism with the shade awnings and roof water collection tank.
But I won’t, I want to sleep easy tonight.
Governments, afterthought!!!!
KK
40
Not afterthought.
Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!!
20
There was one in the house we rented while building….very noisy!
50
The saving depends on the location and the tank temperature setting. In cold climates they will be using direct electric heating because the coefficient of performance will drop off so much that it is less energy to direct heat. You do not need really hot water for a warming shower. A temperature just above body temperature is comfortable; say 40C or 100F. However a tank temperature this low will not require cold water dilution so you use more hot water during a shower for example.
This chart gives an idea of the Coefficient of Performance to expect for given ambient and tank temperatures:
http://www.amic.org.au/SiteMedia/W3SVC116/Uploads/Documents/Heat%20Pump%20Water%20Heaters.pdf
I have read a lot of bad reviews on heat pump hot water but it appears they are getting better. The EVO270 seems to be highly regarded although it has not been out for very long so durability might be an issue:
https://www.productreview.com.au/p/evoheat-evo270.html?rating=4#reviews
If you live in a sub-tropical location and set the tank temperature at comfortably warm rather than steamy hot then you could expect a CoP of 4. That equates to power saving of 75% and would likely be lower cost than gas.
The capital cost is substantially more than straight electric or gas but there is the possibility of a government subsidy that reduces the cost.
I made my own electric water heater that I have used from November through to April using excess capacity from my off-grid solar. It automatically switches to grid supply for 2 hours after sun down if it has not reached temperature by then. The gas heater is turned off so I save the standby cost of heating. It saves around $300 for the 6 months. It is an old gas heater and the standby cost alone is more than $1/day. It uses more on just staying warm than actually heating water for two of us in the house.
60
Watch out for listeria when you’re turning the heat down.
Local hospital had a bout recently – no showers for about a fortnight and I haven’t heard that it is fixed yet.
I wouldn’t be suprised if there was an “energy saving bureaucrat” somewhere in that mix.
60
RickWill:
There are legal requirements (in SA and I assume in other States**) for your hot water tank to get to 60℃ to prevent Legionella growth. 65℃ would be better.
** Qld. and NZ also.
40
I think it greatly depends on your location. Two opposite anectdotes:
– working through my mother inlaws solar assisted hot water system dying. Plumber attends and caps off solar panels to make it run as a standard hotwater. Says the flat pnale units are useless in our area due to hard frosts freezing the system and causing failures. Supposed to have protection but doesnt always work. He had 6 on the weekend we called. As an aside when we talked about options he mentioned heat pump system are fairly useless in our area if you want family quantities of hot water. His recomended system type if you want solar are the evacuated tube systems.
– our daughter with two children living near Sydney has a heat pump system for the last 3 years since they built the house. No issues at all.
50
Jonova says …
“If we want to save the poor in Africa from dying of heat waves, the best thing we can do is help them get air conditioning and the cheap electricity to run it.”
Obama says …
“‘The Planet Will Boil Over’ If Africans Are Allowed Cars and Air Conditioning”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBE0RKbRbl4
Factcheck:
“It enabled the sweeping postwar development of the South, where all new single-family homes today include central air.
In automobiles, it made the commutes between air-conditioned homes and air-conditioned offices possible.
In the Southwest, its arrival facilitated new methods of rapid construction, replacing traditional building designs that once naturally withstood the region’s desert climate.
Parts of the United States whose historical development never depended on air-conditioning increasingly resemble the regions whose growth wouldn’t have been possible without it.”
How Air-Conditioning Conquered America (Even the Pacific Northwest)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/upshot/the-all-conquering-air-conditioner.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1
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MarkM said, quoting Jo:
If we help them build their cheap and reliable electricity supply, then air conditioning will naturally follow. Most peoples have an intuitive grasp of such capitalist opportunities …
40
The increasing use of glass in cladding buildings, both houses, offices, and all other types have noticeably increased the need for air conditioning. It is quite possible to design buildings in any climate from igloos to Berber villages that do not need air conditioning or in many cases, extra heating. However, the modern craze for the use of glass has run all over this philosophy and made air conditioning mandatory in poorly insulated glazed heat traps.
90
I’ve spent time in mudbrick both in Australia and Spain and love it. I reckon a comparable effect could be achieved with faster materials, though nothing seems to adjust like mudbrick. The other problem with modern dwellings is architecture. Architects have persuaded the well-off to live in pompous barns and draughty bowling alleys where intimacy, privacy and natural insulation are sacrificed to a brief “wow” effect.
The modern fad for open plan, glass, hard surfaces as well as an obsession with view over aspect (even if the view is of a neighbour’s doghouse) means that conservation runs last, despite all the green chatter. I reckon aspect, well designed halls, sane room sizes, artfully-placed and sensibly-sized windows are key to good domestic living. I’ve broached the topic with a number of people in the game but it doesn’t go over. Not at all.
I’m afraid we’re stuck with those draughty, rattly bowling alleys with views of the neighbour’s doghouse. A few million will get you a really flash one, with lots of little electronic things to tell you what to do and when to do it. Joy.
100
We used Timbercrete in our new house and rejected overlarge windows although wanted enough for light. Timbercrete is very insulating and can be produced to look like mudbrick (which is what we really wanted) or sandstone or whatever.
We do have one large living room as we are both tall and wanted the feeling of space, not claustrophobia! It is, overall, quite a small house, only two bedrooms.
I do sometimes use the AC but I hate the heat!
80
Annie said:
An animal’s heat content is directly proportional to the animal’s mass which is directly proportional to, or a function of, its volume (or the cube of its dimensions).
Animal heat loss/gain (cooling/warming) is directly proportional to its surface area (or the square of its dimensions).
Cube is > square, which is why pygmies don’t mind the heat but aren’t so happy with the cold, whereas giants handle the cold better but dislike/hate the heat. It’s one of the reasons Poly Bears are so large. Big animal = large mass = large heat content = greater unit volume/unit surface area ratio. In other words, it’s built for its habitat.
Maybe you should have put the brakes on your growing sooner, back before you naturally stopped! 😉
Note: Weight is mass M under acceleration, most commonly understood to be in a gravitational field, but the inertial frame of reference doesn’t have to be that.
(FWIW: I’m most comfortable at around 15 – 19 ° C and am not as happy over 25 – 26 ° C + (=Tmax) especially when RH (Relative Humidity) is over 84%. Scale Tmax down as RH rises and vice versa … Heating goes on at about 12 ° C. I Don’t Like It At All when it’s colder!)
60
With reflective coatings and double glazing , glass doesnt necessarily equate to inefficiency. Not sure why anything would be poorly insulated with minimum building standards but I guess that depends where you are located.
40
FWIW…we have double glazing with heat-reflective coating and still feel the heat gain through it, especially when sunlight is on it. The Timbercrete is far more insulating.
We have a triple-glazed panel on one door and when the sun reaches it late afternoon around the equinoxes the panel feels very hot.
20
Mark
O/T but while we’re remembering great Democrat moments
“Hank Johnson: US Congressman claims Guam ‘will capsize from military influx’ ”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/guam/7548366/Hank-Johnson-US-Congressman-claims-Guam-will-capsize-from-military-influx.html
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And you thought Sarah Hanson-Young was dumb . . .
Democrat Maxine Waters: “My fear is if North Korea nukes us Trump gonna get us into a war” & “North Korea and South Korea you need to stop fighting — you are both Japanese.” She only passed 3 bills during 27 years in congress and one of them was naming a post office.
Rep Sheila Jackson Lee: “Homicide is the leading cause of murder.”
50
Air-conditioners are an absolute must,
For folks to survive and adjust,
To extremes of the sun,
Though, when costly to run,
They’re switched off, left gathering dust.
120
Oh, don’t tell the sacrificers of responsibly harvested organic goats. Globalists are always looking for sustainable ways to shorten up the population. It seems the ideal number for the planet is half a billion. No doubt “studies have shown” etc. Prince Philip is tempted to ask for reincarnation as a “particularly deadly virus” to do the job. (Seems we can then just re-wild most of the planet for the sake of whatever feral or invasive winner can get to the top.)
No. Don’t tell them air/con saves lives. The Undead object to the living even in the mildest weather and they really like smart meters when the weather gets too hot or cold.
70
O/T posted this on jo’s “weekend unthreaded” – after her new thread went up – but with a link that required signing up.
don’t know how long this will stay up, but it’s free to watch for now, no strings attached:
18 Sept: Youtube: 1hr16min24sec: TRUMP AT WAR (2018) full movie : Steve Bannon’s New Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8C9Tm7gHRI&feature=youtu.be&t=0m1s
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Thanks Pat,
Have only started watching the video. Hope to finish it tonight. Am already impressed.
Cheers,
Dave B
20
the most excruciating ABC program of all?
half-hour program that gets extended for podcast.
AUDIO: 44min32sec: 19 Sept: ABC Radio National: Minefield: Sympathy, hypocrisy, responsibility: Who’s to blame for climate change?
Presented by Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens
One of the more cruel characteristics of climate change is that its pernicious effects are borne disproportionately — unevenly — by a few, and most often by those whose lives enjoy little margin for error. This includes, of course, those in low-lying, equatorial regions, those living in already arid conditions, and those living on small island nations. But over the last four years at least, farmers across Australia have found themselves particularly exposed to worsening drought conditions.
It has now become something of a national ritual to see senior federal politicians don their Akubras (or baseball caps, as the case may be) and embark on a ‘listening’ tour through the worst of the drought-affected regions. This is most often accompanied by expressions of sympathy — or even calls for prayer.
But are such expressions of sympathy little more than forms of self-exculpation, of empty sentiment, in the face of more than a decade of government inaction on climate change? What about our culpability: the fact that the now mantra-like problem of ‘high power bills’ evidently means more to most Australians than supporting meaningful — even if temporarily costly — measures to greatly reduce our national dependence on fossil fuels?
What is the nature of moral responsibility when confronted with a problem as complex as climate change? Is the language of responsibility helpful in encouraging a kind of shift in personal and national priorities? Or is the language of responsibility morally inescapable, and our avoidance of it just one more form of our complicity in the immiseration of others?
Guest: Richard Corry, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Tasmania.
Further Information: Eating meat, possessing child pornography: The dilemma of consumer responsibility by Richard Corry
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/theminefield/sympathy,-hypocrisy,-responsibility:-who%E2%80%99s-to-blame-for-climate/10264676
previous program:
12 Sept: Minefield: Resisting Trump from within: Civil disobedience, moral vanity or democratic betrayal?
31
higher power prices is mentioned multiple times as something we should be embracing in order to tackle CAGW. clearly, Minefield hasn’t got the ABC meme that more “renewables” would mean lower power prices!
in the latter part of the podcast, motor mouth Scott Stephens – who takes up the majority of the podcast – brings up someone or other who suggests “chemical supplements” as one means of improving humans (and presumably our response to CAGW) or whatever.
amusingly, Minefield comes on after “All in the Mind”, which has seemingly become obsessed with such an idea:
ABC Radio National: All In The Mind
Presenter: Lynne Malcolm (graduate from the University of Sydney, majoring in psychology, education and anthropology, and has a graduate diploma in communications from the University of Technology in Sydney)
17 Sept: Psychedelic plants, culture, and rituals Podcast Extra
16 Sept: Tripping for depression
11 Sept: Psychedelic research in Australia podcast extra
10 Sept: MDMA—its potential therapeutic use podcast extra
9 Sept: Turn on, tune in
(EARLIER PROGRAMS ALL HAVE DIFFERENT TOPICS)
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/
as for Scott Stephens, I didn’t realise until now that –
ABC: Scott Stephens is Editor of the ABC’s Religion and Ethics website, and specialist commentator on religion and ethics for ABC radio and television. He presented two series of the critically acclaimed “Life’s Big Questions” program for Compass on ABC1, and has been guest presenter of Conversations with Richard Fidler on ABC local radio. Before coming to the ABC, Scott taught theology, ethics and Semitic studies for many years.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/scott-stephens/3958454
to anyone familiar with the toxic nature of ABC’s Religion & Ethics programming, his involvement would come as no surprise.
60
If anyone is a “Hitch hikers Guide to the Galaxy” fan, this current ABC drivel reminds me of the pain caused by listening to Vogon poetry…. 🙂
91
And anuther magical number ’42’ and
answer to everything. tree ring ‘MBH98,’
one tree ring to rule them all.
50
… and in the Darkness bind them.
10
Back in the 17th Century, they— Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens—would have been professional Witch Hunters with Richard Corry, as the Confessional Priest, and Judge. They fit the mould, because that is just what they are doing.
52
19 Sept: Breitbart: James Delingpole: UK Energy Regulator Caught Covering Up Green Scandals
Ofgem — the UK government regulator responsible for energy — has been caught covering up two major scandals in the ‘low carbon’ energy industry.
The cost of these scandals — involving smart meters and the renewable heat incentive (RHI) — may run into the tens of billions of pounds.
But rather than protect the consumer, which is supposedly its job, Ofgem has taken the side of the vested interests profiting from these industries. It has done this by using draconian gagging orders to silence two whistleblowers who had wanted to expose the scandals…READ ALL
https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/09/19/uk-energy-regulator-caught-covering-up-green-scandals/
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“Airconditioners save 20,000 lives in USA each year”
But! But! Think of the frightening costs in the planet destroying carbon emmissions to do that!
40
all over the MSM:
21 Sept: Reuters: In U-turn, Exxon, Chevron to join industry climate initiative
by Ron Bousso; additional reporting by Gary McWilliams in Houston
Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum are joining a group of major international oil and gas companies in an initiative aimed at curbing carbon emissions in the sector, they said in a statement on Thursday.
The move marks a U-turn for Exxon Mobil and Chevron. The top two U.S. oil and gas producers had resisted joining the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) after its launch in 2014…
Together with its three newest members, the group will account for around 30 percent of global oil and gas production and 20 percent of primary energy consumption, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in a tweet.
“The addition of 3 U.S. companies gives us more impact to lead the industry’s response to climate change,” he wrote.
The OGCI currently comprises 10 firms including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, France’s Total as well as national oil companies of China, Mexico, Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
***The announcement comes ahead of Climate Week in New York next week, a global gathering of world and company leaders around climate change…
The OGCI created a $1 billion fund to develop technologies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the sector as the world aims to shift towards a low-carbon economy.
Exxon and Chevron will each contribute $100 million to the fund, the statement said…
“It will take the collective efforts of many in the energy industry and society to develop scalable, affordable solutions that will be needed to address the risks of climate change,” Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in the statement…
The news of the U.S. firms’ joining was first reported by Axios.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-climatechange/in-u-turn-exxon-chevron-to-join-industry-climate-initiative-idUKKCN1M02F4
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20 Sept: ClimateChangeNews: Record evacuations cut Typhoon Mangkhut death toll, says UN
Philippines learned life-saving lessons from 2013 Typhoon Haiyan as residents heeded warnings and fled their homes
By Helga Timaroczky
On Tuesday, the UN reported the storm had displaced 206,000 people. More than 100 people may have been killed across the Philippines, although reports are uncertain as many remain trapped in landslides…
Denis McClean, chief of communications for the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), told a press briefing on Tuesday…
“We are seeing relatively low mortality because of the success of weather forecasting early-warning systems and better understanding, better public understanding, of disaster risk,” he said. “The most visible sign of this is the record numbers of people who have been evacuated out of harm’s way over the last ten days.”…
Across the world there has been a ten-fold reduction in loss of life from weather-related hazard as the forecasting and communication of the dangers posed by extreme weather improves, (Clare Nullis, a media officer at the World Meteorological Organization), said.
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/09/20/record-evacuations-cut-typhoon-mangkhut-death-toll-says-un/
20 Sept: ClimateChangeNews: Rich-poor cooperation crucial for Green Climate Fund, say chairs
At our next meeting, the board faces several challenges we must resolve in order to continue supporting climate action in the developing world
By Lennart Båge and Paul Oquist
(Lennart Båge and Paul Oquist are the current co-chairs of the GCF board)
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was created to channel and mobilise climate finance, supporting action in developing countries to help them reach their climate ambitions.
Recent years and months have shown that climate change is already having a devastating impact with an increase in droughts, flooding, heatwaves and extreme weather events. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions are rising again, with 1.6% growth in 2017, after remaining flat over the previous three years…
Early results at the GCF have been quite remarkable. While the fund has only been up and running for about three years, it has allocated more than $3.4 billion to 74 projects and programmes and mobilised another $9bn in co-financing. These are expected to improve the living conditions for 217 million people while at the same time reducing 1.3bn tons of CO2 emissions…
The next board meeting, which will take place from 17-20 October in Bahrain, is crucial…
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/09/20/rich-poor-cooperation-crucial-green-climate-fund-say-chairs/
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But this century, they are neither as common nor as strong as they were in previous Centuries (except for the 11th, 12th, and early 13th Centuries). Yet. Even the IPCC says that. Which also makes Lennart Båge and Paul Oquist appear idiots.
30
I’ve been researching load shedding by smart meter.
AS/NZS 4755.3.5:2016 “Demand response capabilities and supporting technologies for electrical products – Part 3.5 – Interaction of demand response enabling devices and electrical products�Operational instructions and connections for grid-connected Electrical Energy Storage Sys”
AS/NZS 4755.1:2017 – this defines the pointy bit – the DRED ( demand management controller ) that is put between the smart meter and your air-con unit or built into it. This unit turns off the air-con/pool pump/whatever as needed, and reading a bit you can manually override, but only once per load shedding period.
I think to remove Big Greens control over your aircon, it would be easier to just disable the comms to the DRED unit, but if loss of comms causes the DRED to go into a “tamper-proof shutdown” whjich might shut down the aircon unit, you would have to bypass the whole DRED unit which might mean working under the hood ( which you shouldn’t do unless you are qualified to do so and respect 240 V ).
It also raises questions of ownership – if a power company can shut down your aircon, clearly you dont own it any more, the power company does, as it can control it to suit themselves.
60
Sean Hannity in Las Vegas for the Trump rally. crowd has been going wild even before the President arrived.
then the President joined Hannity for an interview on his arrival.
Hannity asked how soon will the declassified documents come out.
Trump says they’re working on it.
says ***two countries have made contact, concerned, and we have to respect that, but the documents will be released.
hmmm! wonder which two countries that might be?
20 Sept: Gateway Pundit: Photos: ‘Just Like 2016!’ MASSIVE LINES for President Trump Rally in Las Vegas
by Kristinn Taylor
Photos posted online from Las Vegas show a massive turnout for President’s Trump’s campaign rally being held Thursday night at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The half-mile-plus lines in the 95 degree heat are reminiscent of the huge crowds that turned out in 2015-2016 for Trump’s presidential campaign rallies
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/09/photos-just-like-2016-massive-lines-for-trump-las-vegas-rally/
20 Sept: CNBC: Billionaire Ken Langone: ‘This economy is booming,’ and Trump deserves a lot of credit for it
•Trump’s economic agenda is fueling a resurgence in the economy that cannot be denied, the co-founder of Home Depot says.
•Langone has supported many GOP candidates but has not always been a Trump fan.
Matthew J. Belvedere
“I think he’s made a lot of moves that are constructive to the economy.”…
Since Trump took office, the gross domestic product is growing at a 3 percent-plus rate. The unemployment rate is currently around a 50-year low.
Langone, co-founder of Home Depot, said “every indicator” for the moment is showing a clear path for economic growth.
Transportation companies, often a leading indicator, are doing great, Langone said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “My truck leasing business, we can’t get delivery of new trucks until next spring.”
The corporate tax cut, championed by Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill, has certainly been a boon to growth, but wiping business regulations off the books has been the main driver, Langone said.
“Deregulation is having a profound impact of the mindset of businesspeople” who are more willing to invest and grow their companies, which in turn translates into a stronger economy, said Langone, also founder and chief of investment bank Invemed Associates.
Langone also said he agrees with J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who told CNBC interview Thursday that the escalating U.S.-China trade dispute is a “skirmish” rather than a trade war.
“Jamie is right. It’s a skirmish. It’s a tactic,” Langone said. “It’s in our mutual interest to fix it. China is better off with a revised deal than no deal.”…
“Our leaders for the last 25 or 30 years have had their knickers taken off them by our trading partners,” Langone said.
“But here’s where not liking a guy [Trump] gets in the way,” he continued. “Give the guy credit” for keeping campaign promises to make trade fairer for U.S. companies. “That’s unusual for a politician.”
Before backing Trump in the 2016 presidential election, Langone supported Chris Christie, who was governor of New Jersey at the time, and then Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/20/ken-langone-the-us-economy-is-booming-and-trump-deserves-credit.html
30
those wicked Scots!
20 Sept: Scotsman: Scots waste £1.8m a year by leaving their lights on
by Jane Bradley
Around one in eight Scots leave a light on as a nightlight while they sleep, racking up a potential total energy bill of £1.8 million a year.
A further 8 per cent leaves lights on in empty rooms for a pet, while a quarter leaves lights blazing due to “security”, according to Smart Energy GB, the body promoting the smart meter roll out.
People in Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders and Stirling are most likely to leave a light on in an empty room such as a hallway at night – with 15 per cent of householders in those areas saying they do so. Other reasons for people to leave lights on in empty rooms include plans that they will go back into the room later, which was a reason cited by 41 per cent of Scots; while one in three said they simply forget to turn lights off after they leave a room.
Another 12 per cent say they need to leave a light on in their home in a communal or shared hallway.
Norman Kerr, director of Energy Action Scotland said: “At a time when fuel bills are increasing it is important that households struggling to pay their bills receive support and advice on ways to use energy efficiently. Switching off unnecessary lights or changing to halogen bulbs are some of the ways to reduce energy use so that a household can better afford to keep warm and dry as a priority.”
Iagan MacNeil, head of policy and communications Scotland for Smart Energy GB, which surveyed 2,037 people in Scotland, said that using a smart meter could help people see how much money they are wasting by leaving a light on unecessarily. The organisation estimates that turning off lights when people are not using them could save £15 on annual household bills.
He said: “We all lead busy lives and we’re all guilty of forgetting to turn a light off occasionally, but with winter just around the corner it does pay to smarten up our energy habits. The easiest step is to identify any areas where you could easily save energy, such as unplugging all the appliances on standby that you aren’t using regularly, getting a smart meter, fitting LED bulbs or turning your thermostat down a notch. These small changes can all add up to long term cost savings, leaving you free to spend your money on the things that really matter to you.”…
https://www.scotsman.com/business/scots-waste-1-8m-a-year-by-leaving-their-lights-on-1-4802546
40
Pat pointed out just how ridiculous some people, f’instance Norman Kerr, can be.
So the Scots `waste’ £1.8 million on electrickery so that they can find their way around their homes at night.
I looked and discovered that Scotland has a population of c. 5,295,000, which means that each Scot `wastes’ £1.8m/5.295m == 34p or £0.34 (rounded up to the nearest p) worth of electrickery per year.
Oh golly gosh! Shock! Horror! They’re absolute wastrels! Morally moribund individuals to make all those windmills have to work so hard. Windmill sweat-shop operators, that’s what they are. No doubt about it.
If we assume, just for the sake of this argument, that 50% of the population are pre-adults (children), then that means each adult Scot wastes 68p of electrickery per year. Even Worse!
It looks to me that the canny Scots discovered LED lighting some time before I did, if that’s the extent of their thrift.
Who breeds, raises, educates and then sets these intellectually challenged mental midgets like Norman Kerr loose on the rest of the world?
10
20 Sept: Washington Examiner: EPA steers clear of climate change as G7 wraps up
by John Siciliano
Environmental Protection Agency acting chief Andrew Wheeler on Thursday exited the Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations “pleased” to have made progress on a variety of pressing environmental issues, while skirting the issue of climate change.
In a bilateral meeting with Germany, Wheeler reiterated “how there is no shortage of important environmental issues to continue to work on with Germany and the rest of the G7 countries,” EPA said in a readout from the meeting with Germany. He made that comment after discussing President Trump’s decision to exit from the Paris climate accord, EPA said.
EPA said the U.S.’ goal at the meeting was aimed at international initiatives that address “tangible environmental issues with practical solutions,” including “minimizing food waste, reducing marine litter, and improving air quality.” Prompting governmental action related to climate change was not on the list.
Wednesday, Wheeler told the Canadian Press in an interview that the administration continues to believe the Paris accord was not fair to the United States. Nevertheless, he insisted that the administration is taking a “serious look” at the country’s own carbon dioxide emissions outside of a global accord…
Wheeler’s statement after the meeting of environmental ministers at the gathering in Halifax made no mention of global warming or climate change…
Five of the members of the G7 have signed onto Canada’s pledge to manage plastic waste in the oceans. The U.S. and Japan have not signed onto the charter, which is part of the marine litter aspect of the G7 discussions.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/epa-steers-clear-of-climate-change-as-g7-wraps-up
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Sounds good, almost like a move back towards common sense.
31
Another renewables project …….
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-21/carnegie-wave-farm-plans-in-doubt-wa/10249500
“Concerns are being raised about the viability of what has been billed as Australia’s first commercial wave farm after it failed to meet its first funding milestone on time.
The Albany wave energy project, off WA’s south coast, was a flagship 2017 election commitment by Premier Mark McGowan, who said it would develop the coastal town as a globally recognised renewable energy hub and “create hundreds of jobs”.
But Mr McGowan told the WA Parliament this week that Carnegie Clean Energy, the Perth-based ASX-listed company which won a $15.75 million contract for the project, had not met any funding milestones.
Nationals MP Terry Redman, whose electorate neighbours Albany, said the missed milestone raised questions about the viability of the project.
The development comes at a difficult financial time for Carnegie, which recently posted a $64 million loss, including a $35 million write-down of its most valuable asset, the intellectual property of its CETO technology.
The company is considered Australia’s leading developer of wave energy technology, but is yet to produce the renewable energy on a commercial scale.
It has been largely reliant on government grants and tax breaks to fund the development of the home-grown technology.
The Albany project will allow it to test its latest CETO 6 technology and see if the device can survive in the powerful Southern Ocean waves — considered among the most energy dense in the world — and produce energy at a cost competitive with solar and wind power.
But it did not submit its request for its first milestone payment of $5.25 million by the deadline of July 1.
It was received by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development on July 23, but two months later, a payment has not been made.
To meet the terms of the project’s funding agreement, Carnegie had to submit evidence it had started procurement and developing the wave energy site off the Albany coast.”
40
The question that should be asked. is there any commercial wave farm in the world that is actually producing electricity that goes into the grid?
There have been lots of experimental units that have failed, for various reasons, to become commercial, I assume this is in that category.
50
Penguin mummies and world ending weather events…or something…..
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-21/discovery-of-mummified-penguins-provides-clues-to-weather-events/10289774
Australian and Chinese scientists have discovered hundreds of mummified penguin chicks on Long Peninsula in Antarctica.
The researchers said the find sheds light on the effects of two catastrophic weather events that decimated breeding colonies in the area, and could also unlock clues about the impact of climate change on Antarctic penguin populations.
A study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research —Biogeosciences analysed sediment at the site where researchers found the mummified baby birds.
Scientists said the discovery holds clues to two massive weather-related calamities that wiped out large numbers of birds, one about 200 years ago and one around 750 years ago.
They also said these events could become more common in future due to the effects of climate change.
The remains of the Adélie penguin chicks were found in heavy sediments on Long Peninsula, east Antarctica.
The discovery revealed significant water run-off at the site, and also helped to unlock the timeline of the weather events that decimated the penguins.
Most of the carcasses turned out to be from two breeding colonies about 750 and 200 years ago.
“First of all, the extent of carcasses and abandoned colonies struck us,” University of Science and Technology of China researcher Yuesong Gao said.
“Then we were surprised by the consistent dates of the mummies.
“We had expected a much larger range of dates.”
The researchers were also struck by the unusually thick layers of sediment in which the mummified baby birds were buried.
Researchers found evidence of a lot of water flowing over the surface of the site over a short period of time.”
This is interesting :
“Researchers found evidence of a lot of water flowing over the surface of the site over a short period of time.”
…presumably a higher seal level 200-750 years ago …but no more….
60
The Little Ice Age began around mid 13th century and 200 years ago we had the Dalton Minimum, there were also some large volcanic eruptions.
60
OS
Don’t miss the bit in comments about C14 problems with dating around Antarctica and how that seems not to be factored into those conclusions –
OOPS You’re quoting ABC so no wonder
Check Pat Frank in comments here
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/09/19/new-climate-crystal-ball-mummified-penguins/
30
from 2min50sec:
Hannity: you have now said declassify unredacted, how soon will that be coming?
President Trump: we’re moving along. we’re working along. we’re also dealing with foreign countries that do have a problem. I must tell you, I got calls today from two very good allies saying, please can we talk so, it’s not as simple as all that. We do have to respect their wishes, but it will all come out.
Youtube: 8:28 – 20 Sept: Trump goes one-on-one with Hannity at Las Vegas rally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4OjEksiJA4
30
all behind paywall:
Rising power costs force iconic club to close
Rockhampton Morning Bulletin – 17 hours ago
OVER the past 75 years, the North Rockhampton Bowls Club has survived massive floods but this week the club finally drowned under rising
Bowls club forced to close under weight of rising electricity bills
Courier Mail-8 hours ago
Politicians clash over the impact of climate change on CQ (Central Queensland)
Rockhampton Morning Bulletin-19 Sep. 2018
“Central Queenslanders need jobs, they need services, and they need to know the light will turn on when its dark and the aircon when it’s hot.”…
Competing approaches expressed on the issue of rising temperatures…
40
for the technically-minded to analyse:
21 Sept: RenewEconomy: Giles Parkinson: Revealed: True cost of Tesla big battery, and its government contract
Now, the real numbers – along with some hitherto unreleased power purchase agreements for wind and solar plants – have been revealed in the share registration document lodged by the battery’s owner, the French renewable energy developer Neoen, for its planned initial public offering and stock exchange listing…
The 400-page plus document reveals that the capital cost of the Tesla big battery was €56 million ($A90 million), which is pretty much in line with expectations…READ ALL
https://reneweconomy.com.au/revealed-true-cost-of-tesla-big-battery-and-its-government-contract-66888/
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21 Sept: RenewEconomy: Giles Parkinson: Cost over-runs and delays hit more solar projects and contractors
https://reneweconomy.com.au/cost-over-runs-and-delays-hit-more-solar-projects-and-contractors-36361/
20
21 Sept: RenewEconomy: Taylor incurs wrath of community solar groups, including in his own electorate
by Sophie Vorrath
The federal energy minister and member for the NSW regional electorate of Hume, has come under attack from two separate community solar groups this week, for both his pointed lack of support, and for his broader role in the return of energy market uncertainty under the new Morrison leadership.
One group, Community Energy For Goulburn (CE4G), claims its project – a council approved 1.8MW PV farm in the NSW city’s southern tablelands, and in Taylor’s own electorate – has now been put on hold indefinitely, due to financial uncertainty.
CE4G President, Ed Suttle, announced the delay at the group’s AGM on Thursday night, citing a state government grant being put on hold, and the renewed political instability stirred up by changes in the LNP.
“This is a 25-year project, and the instability caused by the federal government’s constant merry-go-round of pronouncements just makes it impossible to predict where we will be in six months, let alone 25 years,” Suttle said…
Renewables lobby group Solar Citizens says it was “stood up” by the energy minister, the day before a scheduled Canberra meeting to deliver an open letter urging him not to close the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) nine years early…READ ON
https://reneweconomy.com.au/taylor-incurs-wrath-of-community-solar-groups-including-in-his-own-electorate-10055/
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21 Sept: SMH: WA’s love affair with solar continues, but hip pocket hurt remains
by Hamish Hastie
Synergy has reported a profit despite losing revenue from an increase in solar panel uptake, but don’t expect it to bring down your electricity bill.
The state-owned energy generator’s 2017-18 annual report, tabled in parliament on Thursday, revealed installed rooftop solar capacity for the year grew 25 per cent by 183 megawatts to a total of 918 megawatts…
The generator believes rooftop solar now supplies seven per cent of total south west grid demand.
The jump in solar panels fed a drop in revenue and energy generation.
Electricity sales dropped 5.9 per cent in both retail and wholesale markets, revenue fell by 2.3 per cent to $2.98 billion and generation production declined 10.4 per cent.
Synergy chairman Robert Cole said this trend was forecast to continue as customers faced rising electricity prices and looked for cheaper alternatives.
“In addition, a significant amount of large-scale new renewable generating capacity will be added to the network over the coming years,” he said…
Synergy’s profitabilty doesn’t mean cheaper power bills next year.
Energy Minister and Treasurer Ben Wyatt said it was a good thing to see government trading enterprises like Synergy running at a profit and the revenue would go towards funding ‘many vital community services’.
When asked whether it would reduce power bills he said they were independently set by the state government and took into account a whole host of factors, principally the cost of the service…
Opposition energy spokesman Dean Nalder said Synergy’s profit was little comfort to struggling families after big increases in power bills.
“It’s unfair for The McGowan/Wyatt Government to claw hundreds of millions of dollars off WA households at this time in the economic cycle when so many households are doing it tough,” he said…READ ON
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/wa-s-love-affair-with-solar-continues-but-hip-pocket-hurt-remains-20180920-p5051g.html
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20 Sept: AFR: Solar comes to rescue for drought-hit cotton farm
by Angela Macdonald-Smith
NSW cotton farmer Jon Elder has waved goodbye to his $500,000-plus annual diesel bill thanks to the installation of a solar pumping system that will also provide a nice side-earner from renewable energy credits just as the state struggles with the worst drought in decades.
The 500-kilowatt solar system installed at Mr Elder’s property near Narromine west of Dubbo should pay for itself in under five years just through halving the yearly shell-out on diesel fuel, the farm’s biggest cost.
“The rest is cream,” he said, pointing to an expected $100,000 of revenues to flow over the next five years from the sale of large-scale renewable energy certificates generated by the system. The farm’s carbon footprint should also fall by about 500 tonnes a year…
About one quarter of the circa $900,000 up-front cost was funded from the NSW Rural Assistance Authority’s farm innovation fund…
Mr Elder took a five-year forward contract with an energy trading company for the sale of his Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs), at prices initially around the current spot price before dropping down.
Forward prices quoted by Mercari have the price of LGCs, each representing one megawatt-hour, falling to about $13 by 2022 from about $71.25 now, with a steep drop-off from 2020 when the Renewable Energy Target is met.
Mr Lee is “not too fussed” about the forecast dive in prices because ReAqua has got pricing down to a point where the system has an attractive payback even without the subsidies…
The 1500 solar panels involved cover one of the farm’s 2500 hectares. Included within the project is a solar forecasting technology trial by CSIRO.
https://www.afr.com/business/energy/solar-energy/solar-comes-to-rescue-for-droughthit-cotton-farm-20180918-h15klj
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WHO ARE THINGING http://www.autobild.de/artikel/co2-bilanz-elektroautos-im-vergleich-3729677.html
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Aloha! Growing up in the 1960s USA was a transitional time for lots of technology like color tv and men on the moon, but I have to say air conditioning was a major improvement for all humans. Try living in the southern USA with just an attic fan and shade trees. I remember driving in cars with no air conditioning. In 1973 I drove through the Sonora dessert in Mexico in a 1968 VW bug no air conditioning. Instead we each bought a block of ice put it in our laps and that was it! It was so hot even the buzzards were falling out of the sky! I would guess there might have been an uptick in “life preservation” with the advent of ice as well!
Contrast that with what it is like here in Hawaii where the average monthly temps per year do not move much past 76F(24C)! If you design a house correctly you can take advantage of the trade winds which feels amazingly just like air conditioning when you are in shade conditions. Here a lot of houses, especially older ones, have no insulation. Here you can survive without electricity if need be. The Alii(ruling class) before Europeans had two palaces. One in the upper mountains(mauka) and another near the beach(makai) so they never suffered heat or cold. Those ideal temps make growing food possible year round. During hurricane Iselle, in 2014, we were ten days without power and really could have gone longer. So long as we had one block of ice every couple days or so we were good with the food cooler. Our business suffered due to lack of internet, but we know loss of electricity does not mean loss of life.
Until we eliminate career politicians or hold them to the same living standards we the people must endure under their rule things will only get worse. The true evil is not money, but politics! The true evil is not climate change, but politics! Any time politics is injected into a problem our chances of survival diminish. Here in the USA we have the worst of the worst in Congress. That is a career politician whose only prior experience was the legal profession. The legal profession has the distinction of being paid even when they fail. That is the perfect mentality for conforming to the career of “politician”! With that basis for guaranteed failure no country will ever survive the arrogant hubris of the political elite lawyer class! In God We Trust!
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20,000 lives a year saved out of a total population of 300 million. That works out to 1 life / 15,000 people / year. Thus the average increase in life expectancy is 1.7 hours per person. I find the use of big numbers to describe both lives saved and lives lost to be rather foolish when broken down to the average/person. Try the same calculations when alarmists describe the amount of lives lost worldwide due to some future effect. Then point that out to friends/acquaintances who have drank the koolaid of climate fear.
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[…] Airconditioners save 20,000 lives in USA each year ~ According to a very interesting 2016 study ~ Mortality on a hot day declined by fully 75% in the […]
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