New rooftop BBQ known as TeslaKebab
Photo from the legal paper. Also known as a “money printer” according to Elon.
Walmart installed Tesla solar panels on 240 stores across the US. There have been 7 incidences of fire which Walmart claim has cost them $8.2m and were caused by negligence on Tesla’s behalf. After a spate of fires in 2018 Walmart de-energized all the panels. Then one more caught fire. Now it not only wants damages paid, it wants Tesla to remove all of the panels.
It’s not that there is something wrong with solar power, just that it’s complex, unnecessary, unaffordable and the companies that install panels can’t afford to train staff or pay guys who know what they are doing:
Tesla is getting sued by Walmart
Elecktrek @FredericLambert
“Fearing for the safety of its customers, its employees, and the general public, and wishing to avoid further damages and store closures, Walmart demanded on May 31, 2018 that Tesla “de-energize” (i.e., disconnect) all of the solar panel systems that Tesla had installed at Walmart sites. Tesla complied, conceding that de-energization of all the sites was “prudent” and recognizing that it could provide no assurances that the deficiencies causing its systems to catch fire were confined to particular sites or particular components.”
However, Walmart says that there was one more fire even after Tesla de-energized the systems.
Elecktrek have a full copy of the lawsuit at their site.
Reuters claim Walmart gave Tesla 30 days to fix the situation in July. By August 15th, nothing had happened, except for Musk relaunching his solar business and saying ““It’s like having a money printer on your roof.”
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of having untrained workers putting up shoddy installations and showing “utter incompetence or callousness, or both,” court papers said.
The lawsuit is the latest blow to Tesla’s struggling solar business, which it acquired through its $2.6 billion purchase of SolarCity in 2016. Quarterly installations have plummeted more than 85 percent since the deal, as Tesla has cut its solar panel sales force and ended a distribution deal with Home Depot Inc .
Remember, solar is the future.
Walmart is such a large emitter of greenhouse gases that in 2013 it was emitting almost as much CO2 as Chevron:
Nilima Choudhury
“If Walmart were included in the Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index,” the report said, “a list that is limited to heavy industrial firms, such as oil companies and power plants, the retailer would take the 33rd spot, just a hair behind Chevron, America’s second largest oil company.”
In related news, in 2014 there was this story:
How Walmart Became A Green Energy Giant, Using Other People’s Money
Christopher Helman, Forbes
Last year President Barack Obama stopped by here to give a speech about his energy plan. Standing before shelves filled with discount lightbulbs, Obama held up Wal-Mart as an exemplar of corporate responsibility.
…And it’s great p.r. for a company that has been lambasted for a range of corporate sins, …
[But] … the retailer has off-loaded the capital investment–and all the risk–onto partners, like SolarCity, that minimize their exposure by taking full advantage of the federal government’s generous subsidies for investing in alternative energy.
Wal-Mart has installed 105 megawatts of solar panels–enough to power about 20,000 houses–on the roofs of 327 stores and distribution centers (about 6% of all their locations). That’s enough to make Wal-Mart the single biggest commercial solar generator in the country. And it intends to double its number of arrays by 2020.
Walmart’s goal is now 50% renewable energy by 2025.
Solar panels are expensive PR.
h/t Andrew V, Pat.
I wonder if they also have to put the solar panels into water filled dumpsters to put out the fire?…
Just askin’…..
181
Or can they be broken up and repackaged as Firestarters?
240
There does seem to be a Stephen King element to this. The horror is only the beginning…..
110
The present PVs seem to acting in the best Tesla Tradition. Fires. Yippee, there will be more!
Firestarters: hmmm,
interesting idea, but I somehow don’t think we could sell it to Big Al as a going concern. Not like Fake Meat …
80
This will be a great object lesson on the costs and methods of disposing of solar panels.
We won’t have to wait 25 years to find out.
140
Elon has a space travel programme? Just another bunch of rubbish to put into orbit?
60
Perhaps he is trialling flammable “renewables” to drive his space engine !
60
Only one solution here…Sun Dive!
30
OK. Solarcity have incompetent installers. Just how many other fires have there been? Is it ONLY Walmart? Who supplied SC the panels? Can we expect a world-wide BBQ of that manufacturer’s panels? How many were installed in Australia?
Hell starts small…. but it grows like a fungus. Before you know it Telsla has spread to your roof. There is more than one way to fry an EV.
100
Tesla cars also have spontaneous fires. Battery fires. Now we discover that it’s not limited to the cars.
Tesla: the Combustible Products Company.
130
“Hell starts small…. but it grows like a fungus. Before you know it Telsla has spread to your roof. There is more than one way to fry an EV.”
And at a rate of about 2.4% fails per year (3% per 6 years), Hell may arrive faster when Telsla has spread to your roof.
30
oops that should be And at a rate of about 2.4% fails per FIVE year
30
Rather than the panels I smell a short here. With an X amp short circuit current..who lets the smoke out!
40
They should install them outside Bunnings stores for the sausage sizzles.
80
Tesla is now claiming the fires were started by Walmart employees on the roof heating up their lunches on the hot solar panels.
20
I love how bogus the 100 top Greenhouse Polluters Index is. Google only says top 100 companies that produce CO2 whoch no mention of the artificial restriction just to avood the blame where it is deserved. Google Inc would be way the real list with its 24-7 server farms.
180
Yes good point, how many server farms is that worldwide? (I have no idea but it must be large) LOTS of power consumption, possibly from coal power.
40
As I understand it they gave up on looking for renewables to drive their business.
30
I love how bogus the 100 top Greenhouse Polluters Index is. Google only says top 100 companies that produce CO2 whoch no mention of the artificial restriction just to avood the blame where it is deserved. Google Inc would be way the real list with its 24-7 server farms.
50
I guess that Walmart is going out of the renewable energy business.
Tooooooo Firey !
100
… maybe not. Tesla may offer Walmart all of Solar City to back themselves out of the mess. It would be a match …
60
Empty and costly virtue signaling but nothing actually productive accomplished. It is the result of relying on the word of a bipolar carnival huckster to make your decisions for you. One day ***BOOM*** and the next day $$$bust$$$ with millions flushed down the drain.
Oh well. On to the next play of the day. Let’s see if we can persuade the government into having the taxpayer pay for the game to be started, to be played, and to be destroyed. As a get rich quick scheme, it certainly has been safer than robbing banks. All we have to do is get away with it one more time. GACK!
150
That’s why Al Gore is working so hard on his Real Meat Is Bad scheme. He’s heavily invested in Fake Meat manufacturing.
I wonder how many people will die before that ends?
190
Who cares how many people will die, dude?
The issue is how many cows,sheep, pigs and chickens will live!
Where do you hang out dude? Get with the program. Soylent Green is the future man.
….
/sarc
130
After you …
60
You forgot “dude!
“
50
Willis explains the “bug chain”
“Explaining Wind Turbine Lethality”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/21/explaining-wind-turbine-lethality/
80
Where are the animal cruelty protesters when they are needed, to protest against the cruelty of wind turbines killing birds, sneaking on to wind farms to film birds and animals being killed.
We never hear of wind farms, or solar farms, having to go through what Adani did, to protect the black-throated finch and other species.
90
Hey, I’ve just thought of a great business idea – fake solar panels! Sell very cheap things that look like solar panels. The Walmarts can get heaps of brownie points by putting them all over their roofs, all very cheaply and no fire risk. They would probably even help insulate the roof. With good paperwork, there is no obvious reason why they wouldn’t qualify for the government subsidies too (??).
Anyone who wants to take up that idea : I don’t want any payment or royalties etc.
180
What about lightning?
50
Since “real” solar panels don’t really have to work, fake ones should be good to go. Actually better, no maintenance, a very long non-functional life time, just as good for virtue signaling, and a fraction of the carbon foot pint for their manufacture. It is a winning three-fer for low cost.
Just as George Burns is reported to have said, “The most important thing to have for show business is sincerity. Learn to fake that and you have it made.”
140
You can download an app to turn your phone screen into a soĺar panel to charge your phone. Has 100s of rave reviews.
Its from the charge your iphone in the microwave crowdo
90
yarpos:
I can’t believe that even people of the likes of Peter F could be so gullible.
Although thinking about it, a complete ignorance of technology, science and commonsense, an acceptance of anything that they wish was true must be true, our current lot of politicians, yes, it could that there are such.
60
“I don’t want any payment or royalties etc.”
Just expenses, it’s strictly a non profit venture.
20
Engaging in such climate change virtue signalling was always destined to end badly. Ironically, with only the walls of the affected outlets remaining intact, the name Walmart is rather appropriate. Hopefully the affected stores won’t decide to use the Tesla battery storage product as their next virtue attempt.
110
… or select Teslas for their executive fleet …
90
“We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars”
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/index.php/2019/08/20/we-dont-need-no-flaming-sparky-cars-36/
“There is little difference in the frequency of electric car brands between, with one exception: On average, in 2018, damage is recorded for every fifth Tesla on the road.”
70
It should make all the solar power junkies shiver! But not from cold!
90
Yeah but, coal power plants burn all the time, except they actually make electricity while doing it.
Any word on quantifying the CO2 emissions from burning failed solar panels and failed windmills yet? :-p
140
I, like Greta, looked out the window this morning and saw all this horrible CO2.
It was horrible.
Too horrible to describe.
Just how horrific can you get?
111
Ohhhh The Horror !
Think of the children !
No scratch that she is a child !
70
Interesting coincidence. Today I watched a promo for Musk’s The Boring Company. The presenter claimed that Musk can drill and case a dual carriageway tunnel for $10 mill/mile. A 13 min vid followed which progressed to the point that Musk would own the world. [paraphrasing] Not only would The Boring Company make billions, millions of motorists would buy Teslas so they could be ALLOWED to use his tunnels @ 20c/M toll. I could be so lucky..
Brisbane city council will be pithed, Clem 7 cost a mere $1bill/mile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRi0bL484J0
80
Mmmmm. Except one exists and the other has the status of a Musk promise
30
Boring actually spends promotion money on itself now?
When I first came aware of Boring I visited their website and it looked like it had been put together by a “cool dad” around about the turn of the century.
Now if you were a little privately owned business employing 8 people it would have been wonderful. Very boring, but relative to your company’s size? Wonderful.
Admittedly this was 3 or 4 years ago now, but at the time Musk was apparently a self styled world leader in tunnel boring. Now personally I have not worked in hard rock mining since last century, but I am pretty confident that REAL boring companies don’t sell toy flame guns either.
Not saying Musk is an open [snip], but I wouldn’t let him near my wallet.
40
Just thinkin’. If Walmart was desperate to virtue signal with other peoples’ money [Tesla’s] do they have a case?
If they were spending their own money they would have had professional oversight. They didn’t.
50
Tesla is the least of their worries, compared to the people of Walmart.
60
Shhhhhh!
40
YUK!
40
They put up solar panels “not knowing what they are doing.”
They produce and sell electric vehicles “not knowing what they are doing”.
They are going to Mars “not knowing what they are doing”.
Who was the last South African that “knew what they were doing”?
I think it was Cecil Rhodes, but a few white and black con men have also lined their pockets very well since Cecil.
80
Joh Bjelke-Petersen???? Just kidding.
60
Born:
Johannes Bjelke-Petersen
13 January 1911
Dannevirke,
New Zealand
… the New Zealander nobody in New Zealand wanted to claim. Youse guys ‘n girls wuz welcome to him.
60
Jo wanted to get industry to migrate to Queensland, so made sure there were plenty of power stations. That’s why Queensland is powering the Oz national grid. His initiative even allows this to happen with two turbines down for maintenance. If a third goes down unexpectedly, that’s it. No power exported.
90
Powerind the national grid? seriously? its not national btw
30
Why am I not surprised by any of this? This same kind of foolishness plays out every time government tries to force behavior by offering incentives to do what government prefers that you do. The only difference between this and the wasted solar water heaters I fell for years ago is the magnitude of Walmart’s problem, $8+ million with a real risk of human injury or death.
We really should take Walmart management and Tesla’s fair haired genius out behind the barn and administer a good old fashioned dose of better judgment, followed by every other opportunist in the solar business and those in government who think they have some mandate to change society by force or subterfuge. In other words, let them all know that we won’t stand for their manipulation of us anymore. But we won’t do that, will we? It’s not politically correct to even think about doing such a thing, much less to do it.
So Walmart V Tesla will play out in court and no one will connect it to the broader issue that we’re all being had by government and the nearest opportunist daring enough to put together a company to take advantage of government largess. Why don’t more people pay more attention to what government is doing and put as much effort into understanding what’s going on there as they give to the football, baseball, basketball, whatever-ball game they spend hour after hour watching?
Ignorance of what government is doing is my top complaint with human society. Ignorance of what government is doing is dangerous and downright stupid. And that all this solar renewable energy activity is being driven by climate change, when not a soul on Earth can prove that carbon dioxide is any kind of problem at all, laves me without words strong enough to describe it.
Wake up world, wake up or end up serfs in your own country.
150
I have a feeling Walmart might settle this out of court with a Non Disclosure Agreement. Better to take the money and run now while Tesla still has some money. I was going to say solvent, but I have my doubt about that!
110
Tesla’s reputation sure isn’t solvent at the moment. 😉 What money there might be in liquidating assets, etc. is beyond me to know.
In a way, I can easily blame Walmart for their troubles. You really should not jump just because the world pressures you to jump. Of course management was thinking about lost revenue if public sentiment should get too militant. Thus is everything driven by money instead of good judgment.
90
Walmart need not have worried about militant sentiments. The people who use Walmart can’t exactly use an alternative, so cry as they might they’ll still use Walmart services. So, no net loss to Walmart out of that.
20
You may be right but knowing what management’s bottom line commitment always is I wonder how I would see it.
Anyway, the damage is done on this one and the parties will slug it out however they choose to do it and the rest of the world will most likely learn nothing from it.
40
Brought about by misdirection and sleight of hand that makes Penn and Teller look positively clumsy.
20
(Disclaimer:I own a few shares of Walmart stock)
This is as clear an example of forcing “virtue” on corporations in the form of acceptable signals as opposed to challenging them with incentives as one might find.
And I wish to be clear. Forced virtue is far different from civic charity.
Some put these in the same boat – & wish corporations to be pure profit maximizers as if they lived in Ludwig van Mises Lab. Not so.
Sponsoring a little League team, helping employees get further education, providing dated food to a food bank rather than discarding it,
supporting meals on wheels, volunteer deliveries to seniors, a United way campaign, and the host of local charities and employee programs
the company undertakes are employees (associates) relating in their communities. Only those who consider the government compelled “doing of good”
to be appropriate are blind to this responsiveness, instead looking for various boycotts and bans and like.
I’v worked at a lot of local volunteer things, & one can always tell the difference between the the ‘organizers’ (you know where they’re from) and
the volunteers (from places like Walmart). The organizers want to save the world, and the volunteers end up doing the dishes.
So the Solar panels on the roof are every bit as much subsidized and mandated as the Female and African-American board members, and all the other mandated
‘improvements’ that prevent America’s arguably most efficient retailer from finding a better way on its own.
Now, I’ve been screamed at be the best of the leftist harpies about how working there is dehumanizing, and they don’t pay a living wage, yada yada yada.
They are a blight on America so severe that a number of woke cities have chose to ban them.
It is amazing how the left assume that a company can become large and successful enough to be a target of theirs by abusing all three of their employees, their customers,
and the public at large?
And as to their misplaced nostalgia….did anyone else work as a grunt & non-family member in a small family business. Do they all automatically come with a wastrel cousin who does
no work and screws up everything they touch?
This is the kind of thing that could unwind the Tesla myth. If I were Musk I’d be settling real fast before Walmart takes it personally and decides to expose the whole process of why and how it has solar panels on some of it’s stores.
90
21 Aug: Reuters: China hopes U.S. will come back to the table at Chile climate talks
by Natalia A. Ramos Miranda, Aislinn Laing
SANTIAGO: China hopes to welcome the United States ‘back to the negotiating table’ to discuss global efforts to limit climate change at a United Nations summit to be hosted by Chile in December, its top climate change envoy said on Tuesday.
Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs, told journalists during a visit to a solar energy plant outside the Chilean capital Santiago that China would provide “full support to the Chilean presidency of this meeting.”…
Xie said China would back a bid by the U.N. Secretary General and climate change envoy to persuade ***all countries to update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) goals to keep global warming to well below two degrees centigrade.
“The most important objective is to identify the new NDCs for the post-2020 period and link those new NDCs together with the ***financial support from the developed countries as promised,” Xie said. “To have that financial support in place is very important and that’s the objective we would like to achieve.”…
China is a key investor in Chilean renewable energy projects and manufactured half of the solar panels at the 110MW Parque Quilapilún solar plant Xie visited with environment minister Carolina Schmidt.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-environment/china-hopes-us-will-come-back-to-the-table-at-chile-climate-talks-idUSKCN1VA2DU
20 Aug: SouthChinaMorningPost: China’s belt and road cargo to Europe under scrutiny as operator admits to moving empty containers
by Sidney Leng
Widespread waste and fraud associated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been unearthed after the country’s state railway group was forced to admit this month that a significant amount of cargo containers shuttling between Chinese factories and European cities were empty.
The admission by the state-run China Railway – the sole operator of the lines – followed an investigation by the Chinese Business Journal, a newspaper supervised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which found that in one extreme case only one of 41 containers on a particular train actually carried goods…[snip]
***The company said that of all containers heading to Europe in 2018, only 6% were empty, compared to 29 per cent for eastbound trains. In the first half of 2019, they said, the ratios had fallen to 2 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.
Jonathan Hillman, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, said the problem of empty containers “is consistent with the belt and road’s emphasis on short term political gains at the expense of longer-term economic fundamentals”…
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3023574/chinas-belt-and-road-cargo-europe-under-scrutiny-operator
21 Aug: Bloomberg: China Is Cracking Down on Inflated Bond Trading Numbers
by Bloomberg News; With assistance by Livia Yap, Wenjin Lv, and Jing Zhao
China is cracking down on banks and brokers that it suspects of inflating bond trading volumes in an effort to win more business, according to traders familiar with the matter…
The appearance of liquidity helps them rank highly on a government-compiled list of the most active market players, attracting more business. Authorities last year acted to stop the practice in the onshore currency market, after transaction volume on the yuan surged to a record…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-20/china-is-said-to-be-cracking-down-on-phony-bond-transactions
12
well spotted Pat. Trump’s much publicised claim that “China invented CAGW to cripple western economic hegemony” was inaccurate in the the “global warming narrative” dates back to the 1970’s, before the death of Mao Tse Tung. However the modern China has, since 1990 exploited the CAGW delusion to hamstring the economic development of the first industrial nations.
I wonder what China’s NDC is going to be? I predict they will bring forward their “peak” emissions, which are, of course, undefined, as they are confident that by that time their economic strength will be so great that they can control the debate. The Donald has their number though, it only remains to see if the rest of the world wakes up. The Uk? perhaps we will after Brexit and our recent clear demonstration of our insane energy policy. . You Aussies? Beginning to awaken perhaps, we are grateful to SA for their pioneering example. The EU, lost I am afraid. There will be serious bloodshed ,probably in Italy, and maybe even Germany before reality comes into view. The rest of the world, God help them – though I think the new Chinese economical imperialism will suffer the same fat as the old european one.
130
So the USA should come to the table with a new NDC goal? As emissions are falling in the USA while increasing in China, how about the USA pledging “we will keep any increase in CO2 emissions to below those from China”.
70
NOTE THE FT HEADLINE – NOTHING ABOUT FIRES. have only excerpted the final line of the article, which is open access, so read all:
Walmart sues Tesla over dodgy solar service
In-Depth – Financial Times – 2 hours ago
As an aside, we’re very much interested about hearing from Alphaville readers who have ordered Tesla’s long-awaited solar roof tiles. So, if you’d like to talk about the experience, do get in touch at jamie.powell@ft.com.
https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/08/21/1566379582000/Walmart-sues-Tesla-over-dodgy-solar-service/
40
both behind paywalls:
21 Aug: UK Telegraph Editorial: The UK cannot function if there is a constant risk of power cuts
It goes without saying that a major economy like the UK’s cannot function if there is a constant risk of power cuts. The importance of an uninterrupted electricity supply is enhanced in an era when most work is carried out on computers. As drivers switch to electric cars, the pressure on the generating system will grow dramatically at peak times…
There is a sense that the entire system is always on the edge of breakdown and greater resilience is needed. We may all need to pay more for it. But the National Grid, the generators and the distribution network operators must reassure Ofgem and the rest of us that this will not happen again…
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2019/08/21/uk-cannot-function-constant-risk-power-cuts/
17 Aug: UK Times Editorial: The Times view on last week’s power failure across homes and the rail network: Grid Locked
It should never have happened and the operators and regulators must explain how it did…
Failure to answer reasonable criticisms is only going to fuel suspicion about a market economy’s ability to regulate natural monopolies and provide superficial plausibility to fanciful schemes of socialist economics.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-last-weeks-power-failure-across-homes-and-the-rail-network-grid-locked-rbfgw8qd9
70
Thanks Pat.
As to users switching to electric cars (and Norway to electric planes) I can guarantee that the fantasy won’t be realized in my lifetime or that of my descendants; reason always prevails long term.
110
Hmmm. I’ll have to make sure I never fly on Viking Air!
50
Unfortunately, the long term often includes a 1000 to 10000 year dark ages during which the people learn that living without using reason is a very dangerous thing. Definitely not good for one’s health and longevity.
Eventually, after many millions/billions pay the ultimate price for being irrational, reason is discovered. Within a hundred years or so, civilization returns only to be attacked again by the elite.
I mean specifically the elite who are not happy unless everyone else is impoverished, starving, and dieing like flies. All the while, they believe they have a god given right to live off the substance of others without doing anything to earn it. This just because they were born into the right family, went to the right schools, and hold the right politically correct ideas. They have earned every pestilence that has ever descended upon man and nothing else.
111
Ah. A single red thumb. Obviously, one who thinks he is part of the elite who is justified living off the substance of others without doing anything to earn it.
May he be condemned to live in a universe with such as he is running the land, Where he is the lowest of low mere mortal struggling to survive on moldy bread and polluted water. Alas, there is no moldy bread to eat nor polluted water to drink for the elite took it all for their own. His only contribution to mankind is to suffer and die. Then is body to be composted to feed the thistles beside the road.
20
meanwhile, in Australia!
21 Aug: TheNewDaily: AAP: ‘Trilemma’ set to transform Australia’s energy market
by Rebecca Gredley
The Australian energy market will have changed “beyond recognition” within a decade, EnergyAustralia says.
The system is morphing into one based on intermittent renewable energy while technology costs fall and companies are under increased pressure to act in the interests of consumers, EnergyAustralia managing director Catherine Tanna said on Wednesday…
“People want the clean energy transition, but many are struggling with rising power bills. Cost, emissions and reliability – it’s the trilemma.”
By 2040, coal is expected to generate about 14 per cent of the National Electricity Market’s power, down from about 60 per cent now…
The figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s outlook puts renewable generation at nearly 78 per cent by 2040, up from one-quarter now.
The remaining 8 per cent of generation in 2040 is predicted to come from gas.
EnergyAustralia’s customer executive Mark Collette said this transition was changing the balance between power demand and supply.
The increased uptake of household rooftop solar will result in excess energy supply during the day, which power giants will try to utilise by changing customer behaviour.
“That excess energy that we have in the middle of the day is quite significant, it’s around 10 Hazelwoods (former Victorian coal-fired power station) worth of unused energy,” he said.
“That’s got pretty profound consequences … it could mean free energy in the middle of the day, it could be a feature of the market.
“But at the same time, when the sun goes down we do need lots of other forms of supply.”…
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/08/21/energy-industry-challenges/
am watching Sky Australia “Front Page” and, while I’m not paying close attention, there’s been a lot of pro-RE talk about solar (NT journo?) and positive talk about Copperstring, which might be in the news tomorrow, I guess (wasn’t listening):
28 Apr: RenewEconomy: CopperString is back, with plan to unlock outback wind and solar
by Giles Parkinson
The so-called CopperString project in north Queensland is now firmly back on the state government’s agenda, with the $1 billion transmission line now declared a “co-ordinated” project, and with the promise of unlocking a vast tract of outback wind and solar resources.
CopperString is designed to link Townsville with the big mineral provinces around Cloncurry and Mt Isa more than 1,000kms to the west, along the way unlocking some major renewable energy projects and opening up new areas for copper and other forms of mining…READ ON
https://reneweconomy.com.au/copperstring-is-back-with-plan-to-unlock-outback-wind-and-solar-15522/
02
I think the grid could collspse…cutrently its like asking a child to do brain surgery…..it will only get worse as the Socialists in charge let it becone more deplorable……
50
Actually, if yoy think about it, how did one of Hellarys own wind up in charge? Who made that call? Find them, find your NWO operatives…..
60
21 Aug: PV Mag: Solar to overtake wind in corporate renewable procurement
By Tim Sylvia
A new report by Wood Mackenzie and the American Wind Energy Association shows solar taking the favor of corporate renewable purchasers in 2021 and holding that crown to ***infinity and ***beyond.
Wood Mackenzie and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) have released a new report, “Analysis of Commercial and Industrial Wind Energy Demand in the United States,” that outlines the impending corporate renewable procurement boom we are facing and how wind and solar fit into it.
The report starts off by noting that in 2018, corporations contracted more than 6 GW of power purchase agreements (PPAs) – more than ever before. It estimates that up to 85 GW of renewable energy demand exists through 2030 within the largest U.S. companies…
However, the most interesting part of the report is at the very end. Starting in 2021, corporate adoption of solar is expected to overtake that of wind, and as far as the report projects (2030), it will never look back. In fact, forget looking back – the gap between solar and wind adoption is set to grow dramatically year over year and will reach its peak in 2027, when WoodMackenzie predicts that companies will contract more than 12.5 GW of solar energy, compared to only 1.3 GW of wind.
In fact, wind’s drop-off will be a dramatic one, as it will be overshadowed by the frenzied climb of solar…
In short, solar’s biggest advantage over wind is that it’s more predictable, so it’s easier to forecast generation figures. However, as is also the case with solar, wind farms will be best served by becoming wind+storage projects. For these intermittent sources, the ability to store generation will be just as valuable as the sun and wind moving into the next decade and beyond.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/08/21/solar-to-overtake-wind-in-corporate-renewable-procurement/
32
Wow!
40 years AFTER the gullible dreamers started the “renewables” push they have discovered that the sun doesn’t shine at night, nor does the wind blow (at the right speed) all the time, so storage is necessary.
And the cost of that storage? It will get cheaper and cheaper won’t it – Fitzroy’s law.
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READ ALL:
20 Aug: CBS: Hedge funds are making millions off Europe’s killer heat waves
By Stephen Gandel
•Hedge funds have booked nine-figure profits trading carbon-credits tied to global warming.
•The price of carbon-emissions credits surged 60% this summer as temperatures in Europe hit all-time highs.
•The hedge fund profits could stir controversy in a market that has already drawn scrutiny.
Hedge funds have made hundreds of millions of dollars betting on climate change and higher temperatures, particularly in Europe, as heat waves across the continent this summer have turned deadly, killing 400 people in a single week in the Netherlands alone.
One of the biggest winners is Northlander Commodities Advisors, a U.K. fund with strong ties to the U.S. Northlander was co-founded by Harry Arora, a former Enron trader who ran for a Connecticut House of Representatives seat last year (and lost by a wide margin). Aurora’s Northlander has made as much as $125 million for it and its investors on the firm’s climate bets. The fund, which rose 53% in 2018, manages around $500 million, about double what it did a year ago…
Another fund, Autonomy Capital, which is based in New York and has $5.5 billion in assets, has also reportedly been ramping up its bet on carbon-emissions credits…
Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been beefing up their trading operations in this area as well…
The fact that hedge funds are now profiting from a rise in prices likely won’t help the emission credit’s reputation either, even though their participation is partly by design…
The fact that hedge funds, like undertakers and doctors, may profit from unsavory events doesn’t necessarily make those profits wrong. Still, that hedge funds are making money hoarding the carbon-emissions credits and driving up the cost of electricity at a time when Europeans need it to keep cool is likely to burn more than few.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hedge-funds-millions-europe-killer-heat-waves-climate-change/
31
“The fact that hedge funds, like undertakers and doctors…”
and govt stooges & insurance companies & fearmongers/profiteers & high priests/priestesses of green $cientism.
NIWA et al. have released yet another academic piece of tripe in an attempt to scare little children and fools:
https://www.deepsouthchallenge.co.nz/projects/national-flood-risks-climate-change
“The Deep South Science Challenge (DSC) mission is to enable New Zealanders to adapt, manage risk, and thrive in a changing climate”. Thrive? But it’s gonna all be kaput in
121110 years time! Thrive?The sky is falling! The sky is falling!The sea is rising! The sea is rising! Money money money…71
20 Aug: UK Telegraph: Carbon offsetting may increase pollution as experts warn the rich: ‘You can’t buy a clean conscience’
By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor and Helena Horton
Carbon offsetting schemes may actually increase pollution and harm local communities, studies have shown, as UN environmental experts called for the rich to stop buying credits ‘in exchange for a clean conscience.’
As early as 2017 the European Commission warned that if carbon schemes were not radically altered, they could release an extra 3.5 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 2020.
A study by the Commission found that 85 per cent of offsetting projects were unlikely to deliver ‘real’ or ‘measurable’ benefits, yet airlines continue to suggest that their increasing emissions can be negated by such schemes.
Niklas Hagelberg, a Senior Programme Officer at UN Environment also recently warned that offsetting was not a ‘get-out-of-jail free card’ to be…
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/08/20/carbon-offsetting-may-increase-pollution-experts-warn-rich-cant/
21 Aug: Reuters: Offsets no match for flying less, jetsetting Prince Harry told
by Sonia Elks
LONDON – Carbon offsetting schemes are no match for taking fewer flights, climate change experts said on Tuesday, as Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan flew into a storm over a private jet trip to the south of France…
However, U.N. Environment has warned that offsetting should not be treated as a “get out of jail free card”, saying it could offer the “dangerous illusion” of a fix.
Critics say consumer offsetting schemes are not regulated and their efficiency can be variable…
But others argued that climate campaigners should be less focused on shaming individual flyers and more on the pressing for research on low-carbon travel.
“The solution is not a world in which nobody travels long distances,” said Bob Ward, a climate change expert at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
“It would be far better if people who were criticizing Harry and Meghan … directed their attention to the slow pace of innovation in the aviation sector for which governments and industry both bear responsibility.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-climatechange-royals/offsets-no-match-for-flying-less-jetsetting-prince-harry-told-idUSKCN1VA1UI
32
Tesla is not the only problem Pzv company or there many, many others want there will be more fires
40
When I was a roofing contractor I always figured roofs with those idiot panels on them were God’s way of bankrupting my competitors. I let THEM bid on those money pits, then drown in callbacks for leaks.
80
Assume you are in the US with those weird disposable shingle roofs
40
Even in Australia Yarpos!
People get Solar Panels installed, then they must register it with BlueScope to have their warranty intact!
BlueScope have had lots of problems with claims against them because of incorrectly installed solar panels.
The ColourBond & ZincAlum roof materials need rain water to maintain the finish.
Many panels are mounted very close to the roof profile and leaves, dirt etc accumulate!
Not long after especially in coastal areas the whole area under the panel is rusted.
Meanwhile the Installer has moved on and BlueScope won’t validate the warranty!
The company selling the panels couldn’t give a stuff!
More problems coming apart from faulty solar panels!
80
OT -ala Pat
AEMO warns of increased blackout risk in Victoria if there is an early heatwave this summer due to
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-22/nsw-vic-blackout-risk-if-power-supply-not-improved-aemo-warns/11436518
Funny how it was barely a possibility when the older Hazelwood was still operating..
And note that one of the units down for scheduled maintenance is the Mortlake peaker (gas!)plant
Audrey go home.
90
Edit – I didn’t realise that Mortlake was still down for repairs from the explosion in July
https://infrastructuremagazine.com.au/2019/07/15/mortlake-power-station-repairs-to-take-six-months/
So why isn’t Audrey (and Lily D’Ambrosio) railing against the “unreliability” of gas plants?
And here is some sane analysis on this subject by Allan O’Neil on WattClarity
http://www.wattclarity.com.au/articles/2019/07/keeping-the-lights-on-this-summer-possible-impact-of-the-loy-yang-a2-and-mortlake-outages/
60
or the daily intermittency of wind and the nightly absence of solar
40
So they are now blaming the aging coal fired power stations for the blackouts Victoria and NSW are going to experience in the near future? Victoria’s solution according to its government is more renewables. Then again we are still not sure about the long term future of Liddell in NSW. It either needs to be kept going for decades to come or replaced by a new coal fired power station ASAP. At the moment it’s being treated like a hot potato. I can now see why some like to see Queensland severe the interconnect to NSW. They see the catastrophe coming thanks to the emissions reduction lovies of ALP+Greens and LNP in Victoria and NSW, respectability. I’d gladly suffer for the short term in NSW just to see rolling blackouts in Victoria and NSW and have common sense come back to the big picture, and not the BS coming from all sides state and federal. WHAT DO WE NEED? WE NEED TO BUILD NEW COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS. WHEN DO WE NEED THEM TO START? NOW!
60
G’day PeterS,
This sounds like a positive move, if the Greens don’t sabotage it:
…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-22/redbank-power-station-restart-plan-fires-up-environmentalists/11435436
…
Cheers
Dave B
40
Bloody good. I assume that all the tailings that have been going direct to landfill since it shut will now be burnt before going to landfill. More power, less landfill. Win—win.
A reminder of Redbank’s history.
Redbank Power Station is about 15km due south of Liddell/Bayswater. Greenies have been trying to kill it off since it was built on the grounds that it was more polluting than the nearby full scale coal power stations and not meeting its stated environmental standards (based on their spurious estimates).
It had a chequered financial history from the beginning for reasons not fully disclosed, not helped by having to fight multiple court cases against the greenies during its startup phase.
It consists of one steam driven turbine with a capacity of 151 MW, which I suppose is better than nothing. It is fueled with tailings from the adjacent Warkworth open cut CHPP in what was intended to be an environmentally preferable use of a wasted resource, but any coal is bad coal to a greenie. It has been in mothballs for a few years.
The local Hunter Valley greenies will go into overdrive chaining themselves to coal trains and coal loaders. The yuppies in inner city Newcastle will come down out of their million dollar harbour-side apartments, park their BMWs, tie up their dreadlocks, don their tie-dyed attire, get out their kayaks and blockade coal ships in the harbour. After a day’s hard protesting they will all go back to their coal-powered homes to relax.
Brace for the circus.
40
Maybe the coal-fired plant operators should get their lawyers to issue ‘cease and desist’ letters to AEMO for mis-representing the reliability of their generators.
70
In other news, Victoria heading for more “load management” this summer:
https://www.aemo.com.au/-/media/Files/Electricity/NEM/Planning_and_Forecasting/NEM_ESOO/2019/2019-Electricity-Statement-of-Opportunities.pdf
Note how it is the poor reliability of the coal generators that is the problem. There is no mention that all the money spent on wind and solar generators offers ZERO guarantee of getting power when needed.
It appears that the term “load shedding” has been reinstated as politically correct.
In Victoria there is a current advertising campaign for demand response. Is that occurring nation wide?
40
A Key Finding that the MSM will surely ignore from the report (page 4)
50
In still more news, all regions except NSW experienced negative wholesale price at lunchtime yesterday, Aug 22nd. QLD grid scale solar was partially curtailed, to avoid prices going even lower, for almost 4 hours:
http://nemlog.com.au/gen/region/qld/
These frequent negative prices will be hurting the coal generators in QLD. The situation should improve in summer as demand increases however it will get tougher each year as more rooftops get solar.
40
The NEM minimum demand in QLD is now regularly occurring at lunchtime rather than the historically low demand pre-dawn period:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aq1iAj8Yo7jNgzmdcEWu0ZzyW1Br
As more rooftops are installed, it will become more difficult for coal generators to ride through these low demand periods accepting negative prices. Eventually one of them will drop off its perch like Hazelwood in Victoria. That will boost prices in QLD as the reliance on gas increases as it did in Victoria. All that investment in intermittent generation is looking for a return and it forces coal out of the market thereby guaranteeing higher prices as reliance shifts to gas for fast response dispatchable generation.
70
Correction – the lunchtime price in NSW, VIC and SA was zero.
VIC, SA and Tas had negative prices during the pre-dawn minimum.
SA had an actual price of minus $38/MWh this morning and is forecast to reach $337/MWh this evening – should be a good day for boating in Victoria as winds must be predicted to drop.
50
It is a tough time of the year for QLD grid solar. QLD is exporting at the limit yet wholesale price is already negative at 0900. The grid solar is already curtailing. Prices are forecast to stay negative until 1400. They will curtail for the entire period of peak output and much of what they produce will be exported at zero or negative price. They desperately need higher temperatures so the air-conditioning load increases.
40
If rich lefties stopped funding Tesla a long time ago it would not even exit today because it would have gone into bankruptcy years ago.
30
I wonder what Nikola Tesla would have thought of all of this ! ? !
30
Spinning in his grave at 50Hz ± 0.5Hz.
50
Except that he worked in the US. 60Hz there.
10
North West Minerals Province miners look to purchase largest tranche of renewable energy
Townsville Bulletin – 22 Aug 2019
Mining companies in the North West Minerals province have banded together to undertake what could be the largest industrial shift to renewable energy Australia has seen…
The initiative comes as companies, including Glencore, Incitec Pivot, MMG, New Century Resources and Chinova Resources, see a “real prospect” of connecting the North West Minerals Province to the national electricity market via Townsville through the Copperstring 2.0 transmission network project…
15 Aug: NorthWestStar: CopperString 2.0 proposes to power-up mobile, internet for the North
by Samantha Walton
CuString Pty Ltd is proposing to provide free access to the optical fibre network, built as part of the CopperString Project 2.0 between Townsville and Mount Isa…READ ON
https://www.northweststar.com.au/story/6329517/copperstring-20-proposes-to-power-up-mobile-internet-for-the-north/
10
Good grief. The article’s lead photo shows solar panels that burned because they were made of some flammable sheeting rather than glass. Manufacturing solar panels that actually burn and spread a fire once started, and putting them on roofs, is an insane idea. Haven’t we been here before? Flammable cladding on high-rise apartment buildings?
Incidentally, even all-glass panels may be a fire initiation risk. It’s not just the interconnecting cabling and connectors, that can develop resistive faults, overheat under load and catch fire. There’s also the reverse-protection diodes in the panel terminal boxes. When these fail they can either go dead short circuit (safe, doesn’t generate significant heat), or become resistive. In which case they can dissipate most of the power from a section of the panel. Easily getting hot enough to start a fire. Such failures are common in solar panels that have been nearby to a lightning strike. Then after the storm, once the damaged panels are again in sunlight, they are a fire risk.
See http://everist.org/NobLog/20160504_solar_panels_vs_emp.htm for some photos of burned protective diodes in solar panels. Now imagine this happening on panels that are themselves flammable.
70
Another take on this story: Tesla is now facing its most dangerous adversary yet, and it could be proof that buying SolarCity was a huge blunder
https://www.businessinsider.com/wal-mart-suit-against-tesla-may-prove-buying-solarcity-mistake-2019-8
30
My favorite quote from the article:
Wal-Mart’s complaint spent some time examining this controversial deal, and claims that Tesla inherited SolarCity’s incompetence and amplified it.
40
Jo, you are being way too kind to Tesla. Your article headline should say ‘Walmart Tesla removes solar panels…’, to reflect the wording of the Elecktrek quote on the first page. Otherwise, a great article. I loved the burnt roof photo! Needless to say I have resisted installing these useless subsidy-gathering incendiaries on my property.
50
You have to admit they burn well . . .
Stupid fools ! !
GeoffW
20
FakeNewsMSM is going overboard with Brazil/Bolsonaro/Amazon/fires/Sao Paolo dark skies. pay attention to the details:
21 Aug: ABC: Record wildfires raging through the Amazon can now be seen from space
By Claire Knox; ABC/Wires
The forest fires have hit a record number this year, with ***72,843 detected so far by the Brazilian Government’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), and come as NASA scientists flag alarm over intense fires burning in the Arctic Circle.
The surge marks an 83 per cent increase over the same period in 2018, INPE said, and is the highest since records began in ***2013.
Since last Thursday, the space agency said satellite images spotted 9,507 new forest fires in the country, mostly in the Amazon basin, home to the world’s largest tropical forest — a habitat seen as vital to countering global warming.
“One of the concerns with fires on this scale in the Amazon is the impact on the carbon cycle and whether it is turning those regions of the Amazon into a net source of CO2 due to the loss of rainforest and change in vegetation,” Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), told the ABC.
Strong winds drove thick layers of smoke more than 2,700 kilometres into Sao Paulo on Monday, blanketing the city in an eerie darkness in the mid-afternoon.
The daytime blackout deepened concerns from thousands of people for the welfare of the Amazon rainforest, with the hashtag #prayforamazonia referred to more than 150,000 times on Twitter.
With the fires raging for more than three weeks now, concerns are growing over right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s controversial environmental policy and his firing of INPE director Ricardo Galvao several weeks ago, reportedly amid rows over deforestation data it captured…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-21/wildfires-raging-through-the-amazon-rainforest-at-record-rate/11434866
00
22 Aug: news.com.au: Amazon fires: Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro blames green groups for starting fires
Wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil have ignited a firestorm on social media, as President Jair Bolsonaro suggests green groups started the blazes
by Staff writer, AFP
#PrayforAmazonas is the top trending hashtag in the world, with more than 249,000 tweets.
“No matter how successful we are, if our Earth dies, we all die,” posted one Twitter user.
Another wrote: “Send your prayers to the Amazon and to the planet, we will need it.”…
Official figures show nearly ***73,000 forest fires were recorded in Brazil in the first eight months of the year — the highest number for any year since ***2013.
Most were in the Amazon…
That compares with 39,759 in all of 2018, according to the embattled National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which has been in Mr Bolsonaro’s crosshairs since it released data showing a surge in deforestation in recent months…
The head of INPE, the agency tasked with monitoring forest clearing, was sacked over the figures…
While it was ***not possible to measure the size of the area affected by fires, thick smoke in recent days has blanketed several cities, including ***Sao Paulo…
Mr Bolsonaro hit back Wednesday, saying “criminal action by those NGOs, to call attention against me, against the Brazilian government” following funding cuts may be the reason for the forest fires…
“The fires were lit in strategic places. All the indications suggest they went there to film and start fires. That’s what I feel.”
https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/amazon-fires-brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-blames-green-groups-for-starting-fires/news-story/251ced7a980cfec0c09a4369ee3dfc8a
above includes Tweet & Pic with monkeys below. people are calling out the monkeys’ pic in the replies:
TWEET: abru Seunglix au
Save the world, save yourself #PrayforAmazonas
PIC Monkeys
21 Aug 2019
from replies:
to be sure to check real recent pictures from the Brazilian crisis.
We all #PrayforAmazonas but let’s be cautious to not share fake news…READ ON
https://twitter.com/https_LinoDawn/status/1164228571814137859
TWEET: Thiago Lemgruber Porto, a carioca naval engineer in love with the Amazon, retweeted Leandro Ruschel 15h ago
Has any “fact check” agency ever overturned fake news about the sky in Sao Paulo darkening from “Amazon smoke”?
from replies:
Of course not.
Their concern is to run to check if it is true that FREIXO posted this or that (to defend it, of course) or contest some talk of BOLSONARO…
Even the leftists Folha and Agência Lupa agree that the photos of burnt animals are old and were not made in the Amazon !! The truth always prevails.
https://twitter.com/thiagolemgruber
google translation:
20 Aug: Folha: #Check: Old photos of burned animals are made in the Amazon
by Maurício Moraes
PHOTOS
False
The information analyzed by Magnifying Glass is false. The four images gathered in the post were made at different times and places, which are not areas of the Amazon rainforest. Three of the records took place on farms hit by fire in the interior of São Paulo in 2011 and in Mato Grosso in 2019. Another of the photos, which was already circulating in 2016, depicts an animal hit by a vehicle on a road.
The image showing an animal running from a burning field (see above) was taken by Folhapress photographer Silva Júnior, on August 17, 2011…
Already the photo of the jaguar injured (see above) circulated on the internet in 2016, in a montage, next to an anteater, which illustrates a post from the portal Gente de Opinion…
An image of an anteater killed in a burnt field (see above) appears in a post in the newspaper Integração – Diário Regional on May 20, 2011…
The only recent photo, in which the fireman gives water to an armadillo in a devastated field (see above), illustrated a G1 report from August 17, 2019. According to the text, there was a fire on a farm in Mato Grosso between the municipalities of Nova Mutum and São José do Rio Claro. The fire hit 766 hectares of field on July 18, and firefighters found this and other animals of the species as they surveyed the site.
https://piaui.folha.uol.com.br/lupa/2019/08/20/verificamos-amazonia-fotos-animais-vitimas-queimadas/
30
TWEET: Shannon Sims, NYT
Just a little alert to the world: the sky randomly turned dark today in São Paulo, and meteorologists believe it’s smoke from the fires burning *thousands* of kilometers away, in Rondônia or Paraguay. Imagine how much has to be burning to create that much smoke(!). SOS – PICS
19 Aug 2019
https://twitter.com/shannongsims/status/1163632818221719558
21 Aug: National Post: Washington Post: In Brazil, smoke from Amazon forest fires engulfs Sao Paulo, baffling and alarming thousands
The smoke was so dense it could be seen from space
by Terrence McCoy, WaPo
What was going on? Was the end near?
“Apocalypse!” one person cried on Twitter.
“The final judgment is coming!” another added.
“Mordor,” one more person intoned.
Experts tried to puzzle it out, but their conclusions at times appeared to be conflicting, deepening the mystery. The National Institute of Meteorology said the city, which sits at an elevation of 2,500 feet, was “inside a cloud.” Others explained that it was a cold front. Metsul, a Brazilian meteorology company, said the culprit was smoke that had come in from forest fires in Bolivia, Paraguay and remote parts of Brazil.
In fact, it appeared to be a combination of all three factors – clouds, smoke and a cold front – that ushered in the smoke from distance reaches, plunging the city into darkness in the middle of the day…
“The smoke didn’t come from fires in the state of Sao Paulo, but from very dense and wide fires that have been happening for several days in [the state of] Rondonia and Bolivia,” Josélia Pegorim, a meteorologist with Climatempo, said in an interview with Globo. “The cold front changed direction and its winds transported the smoke to Sao Paulo.”…
“This central Brazil and south of the Amazon Rainforest region ***has been undergoing a prolonged drought,” Alberto Setzer, a researcher at Inpe, said in an interview with local media outlets. ***“And there are some places where there has not fallen a drop of rain for three months.”
Most of the Amazon was once considered fireproof, but as climate change and deforestation remakes the world, wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity, recent research has shown.
“Wildfires in the Amazon are not natural events, but are instead caused by a combination of droughts and human activities. Both anthropogenic climate change and regional deforestation are linked to increases in the intensity and frequency of droughts over Amazonia,” British researchers wrote this year in the Conversation…
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro vowed to increase development and deforestation in the Amazon since he was elected in January…
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/in-brazil-smoke-from-amazon-forest-fires-engulfs-sao-paulo-baffling-and-alarming-thousands
INPE’s Setzer told a different story to Reuters:
21 Aug: SMH: As the Amazon burns, Brazil’s President feels the heat
By Lisandra Paraguassu, Reuters
“I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame. But it is the season of the queimada,” (Bolsonaro) told reporters…
The space agency however, said the large number of fires could not be attributed to the dry season or natural phenomena alone.
***”There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, ***which is just a little below average,” said INPE researcher Alberto Setzer…
https://www.smh.com.au/world/south-america/as-the-amazon-burns-brazil-s-president-feels-the-heat-20190821-p52jbz.html
00
can’t find a word from theirABC about the following, which none in the media blamed on Trudeau, naturally:
18 Aug 2018: CBC: Blanketed by wildfire smoke, morning skies were an eerie orange in Prince George, B.C.; With files from Nicole Oud, Rhianna Schmunk and Andrew Kurjata
The sky remained dark orange well past 9 a.m. PT
by Clare Hennig
Hours after the sun had risen Friday morning, the street lights in Prince George, B.C., remained lit as thick smoke and ash smothered the city…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prince-george-dark-all-morning-1.4789432
PICS: 16 Aug 2018: CBC: Here’s what British Columbians are facing under a blanket of smoke and blazing wildfires
Clare Hennig; With files from Mike Laanela and Andrew Kurjata.
Fraser Lake Mayor Dwayne Lindstrom said Tuesday the smoky conditions and dark skies were unlike any he’d experienced in decades living in the village, some 130 kilometres west of Prince George.
“It’s probably one of the weirdest days I’ve ever had in my life,” Lindstrom told Radio West guest host Audrey McKinnon…
In areas across the province, the skies darkened in the early afternoon on Tuesday — so much so that street lights turned on and residents drove around with headlights on as smoke and ash choked out the light…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/photos-wildfires-bc-2018-1.4786462
00
to finish up, what to make of the FIGURES below, pre-Bolsonaro, but during Michael Temer’s presidency:
29 Sept 2017: Guardian: Brazil’s worst ***month ever for forest fires blamed on human activity
by Sam Cowie in Rio de Janeiro
The National Institute of Space Research (INPE) has detected ***106,000 fires destroying natural vegetation so far ***this month – the highest number in a single month since records began in 1998, said Alberto Setzer, coordinator of INPE’s fire monitoring satellite program…
The total number of blazes since 1 January was ***196,000, and Seltzer expressed concern that – with the dry season continuing in Brazil’s Amazon – 2017 could surpass the worst year on record, 2004, when there were ***270,000 fires…
According to INPE, deforestation has risen continuously since 2012, when a new forest code that gave amnesty to deforesters was introduced. The last available data for 2016 showed a 29% rise since the previous year…
The government of president Michel Temer has been heavily criticised by environmentalists for making deep cuts to the country’s environmental budget…
“The Temer government’s policies signal for those in the countryside that the doors are open for more deforestation and more fires,” said Cristiane Mazzetti, a Greenpeace Brazil campaigner…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/brazil-forest-fires-deforestation-september-record-amazon
00
final final post. “smokescreen” seems a strange choice of words:
21 Aug: Aljazeera: Amazon burning: NGOs dispute Bolsonaro’s claim they started fires
Rights groups call Brazilian president’s unfounded claim ‘sick’ and ‘pitiful’ as fires rage on in parts of Amazon
Environmentalists and others in Brazil disputed on Wednesday far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s unfounded claim that non-governmental organisations are setting wildfires in the Amazon rainforest to damage his government’s image after he cut funding.
They called the claim a ***”smokescreen” to hide the dismantling of protections for the world’s largest tropical rainforest and said farmers clearing land were the cause of a surge in forest fires.
“This is a sick statement, a pitiful statement,” said Marcio Astrini, Greenpeace Brazil’s public policy coordinator…
“Everything indicates” that NGOs are going to the Amazon to “set fire” to the forest, Bolsonaro said in a Facebook Live broadcast earlier on Wednesday. When asked if he had evidence to back up his claims, he said he had “no written plan”, adding “that’s not how it’s done”.
“Crime exists,” he said. “These people are missing the money.”…
Congressman Nilto Tatto, leader of the lower house environment caucus, said Bolsonaro’s “stunning” attack on NGOs was a ***smokescreen…
When asked about the spread of uncontrolled fires, Bolsonaro has brushed aside criticism, saying it is the time of the year of the “queimada” or burn, when farmers use fire to clear land…
Climate scientist Carlos Nobre said farmers seeking to clear land for cattle pastures wait for the dry season when forests become combustible and then set them alight. He attributed this year’s spike to illegal deforestation ***since it has not been unusually dry.
“NGOs working in the Amazon do not use fire in farming. On the contrary, they encourage rural communities to avoid fire,” said Nobre, senior researcher at the Sao Paulo University’s Institute for Advanced Studies…
***Speaking later on Wednesday, Bolsonaro also took aim at the Paris climate accord, saying that if it were so good, the United States would have stayed in it. But he added that for the time being, Brazil would remain in the pact.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned in June he would not sign the EU-Mercosur trade treaty if Bolsonaro pulled Brazil out of the Paris accord.
Earlier this month, Norway and Germany suspended funding for projects to curb deforestation in Brazil after becoming alarmed by rising deforestation under Bolsonaro.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/brazil-groups-dispute-bolsonaro-claim-ngos-amazon-fires-190821193510317.html
some excerpts from a google translation of Bolsonaro’s NGO comments:
21 Aug: O Globo: Bolsonaro says NGOs may be behind Amazon fires to ‘draw attention’ to government
By Guilherme Mazui
According to Bolsonaro, the government needs to do its best to prevent this type of crime from rising, but said (his government) withdrew money that was passed on to NGOs, which could justify a reaction from the institutions.
“Crime does exist, so we have to do everything possible so that this crime does not increase, but we took money from NGOs. Of the transfers from outside, 40% went to NGOs. We also ended the transfer of public money. So these people are missing the money, ”said the president when he left Palacio da Alvorada, when asked about the wave of fires in the region.
“So there may be, yes, there may, I am not claiming, criminal action by these ‘ongueiros’ to draw attention against me, against the government of Brazil. This is the war we face, ”he added…
Bolsonaro said his “feeling” is that wildfires are intended to send the images abroad. Asked if there is investigation on the subject, he said that such case has no written records.
“The fire was touched, it seemed, in strategic places. [There are] images of the whole Amazon. How come? Neither would you be able to have all the locations set on fire to film and send out. Apparently, people went there to film and set fire. That is my feeling, “he said…
“I am not saying [which NGOs are responsible for the burnings]. We have to fight crime, then we’ll see who is responsible for the crime. But, in my opinion, there is interest from these NGOs, which represent interests from outside Brazil, “he said…
Bolsonaro raised the issue of burning and NGOs again during a speech at a steel industry congress held in Brasilia. He again raised suspicions about the organizations’ performance and interests.
“The question of burning in the Amazon, which in my opinion may have been potentiated by NGOs, because they lost money, what is the intention? Bring problems to Brazil, ”said the president…
Bolsonaro also said there are governors in northern Brazil who do not move a “straw” to help fight the fires in the Amazon. According to him, there is a governor who uses the fires to place the “blame” on the federal government…
“There is a governor, I don’t want to name, who is colluding with what is happening and blames it on the federal government. There are states there, which I do not want to mention, in the northern region, that the governor is not moving a straw to help fight You are enjoying this, “said the president…
https://g1.globo.com/google/amp/politica/noticia/2019/08/21/bolsonaro-diz-que-ongs-podem-estar-por-tras-de-queimadas-na-amazonia-para-chamar-atencao-contra-o-governo.ghtml?__twitter_impression=true
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I wonder if the ‘smokescreen’ is merely a smokescreen to cover the scientific data/fact that the Arctic mean temp went BELOW ZERO three days ago (via DMI) after a perfectly normal average brief summer, while Greenland’s summit station has been between -20 and -30˚C for the past week. Ooh look, a burnt squirrel in the Amazon, panic!
Where’s all the shouty headlines about SNOW in Alaska and Canada this week, Russia’s ongoing COLD WAVES, NZ’s frigid BLIZZARDS and Australia’s TWO METRE-PLUS snow base with thousands of happy skiers/boarders:
https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Thredbo/webcams/latest
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Cash is not a crime!
Stop Scott Morrison from banning cash to trap Australians in banks …
Scott Morrison’s Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill 2019 is a fraudulent assault on the freedoms of Australians.
Banning cash transactions over $10,000 will not end the tax evasion and money laundering of the “black economy”, but will strip individuals of their right to privacy in financial affairs, and trap them in private banks, unable to escape policies such as “bail-in” and negative interest rates.
The Real Issues Behind The Cash Ban: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=392&v=WqXUbKl75x4
via (I have not signed this): https://www.change.org/p/scott-morrison-stop-scott-morrison-from-banning-cash-to-trap-australians-in-banks?recruiter=995853491&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=37002430-c3d4-11e9-95f4-bf2e218f18f5&share_bandit_exp=initial-17358792-en-AU&share_bandit_var=v1
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What does “disconnect” mean? Disconnected from the power network? With the sun still shining on the cells the normal output voltage is generated but unused. PV units with no load may have higher voltages than normal and so more likely to cause a fire. A flash over or insulation breakdown may occur and ignite any thing nearby, irrespective of what the cell materials are. If PV cells are not being used, they should be covered to prevent the sunlight generating power.
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I often wonder what grid scale solar is actually doing when its “curtailing”
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I’m with you here yarpos.
You have to seriously wonder what effect at all on prices a reduction can have, if that reduction in Solar plant power amounts to just less than 2% of the total power being consumed.
Tony.
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Tony asked:
No need to wonder. The wholesale settlement price in QLD today bottomed at minus $107/MWh at lunchtime and is forecast to peak at $299/MWh tonight. The minimum NEM demand for the day in Queensland was at lunchtime, which has become more frequent. Solar in Queensland is now peaking near 3GW so is a substantial portion of the lunchtime power.
The grid scale solar curtailed output from 0900 till 1430 by up to 400MW trying to get positive price while still exporting:
http://nemlog.com.au/gen/region/qld/
The price remained negative from 0900 to 1400.
Current spot price for LGCs is $45/MWh so any wholesale price less than minus $45/MWh will cost grid scale subsidy farmers. The coal plants can use the evening peak to earn a living and compensate for the negative prices through the day.
20
I have not visited a solar farm but I know the PV arrays are in blocks to limit the voltage and current for each block. It appears that more distributed, lower power string inverters are becoming common. They give the ability to optimise the power output over small sections. Voltage in each section is limited to about 1000V.
This is a GOOGLE maps vie of Tailem Bend farm in SA:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.271672,139.4750156,248m/data=!3m1!1e3
Zooming in, it appears the number of control boxes would be related to about 2MW blocks but there may be smaller inverters that are too small to show at the highest zoom.
Curtailing output simply requires reducing the number of inverters sending power out. The open circuit voltage of each cell in full sunlight is 0.6V. The peak power in full sunlight is around 0.5V. So a string rate at 1000V will have an open circuit voltage of 1200V; not much more than the voltage at peak power output. Hence having the panels in open circuit does not create any specific risk that does not exist in normal operation.
Curtailment of the grid scale solar in QLD today (Aug 22) was almost the mirror of the rooftop solar output. The reduction in output was very progressive as was the increase in output as the rooftop dropped off and prices went positive again at 1430:
http://nemlog.com.au/gen/region/qld/
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One 250W panel (common type), open circuit voltage = 36 V, short circuit current = 8 Amps.
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and added.. 10 panels in series = 360 V DC, 8 amps. 2.8kW roughly. Short that and fizzzzz…Esp in full sunlight.
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Short it and the power output is next to zero. It is essentially a current source and will not exceed the rated 8A unless it has additional insolation from a reflector directed at it.
The worst condition is a poor connection or contamination in a switch that results in arcing. Any inductance in the circuit will create high voltage as the current tries to break. Contamination can result in a partial short circuit where the power is close to the panel rating.
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O/Topic – Tim Fischer (former deputy PM and leader of the Nats) has died:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-22/tim-fischer-dies-from-leukaemia/10448110
The ABC really struggles to say anything nice about the guy. Imagine my shock. Some snippets to give you the idea:
“Ever the wily politician, he exploited a depleted National Party to seize the leadership in 1990.”
“A tall, idiosyncratic man with a staccato-style of speaking (which the late Labor senator John Button jokingly dubbed “Albury Afrikaans”), Mr Fischer did not fit the mould. ”
“He opposed the landmark Mabo and Wik High Court cases and was forced at one point to declare he was “not a racist and not a redneck” for voicing his concerns.”
Seriously … imagine Paul Keating had died, and how they’d gush…
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great that you supplied the link so we can all see your cherry picking.
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Gee Aye:
The guy just died. Would it kill the ABC to keep the negativity out of their overview? The positive stuff in there was quotes from other politicians and the like, but the material from the ABC themselves was largely neutral verging on negative. Take the blinkers off mate.
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It was all curated by the ABC which includes the positive even if they are quotes. The “negative comments”, wily politician is praise by the way, were a very small part of the story and you found them. That’s cherry picking.
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You monocular view of the world never fails to disappoint. If they had written that way about a Labor, or worse still, Greens politician, there would be outrage on the left. The right is, once again, just supposed to take it on the chin from the taxpayer funded national broadcaster which is completely biased in its reporting.
No sane person would deny the ABC bias. Not a day goes by that they have multiple articles which, in no particular order, push the following:
* Bash Trump
* Undermine western values
* Bash Christianity
* Praise women
* Push LGBTI
* Push climate change hysteria
* Criticise Brexit
I don’t have to “cherry-pick” this stuff mate, it is rammed through their web site every single day. But keeping proving your dogged bias by denying what is obvious to any objective observer.
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nice rhetoric BD. Doesn’t change the fact that you cherry picked. And since your cherry picking the ABC has produced by far the most output on Tim Fisher’s death of any media outlet and alll of it respectful.
02
The ABC report is respectful. It is certainly worth reading.
Having come across Tim Fischer at a Cairns airport not long after his retirement from politics he appeared and acted as a true gentleman. My impression is of a man who never needed to polish his ego. He was humble and honest; a rare bird in his chosen field.
80
Walmart should be able to easily meet its 50% “renewables” target just by shuffling paper like the ACT. This is about the only way those projects ever succeed , by shuffling certificates and subsidies while pretending to be doing something real.
20
Telsa????
20
Telstra, run by Eli Musk.
20
Elon is dyslexic don’t forget.
30
Yes, I noticed that too but decided not to comment. Now, however, someone else has chipped in! Just a little typo…
20
On Aunty Bull..sh..t Corporation midday news..I dint see who but someone (dint catch the name) suggested Victoriastan shouldnt have hastily got rid of Hazelwood, Odear!, blackouts (in VIC I assumed) loom! Now screaming ‘I told you so’.
40
Let them learn it the hard way. It’s really the only way to wake people up.
40
Pity those of us who live in Victoria but didn’t follow the sheeple.
40
Truth is the first casualty of war, innocent people are next. The left don’t care about either.
30
This Russian proverb is just as apt.
‘When money speaks, the truth keeps silent.’
Speaking on behalf of the utopian socialists, we do care.
10
Say Annie… 🙂 🙁
30
While solar panels cause fires, the mythical global warming hoax has lead to more polar bears not less. Is it culling season yet?
‘So many bears:’ Draft plan says Nunavut polar bear numbers unsafe
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Ovah-top-down-intervention-environments
go aginst yer truth-ter-naychur-evolutionary
-rules that school, those ‘Darwin-Award’
fer gettin’ it right consequences.
30
20 Aug: ABC: Meat off the menu at Melbourne’s Moreland City Council on Mondays, and farmers aren’t happy
ABC South West Vic By Matt Neal
The meat industry says an inner-city Melbourne council’s decision to take meat off its menu on Mondays is narrow-minded and could impact on regional economies.
Moreland City Council voted last week to remove meat from the catering of any council-run event that takes place on a Monday as part of efforts to curb climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report earlier this month stating that a meat-based diet caused more pollution than other diets.
But one meat producer in south-west Victoria — Koallah Farm managing director Steven Castle — has called the Moreland councillors’ vote hypocritical and a “stunt”.
Mr Castle has even hit back with his own stunt, offering a discount and free delivery for meats purchased by residents living in the Moreland municipality.
“It’s laughable that these public servants can sit in their climate-controlled, inner-city offices mounting an argument that eating less meat is the way to reduce climate change,” he said…
Moreland City Council voted in September to declare a “climate emergency”, and Mayor Natalie Abboud told last week’s meeting she thought having “meat-free Mondays” was a way to help battle climate change.
“I think it’s acceptable that we put our mouths where our money is,” she told the meeting…
Mr Castle: “Why not just respect everyone’s individual right to choose what they put in their bodies without this unnecessary posturing?”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-20/meat-free-mondays-council-decision-angers-meat-industry/11427866
too much for ABC to mention the Mayor is with the Greens:
Australian Greens: Natalie Abboud, Mayor of Moreland, North-East Ward
She is actively involved in community groups in the area and helped secure the Coburg North Primary School Farmer’s Market as part of her work on the board of a not-for-profit. She is responsible for organising political forums as part of Fair Food Week and is passionate about local produce, the sustainability that goes with it and the jobs it creates…
She is particularly concerned about the need for local, national and global action on climate change and the importance of clean air, fresh water and unpolluted land for future generations. She looks forward to investment in public transport, solar panels and wind farms and the job creation that comes with it…
She passionately supports the Greens policies, especially those related to education, health and clean energy.
https://greens.org.au/vic/person/natalie-abboud
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So most council activities are Tuesday to Friday?
30
Really truly frightening stuff Pat.
20
Really truly frightening stuff Pat.
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KK:
Not at all. It gives the rest of the week for the emissions from lentil eating Greenies to dissipate. Just don’t go to Moreland on Tuesday (without a gas mask).
20
Nor should you strike a match there on Mondays during periods of low winds.
10
Inner city affluenza nonsense at work….purely a first world affliction…..
30
both behind paywalls:
Great Barrier Reef foundation quadruples staff after grant
The Australian – 11 hours ago
The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has more than quadrupled its full-time staff numbers and spent $3.6 million on “administrative activities” in six months, as it begins spending the $443.3 million grant gifted by the Turnbull government…
Donors must dive deep to help reef foundation float
by Graham Lloyd
The Australian – 18 hours ago
The GBRF will need big corporations that have sought to align their branding with the reef to dig deep into their pockets…
Two big reasons were given to justify the government’s unsolicited donation of $443.3 million to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. One was …
20
saw a protest against Lynas in Malaysia on Aljazeera yesterday, so a little rare earths news:
22 Aug: SMH: Wesfarmers drops $1.5b Lynas bid
By Colin Kruger
Wesfarmers has formally ended its controversial $1.5 billion bid for Lynas Corp, after the rare earths group received a short term renewal of its licence to operate in Malaysia on Thursday…
Wesfarmers surprised the market when it went public with a highly conditional $1.5 billion offer for Lynas in March, at a time when the target faced an existential crisis over the renewal of its Malaysian licence…
The processing and storage of radioactive waste has dogged the Lynas operations since its inception and the company recently received new conditions on its licence which require it to extract the waste offshore…
Lynas is planning to set up processing facilities in Western Australia…READ ALL
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/wesfarmers-drops-1-5b-lynas-bid-20190822-p52juo.html
28 Jul: AFR: Rare earths play launches equity raising, hires Ashanti Capital
by Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald
Greenland Minerals (WA) will look to capitalise on growing investor interest in rare earths – which has been boosted by the geopolitical significance of these minerals – by launching a capital raising on Monday.
The company, which owns the Kvanefjeld project in Greenland that is underpinned by the worlds largest undeveloped rare earth resource, has hired Ashanti Capital to oversee an institutional placement…
The company has been working with major shareholder and strategic partner Shenghe Resources to develop Kvanefjeld as a cornerstone of future rare earth supply…READ ALL
https://www.afr.com/street-talk/rare-earths-play-launches-equity-raising-hires-ashanti-capital-20190728-p52bhf
can’t copy the following; read all, including cost of cleaning up the toxic waste in China:
21 Aug: BusinessNewsWA: Rare earths a strategic opportunity for Australia
by George Bauk
https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Rare-earths-a-strategic-opportunity-for-Australia
finally:
10 Jun: Mining Journal: Greenland shines brightly in the rare earth spotlight
A positive confluence of events is creating a perfect market moment for emerging Greenland rare earth developer Greenland Minerals (WA)
Greenland Minerals’ Kvanefjeld project has a 1 billion tonne resource and the company describes rare earths as “part of the DNA of modern technology”, being key components in products from wind turbines to electric vehicles and rechargeable batteries, at a time of a global political push towards ***greener energy alternatives…
***Taking another step back to view the bigger picture, (Greenland Mineral’s John) Mair said ***climate change was a prominent issue the Arctic community and in Europe and a ***greener future was aligned with Greenland’s brand as the country stepped into a greater profile in the global community…READ ALL
https://www.mining-journal.com/resourcestocks-company-profiles/resourcestocks/1364861/greenland-shines-bright-in-the-rare-earth-spotlight
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read all:
21 Aug: Forbes: Tesla Has Failed Massively As A Public Company
by Jim Collins
Musk’s greatest skill is in raising capital, but in the past five years that new capital—in excess of $20 billion—has led to greater losses and a much, much more levered balance sheet for Tesla. No value is being created for Tesla shareholders. It’s just a sea of red ink and constant dilution of shareholders and additions of new creditors…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcollins/2019/08/21/tesla-has-failed-massively-as-a-public-company/#714aa2f51dc2
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Tesla has had a lot of bad news lately, I don’t understand how any company could hang in there, without a total share price crash.
Every new technology has some issues and rough edges, but the sort of problems that Tesla has come up against a unreal:
* Vehicles catching fire sometimes with no apparent cause whatsoever … just sitting parked.
* Wheels falling off (yes really, go search on it there’s photos).
* Highly unsafe autopilot that drives into walls … requires constant driver attention, in which case might as well drive without it.
* Putting lithium fire hazards into people’s homes.
* Now this failure of their solar cells.
The whole thing should be in Chapter 11 already.
Hands up ANYONE who would buy Tesla shares in the current situation??
00
Another deadly green scheme. ‘He who does not learn from history …’. The parallels with Australia’s ‘pink batts’ fiasco are amazing.
20