All this worry about running out of toilet paper. Something I have not seen touched on. Our strategic fuel reserves. What happens if the Middle East and Singapore shuts down? That folks, will bring this country to a standstill. I’ve got more days personal supply than Australia has.
“Dear All,
We just reached the $100K target and I have closed off donations. A huge thanks to you to you all. I know a lot of you have donated many times, and, as I mentioned before, I find it more than a little embarrassing. But we are now in an excellent shape to fight the case. We have total determination to do everything to win and make this all worth while in the end.
I will keep you updated as things progress.
Peter”
On Credlin (Sky News) the other night one of her regular guests ( a lady from WA who I believe is on radio over their –sorry I have forgotten her name) made similar observations. She had just returned from a personal visit to the UK , spending time in Northern England.
It will be interesting to follow developments because for sometime now it has been obvious the UK Conservative party is well entrenched in the AGW belief. Theresa May signed a bill not long before leaving No 10 which will lead to the “issue” costing the UK many hundreds of billions of pounds over the next few decades. Boris and others seemed to be happy to go along with it (Treasurer at the time,Philip Hammond was one notable exception)
You see, here’s the good thing for me about Joanne’s site.
There just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to chase up everything there is out there about electrical power, and hey, if I can’t chase it up, then it’s harder for the non electrical trained people who do come here to stay abreast of things.
Graeme No.3 mentioned something in a comment at an earlier Thread. I would have responded there, but not many readers go back to those older Threads, so I can link to his comment, and leave my reply here where it will be a little more current. The part of his comment that was of interest to me was this:
Then we have the farcical interconnector to Wagga Wagga……
This is with respect to a further proposed Interconnector hooking up South Australia to the other States.
I always had a question about something like this because there are problems associated with losses of electrical power over distance, considering (nearly) all our Transmission here in Oz is AC. Those distances into NSW concerned me as there would be some substantial losses over further distances, but Wagga Wagga is probably the furthest feasible (and cost effective) distance they might take those Transmission towers to make up a new Interconnector. With those Interconnectors in each of the States, they would just be delivering power not all that far into the adjoining States, so the idea that Queensland’s extra coal fired power is supplying Victoria is erroneous. Queensland will deliver into Northern NSW, and at the same time, Southern NSW will be delivering into Victoria, and Victoria will be delivering into Tasmania and South Australia, so it ‘seems’ like Queensland is supplying shortages in Victoria and those other two Southernmost States, but it is all careful planning and then operation by those grid operators.
The (nudge nudge wink wink) way this new SouthAus Interconnector is couched for dissemination to the public is in terms of distributing extra wind power which we magnanimously have here in SouthAus, so we can altruistically distribute it even farther afield than what we give into Victoria.
However, the most probable real reason is so SouthAus has access to ‘real’ power when wind generation is low.
Okay then, why (specifically stated) Wagga Wagga as the far point of the Transmission. Any further and it gets horrendously more expensive because of the distance, and the losses also become greater.
So, how lucky was this eh? (/sarc)
Just to the South of Wagga Wagga (16 Kilometres) is Uranquinty, the location of one of the newest power stations in NSW. It is a four Unit natural gas fired plant, four Units of 160MW, so 640MW nameplate. It was opened up in 2009, so it’s still pretty much state of the art as far as gas fired plants go. It’s an Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) plant, and is only used for Peaking power purposes.
However, from years of watching power plants and their operations, this plant is really under utilised. It is hardly ever used at all, and is mostly used to supply power into Victoria when they are stressed with extra consumption. It’s also on occasion, one of the first ports of call if one of the big coal fired Units fails in NSW or even in Victoria. Hydro comes in first as it can respond instantly, while the gas turbines at these gas fired plants run up and then take over. But even that is a few and far between occasion, and it’s a rare thing that I see Uranquinty delivering power onto the grid, and even more rare to see all four Units in operation.
So now we have a destination for all that huge excess of wind power, or more correctly, we now have a dedicated extra consumer for Uranquinty’s gas fired power, so this would be a pretty big win win for them.
And seriously, doesn’t it worry you just a little that the contract for something like this Interconnector Transmission Towers construction goes to the lowest bidder, less money, not as good, and you only need look at a couple of occasions over the last few years where transmission towers have failed causing major problems.
All this for a State with the second lowest power consumption in the Country, and they are still looking for external sources of power to keep the State running.
For the whole of 2019, gas supplied SA with 57% of their power, so the 50% claim is false.
Wind supplied 41.5%; utility solar only 3.2%. So wind + solar was 44.7%.
Times: Coronavirus will Kill All the Old Climate Skeptics
From the article: “what kind of sick person publicly celebrates the possibility that all their political opponents will die a horrible death? The answer is a journalist who works for mainstream British media, of course.”
No doubt Jo will post about the COVID 19 disease.
But in case she does not soon, here is some thing I knew would happen :
A Nepali flew in last week to Hobart via Singapore and Sydney
To start his vocational studies.
And once in Hobart started work at a major hotel there , as such students do.
At some point he became ill and was diagnosed with COVID 19
But kept going to work and college.
So now the Tasmanian state authorities are trying to trace all his contacts since arriving in Australia.
But the real issue ere is “where did he get infected ? ”
Probably in Nepal which still has an open border with China & lots of ‘tourists’
(AKA COVID refugees ! )
But he has no doubt then spread this contagion in Singapore, Sydney and Hobart
And to passengers on three airline flights !
Katmandu – Singapore
Singapore -Sydney
Sydney – Hobart
I wonder if SLOMO, Hunt & Murphy read the simple facts of how COVID 19 is spread ?
Or are they still listening to those with vested interests in bringing more foreign students and tourists here whether they are infected or not ?
The US EPA has published a list of disinfectants for use against Wuhan Flu. It is of limited use in Aus because it is trade names and you have to look up the data sheets (linked in the doc) to find out active ingredients and the like but there you are for what its worth.
I read your blog from time to time, but I don’t usually comment. Here are some things that I have come across.
Regarding the source of the Corona virus: I know some people said awful things about the Chinese regarding the virus, but perhaps it was not their fault. https://shar.es/aH3fg7
Of course most gases from sea floor volcanoes can’t be measured easily because of location and water depth. In fact many volcanologists suggest that most sea-floor or ice covered active volcanoes have not yet been discovered!
Estimates and measurements to date have been made from land-based volcanoes, often with very different compositions and chemistry to oceanic volcanic systems like Santorini.
5 Mar: BBC: Climate change: Workers and poor ‘need protection’ from policies
By Roger Harrabin
Climate change harms people, but policies to stabilise the climate can harm people too.
The poorest are most likely to suffer from lost jobs in dirty industries and higher energy bills.
Scotland has already abandoned coal and wants to wean itself off oil and gas.
It is taking advice from a new Just Transition Commission, which is being watched closely by governments round the world.
I toured the country hearing stories from people affected…
Tom Connell is an accidental poster boy for the principles of the just transition…
He shifted to an apparently secure controller job at Longannet, but faced the dole again when that plant closed.
Tom was offered another job in energy – but at Whitelee wind farm near Glasgow, one-and-a-half hours from home. His pay would be cut by £2,000 a year.
He took it. Now Tom’s new office window surveys an array of slender turbines on tussocky moorland. It’s a relief, he says.
“Working in the coal it was always dirty – coal dust and oil,” he explains. “And there was no window in the control room so you would never see the daylight. I like it up here – you’ve actually got a window.”
But what about the pay cut or the relocation? “To me it was worth it for the job security,” he says…
Charlotte Hartley is a member of the Scottish Just Transition Commission…
She told me the clean industrial revolution is already underway. “Some oil and gas firms in Aberdeen and globally have re-branded,” she said.
“Their portfolio is significantly expanded, so I think there’s going to be no such thing as an oil and gas company – it’s going to be a far broader energy business…
I checked the view of the rig crews in Spider’s Bar – close to Aberdeen’s North Sea helipad…
I ask one if oil will still be thriving 30 years hence when he plans to retire. “Easy,” he says, “easy.”…
A colleague said he expected at least 15 years more oil and gas drilling. “That’ll see me through (to retirement)” he said. “This is my third oil slump and I’ve got through OK.”
They are an optimistic bunch – but there’s no guarantee they’ll all find suitable jobs if the oil and gas industry is forced to close sooner than they expect…
The chair of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission is ***Prof Jim Skea…
The report insists that if Scottish farmers have to reduce numbers of cattle and sheep to cut methane emissions, people in the UK must eat less meat overall – or meat will be imported from areas where emissions are higher.
The next phase of the commission’s report will tackle the question of how this great transition can be funded… https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51733952
Harrabin didn’t bother to disclose anything relevant abut Jim Skea:
Wikipedia: James Ferguson Skea CBE FRSA, also known as Jim Skea, is a Scottish academic, Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London’s Centre for Environmental Policy, and a member of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the British government’s Committee on Climate Change. He was a co-author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) October 8, 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC…
Skea has also served as a non-executive director of Blackrock New Energy Investment Trust Plc since 2009… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Skea
Imperial College: Professor Jim Skea CBE FEI FRSA HonFSE
In the past, he was a member of the Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance and acted as Launch Director for the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership…ETC
“Skea has also served as a non-executive director of Blackrock New Energy Investment Trust Plc since 2009”
however:
13 Feb: Pensions&Investments: Wildfires forcing Australian funds to be more green
from Bloomberg (by Matthew Burgess)
Taking a passive stance on climate change isn’t something Australia’s A$2.9 trillion ($2 trillion) superannuation industry can get away with for much longer.
After deadly wildfires razed an area the size of England, custodians of the nation’s retirement savings are being asked to take more direct steps to combat global warming…
Outside of Australia, change is happening faster. ***BlackRock Inc. last month said it would exit debt and equity investments in thermal coal producers from its active portfolios. Europe’s largest pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP last week pledged that its investments would be climate neutral by 2050, while U.K.’s Brunel Pension Partnership in January ***threatened to fire managers that fail to curb exposure to climate change and position for a low-carbon economy…
“We’ve seen a spike in Australians connecting the bushfires to climate change, and then to how they’re investing their money,” said Simon O’Connor, CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia. “The onus is on funds to set really strong, quantifiable targets and then demonstrate they’re moving in the direction of meeting those targets.”
The world’s fourth-largest pool of retirement assets has to date resisted meaningful change…
Among asset managers with at least $10 billion under management, only VicSuper supported all climate-change resolutions during the 2018-’19 annual meeting season. Funds including IOOF Holdings Ltd., UniSuper, Retail Employees Superannuation Trust and Equipsuper failed to vote for any resolutions, while those including AMP Ltd., First State Super and Sunsuper supported 50% or less…
The pressure on funds to take more decisive action is mounting. About 80% of Australians are worried about climate change, with the recent bushfire crisis intensifying concerns, a study last month of 1,033 people by The Australia Institute found…
The legal requirement for many of Australia’s superannuation funds to return 3.5% above inflation over a decade is an added complication. Money managers must look after members’ best financial interests and excluding a whole segment of an economy where returns may still be robust can present a challenge… https://www.pionline.com/esg/wildfires-forcing-australian-funds-be-more-green
6 Mar: Bloomberg: ESG Investing: Why Climate Change Is an Important Consideration
VIDEO: 2m38s: ESG Investing: Why Climate Change is an Important Consideration
ON SCREEN:
Climate risk requires fundamental reshaping of finance: Blackrock
Welsh-Rose: Bushfires will increase pressure for concrete action
25 Feb: Bloomberg: Australians Back U.S. Renewables While Opportunities at Home Ebb
By Natalia Kniazhevich and Matthew Burgess
Some of Australia’s biggest funds are pouring money into U.S. clean-energy projects as they butt up against a shortage of green opportunities at home.
AustralianSuper, the country’s largest pension fund, recently joined Queensland Investment Corporation in a $1 billion funding round for Generate, a San Francisco-based green-finance company. And Construction and Building Unions Superannuation, another pension giant, made its first U.S. clean-power investments last year… https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-25/australians-back-renewables-in-u-s-as-opportunities-at-home-ebb
5 Mar: Bloomberg: Too Much Money: Australian Pension Giant’s $11 Billion ‘Problem’
by Matthew Burgess
Australia’s largest pension fund has a cash flow problem — too much of it coming in.
AustralianSuper Pty. saw inflows of A$16 billion ($11 billion) last year, fueled by people switching to non-profit pension funds as misconduct scandals trashed the reputations of for-profit peers. That posed a “real challenge,” said Shaun Manuell, a senior portfolio manager at the A$185 billion fund…
Australia’s A$2.95 trillion pension industry, which sees 9.5% of a worker’s gross salary paid into a retirement fund each month, is growing exponentially. Firms that have typically favored stocks and government bonds are turning to riskier assets such as venture capital and private credit or investing offshore to meet return targets… https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-04/too-much-money-australian-pension-giant-s-11-billion-problem
3 Mar: CFact: Eliminate fossil fuels now — U.S. “MAGICC” model says why bother?
By Collister Johnson
No matter what assumptions are used for the amount of or increase in fossil fuel generated CO2 in the US, from small amounts to very large ones, complete elimination of all fossil fuels in the US immediately would only restrict any increase in world temperature by less than one tenth of one degree Celsius by 2050, and by less than one fifth of one degree Celsius by 2100… https://www.cfact.org/2020/03/03/eliminate-fossil-fuels-now-u-s-climate-model-says-why-bother/
6 Mar: BrisbaneTimes: Adani unfazed after India signals halt to thermal coal imports
By Lydia Lynch
Mining giant Adani says its central Queensland coal mine is still going ahead despite the Indian government signalling it would stop all thermal coal imports within four years.
India’s coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi last month said the country would stop importing thermal coal 2023-24, local media reported (LINK).
Mr Joshi made the announcement during a two-day forum about the future of the coal industry and how state-run Coal India would ramp up domestic coal production to phase out imports, India’s Economic Times reported.
“All these ideas will be deliberated, studied and examined for their feasibility in detail and based on that, they shall be implemented,” a government statement said…
(An Adani spokeswoman) said Adani still plans to produce 10 million tonnes of coal from the Carmichael coal mine each year.
“As noted by the International Energy Agency, and other respected energy market researchers, there is continuing strong demand for thermal coal from countries in south and south-east Asia where nations are rapidly developing and people are determined to improve their quality of life by getting access to reliable, affordable electricity,” the spokeswoman said.
26 Feb: ArgusMedia: India’s cabinet to consider coal block auction plan
By Saurabh Chaturvedi
The ministry held talks with the industry recently on the proposed auction, according to a senior government official. Several big names involved in the discussions included steelmakers Tata Steel, ThyssenKrupp and JSW, mining equipment maker Caterpillar, aluminium producer Hindalco, cement-focused group Birla, infrastructure and power conglomerate GMR, as well as Adani Power and Jindal Steel and Power.
The industry executives aired their concerns. These included lingering transportation and infrastructure problems, which would hamper the evacuation of coal from the proposed mines that will go under the hammer. There are still limited rail lines and roads connecting India’s mining area to the market. Other concerns they expressed included a lack of clarity over a proposed national coal index for the evaluation of coal blocks.
The ministry explained its position, saying it would hold the industry’s hands wherever necessary to help boost local production and cut imports, the government official added. The ministry also explained to the industry its in-principle decision to keep an import component in the broader national coal index that will be used for valuation of the coal blocks.
A lack of consensus around the index has been a key reason behind the delay in the auctioning of the coal blocks. The auctions were initially meant to be held by the end of December 2019, prompting the ministry to further tighten its reform agenda that aims to boost domestic coal output and reduce imports.
“The ministry thinks it is pertinent to keep an import component in the index to capture the realities of the coal market,” the official said, adding that the proposal for the cabinet is being finalised…
Indian thermal coal imports grew by 14.4mn t in 2019 to 185.5mn t. But the rate of growth slowed compared with 2018. Imported coal partly compensated for a shortfall in domestic supply as state-controlled producer CIL, which meets more than 80pc of India’s coal needs, reported its first drop in years in annual supplies to power plants last year. https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2077837-indias-cabinet-to-consider-coal-block-auction-plan
22 Jan: Reuters: Adani Power drives 21% jump in Indian utilities’ coal imports in 2019
by Sudarshan Varadhan, Gaurav Dogra
Indian utilities’ coal imports jumped 21% last year, rebounding after a three-year slide mainly due to increased purchases by an Adani Power plant in western India, government data showed on Wednesday.
Imports rose to 69.51 million tonnes, the highest level since 2015, data from the Central Electricity Authority showed. Utilities account for more than 75% of India’s annual coal demand.
Adani’s “Ultra mega” power plant in Mundra, Gujarat state, accounted for a quarter of the imports last year, with its shipments rising 75% to 17.35 million tonnes…
Analysts expect overall imports of thermal coal from India, one of the world’s largest consumers of coal, to rise by more than 13% in 2019.
Imports are rising despite India’s sharpest economic slowdown since the global financial crisis, as logistical challenges, heavy rains and frequent strikes and protests have hit output at state-run Coal India, which accounts for more than four-fifths of India’s coal production… https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-coal-imports-utilities/adani-power-drives-21-jump-in-indian-utilities-coal-imports-in-2019-idUSKBN1ZL16Q
TWEET: Oxford Union
Christopher Steele on the topic of the leaked dossier: “I stand by the integrity of our work, our sources and what we did”.
PIC
6 Mar 2020
TWEET: Oxford Union
Christopher Steele: “Trump himself doesn’t like intelligence because its ground truth is inconvenient for him”.
6 Mar 2020
TWEET: Oxford Union
Christopher Steele says that “the reality check is that Russia is a hostile state as it is run at the moment, it is out to destabilize the West and it is nefarious in the way it goes about its business”.
6 Mar 2020 https://twitter.com/OxfordUnion
6 Mar: Oxford Union: Christopher Steele MEMBERS ONLY
Former MI6 Agent & Author of The Steele Dossier
A former spy and private investigator, Steele gained prominence as the author of a secret dossier of opposition research detailing possible ties between Donald Trump and Russia. The dossier included suggestions that the Trump campaign had received intelligence from Russian officials in 2016, and that the Kremlin possessed compromising footage of Trump engaging in sexual acts with prostitutes in Russia. After Steele provided the FBI with his findings, and Buzzfeed published the report, Steele was made the subject of media stalking and investigation by Republican senators, and had to go into hiding with his family
This event is for Members Only.
6 Mar: Daily Beast: Christopher Steele Whacks Mueller Report and ‘Bad Faith’ Team Trump
Out of the Shadows: The former head of MI6’s Russia desk was speaking publicly for the first time since his dossier on Trump’s relationship with Russia was published in 2017.
by Nick Mutch
OXFORD, England: …Speaking to students at Oxford University in England, he described the probe into Russian interference as having failed to do any “drilling down into financial networks and leverage,” which he said was “the way Russian influence works.”
His appearance at the Oxford Union, a 200-year-old debating society, ***was held in private but attended by The Daily Beast…
Steele said he would not cooperate with Barr and John Durham’s new investigation; saying he and his private investigation company Orbis Business Intelligence had already “done our duty” by cooperating fully with the IG report.
“As far as I’m concerned,” he told students. “We’ve said everything we have to say on the matter.”
He said that he had fulfilled his obligations them, “including confidentiality” but that they had failed to reciprocate.
Steele would not say whether anyone from the Department of Justice had contacted him in relation to Durham’s new probe…
VIDEO: 6 Mar: GatewayPundit: Dirty Chris Steele Defends His Junk Dossier – Says He Won’t Speak with US Investigators Barr or Durham
by Jim Hoft
Steele, who spoke at Oxford University today, says he will not cooperate with William Barr and John Durham. There is currently a criminal referral on Steele for lying to congressional investigaters.
The Daily Caller (LINK) reported:
“I stand by the integrity of our work, our sources and what we did,” Steele said at the Oxford Student Union…
bizarre “sources said” piece by Reuters’ Hosenball:
6 Mar: Reuters: Trump ‘dossier’ author Christopher Steele rejects prosecutor’s interview request
By Mark Hosenball
The former British intelligence officer who produced a ‘dossier’ linking Donald Trump and his presidential campaign to Russia has declined to give an interview to a prosecutor assigned by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to investigate aspects of the 2016 U.S. campaign, three sources familiar with the matter said…
Steele’s representatives told Durham’s team that the former officer for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was not interested in cooperating with Durham’s investigation and would not speak to his team, the sources said. Steele was concerned that Durham’s investigation was overly politicized and he would not be treated fairly, the sources said.
A spokesman for Durham said the prosecutor had no comment. Spokespeople for the Justice Department and Orbis Business Intelligence, Steele’s London-based private investigations firm, did not immediately respond to requests for comment…
Reuters was unable to determine what the prosecutors specifically wanted to question Steele about…
Some of those targeted by Durham, including senior former aides to President Barack Obama who raised questions about Trump’s connections to Russia before the 2016 election, have expressed concern the probe could be used to retaliate against them…
The investigation into Trump and his campaign’s contacts with Russia conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller found there was not sufficient evidence to prove that Trump’s 2016 campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election… https://news.trust.org/item/20200306230044-c38e7/
Wikipedia: Mark Hosenball is an American investigative correspondent at Reuters. Prior to joining Reuters in September 2010, he worked for Newsweek. He started there in November 1993, after working at Dateline NBC as an investigative producer. He also worked at The Sunday Times, the Evening Standard, Time Out, and contributed articles to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. He has also done commentaries for American Public Radio…
Pat, I think Steele should watch his back or get some body guards. He is obviously starting to get very worried for some reason and now is blaming everyone else but himself. Maybe it is simple as business has dried up very quickly.
With the comment in the 3rd tweet, in your 9.34pm post, he is really asking for trouble.
Some good news seems to be appearing in Victoria’s wholesale electricity prices this year.
From AEMO data , average Vic weekly prices since Jan 1 in $/MWhr:
72; 53; 57; 42; 466 (!!); 32; 59; 53; 57; 46
Month avge for Feb $48/MWhr compared to $111/MWhr last year and $97 the year before.
Why the drop? Surplus capacity? RET now being met, so price of LGCs dropping?
Supermarket in town now has a security guard in the toilet paper aisle , ironically they have no toilet paper left and don’t know when they will be getting anymore .
Matt — sorry about the delays. Running at 150% busy. Insane schedule. Hard to check links (time) not sure what “https://shar.es/aH3fg7” is — easier with links that are recognisable eg sciencejournal.com.au type stuff.
– jo
The first part includes the link to the paper which has all it’s references. I have read the paper, but I haven’t had the time or the inclination to check all the references. From the data presented in the paper the assertion that China may not be the source of the virus is worthy of further investigation. The last part at the bottom of the paper about the six plagues that China has faced is definitely going too far in my opinion. Sometimes bad luck comes in more than three and having a lot of people and animals compressed into a small area can be asking for trouble.
The other is just a copy about some research into using ZP3 proteins in viruses to sterilize mammalian pests. The horrible part is that it would also work for humans. You can amend or delete parts or all of the post, as I said “I have no dog in this fight”.
I do appreciate your efforts and that you are busy. The link is as you say strange, but it goes to a site called “Global research” at the site globalresearch.ca/globalresearch.org
The writer is https://www.globalresearch.ca/author/larry-romanoff
I don’t know anything about them.
The actual paper was interesting and contains some interesting charts, but it is a bit much to post on the blog in full. I don’t want to write an article to post something, but by the same token I don’t want to post something without any backing.
Just to help you out here is some of the discussion from the first link, for some reason I couldn’t post the chart.
But this is your blog and if you think that it is not OK that’s fine by me; it’s your blog.
“…One of his main points is that the type infecting Taiwan exists only in Australia and the US and, since Taiwan was not infected by Australians, the infection in Taiwan could have come only from the US.
The basic logic is that the geographical location with the greatest diversity of virus strains must be the original source because a single strain cannot emerge from nothing. He demonstrated that only the US has all the five known strains of the virus (while Wuhan and most of China have only one, as do Taiwan and South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, Singapore, and England, Belgium and Germany), constituting a thesis that the haplotypes in other nations may have originated in the US.
Korea and Taiwan have a different haplotype of the virus than China, perhaps more infective but much less deadly, which would account for a death rate only 1/3 that of China.
Neither Iran nor Italy were included in the above tests, but both countries have now deciphered the locally prevalent genome and have declared them of different varieties from those in China, which means they did not originate in China but were of necessity introduced from another source. It is worth noting that the variety in Italy has approximately the same fatality rate as that of China, three times as great as other nations, while the haplotype in Iran appears to be the deadliest with a fatality rate of between 10% and 25%. (7) (8) (9)
Due to the enormous amount of Western media coverage focused on China, much of the world believes the coronavirus spread to all other nations from China, but this now appears to have been proven wrong. With about 50 nations scattered throughout the world having identified at least one case at the time of writing, it would be very interesting to examine virus samples from each of those nations to determine their location of origin and the worldwide sources and patterns of spread.
The Virologist further stated that the US has recently had more than 200 “pulmonary fibrosis” cases that resulted in death due to patients’ inability to breathe, but whose conditions and symptoms could not be explained by pulmonary fibrosis. He said he wrote articles informing the US health authorities to consider seriously those deaths as resulting from the coronavirus, but they responded by blaming the deaths on e-cigarettes, then silenced further discussion. …”
Each is leading a loud radical uprising that endangers their respective mother ships.
In Greta’s case the boisterous Action Now movement (as I call it) is on track to wreck the UN’s elaborate climate action process, come November. In Bernie’s case, his equally loud following, the new socialists if you like, are likely to wreck the Democrats chance of winning the Presidency, also in November. This is true even if Biden gets the nod.
November is therefore looking like a month of reckoning. A great way to end what promises to be a very loud year. Trump wins and the Paris Accord collapses.
On the Bernie front, a lot of pundits are speculating about what caused the Biden surge? His big win in South Carolina? Too small. The other candidates dropping out and endorsing him? Too late.
I think the surge came right out of Bernie’s mouth. In the week or so before Super Tuesday he got cocky. He started bragging about all the grand things he would do, including the grand taxes to pay for them. I can imagine working people thinking “Health insurance is killing me already and I’m going to pay for somebody else’s?” and “I’m going to pay for somebody else’s kid to go to college?”
So now we have Bernie versus Biden, bashing away at each other until July, after which one of them gets just three months to fight Trump. This is not a prescription for victory.
The very next day, Super Wednesday in Europe if you like, the EU Commission announced its proposed new climate change law. The law is sweeping, including hefty taxes on products imported from countries the EU deems to be lagging in climate action. This nuttiness would no doubt ramp up a global climate based trade war.
For reasons I do not understand they invited Greta to address them, so she promptly told them off, as usual. The EU is setting crazy climate goals for 2030 and 2050, but Greta wants Action Now.
This clash is going to come to a head in November at the UN’s annual climate action summit in Glasgow. The Action Now radicals paralyzed last year’s summit in Madrid and they are likely to do worse this year. Many more Action Now marches are to come between now and then.
Note that these two loud wrecks in progress are intertwined. The Dems have made climate action a very big deal, so Bernie and Biden may try to outdo each other in grand schemes, with grand price tags. The U.S. Action Now people are voters after all, or some are anyway. Trump will then just smile and say “Keep your money. There is no emergency.”
And the U.S. election comes the day before the Glasgow climate summit starts. If Trump wins the other major economies are far less likely to opt for immediately expensive actions, which will enrage the Action Now radicals even more.
In sum, Bernie and Greta each think that disruption is the way to make progress in their respective political realms. Both call for social revolution. They are both wrong and happily it is not going to happen.
More deeply, we seem to have a generation of loud radical youth on our hands. It is good to have these from time to time, to shake things up a bit. I was part of the one in the 60s. But do not take the noise too seriously as little will come of it. We are not on the verge of social revolution.
Just listening to Greens radio (ABC) and a report just out from the ANU about the Indian Ocean dipole and the link to CAGW .
They’ve taken coral samples going back to the year 1200 and found that since 1960 the IOD has been more frequent ergo it was CO2 wot dunnit.
Funny this doesn’t fit our rainfall records as Crag Kelly’s fact check about more rainfall this century checks out .
Didn’t we have a mega drought around the year 1200 ?
Wishing you well, Roy.
130
Seconded Roy. I hope you are much better very soon. Annie.
80
Yes all the best for a speedy recovery Roy !
60
Thirded. Need yu back, Roy.
50
Same here Roy, I miss your crazy “fly boy” antics. 🙂
60
Get well Roy. Look forward to reading your again, soon!
30
Oops . . . . . can’t help wondering what word it is you’ll think I it is that I failed to type in there? 🙂
30
All this worry about running out of toilet paper. Something I have not seen touched on. Our strategic fuel reserves. What happens if the Middle East and Singapore shuts down? That folks, will bring this country to a standstill. I’ve got more days personal supply than Australia has.
140
Peter Ridd reaches his new $100,000 goal:
“Dear All,
We just reached the $100K target and I have closed off donations. A huge thanks to you to you all. I know a lot of you have donated many times, and, as I mentioned before, I find it more than a little embarrassing. But we are now in an excellent shape to fight the case. We have total determination to do everything to win and make this all worth while in the end.
I will keep you updated as things progress.
Peter”
https://www.gofundme.com/f/peter-ridd-legal-action-fund-2019?viewupdates=1&rcid=r01-158355516162-1d347da9f80b4952&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2B1137-update-supporters-v5b
170
The Debunking Never Ends: “Expert” Computer Climate Models Fail In Arctic, Study Finds
https://www.c3headlines.com/2020/02/the-debunking-never-ends-expert-computer-climate-models-fail-in-arctic-study-finds.html
Study Link: http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/feb/a6.php
80
This article from James Delingpole is interesting.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/06/delingpole-net-zero-new-remain-it-will-destroy-boris-conservatives/
On Credlin (Sky News) the other night one of her regular guests ( a lady from WA who I believe is on radio over their –sorry I have forgotten her name) made similar observations. She had just returned from a personal visit to the UK , spending time in Northern England.
It will be interesting to follow developments because for sometime now it has been obvious the UK Conservative party is well entrenched in the AGW belief. Theresa May signed a bill not long before leaving No 10 which will lead to the “issue” costing the UK many hundreds of billions of pounds over the next few decades. Boris and others seemed to be happy to go along with it (Treasurer at the time,Philip Hammond was one notable exception)
90
Here is a related article on WUWT:
UK Climate Madness: Does Boris Johnson want to Transform Britain into Tolkien’s Middle Earth?
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/07/uk-climate-madness-does-boris-johnson-want-to-transform-britain-into-tolkiens-middle-earth/
70
Didn’t see the Credlin show you’re referring to, but it might be Jane Marwick who you’re thinking of.
50
Correct Strop. Thanks.
20
You see, here’s the good thing for me about Joanne’s site.
There just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to chase up everything there is out there about electrical power, and hey, if I can’t chase it up, then it’s harder for the non electrical trained people who do come here to stay abreast of things.
Graeme No.3 mentioned something in a comment at an earlier Thread. I would have responded there, but not many readers go back to those older Threads, so I can link to his comment, and leave my reply here where it will be a little more current. The part of his comment that was of interest to me was this:
This is with respect to a further proposed Interconnector hooking up South Australia to the other States.
I always had a question about something like this because there are problems associated with losses of electrical power over distance, considering (nearly) all our Transmission here in Oz is AC. Those distances into NSW concerned me as there would be some substantial losses over further distances, but Wagga Wagga is probably the furthest feasible (and cost effective) distance they might take those Transmission towers to make up a new Interconnector. With those Interconnectors in each of the States, they would just be delivering power not all that far into the adjoining States, so the idea that Queensland’s extra coal fired power is supplying Victoria is erroneous. Queensland will deliver into Northern NSW, and at the same time, Southern NSW will be delivering into Victoria, and Victoria will be delivering into Tasmania and South Australia, so it ‘seems’ like Queensland is supplying shortages in Victoria and those other two Southernmost States, but it is all careful planning and then operation by those grid operators.
The (nudge nudge wink wink) way this new SouthAus Interconnector is couched for dissemination to the public is in terms of distributing extra wind power which we magnanimously have here in SouthAus, so we can altruistically distribute it even farther afield than what we give into Victoria.
However, the most probable real reason is so SouthAus has access to ‘real’ power when wind generation is low.
Okay then, why (specifically stated) Wagga Wagga as the far point of the Transmission. Any further and it gets horrendously more expensive because of the distance, and the losses also become greater.
So, how lucky was this eh? (/sarc)
Just to the South of Wagga Wagga (16 Kilometres) is Uranquinty, the location of one of the newest power stations in NSW. It is a four Unit natural gas fired plant, four Units of 160MW, so 640MW nameplate. It was opened up in 2009, so it’s still pretty much state of the art as far as gas fired plants go. It’s an Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) plant, and is only used for Peaking power purposes.
However, from years of watching power plants and their operations, this plant is really under utilised. It is hardly ever used at all, and is mostly used to supply power into Victoria when they are stressed with extra consumption. It’s also on occasion, one of the first ports of call if one of the big coal fired Units fails in NSW or even in Victoria. Hydro comes in first as it can respond instantly, while the gas turbines at these gas fired plants run up and then take over. But even that is a few and far between occasion, and it’s a rare thing that I see Uranquinty delivering power onto the grid, and even more rare to see all four Units in operation.
So now we have a destination for all that huge excess of wind power, or more correctly, we now have a dedicated extra consumer for Uranquinty’s gas fired power, so this would be a pretty big win win for them.
And seriously, doesn’t it worry you just a little that the contract for something like this Interconnector Transmission Towers construction goes to the lowest bidder, less money, not as good, and you only need look at a couple of occasions over the last few years where transmission towers have failed causing major problems.
All this for a State with the second lowest power consumption in the Country, and they are still looking for external sources of power to keep the State running.
Tony.
140
It is claimed now that SA obtains 50 per cent of electricity from wind and solar sources.
No doubt that is Installed Capacity, so the reality is maybe 15 per cent on the most suitable conditions periods?
70
For the whole of 2019, gas supplied SA with 57% of their power, so the 50% claim is false.
Wind supplied 41.5%; utility solar only 3.2%. So wind + solar was 44.7%.
80
Its all on the AEMO site for all to see. There is nothing for people to claim or argue about.
00
A Preindustrial Sea‐Level Rise Hotspot Along the Atlantic Coast of North America
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2019GL085814
H/T:
Week in review – science edition
by Judith Curry
40
Global variability in radiative-convective equilibrium with a slab ocean under a wide range of CO2 concentrations
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16000870.2019.1699387
H/T:
Week in review – science edition
by Judith Curry
50
The Incredible Lightness of Water Vapor
https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0260.1
H/T:
Week in review – science edition
by Judith Curry
50
That’s why clouds float . in the sky.
20
Jet stream not getting ‘wavier’ despite Arctic warming
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-jet-stream-wavier-arctic.html
H/T:
Week in review – science edition
by Judith Curry
50
Times: Coronavirus will Kill All the Old Climate Skeptics
From the article: “what kind of sick person publicly celebrates the possibility that all their political opponents will die a horrible death? The answer is a journalist who works for mainstream British media, of course.”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/07/times-coronavirus-will-kill-all-the-old-climate-skeptics/
70
‘The Times’ of London pays people to write such depraved garbage !
How the once admirable has fallen !
40
Rick
If Trump gets a second term and keeps geeing things up that might read
“Old Climate Skeptics will Kill The Times”
20
No need for if but when and by how much .
20
Old white guys are under pressure and may have to resort to living in the tropics until they find a cure for the virus.
20
I guess the Gores, Flannerys, McKibbens, Schmidt etc will be immune, because virtue I suppose.
10
No doubt Jo will post about the COVID 19 disease.
But in case she does not soon, here is some thing I knew would happen :
A Nepali flew in last week to Hobart via Singapore and Sydney
To start his vocational studies.
And once in Hobart started work at a major hotel there , as such students do.
At some point he became ill and was diagnosed with COVID 19
But kept going to work and college.
So now the Tasmanian state authorities are trying to trace all his contacts since arriving in Australia.
But the real issue ere is “where did he get infected ? ”
Probably in Nepal which still has an open border with China & lots of ‘tourists’
(AKA COVID refugees ! )
But he has no doubt then spread this contagion in Singapore, Sydney and Hobart
And to passengers on three airline flights !
Katmandu – Singapore
Singapore -Sydney
Sydney – Hobart
I wonder if SLOMO, Hunt & Murphy read the simple facts of how COVID 19 is spread ?
Or are they still listening to those with vested interests in bringing more foreign students and tourists here whether they are infected or not ?
90
A very sad story:
Hotel Used for Coronavirus Quarantine Collapses in China, Leaving 70 Trapped
The good news is “NBC News reported that there were no immediate reports of deaths.” and “Thirty-four people were rescued within the first two hours.”
According to the article: “The five-story Xinjia Express Hotel opened in April 2018.”
https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/03/07/hotel-used-for-coronavirus-quarantine-collapses-in-china-leaving-70-trapped/
50
Gods! That’s a weighty virus!
Unbelievable.
00
The US EPA has published a list of disinfectants for use against Wuhan Flu. It is of limited use in Aus because it is trade names and you have to look up the data sheets (linked in the doc) to find out active ingredients and the like but there you are for what its worth.
60
All just run-of -the – mill . . . . peroxyacetic , and chlorine dioxides plus your usual household cleaners.
40
And a lot of quaternary alkyl ammonium salts. Well known for dealing with bacteria but of unknown activity (if any) against viruses.
50
Graeme
IIRC Chiefio had something on quats in one of his recent posts – might have been in comments
40
Hi Jo,
I read your blog from time to time, but I don’t usually comment. Here are some things that I have come across.
Regarding the source of the Corona virus: I know some people said awful things about the Chinese regarding the virus, but perhaps it was not their fault.
https://shar.es/aH3fg7
Someone mentioned the possibility of using a virus to sterilize, well the early efforts in African and South America are nothing compared to the Rolls Royce version.
Just substitute human for mammalian pest. I’ll just send the abstract through, but the whole of the paper is fascinating.
Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 34 (1): 1 – 16 (2011) © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
Received: 16 October 2009
Accepted: 30 March 2010
*Corresponding Author
Review Article
Current ZP3-based Immunocontraceptive Vaccine for Free
Ranging Wild Pest
Lo, S.C., Zeenathul, N.A.*, Sheikh Omar, A.R. and Mohd. Azmi, M.L.
Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
*E-mail: zeenathul@putra.upm.edu.my
ABSTRACT
There is an overabundance of certain animal species that are considered as destructive and have reproductive
control acts as a humane management of pest population. In particular, mammalian zona pellucida 3 (ZP3) has
provoked a great interest as a potential antigen for immunocontraception. High levels of long-term infertility
have been achieved in many species following ZP3-based immunization. This paper discusses the current
updates on the ZP3-based immunocontraception for several major pest species of the world.
Keywords: Immunocontraception, pest control, zona pellucida 3
Matt
10
Gases from sea floor volcanoes with more than 97% CO2!
http://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00060/full
50
Of course most gases from sea floor volcanoes can’t be measured easily because of location and water depth. In fact many volcanologists suggest that most sea-floor or ice covered active volcanoes have not yet been discovered!
Estimates and measurements to date have been made from land-based volcanoes, often with very different compositions and chemistry to oceanic volcanic systems like Santorini.
50
That will be ignored because it’s not consensus emissions.
10
Bureau says less than 1mm 60% chance we got over 5mm still raining.
http://m.weatherzone.com.au/vic/northeast/wangaratta
Weatherzone copies Bom .
40
5 Mar: BBC: Climate change: Workers and poor ‘need protection’ from policies
By Roger Harrabin
Climate change harms people, but policies to stabilise the climate can harm people too.
The poorest are most likely to suffer from lost jobs in dirty industries and higher energy bills.
Scotland has already abandoned coal and wants to wean itself off oil and gas.
It is taking advice from a new Just Transition Commission, which is being watched closely by governments round the world.
I toured the country hearing stories from people affected…
Tom Connell is an accidental poster boy for the principles of the just transition…
He shifted to an apparently secure controller job at Longannet, but faced the dole again when that plant closed.
Tom was offered another job in energy – but at Whitelee wind farm near Glasgow, one-and-a-half hours from home. His pay would be cut by £2,000 a year.
He took it. Now Tom’s new office window surveys an array of slender turbines on tussocky moorland. It’s a relief, he says.
“Working in the coal it was always dirty – coal dust and oil,” he explains. “And there was no window in the control room so you would never see the daylight. I like it up here – you’ve actually got a window.”
But what about the pay cut or the relocation? “To me it was worth it for the job security,” he says…
Charlotte Hartley is a member of the Scottish Just Transition Commission…
She told me the clean industrial revolution is already underway. “Some oil and gas firms in Aberdeen and globally have re-branded,” she said.
“Their portfolio is significantly expanded, so I think there’s going to be no such thing as an oil and gas company – it’s going to be a far broader energy business…
I checked the view of the rig crews in Spider’s Bar – close to Aberdeen’s North Sea helipad…
I ask one if oil will still be thriving 30 years hence when he plans to retire. “Easy,” he says, “easy.”…
A colleague said he expected at least 15 years more oil and gas drilling. “That’ll see me through (to retirement)” he said. “This is my third oil slump and I’ve got through OK.”
They are an optimistic bunch – but there’s no guarantee they’ll all find suitable jobs if the oil and gas industry is forced to close sooner than they expect…
The chair of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission is ***Prof Jim Skea…
The report insists that if Scottish farmers have to reduce numbers of cattle and sheep to cut methane emissions, people in the UK must eat less meat overall – or meat will be imported from areas where emissions are higher.
The next phase of the commission’s report will tackle the question of how this great transition can be funded…
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51733952
Harrabin didn’t bother to disclose anything relevant abut Jim Skea:
Wikipedia: James Ferguson Skea CBE FRSA, also known as Jim Skea, is a Scottish academic, Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London’s Centre for Environmental Policy, and a member of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the British government’s Committee on Climate Change. He was a co-author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) October 8, 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC…
Skea has also served as a non-executive director of Blackrock New Energy Investment Trust Plc since 2009…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Skea
Imperial College: Professor Jim Skea CBE FEI FRSA HonFSE
In the past, he was a member of the Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance and acted as Launch Director for the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership…ETC
50
no idea whether or not this is current:
“Skea has also served as a non-executive director of Blackrock New Energy Investment Trust Plc since 2009”
however:
13 Feb: Pensions&Investments: Wildfires forcing Australian funds to be more green
from Bloomberg (by Matthew Burgess)
Taking a passive stance on climate change isn’t something Australia’s A$2.9 trillion ($2 trillion) superannuation industry can get away with for much longer.
After deadly wildfires razed an area the size of England, custodians of the nation’s retirement savings are being asked to take more direct steps to combat global warming…
Outside of Australia, change is happening faster. ***BlackRock Inc. last month said it would exit debt and equity investments in thermal coal producers from its active portfolios. Europe’s largest pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP last week pledged that its investments would be climate neutral by 2050, while U.K.’s Brunel Pension Partnership in January ***threatened to fire managers that fail to curb exposure to climate change and position for a low-carbon economy…
“We’ve seen a spike in Australians connecting the bushfires to climate change, and then to how they’re investing their money,” said Simon O’Connor, CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia. “The onus is on funds to set really strong, quantifiable targets and then demonstrate they’re moving in the direction of meeting those targets.”
The world’s fourth-largest pool of retirement assets has to date resisted meaningful change…
Among asset managers with at least $10 billion under management, only VicSuper supported all climate-change resolutions during the 2018-’19 annual meeting season. Funds including IOOF Holdings Ltd., UniSuper, Retail Employees Superannuation Trust and Equipsuper failed to vote for any resolutions, while those including AMP Ltd., First State Super and Sunsuper supported 50% or less…
The pressure on funds to take more decisive action is mounting. About 80% of Australians are worried about climate change, with the recent bushfire crisis intensifying concerns, a study last month of 1,033 people by The Australia Institute found…
The legal requirement for many of Australia’s superannuation funds to return 3.5% above inflation over a decade is an added complication. Money managers must look after members’ best financial interests and excluding a whole segment of an economy where returns may still be robust can present a challenge…
https://www.pionline.com/esg/wildfires-forcing-australian-funds-be-more-green
40
6 Mar: Bloomberg: ESG Investing: Why Climate Change Is an Important Consideration
VIDEO: 2m38s: ESG Investing: Why Climate Change is an Important Consideration
ON SCREEN:
Climate risk requires fundamental reshaping of finance: Blackrock
Welsh-Rose: Bushfires will increase pressure for concrete action
Danielle Welsh-Rose, ESG director for Asia-Pacific at Aberdeen Standard Investment, discusses her ESG strategy including her investments around climate change. She speaks on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2020-03-06/esg-investing-why-climate-change-is-an-important-consideration-video?sref=tLhWcvoi
25 Feb: Bloomberg: Australians Back U.S. Renewables While Opportunities at Home Ebb
By Natalia Kniazhevich and Matthew Burgess
Some of Australia’s biggest funds are pouring money into U.S. clean-energy projects as they butt up against a shortage of green opportunities at home.
AustralianSuper, the country’s largest pension fund, recently joined Queensland Investment Corporation in a $1 billion funding round for Generate, a San Francisco-based green-finance company. And Construction and Building Unions Superannuation, another pension giant, made its first U.S. clean-power investments last year…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-25/australians-back-renewables-in-u-s-as-opportunities-at-home-ebb
5 Mar: Bloomberg: Too Much Money: Australian Pension Giant’s $11 Billion ‘Problem’
by Matthew Burgess
Australia’s largest pension fund has a cash flow problem — too much of it coming in.
AustralianSuper Pty. saw inflows of A$16 billion ($11 billion) last year, fueled by people switching to non-profit pension funds as misconduct scandals trashed the reputations of for-profit peers. That posed a “real challenge,” said Shaun Manuell, a senior portfolio manager at the A$185 billion fund…
Australia’s A$2.95 trillion pension industry, which sees 9.5% of a worker’s gross salary paid into a retirement fund each month, is growing exponentially. Firms that have typically favored stocks and government bonds are turning to riskier assets such as venture capital and private credit or investing offshore to meet return targets…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-04/too-much-money-australian-pension-giant-s-11-billion-problem
30
Good luck with your investing guys!
https://www.dailysignal.com/2012/10/18/president-obamas-taxpayer-backed-green-energy-failures/
40
3 Mar: CFact: Eliminate fossil fuels now — U.S. “MAGICC” model says why bother?
By Collister Johnson
No matter what assumptions are used for the amount of or increase in fossil fuel generated CO2 in the US, from small amounts to very large ones, complete elimination of all fossil fuels in the US immediately would only restrict any increase in world temperature by less than one tenth of one degree Celsius by 2050, and by less than one fifth of one degree Celsius by 2100…
https://www.cfact.org/2020/03/03/eliminate-fossil-fuels-now-u-s-climate-model-says-why-bother/
50
gif animation
Russian thermal anomaly (caused by anomalous Jetstream activity) continues into mid-March:
https://i.ibb.co/61RXPMf/Russian-Thermal-Anomaly-next-7-days-8th-May-2020-ECMWF.gif
40
“Delingpole: Wikipedia Airbrushes List of Climate Sceptic Scientists Out of History”
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/08/delingpole-wikipedia-airbrushes-list-of-climate-sceptical-scientists-out-of-history/
Some good Delingpole in there (IMO)
30
6 Mar: BrisbaneTimes: Adani unfazed after India signals halt to thermal coal imports
By Lydia Lynch
Mining giant Adani says its central Queensland coal mine is still going ahead despite the Indian government signalling it would stop all thermal coal imports within four years.
India’s coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi last month said the country would stop importing thermal coal 2023-24, local media reported (LINK).
Mr Joshi made the announcement during a two-day forum about the future of the coal industry and how state-run Coal India would ramp up domestic coal production to phase out imports, India’s Economic Times reported.
“All these ideas will be deliberated, studied and examined for their feasibility in detail and based on that, they shall be implemented,” a government statement said…
(An Adani spokeswoman) said Adani still plans to produce 10 million tonnes of coal from the Carmichael coal mine each year.
“As noted by the International Energy Agency, and other respected energy market researchers, there is continuing strong demand for thermal coal from countries in south and south-east Asia where nations are rapidly developing and people are determined to improve their quality of life by getting access to reliable, affordable electricity,” the spokeswoman said.
Queensland Premier and Trade Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was looking into the announcement and was meeting with the Indian High Commissioner Anumula Gitesh Sarma “in the very near future”…
India was Queensland’s third-biggest buyer of coal last year, purchasing 31.6 million tonnes, trumped only by Japan (41 million tonnes) and China (37.9 million tonnes)…READ ON
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/adani-unfazed-after-india-signals-halt-to-thermal-coal-imports-20200304-p546xa.html
20
26 Feb: ArgusMedia: India’s cabinet to consider coal block auction plan
By Saurabh Chaturvedi
The ministry held talks with the industry recently on the proposed auction, according to a senior government official. Several big names involved in the discussions included steelmakers Tata Steel, ThyssenKrupp and JSW, mining equipment maker Caterpillar, aluminium producer Hindalco, cement-focused group Birla, infrastructure and power conglomerate GMR, as well as Adani Power and Jindal Steel and Power.
The industry executives aired their concerns. These included lingering transportation and infrastructure problems, which would hamper the evacuation of coal from the proposed mines that will go under the hammer. There are still limited rail lines and roads connecting India’s mining area to the market. Other concerns they expressed included a lack of clarity over a proposed national coal index for the evaluation of coal blocks.
The ministry explained its position, saying it would hold the industry’s hands wherever necessary to help boost local production and cut imports, the government official added. The ministry also explained to the industry its in-principle decision to keep an import component in the broader national coal index that will be used for valuation of the coal blocks.
A lack of consensus around the index has been a key reason behind the delay in the auctioning of the coal blocks. The auctions were initially meant to be held by the end of December 2019, prompting the ministry to further tighten its reform agenda that aims to boost domestic coal output and reduce imports.
“The ministry thinks it is pertinent to keep an import component in the index to capture the realities of the coal market,” the official said, adding that the proposal for the cabinet is being finalised…
Indian thermal coal imports grew by 14.4mn t in 2019 to 185.5mn t. But the rate of growth slowed compared with 2018. Imported coal partly compensated for a shortfall in domestic supply as state-controlled producer CIL, which meets more than 80pc of India’s coal needs, reported its first drop in years in annual supplies to power plants last year.
https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2077837-indias-cabinet-to-consider-coal-block-auction-plan
20
22 Jan: Reuters: Adani Power drives 21% jump in Indian utilities’ coal imports in 2019
by Sudarshan Varadhan, Gaurav Dogra
Indian utilities’ coal imports jumped 21% last year, rebounding after a three-year slide mainly due to increased purchases by an Adani Power plant in western India, government data showed on Wednesday.
Imports rose to 69.51 million tonnes, the highest level since 2015, data from the Central Electricity Authority showed. Utilities account for more than 75% of India’s annual coal demand.
Adani’s “Ultra mega” power plant in Mundra, Gujarat state, accounted for a quarter of the imports last year, with its shipments rising 75% to 17.35 million tonnes…
Analysts expect overall imports of thermal coal from India, one of the world’s largest consumers of coal, to rise by more than 13% in 2019.
Imports are rising despite India’s sharpest economic slowdown since the global financial crisis, as logistical challenges, heavy rains and frequent strikes and protests have hit output at state-run Coal India, which accounts for more than four-fifths of India’s coal production…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-coal-imports-utilities/adani-power-drives-21-jump-in-indian-utilities-coal-imports-in-2019-idUSKBN1ZL16Q
30
Oxford Union – an appropriate venue:
TWEET: Oxford Union
Christopher Steele on the topic of the leaked dossier: “I stand by the integrity of our work, our sources and what we did”.
PIC
6 Mar 2020
TWEET: Oxford Union
Christopher Steele: “Trump himself doesn’t like intelligence because its ground truth is inconvenient for him”.
6 Mar 2020
TWEET: Oxford Union
Christopher Steele says that “the reality check is that Russia is a hostile state as it is run at the moment, it is out to destabilize the West and it is nefarious in the way it goes about its business”.
6 Mar 2020
https://twitter.com/OxfordUnion
6 Mar: Oxford Union: Christopher Steele MEMBERS ONLY
Former MI6 Agent & Author of The Steele Dossier
A former spy and private investigator, Steele gained prominence as the author of a secret dossier of opposition research detailing possible ties between Donald Trump and Russia. The dossier included suggestions that the Trump campaign had received intelligence from Russian officials in 2016, and that the Kremlin possessed compromising footage of Trump engaging in sexual acts with prostitutes in Russia. After Steele provided the FBI with his findings, and Buzzfeed published the report, Steele was made the subject of media stalking and investigation by Republican senators, and had to go into hiding with his family
This event is for Members Only.
6 Mar: Daily Beast: Christopher Steele Whacks Mueller Report and ‘Bad Faith’ Team Trump
Out of the Shadows: The former head of MI6’s Russia desk was speaking publicly for the first time since his dossier on Trump’s relationship with Russia was published in 2017.
by Nick Mutch
OXFORD, England: …Speaking to students at Oxford University in England, he described the probe into Russian interference as having failed to do any “drilling down into financial networks and leverage,” which he said was “the way Russian influence works.”
His appearance at the Oxford Union, a 200-year-old debating society, ***was held in private but attended by The Daily Beast…
Steele said he would not cooperate with Barr and John Durham’s new investigation; saying he and his private investigation company Orbis Business Intelligence had already “done our duty” by cooperating fully with the IG report.
“As far as I’m concerned,” he told students. “We’ve said everything we have to say on the matter.”
He said that he had fulfilled his obligations them, “including confidentiality” but that they had failed to reciprocate.
Steele would not say whether anyone from the Department of Justice had contacted him in relation to Durham’s new probe…
The Mueller report dismissed many of the claims in the dossier…
Steele told the students in Oxford that he was still confident in his report’s conclusions…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/christopher-steele-whacks-mueller-report-and-bad-faith-team-trump?source=articles&via=rss
VIDEO: 6 Mar: GatewayPundit: Dirty Chris Steele Defends His Junk Dossier – Says He Won’t Speak with US Investigators Barr or Durham
by Jim Hoft
Steele, who spoke at Oxford University today, says he will not cooperate with William Barr and John Durham. There is currently a criminal referral on Steele for lying to congressional investigaters.
The Daily Caller (LINK) reported:
“I stand by the integrity of our work, our sources and what we did,” Steele said at the Oxford Student Union…
Gregg Jarrett and John Solomon discussed Steele’s Oxford speech on Lou Dobbs Tonight on Friday…VIDEO 4m26s…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/dirty-chris-steele-defends-his-junk-dossier-says-he-wont-speak-with-us-investigators-barr-or-durham/
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bizarre “sources said” piece by Reuters’ Hosenball:
6 Mar: Reuters: Trump ‘dossier’ author Christopher Steele rejects prosecutor’s interview request
By Mark Hosenball
The former British intelligence officer who produced a ‘dossier’ linking Donald Trump and his presidential campaign to Russia has declined to give an interview to a prosecutor assigned by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to investigate aspects of the 2016 U.S. campaign, three sources familiar with the matter said…
Steele’s representatives told Durham’s team that the former officer for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was not interested in cooperating with Durham’s investigation and would not speak to his team, the sources said. Steele was concerned that Durham’s investigation was overly politicized and he would not be treated fairly, the sources said.
A spokesman for Durham said the prosecutor had no comment. Spokespeople for the Justice Department and Orbis Business Intelligence, Steele’s London-based private investigations firm, did not immediately respond to requests for comment…
Reuters was unable to determine what the prosecutors specifically wanted to question Steele about…
Some of those targeted by Durham, including senior former aides to President Barack Obama who raised questions about Trump’s connections to Russia before the 2016 election, have expressed concern the probe could be used to retaliate against them…
The investigation into Trump and his campaign’s contacts with Russia conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller found there was not sufficient evidence to prove that Trump’s 2016 campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election…
https://news.trust.org/item/20200306230044-c38e7/
Wikipedia: Mark Hosenball is an American investigative correspondent at Reuters. Prior to joining Reuters in September 2010, he worked for Newsweek. He started there in November 1993, after working at Dateline NBC as an investigative producer. He also worked at The Sunday Times, the Evening Standard, Time Out, and contributed articles to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. He has also done commentaries for American Public Radio…
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Pat, I think Steele should watch his back or get some body guards. He is obviously starting to get very worried for some reason and now is blaming everyone else but himself. Maybe it is simple as business has dried up very quickly.
With the comment in the 3rd tweet, in your 9.34pm post, he is really asking for trouble.
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Squandered time: How the Trump administration lost control of the coronavirus crisis: 10 times Trump downplayed the coronavirus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-coronavirus-response-squandered-time/2020/03/07/5c47d3d0-5fcb-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html
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https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/these-are-the-places-across-australia-people-will-soon-struggle-to-live-in-without-serious-challenges/news-story/fce6ba88e1b8135866fb2aad720d7101
Alarmism is infectious…..at least it’s not about toilet rolls I suppose
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Some good news seems to be appearing in Victoria’s wholesale electricity prices this year.
From AEMO data , average Vic weekly prices since Jan 1 in $/MWhr:
72; 53; 57; 42; 466 (!!); 32; 59; 53; 57; 46
Month avge for Feb $48/MWhr compared to $111/MWhr last year and $97 the year before.
Why the drop? Surplus capacity? RET now being met, so price of LGCs dropping?
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El-Ninio development trend:
http://www.bom.gov.au/archive/oceanography/ocean_anals/IDYOC007/IDYOC007.202003.gif
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Coffee failure … La-Nina development trend:
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Supermarket in town now has a security guard in the toilet paper aisle , ironically they have no toilet paper left and don’t know when they will be getting anymore .
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Matt — sorry about the delays. Running at 150% busy. Insane schedule. Hard to check links (time) not sure what “https://shar.es/aH3fg7” is — easier with links that are recognisable eg sciencejournal.com.au type stuff.
– jo
The first part includes the link to the paper which has all it’s references. I have read the paper, but I haven’t had the time or the inclination to check all the references. From the data presented in the paper the assertion that China may not be the source of the virus is worthy of further investigation. The last part at the bottom of the paper about the six plagues that China has faced is definitely going too far in my opinion. Sometimes bad luck comes in more than three and having a lot of people and animals compressed into a small area can be asking for trouble.
The other is just a copy about some research into using ZP3 proteins in viruses to sterilize mammalian pests. The horrible part is that it would also work for humans. You can amend or delete parts or all of the post, as I said “I have no dog in this fight”.
Matt
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Hi,
I do appreciate your efforts and that you are busy. The link is as you say strange, but it goes to a site called “Global research” at the site globalresearch.ca/globalresearch.org
The writer is https://www.globalresearch.ca/author/larry-romanoff
I don’t know anything about them.
The actual paper was interesting and contains some interesting charts, but it is a bit much to post on the blog in full. I don’t want to write an article to post something, but by the same token I don’t want to post something without any backing.
Matt
Thanks Matt. I can’t check them now. but Ta. – Jo
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Hi Jo,
Just to help you out here is some of the discussion from the first link, for some reason I couldn’t post the chart.
But this is your blog and if you think that it is not OK that’s fine by me; it’s your blog.
“…One of his main points is that the type infecting Taiwan exists only in Australia and the US and, since Taiwan was not infected by Australians, the infection in Taiwan could have come only from the US.
The basic logic is that the geographical location with the greatest diversity of virus strains must be the original source because a single strain cannot emerge from nothing. He demonstrated that only the US has all the five known strains of the virus (while Wuhan and most of China have only one, as do Taiwan and South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, Singapore, and England, Belgium and Germany), constituting a thesis that the haplotypes in other nations may have originated in the US.
Korea and Taiwan have a different haplotype of the virus than China, perhaps more infective but much less deadly, which would account for a death rate only 1/3 that of China.
Neither Iran nor Italy were included in the above tests, but both countries have now deciphered the locally prevalent genome and have declared them of different varieties from those in China, which means they did not originate in China but were of necessity introduced from another source. It is worth noting that the variety in Italy has approximately the same fatality rate as that of China, three times as great as other nations, while the haplotype in Iran appears to be the deadliest with a fatality rate of between 10% and 25%. (7) (8) (9)
Due to the enormous amount of Western media coverage focused on China, much of the world believes the coronavirus spread to all other nations from China, but this now appears to have been proven wrong. With about 50 nations scattered throughout the world having identified at least one case at the time of writing, it would be very interesting to examine virus samples from each of those nations to determine their location of origin and the worldwide sources and patterns of spread.
The Virologist further stated that the US has recently had more than 200 “pulmonary fibrosis” cases that resulted in death due to patients’ inability to breathe, but whose conditions and symptoms could not be explained by pulmonary fibrosis. He said he wrote articles informing the US health authorities to consider seriously those deaths as resulting from the coronavirus, but they responded by blaming the deaths on e-cigarettes, then silenced further discussion. …”
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What Bernie and Greta have in common
By David Wojick
https://www.cfact.org/2020/03/09/what-bernie-and-greta-have-in-common/
Each is leading a loud radical uprising that endangers their respective mother ships.
In Greta’s case the boisterous Action Now movement (as I call it) is on track to wreck the UN’s elaborate climate action process, come November. In Bernie’s case, his equally loud following, the new socialists if you like, are likely to wreck the Democrats chance of winning the Presidency, also in November. This is true even if Biden gets the nod.
November is therefore looking like a month of reckoning. A great way to end what promises to be a very loud year. Trump wins and the Paris Accord collapses.
On the Bernie front, a lot of pundits are speculating about what caused the Biden surge? His big win in South Carolina? Too small. The other candidates dropping out and endorsing him? Too late.
I think the surge came right out of Bernie’s mouth. In the week or so before Super Tuesday he got cocky. He started bragging about all the grand things he would do, including the grand taxes to pay for them. I can imagine working people thinking “Health insurance is killing me already and I’m going to pay for somebody else’s?” and “I’m going to pay for somebody else’s kid to go to college?”
So now we have Bernie versus Biden, bashing away at each other until July, after which one of them gets just three months to fight Trump. This is not a prescription for victory.
The very next day, Super Wednesday in Europe if you like, the EU Commission announced its proposed new climate change law. The law is sweeping, including hefty taxes on products imported from countries the EU deems to be lagging in climate action. This nuttiness would no doubt ramp up a global climate based trade war.
For reasons I do not understand they invited Greta to address them, so she promptly told them off, as usual. The EU is setting crazy climate goals for 2030 and 2050, but Greta wants Action Now.
This clash is going to come to a head in November at the UN’s annual climate action summit in Glasgow. The Action Now radicals paralyzed last year’s summit in Madrid and they are likely to do worse this year. Many more Action Now marches are to come between now and then.
Note that these two loud wrecks in progress are intertwined. The Dems have made climate action a very big deal, so Bernie and Biden may try to outdo each other in grand schemes, with grand price tags. The U.S. Action Now people are voters after all, or some are anyway. Trump will then just smile and say “Keep your money. There is no emergency.”
And the U.S. election comes the day before the Glasgow climate summit starts. If Trump wins the other major economies are far less likely to opt for immediately expensive actions, which will enrage the Action Now radicals even more.
In sum, Bernie and Greta each think that disruption is the way to make progress in their respective political realms. Both call for social revolution. They are both wrong and happily it is not going to happen.
More deeply, we seem to have a generation of loud radical youth on our hands. It is good to have these from time to time, to shake things up a bit. I was part of the one in the 60s. But do not take the noise too seriously as little will come of it. We are not on the verge of social revolution.
End of article.
Please share this. Much lies ahead.
David
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http://joannenova.com.au/2020/03/csiro-forgets-to-mention-no-study-explicitly-shows-climate-change-caused-bushfires/#comment-2288346
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Thanks for the `heads up’ and analysis, David.
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Just listening to Greens radio (ABC) and a report just out from the ANU about the Indian Ocean dipole and the link to CAGW .
They’ve taken coral samples going back to the year 1200 and found that since 1960 the IOD has been more frequent ergo it was CO2 wot dunnit.
Funny this doesn’t fit our rainfall records as Crag Kelly’s fact check about more rainfall this century checks out .
Didn’t we have a mega drought around the year 1200 ?
More anti science from the greens uni .
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It’s the Sun, wot dun it.
It does what it wants, where it wants and when it wants.
It’s the
thousandten-thousandmillionbillion pound gorilla too many try to ignore.30
And it’s not anti-science from the mouldy: it’s Science Denial.
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