JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
Jo appreciates your support to help her keep doing what she does. This blog is funded by donations. Thanks!
Follow Jo's Tweets To report "lost" comments or defamatory and offensive remarks, email the moderators at: support.jonova AT proton.me
Statistics
Albo has gone too far. In his efforts to fix Global Warming, he has created Global Cooling.
I hope everyone in southern Australia have ample firewood, kerosene or diesel for whatever source of heating energy the have planned for when the power goes off.
There is a good series streaming on SBS now – Blackout. Worth watching in preparation for the inevitable in Australia. You will not be able to watch it when the national grid goes dark.
282
Australian Labor Government Stupidity at Work
Bowen says we can store water, we should be able to store power
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has fired back at calls to keep coal generators in Australia’s energy system because renewable power doesn’t always flow.
Bowen reiterated the long-term solution to energy pressures was a shift to cleaner energy.
“You can say the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. Well, the rain doesn’t always fall either but we managed to store the water,” Bowen said.
“We can store the renewable energy if we have the investment, and that is an investment that has been lacking for the last decade, that’s the problem.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s press conference has been dominated by the nation’s power crisis and the Australian Energy Market Operator’s unprecedented move to suspend the east-coast electricity market until further notice.
Asked whether Australians could be certain the challenges would be addressed and no blackouts would take place, Albanese said the government was working with the operators to address the woes but “you can’t fix a decade of inaction in 10 days”.
“You had politics and scare campaigns put ahead of good policy, and now we are having to deal with the consequences of that,” – (By Whom Elbow – Labor/Greens?) he told reporters.
Albanese said investment had gone into producing clean energy in Australia but an antiquated transmission system meant it wasn’t being fed into the grid.
“Meanwhile, the ageing coal-fired power stations have been more susceptible to outages and disruptions because they are old,” he said.
Bowen said the move by the AEMO was aimed at fixing a national energy market that wasn’t working as it was intended and would not continue for a day more than needed.
He said ongoing energy shortages were driven by scheduled and unscheduled outages at aging coal-fired power stations which were being repaired by generators and remained confident blackouts and load shedding could be avoided.
“What we’ll do is keep doing what we are doing,” he said.
“State and territory ministers convened some short-term responses, some medium and longer-term responses, including giving AEMO the power to store gas and release it when necessary.
“That sort of action will continue.“
160
Watch the fiery moment Energy Minister loses it at a journalist for suggesting more coal was the answer to the energy crisis
– Australia is suffering an energy crisis largely due to coal power failures
– Millions in NSW in households and hospitals have been urged to conserve power
– Energy Minister Chris Bowen was asked if more coal-fired power was the answer
– He said ‘the problem is there is not enough investment in renewable energy’
From the Comments
– yes, it doesn’t always rain. And guess what – Labor is opposed to new dams, too.
– He’s not right in the head.
– Pushing the Biden agenda
– I do wonder how long it will take for those who voted for this lot to ask ‘what have I done?’ I’m guessing for some that the penny will never drop.
– Funny thing that China makes solar and wind, and seems that they work so well and cheap, they are building another 1100 coal fired powered stations and then buy coal from us, playing us for fools
232
This. All grid problems will always be blamed on either ” lack of investment in renewables ” or on the failings of the previous Morrison government and preferably on both. And many people, lacking all critical thinking skills, will believe it. Only Labor has the answers. And the answer is ” more renewables “. Rinse and repeat.
212
The transition started with Federal Labor 2010-2011 Renewable Energy Target of +30% and subsidies for operators, plus renewable energy surcharge and carbon tax on electricity bills, 10% each tax plus GST 10% on the total account.
The Labor States followed and privatised State public assets power stations and transmission lines, demolished some power stations, leased others but later closed some down by forcing operating costs up via brown coal supply price etc. In the States where Coalition Governments replaced Labor the privatisation processing was we’ll established, too late to reverse.
The fact is that States must approve development applications and they have approved wind and solar installations as applied for, but have not been supportive of gas or coal generators, the State shareholders in the Snowy Hydro required the Federal Government to buy their shares before they would approve Snowy 02 pumped hydro.
Do not allow Albo Labor to get away with rewriting the history and confusing voters about areas of responsibility and powers, State and Federal.
153
Just heard Albo declare that he “had a clear mandate” to follow through with renewables. So labour get into power with the lowest primary vote EVER at 32%. The opposition LOOSE power with a primary vote of 37%. Labour fall over the line with preferences ONLY, and this can be construed as a “Clear Mandate”
Welcome to Noddy Land
374
I am waiting to read the AEC final election result report and how many voters did not vote.
Labor’s 32% compared to the Coalition on 37% = 5% difference is significant and highlights the preferential voting trickle down lottery system result.
The UK, Canada, India and other nations stick to primary vote, first past the post wins.
124
You can’t argue with stupid.
232
You can try, but the left is far more practiced at “stupid” than conservatives and will always win a battle of stupidity.
Its essentially bred into them.
Mind you, many “Liberals” are also practicing very hard at being moronically stupid…. Case in point.. Matt Kean.
234
Yes. The teals are right up there too. But they are so nice.
104
The new far left, dark green with red centre and pale green with hollow centre.
53
“But they are so nice.”
Harpies and Banshees appear nice too… until they open their mouths.
30
“You can say the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. Well, the rain doesn’t always fall either but we managed to store the water,” Bowen said.
Is this guy for real???? He has literally no idea about the relative sizes of these electricity storage systems. A hydroelectric system whose water reservoir is essentially like a giant battery. This has far far more capacity than the batteries used to store piddly amounts of solar or wind power.
A hydroelectric system’s water reservoir cannot extrapolated to batteries for solar or wind which have far less capacity.
What will be the cost to create feasible, high capacity battery storage for wind and solar that has a comparable capacity of a hydroelectric system? Very very very high.
183
Yep, Bowen has just proven just how incredibly dumb and clueless he is about this issue. (like he is with all other issues)
264
He has never been an impressive MP and his ministerial roles have not produced anything worthwhile.
113
He would be challenged by Tom Koutsantonis SA’s Minister for Electricity. Apparently unaware of how often SA has to import (brown coal-fired) electricity from Victoria, he was sprouting last night that if electricity was short he would close the (transmission) line to Victoria.
Would being denied when they need it make Victoria always cooperative when SA needs some? It will surprise you to know that his nickname in SA is “silly Koot”.
91
I notice SA have removed the coal trolley from their AEMO energy mix page .
40
Surely none of the red thumb brigade actually think Bowen has any above a primary school level of intelligence ! 😉
40
Yep, you can store water indefinitely – even change it’s state without losing any – but Electricity ? has he ever used a battery ? Don’t think politicians are Critical Thinkers on real life issues.
121
Of course ultimately hydro systems are limited in that they can only be used in areas with a decent flowing river system with good rainfall.
The solution? Use COAL!
163
“The solution? Use COAL!”
This is essentially what Snowy 2 will use.
It will be pumping while demand and price are lower, then release when demand and price are higher.
But in NSW, most of the electricity comes from coal..
… so it actually helps level out the power production needed from the coal fire power stations.
105
It is a partial solution to a problem that shouldn’t exist.
162
It takes 48h to fire up a coal power plant, they are no good for producing intermediate and peak electricity, but excellent for base load. Gas and hydro traditionally were used to fill the gaps. The higher peak prices make this viable. Pumped hydro, or a smart grid attached to electric cars require/allow for more cheap baseload generation. The lack of efficient energy storage has always posed an issue for electricity generation.
50
Lack of storage wasnt a grid problem for the last 50 years, it hasnt always been a problem at all.
It’s a problem now because we dream we can use intermittents when there is now widely deployable affordable effective storage solution. I really doubt the answer lies in every more complex so called solutions, but I am sure the current administration bunnies will go there.
30
Are you aware that when Minister in the Howard Government Turnbull pushed for desalination plants instead of storage dams when the Sydney plant was built he proudly announced that to offset the substantial amount of electricity needed to operate the plant a “wind farm” would be installed near Goulburn NSW to compensate for the loss from the grid?
92
” “wind farm” would be installed near Goulburn NSW to compensate for the loss from the grid?”
Canberra also gets its electricity from that wind farm.. lots of people do…the sum drawn from it is probably many time what is actually produced.. Its a miracle 😉
81
Would one of the red thumbs please have the guts to explain what about my comment is incorrect. 😉
Or are you all just cowards.
82
It’s their game, I understand it’s called Donkey pin the tail on
40
b, it’s not that they think you are wrong, they just don’t like that you said it. Well that and they like the color red.
60
I’m suggesting that they know I am correct.. and it really bugs them 🙂
62
meh not worth thinking about
imagine being so pathetic you troll through blogs doing red thumbs but have nothing to say
a bit sad and weird really
30
Snowy II is costing upwards of A$5.1 billion for 350,000 MWh.
Hornsdale’s Big Tesla (Phase I and phase II) cost approx A$161 million (nominal) for 193.5 MWh.
I’ll let you do the arithmetic on relative cost/MWh.
Batteries are a Furphy. And, so is Bowen.
71
Snowy II – $14600 / MWh
Giant Tesla Battery – $832000 / MWh
Battery storage is almost 60 times more expensive, plus there’s the risk of fire and explosion that you don’t get with a huge reservoir of water.
80
I thought Snowy 2.0 had blown out to $10 billion, this was reported recently by the SMH so not exactly a right wing source.
30
The solution is always simple, if you are simple.
What a statement, and he is the Energy Minister. He clearly has a good handle on his portfolio.
92
Bent ? ( handle)
50
Bent ? ( handle) – Thai Tug?
20
Thanks for the entertainment.!!!
I haven’t laughed for so long, nor so hard for such arrant stupidity.
I’ve really enjoyed it …
60
Bowen must have a “politically convenient” short memory,…our he is just stupid ! ( likely both)
He must have missed the recent “worst drought in memory”, panic over the Murray Darling water rationing, etc etc..
71
Somebody needs to get a message to the minister for blackouts.
If an average house uses 20kWHr per day, (during a peak time of the year, and long before electric cars get plugged in), then simple physics tells you that you would need to lift a lot of water up very high to power that simple load. How much…?
20kWHr is 20,000 Joules consumed for 3600 seconds = 72MJ.
Potential energy is Pe=Mass x Gravitation acceleration x height.
Let’s use 600m for the height difference, (Snowy 2 is 670). Also, losses in the pipeline, pump/generator, etc reduce say 30%. Water is 1kg per litre.
So Pe = litres x 9.81 x 600 x (1-0.3) Rearranging gives litres approximately 17.5 kl.
So for the east coast with say 18M people, living in 5M houses, that would be 87,500 Ml per day that has to be drained. If the wind drought lasts a week, 612,500 Ml.
OOPS, Snowy 2 involves 188,000 Ml So clearly a project that is heading north of $10B will only supply a couple of days of ‘battery’ supply is not going to make it.
So tell me. Where is the next battery going, apparently the best dam sites have been used already. And who pays.
AND What is industry going to do? the above calculations are for a demand of about 4,200 MW. NSW alone uses consumes double that rate on a ‘normal’ day.
Clearly hydro storage alone is not the solution. Maybe the minister could provide guidance. I’m waiting.
PS…. And then you have to recharge it too.
91
Excellent analysis, hydro storage is just like a large backup that can be used to quickly plug the tiny gaps in the grid, assuming that the electricity grid is propped up properly with coal.
In that case there won’t be a need to refill the reservoir often since outages are very short and minimal with properly maintained power stations.
50
Excellent to see figures and assumptions. This is what is so frustrating about the typcial glib answers to real questions about feasibility to storage of excess renewables eneregy generation. How many batteries? How many Snow 2.0 projects? How long do they take to construct? What about transmission?
50
I understand that $6 billion of that amount is payments to State governments to buyback their shareholding in Snowy Hydro by the Federal Government in return for development and planning approval for the Snowy 02 Project.
10
He’s a bright lad that Bowen boy – equates storing water to storing the electric.
Wait for that one – he will go far!
80
Let’s put buckets out and collect the sunshine. Or, full moon tonight, let’s harness moon energy.
180
… truly moonlighting!
Don’t use plastic to hold sunshine but should be OK for moonlight…
20
looks like another RET project: the electricity dam.
We will build a big concrete bowl to store electricity in.
(no refunds)
70
Just got back to good old Brissy from 10 days in Canberra, never been so cold.
What a bastard of a place.
60
Yeah, I drove past it on the way to a car rally on Friday night, -3deg, I remember that from the 1970s when I lived there briefly.
Driving back on Monday and passing through it, nothing much has changed.. A completely fake middle-class show pony of what the elites wanted for themselves and the proles they found useful, a low population spread over a thousand square Km of land with giant motorways connecting them… the absolute antitheses of what the WEF has in store for us!
Fed Govt should have been set up in the southernmost point of Tassie, or maybe Alice with only solar power..
61
Sun is shining through the window here in Victoria! Outside, 13C. Inside, 15C. The Mitsubishi Electric remains off, for now. I am wearing a polar fleece sweater. My feet are cold. I might go for a brisk walk now that the rain has eased. Daniel Andrews has no reason to send me to a Gulag. I am doing my bit to save the electricity grid. 😃
91
Nth Central Vic: two brief (very brief) glimmers of sun. Drenching fine rain most of the time.
Our recently solid mudbrick clay ground is now a muddy skating rink.
60
Similar in north east Victoriastan Annie but the mud bricks are well covered .
30
I refuse to be cold in my own home, no matter what the cost of heating.
202
Central Coast NSW. Nights down to 4C but lovely days. Took the Boulevard out for a ride today between shifts. Life is good.
60
12C inside, 13C outside, cloudy, no wind.
Wearing shorts, tshirt, thongs as usual 😄
61
Gee you are better than me. Indoors its 21C and tonight as well as firewood I will be burning some Lignite bricks as an experiment. We have been trying some of the manmade firewood products to see what they are like. I thought I was support some brown coal mining area by buying the coal bricks, but no no no. When I looked at the packaging its imported from Germany. Yep, brown coal shipped around the world from the “renewables” poster child country. The irony is rich
242
And Germany imports wood pellets to burn!
120
Where did you get the bricks ?
20
All the products we tried came from Bunnings, as we drive by one every Monday. The all work pretty well in their own way. The compressed Oz timber waste works well with kindling as a starter and the Deutschland briquettes work well, burn for quite while and good coals.
30
Well VIC took one of two of Germany’s briquette plants at the end of the WWII and installed it in Yallourn complete with rotary arc rectifiers to power their electrostatic precipitators.
Only fitting we should pay compensation for stealing it by purchasing their brown coal products as Dan has closed down everything else in VIC.
70
Sky News under fire from the Guardian.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/06/14/guardian-sky-news-australia-is-a-global-hub-for-climate-misinformation/
53
“under fire from the Guardian’
A half-rotten limp lettuce leaf !
133
“A half-rotten limp lettuce leaf !”
But even so it ranks fourth in Australia whereas The Australian ranks tenth
23
Guardian is the propaganda wing for Green/Left supporters.
60
Sky News has attracted huge numbers of viewers and they are loyal.
This is what people are talking about and the ABC is mute.
‘Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signing a deal to prioritise “climate gestures” amid an energy crisis could be “signing his own political death warrant,” says Sky News host Chris Kenny.’
71
Sky News You Tube channel really took off during Covid and has maintained its following.
10
There little Ian, worrying about how it “ranks”. So sad. !
Look at the actual lack of rational content, facts, or anything resembling reality. (no wonder you like it)
The Gruniad is load of far-left garbage.. and you know it is, Ian.
51
https://joannenova.com.au/2022/06/global-woe-the-transition-has-stalled-the-world-is-using-more-fossil-fuels-than-ever/#comment-2557983
Sorry little Ian.. I forgot about you.. Seems you should have been on that list. !
21
Bringing the Guardian to Austalia was one of the Malcolm Turnbull’s achievements and earned him the sobriquet Beloved Windbag.
00
A badge of honour I would have thought.
70
Did NSW lose a turbine or two they seem to be importing a lot of power?
40
South Oz running on 98% fossil fuel again .
50
Just watched an interview with CJ Hopkins, which led me to his site, and I think I’ve found our 21st century Hunter S Thompson! He is a satirist, with more than a whiff of ‘Fear and Loathing’. What joy!
From one of his essays, “Attack of the transphobic Putin-nazi truckers.” Has a perfect pic opening the essay.
They rolled up on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill like one of the plagues in the Book of Revelations, honking their infernal air horns, the grills of their tractors grinning demonically, the sides of their dry vans painted with blasphemies like “FREEDOM TO CHOOSE,” “MANDATE FREEDOM,” “NO VACCINE MANDATES,” and “UNITED AGAINST TYRANNY.”
Yes, that’s right, New Normal Canada has been invaded and now is under siege by hordes of transphobic Putin-Nazi truckers, racist homophobes, anti-Semitic Islamaphobes, and other members of the working classes!
According to the corporate media, these racist, Russia-backed, working-class berserkers are running amok through the streets of Ottawa, waving giant “swastika flags,” defecating on war memorials, sacking multi-million-dollar “soup kitchens,” and eating the food right out of homeless people’s mouths. Rumor has it, a kill-squad of truckers has been prowling the postnatal wards of hospitals, looking for Kuwaiti babies to yank out of their incubators.
I know, this is Canada, so that sounds a little dubious, but this has all been thoroughly fact-checked by the fact checkers at the New Normal Ministry of Truth … you know, the ones that fact-checked Russiagate, and the Attempted Putin-Nazi Insurrection of January 6 at the US Capitol, and the safety and effectiveness of the Covid “vaccines,” and the masks, and the inflated Covid statistics, and the rest of the official Covid narrative.
Or just take it from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau …
(Trudeau’s tweet wont copy.)
Now, this is the actual prime minister of Canada, not just some woke fanatic on Twitter. He was tweeting from his fortified Covid Bunker in an undisclosed location somewhere in the Yukon, or possibly the United States, where he fled as the transphobic Putin-Nazi truckers rolled up outside his office in Ottawa. Trudeau had vowed to stand and fight, but he had no choice but to flee the capital after he mysteriously tested positive for Covid (which also might have been the work of the Russians, possibly the same professional team of weed-smoking, hooker-banging Novichok assassins that got to the Skripals back in 2018).
Russian involvement has not yet been confirmed by the ex-CIA and NSA
[This comment is for another blog somewhere not this one, also a tad long.]AD
11
why Mod? did he get off topic in an open forum?
00
Forgot the link — https://consentfactory.org/
21
The twisted gospel of WEF Green Globalists: Adapted from an article in Cauldron Pool:
https://caldronpool.com/people-expect-judgement-so-tell-them-about-it/
Green environmentalist end times propaganda carries all of the messaging of the gospel in a twisted form:
GOSPEL:
Recognition of sin (Romans 3:23) WEF: we are treating the world badly;
Recognition of repentance (1 John 1:9) WEF: we must turn from our coal-burning, gas-guzzling ways;
Recognition of salvation ( John 14:6) WEF: turn to green energy and the world can be saved;
Hope of a better destiny for humanity ( John 16:33) WEF:you will own nothing, and be happy in the socialist utopia our green policies will forge.
10
China bank protest stopped by health codes turning red
Zero Covid Rule is Killing China Manufacturing
—
Doug Wilson: A Banana Republic, But Without Any Bananas
The character and culture of America have become more like the Third World
SHOCK: Third World countries SURGE ahead of U.S. economy
Weimar West
20
From the linked article:
Zero Covid Rule is Killing China Manufacturing
No doubt many of those people in the west who have opposed the roll-out of vaccines have been used by Communist China as “useful idiots”.
Congratulations.
63
gee what a goal, your very own mRNA “vaccine” yep that will fix it
00
Blast from the past. Yes Prime Minister
40
There is a great Yes Minister style skit in the current reactions to energy supply.
00
There’s a run on Chinese banks and it’s being ignored by the world
Blogger, Jennifer Zeng, has reported major issues with withdrawing cash from banks in Shanghai in recent days. The uncertainty no doubt exacerbated by the prospect of more lockdowns as COVID cases again spike.
“All banks in Shanghai have restricted depositors from withdrawing money… A bank run is about to sweep China,” she said.
https://www.asiamarkets.com/chinese-banks-run/
All part of the chaos from the past week.
In China though, protester action was neutralised by a red-alert from their smartphone health warning apps.
I see the Pavlov’s dogs style conditioning is working well…
90
Also not widely mentioned is the reported concerns in China (CCP) that the aggressive stand taken against other nations regarding territory and trade, etc., are counter productive for China’s economy and future economic prosperity.
The coming closer together of China’s targeted nations has also been a matter for concern, but we must wonder how they did not anticipate this.
China has long had a major problem maintaining law and order within and devotes a substantial number of military and police forces to keeping the peace, no doubt the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions have added to social problems and concerns.
Maybe the wiser comrades will manage to change the direction away from confrontation and back to building foreign relations and trade?
51
Is it already too late for that? They will never be trusted again. As the West disengages China and Russia will have to take in each others’ washing.
Disengagement will never be total of course but the days of China getting fat on America will be over if a Trumpist admin takes over.
91
UN designated developing nation China has been enriched by the UN Lima Protocol advocating transfer of manufacturing industry gradually from developed nations to developing nations, the Whitlam Labor Government signed it in 1975 for Australia.
The USA lost much more economic prosperity from manufacturing industry transfers than Australia has but add all losses to China and other developing nations and the dollar value would be huge.
42
“Guest Post: Dr Faustus – Monday’s Experts on the Energy Crisis”
https://newcatallaxy.blog/2022/06/16/guest-post-dr-faustus-mondays-experts-on-the-energy-crisis/
21
As I have said before, there is a global push for non-Elites to eat insects instead of meat. This is even being normalised and pushed by organisations that seemingly have nothing to do with what we eat such as the Australian motorist organisation, RACV in Vicdanistan.
RACV is an example of a once-conservative organisation that has been infiltrated by the Left in accord with Rudi Dutschke’s “long march through the institutions”.
https://www.racv.com.au/royalauto/sustainability/insect-food-and-bug-protein.html
Insects as food: why bug protein will be part of our daily diet
[..]
Are insects a sustainable food source?
According to the United Nations, the Earth’s population will swell to nine billion by 2050. In order to feed this growing population, food production in the developing world will need to double. But with urban sprawl eating into agricultural land, new ways to farm smarter not harder are being developed.
Cue the crickets. Literally.
“Cricket farms create 1/100th of the amount of greenhouse gases [compared to beef] and use very little water,” says Skye Blackburn, who started Australia’s first insect protein farm, Edible Bug Shop, in 2007.
“If you replaced one meat-based meal a week, you’d save 100,000 litres of drinking water a year.”
[..]
61
I guess insects are so good that thyere has never been a famine caused by locusts? (/s)
110
“If you replaced one meat-based meal a week, you’d save 100,000 litres of drinking water a year.”
Back to this old chestnut. Any livestock cows, sheep, chicken, INSECTS as well as all other life on earth uses water to survive, They do NOT change this water to anything else.
They bind water up for a while then release EVERY ml back to the environment upon their death. The great majority of water used by cattle to survive is given back to the environment within a few hours of consumption. Stand in a paddock and look.
Nothing is “saved” its called THE WATER CYCLE.
221
Well said, Sambar ! 🙂
Just like carbon.. A cow cannot put any more “carbon” (ie in the form of carbon compounds) than it takes in.
It is chemically impossible.
Cows are CARBON NEUTRAL.
151
Big new oil discoveries in Guyana:-
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Guyana-Could-Overtake-Brazil-As-South-Americas-Top-Oil-Producer.html
I guess the motto is to find oil you need to go and look for it!
Good news, it seems I won’t need to trade my Subaru Outback for a Nissan Leaf just yet! (I can almost hear those greens gnashing their teeth in fury!)
It wuz big sister ExxonMobil who found this oil. I guess with $48 billion in annual cash flows rolling in they can afford to bootstrap a few wildcat geologists here and there.
130
The Chinese part in Australian electricity supply problems is seldom reported or understood.
China is expanding its coal burning while watching USA, EU, GB Australia et al hell bent on reducing theirs.
Australia tries to export a lot of coal to China, which involves financial terms.
China is increasingly nasty to Australia, like with defence treaties with nearby Pacific Islands.
China sometimes digs at Australia for not reducing greenhouse gases faster.
Many energy wholesale and retail companies in Australia are Chinese owned, at least partially. Examples, Alinta, EnergyAustralia, AGL and Tango.
Strange people are getting involved, like billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, a computer guy who spends a lot on advertising what AGL should do. Motivation is unclear except for his deep green preferences.
If we seek government clarification of some of these events, we can approach the federal Department of Foreign Affairs, whose minister is Penny Wong.
Wong is a Chinese name.
………………..
Each of these companies and people acts according to allegiances. These are seldom clearly reported. Like, who benefits when an electricity price rise is announced? Who really made that decision?
The jigsaw is rather complicated. It is likely to be kept that way on purpose.
……………………..
This 5th gen Australian would prefer a system like Australia had pre-2000. Our electricity supply was designed by Australian engineers and run by Australian people and companies much of the time. Our electricity was among the cheapest and most reliable in the World. Then, outside parties like the United Nations and China started to be involved.
There is no serious impediment to Australia returning to pre-2000 conditions. It is a matter of will.
………………………..
There is where we fail. Will.
We depend now on the will of numerous actors, whose overall performance is characterised by poor understanding of stupid science, poor understanding of stupid economics, poor understanding of stupid socialism, poor understanding on international relations.
Simply, we have to rid our Country of them.
………………………..
Today is birthday 81 for this old Aussie, so please can I be cut some slack for any intemperate expression?
Geoff S
260
I add to your comment “China Associates” since PM Whitlam visited Communist China during the 1970s and returned to brag about the new open relationship between our nations.
From then many business transactions began, donations from the CCP to the ALP, many ALP former and serving MPs involved, but to a lesser extent Coailition side. The Australian newspaper once exposed a sighting of the Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dining together with family member at a Beijing China restaurant, both men have Chinese sons in law and share similar political points of view. The former Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon was forced to resign from Cabinet after media exposed his trip to China during Christmas holidays, leaving his wife and children at home, travelling with his Canberra unit landlady, a Chinese Australian. The list is long and includes former Senator Sam Dastyari and China connections and donations.
It is useful for background information to research now deceased former UN Official, later business man and billionaire, claimed to be he architect of climate hoax political agenda, Maurice Strong. He fled from Canada as a citizen wanted by the Environmental Protection Agency for illegally extracting water from an aquifer beneath a property he owned in Canada. He was granted asylum in Communist China where he later died. Hhis cousin was a girlfriend of Chairman Mao Zedong (Little Red Book author). This is a clue to climate hoax political objectives I believe, to end the capitalist (free market) system as we know it and adopt a CCP form of controlled and managed capitalism (as the left call it) for the chosen comrade party members who follow the rules.
31
Link to Maurice Strong;
https://coherence.com.au/curlew/2019/08/maurice-strong-inventor-of-global-warming/
10
happy birthday Geoff
70
Happy 81st Geoff. Keep them coming.
You say:
Those outside parties got involved because governments sold off the electric utilities so that they could continue to spend other peoples’ money on their cradle to grave quasi-socialist policies.
We voted for them. We still do. Matt Kean MP – NSW – is the latest dill who shows what happens when people vote like donkeys.
92
The same “Donkeys” that Sharri Markson’s exposure of the Turnbull led character assassination campaign against PM Morrison were willing to believe, as gullible fools did when similar tactics were used against PM Abbott.
Even the Labor advertising agents recently admitted playing that man was a major campaign tactic for their side.
51
Dennis Thompson said…
2GB
Author Aaron Patrick joined Ben Fordham to talk about his new book which explores how Turnbull became a “destructive force” in the Liberal Party.
The book, Ego: Malcolm Turnbull’s and the Liberal Party civil war, details Turnbull’s journey from prime minister to apparent anti-Liberal.
“I think he deserves a lot of the credit, or the blame, for the destruction of the Morrison government,” Aaron Patrick said.
“He was having an impact in all those wealthy inner-city seats that all went teal.
“He was able to articulate why wealthy, wavering Liberals should not like Scott Morrison.
“Malcolm Turnbull played a role behind the scenes in some of the bigger scandals of the Morrison government, particularly some of the scandals that damaged Scott Morrison’s reputation with women… which all know was pretty decisive in this year’s election.”
40
“Turnbull’s journey from prime minister to apparent anti-Liberal”
?? Turnbull has always been anti Liberal Party, especially while prime minister.
40
Happy Birthday Geoff and I wish you many more.
30
” Australia tries to export a lot of coal to China, which involves financial terms.
China is increasingly nasty to Australia, like with defence treaties with nearby Pacific Islands.
China sometimes digs at Australia for not reducing greenhouse gases faster.
Many energy wholesale and retail companies in Australia are Chinese owned, at least partially. Examples, Alinta, EnergyAustralia, AGL and Tango.”
There’s nothing unusual about those- We trade with China like we trade with other countries, the only problem being the Govt sticks itself in the middle and tries to dictate how trade should happen with who. In a real free market, Govt wouldn’t get a look-in.
China has good reason to be nasty to America’s little puppet, doggedly following along saying “Me too, me too” as America tries to crush China in an attempt to continue its global domination. On one hand we criticise and lambast China, and on the other we try to pretend we are best friends. Talk about two-faced! China should be able to sign defence treaties with anyone in the world without asking our permission, its not like America with over 800 armed bases in nearly all the countries on Earth.
Politics is criticising policies of other Govts, but economics is the hard reality of spending the billions of dollars earned in being the world’s manufacturing hub. The Arabs own most of London for exactly the same reason.
Me, I’d say America is a bigger threat to us than China, it always has been and we have survived by toadying up to them and willingly paying a massive tax for them to have a free ride on the world.
10
Yes. If not for the Yanks you’d all be fluent in Japanese with Chinese as a new second language.
00
KP,
Test. If there was a war and we needed help, would you choose to partner with USA or China?
I have been to both countries several times, which helps my choice. Geoff S
00
That’s yer grand climacteric over with Geoff.
Theory had it that the numbers seven and nine were drivers of fate and that their conjunctions at forty-nine, sixty-three and eighty-one highly significant, the three Life Climacterics; as I recall the idea was that there is nothing to stop ya once the grand climacteric is in your wake.
10
When you look at the woeful turnout rate for the federal election (in a country that has COMPULSORY voting) its no wonder we got more of the same . Both of the main political parties have the same policies which have brought us to this point . We have been fed a steady diet of lies and misinformation by nearly all the media and the Covid coverage highlighted this. Start prepping , being prepared will help . I think you all know what’s coming…….
81
Interconnectors glowing this afternoon, over a GW each from QLD and VIC going into NSW. Tasmania , the little Aussie battery of the nation is back! chipping in 300MW a few minutes ago.
70
Why is NSW importing 2.4MW while their coal assets are generating < 4gW. They can produce much more than that.
30
A mere four hours later NSW has generously decided to up their coal generation by >2gW. This must be criminal, coal works best running flat out 24/7. Run this way they can produce < $100/MW. To vary this much in hours they MUST be gaming the system. Enron was criminal, here the same attitude is SOP.
30
A mere 4 hours ago, SA wind was producing 1744MW.. Now its only producing 22MW
Wind has also dropped right off in Victoria. At 4pm it was producing 2.7GW, now only 646MW
Brown coal is cheapest, and a lot harder to ramp up and down, its now covering SA and Victoria rather than NSW.
Looks to me that NSW coal has ramped up to cover that very large drop in wind energy in SA and Vic.
Tony might have a better idea.
I also can’t see any point where NSW coal was less than 4GW.. at 4pm it was at 4.657GW
30
A quick calc shows that in the last 4 or so hours, wind from SA and Vic has dropped by around 3740MW
That is about 1.4 times Bayswater’s total capacity lost in 4 hours !
No wonder the grid is struggling !!
50
SA Now down to just 12WM of wind.. (gas 1348MW, Diesel, 150MW, imports 314MW)
30
I would hazard a guess that a few electrons may be bravely making their way from Queensland generators to Tweed Heads and possibly even (yulp!) Byron, whilst Albury might be receiving some AC from the Latrobe Valley. Only a guess, mind. I’m no specialist in this field.
30
It makes sense for Victoria to feed to the lower part of NSW, up to Wagga, maybe even to Canberra in some cases.
And for Queensland to feed to the north coast of of NSW, and maybe down to the Tamworth, Armidale region.
20
It’s 5 hrs later but the DC link to NSW Nth Coast is carrying a qtr of the AC link.
00
If they are testing the edge capacity of the interconnectors what chance of “mysterious problems” down the track?
60
Reminiscent of the Basslink failure. Just went for those last few $
10
I personally prefer the first past the post system we have here in the UK
I also like the freedom on whether or not to vote because only those who have a firm preference either way get to the polling station
In oz do some people just vote for someone they know nothing of or for a party they are not fussed about either way just because they have to?
Presumably for this group the preferences then become a lottery as they know nothing of them?
82
Tonyb:
A few elections ago the turnout was about 95% ‘voting’ (+ postal, absentee votes etc) but around 5% of votes were declared invalid. Whether this included those who just shoved a blank voting paper into the box, I don’t know and the officials are not allowed to check, you just have to have your name crossed off the electoral list when you turn up and get the paper(s) in return.
According to someone who did supervising the vote count for one of the major parties most of those judged invalid (and which get checked by the parties just in case) the majority of those ‘voters’ were literate wth a good command of basic, very basic English.
The rot started about 15 years ago when the Electoral Office charged a man in country Qld. with non-voting. His defence in court was that he hadn’t voted for over 20 years because he didn’t agree with any of the parties and wasn’t going to waste time and money going to the voting booth. Surprisingly he got off. Set a precedent.
51
I just love spoiling my ballot when not a single candidate has expressed a manifesto I can wholeheartedly support warts and all.
But my biggest criticism of the UK system is the lack of fair and democratic boundary drawing which leads to far too many ‘safe’ seats in both normal and occasionally abnormal circumstances (e.g. anti-party voting rather than pro-party voting). Surely when ‘all’ candidates support, for example, crippling climate mitigation, then there is something wrong with democracy period.
And when I can be locked down for long periods without any human rights lawyer calling that process into question then I know democracy is failing or has failed totally. We live in highly hypocritical times.
60
Local council elections in Aus are a shining example of voting for people you have no idea of. Id say most people do it, a minority would be somewhat informed.
20
In our ward at the last council election nobody could even be bothered to stand against the incumbent, and it wasnt because they were doing such a sterling job. It seems to be a time consuming (if you do the work) and pointless job. Probably why it attracts so many Greenies, they love pointless activity.
10
Our preferential system does allow, for better or worse, third parties to show their colours.
Aust. is very homogenous, we are very mobile interstate and any traces of regional dialect have long passed. This means there is no chance of regional, single issue parties getting up so we would be locked into a two party system with no chance of even gradual change eg. the US.
10
Yarpos
Why would you be burning firewood with an indoor temperature of 21c?
40
Evening ambiance and so i can turn off the aircon.
70
Apart from the ambiance it tends not to stay at 21 degrees as the evening progresses, much easier to answer the call with the house at 18 and outside at 4 than getting up to inside being in single digits. Also my firewood is “free” apart from chainsaw fuel and time. Can’t wait for the grandkids to arrive at school holidays, open the heater door and burn a few marshmallows and roast a few chestnuts. Can’t do that with the reverse cycle thingy.
60
Ours not only heats the living room, it heats the water, heats hydronic radiators in the bathroom and study, and is used to cook on all the cool weather period. It also produces dust!
We have had enough tree branches come down and unwanted red gum ‘saplings’ and dead wattles and hakea to have firewood. It certainly takes time, energy and chainsaw fuel but is very satisfying
40
New Study Contradicts Transgender Narrative, Suggests Puberty Blockers Increase Youth Suicide
Allowing minors easy access puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones has actually increased not reduced youth suicide rates, according to a new report from the Heritage Foundation.
Released this week, the report offers a direct challenge to claims from pro-transgender clinical organizations, activists, and even the Biden administration who say that puberty blockers, and other gender-reassignment procedures, reduce suicides of minors who believe that they are the opposite sex.
https://www.heritage.org/gender/report/puberty-blockers-cross-sex-hormones-and-youth-suicide
Then there’s this individual, back on Twitter after being deleted:
https://twitter.com/TullipR/status/1536422533230206976
What can you say? “You reap what you sow. Enjoy your new life.” perhaps…
Or this:
Doctors Give Kids Drugs That Can Chemically Castrate Them – Just Like Pedophiles
Lupron is the trade name of leuprolide acetate, a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist. It’s one of the numerous drugs that can be given to chemically castrate an individual. It’s also a so-called puberty blocker given to gender-confused children as an off-label usage.
https://www.westernjournal.com/doctors-give-kids-drugs-can-chemically-castrate-just-like-pedophiles/
Well at least psychologists and psychiatrists will be busy for a few decades.
Oh…and lawyers 😉
71
An iceberg visible before the ship sailed.
20
Toast to this: A daily glass of beer could make your gut healthier
Researchers at NOVA University in Lisbon report that beer boosts healthy bacteria that fend off diseases and infections. The benefits come from polyphenols — plant compounds found in hops, barley and yeast. For those who don’t drink, there’s still good news: even non-alcoholic beer appears to have the same benefits.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world. Moderate intake has been found to be protective against cardiovascular disease in a similar way to wine. It is the only source of hop polyphenols in the human diet. They are responsible for the aroma and bitterness of ale.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.2c00587
50
Enovix’s silicon-based EV battery hits 98 percent charge in 10 minutes
The company has been developing its technology through a grant program from the US Department of Energy, and hopes to offer a solution for not just EVs but broader energy storage applications. On Monday it announced it has demonstrated that its battery can be charged from zero to 80 percent in as little as 5.2 minutes, and to more than 98 percent in less than 10.
https://ir.enovix.com/news-releases/news-release-details/enovix-battery-cells-achieve-exceptional-five-minute-fast-charge
20
Sound good if it has a comparable form factor and weight
40
have they solved the problem of toxic components/disposal??
30
Do you have to drive to the sub-station so as not to black out your suburb?
60
Biden Energy Secretary: Buy an EV Peasant!
h/t Dr. Willie Soon; Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who last month pocketed 1.6M exercising share options on an Electric Vehicle company, has suggested people experiencing gasoline pain should just buy an EV.
Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm insists high gas prices are ‘a very compelling case’ to buy an electric car: Official is worth $8million and recently exercised $1.6m stock option in electric car company
Granholm, in a clip surfaced Tuesday, made the case for going electric amid sky high gas prices
‘If you filled up your EV [electric vehicle] and you filled up your gas tank with gasoline, you would save $60 per fill-up,’ she said
Granholm made similar points in a White House press briefing in May 2021. ‘If you drive an electric car, this would not be affecting you,’ she said then
Granholm, who is worth $8million according to Forbes
Last month she also exercised stock options in Proterra, an electric vehicle company where she served as a director
She ended up pocketing $1.6 million on the transaction, according to an energy department spokesperson
What a charmer – Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm financially benefitted from a company whose value is soaring thanks to a gasoline price crisis which the Biden administration she serves helped to create, via their war on oil pipelines and oil and gas exploration.
No word yet if any of the Biden family serves on the boards of EV companies Jennifer is involved with.
Update (EW):
Breitbart reports Biden has instructed Granholm to meet with oil companies, to figure out ways to boost production and reduce gasoline pump prices. This follows on from a letter Biden sent to oil companies, which contained the ominous warning “my Administration is prepared to use all reasonable and appropriate Federal government tools and authorities to increase refinery capacity and output in the near term”. Biden expects oil companies to bring an explanation for their lack of production to their meeting with Granholm.
50
never mentions you have to pay double the price for the same basic functionality in the EV
a lot of those alleged “savings” have been pre paid
10
U.S. Nuclear Industry Shaved Generating Costs by 7.6% Compared to 2018
The U.S. nuclear power fleet last year achieved its lowest recorded average total generating costs in two decades—$30.42/MWh
—though it ran at a record-high 93.4% average capacity factor. Total generating costs were 7.6% lower last year compared to the prior year, and have fallen nearly 32% since 2012.
The numbers, highlighted in the Nuclear Energy Institute’s (NEI’s) Nuclear by the Numbers report released April 14, suggest industry initiatives to improve cost and performance and boost the competitiveness of nuclear power have been successful.
The nation’s 96 reactors at 56 sites have a combined 98,070 MWe of baseload capacity. The fleet in 2019 produced a record 809.4 billion kWh (809.4 TWh), about 2.3 TWh more than in 2018 (and 12.2 TWh more than in 2014), the report said. Nuclear generation today represents about 54.8% of U.S. carbon-free electricity, more than all other renewables sources combined. The report notes that over the past six years, industrywide capacity factors have also stayed above 90%.
The 2019 average capacity factor 93.4% number—the highest recorded in 20 years—is significant because it means “there is more nuclear-generated electricity today from a small number of reactors,” noted Harsh Desai, senior manager of NEI Energy and Economic Analysis. “For example, to have generated the same amount of electricity 30 years prior, in 1989, it would have taken 32 additional reactors compared to 2019.”
Since 2013, the report notes, eight reactors—with a combined 6.7 MWe of summer capacity—have been prematurely retired, generators whose fate was determined by market conditions, political pressure, or financial stresses assailing the sector.
At least six others—a combined 5.7 GW—will join them by 2025: the 601-MW Duane Arnold reactor in Iowa, which will close this year; Indian Point 2 and 3 in New York, a total 2,054 MW, which will be closed by 2021; the 772-MW Palisades reactor in Michigan, which will close in 2022; and Diablo Canyon 1 & 2, a combined 2,240 MW that will close by 2025.
30
24 billion username, password combinations can be found on cybercriminal forums
Digital Shadows on Wednesday reported more than 24 billion username and password combinations in circulation in cybercriminal marketplaces, many on the dark web — a number that represents a 65% increase from a previous report in 2020.
The Digital Shadows researchers found that the top 50 most common passwords are incredibly easy-to-guess and simply use the word “password” or a combination of easily remembered numbers.
They found that some 0.46% of all passwords — nearly one in every 200 — use 123456. Keyboard combinations such as “qwerty” or “1q2w3e” are also commonly used. Of the 50 most commonly used passwords, attackers can crack 49 in under one second via easy-to-use tools commonly available on criminal forums, which are often free of charge or at minimal cost.
https://www.scmagazine.com/news/identity-and-access/24-billion-username-password-combinations-can-be-found-on-cybercriminal-forums
To maximise your password strength you should always include symbols…
30
Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
A nice reference guide.😊
41
I would slow down on that one.
appeal to authority
You said that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true.
It’s important to note that this fallacy should not be used to dismiss the claims of experts, or scientific consensus. Appeals to authority are not valid arguments, but nor is it reasonable to disregard the claims of experts who have a demonstrated depth of knowledge unless one has a similar level of understanding and/or access to empirical evidence. However, it is entirely possible that the opinion of a person or institution of authority is wrong; therefore the authority that such a person or institution holds does not have any intrinsic bearing upon whether their claims are true or not.
20
an appeal to authority is a dialectical argument as regards the opinion of an authority that is presumed to be true, but which is not known to be true or false (see Aristotle).
an appeal to expert opinion is an argument grounded on the epistemic authority (ie knowledge) of an expert (as opposed to e.g. institutional authority).
the argument is usually regarded inherently weak [because it is directed to the opinion of the person making the claim and not to the thing itself – ie it is not an ad rem or ad judicium (see Locke) argument .
it is weak/fallacious where:
-there is no genuine expertise
-the authority relied on is not an expert in a relevant field
-the expert is not n objective source
-there is no consensus of experts
-the argument is not justified by reasons and evidence.
40
An argument to authority is doubly duplicitous when applied to scientific discourse. Opinion carries zero weight in science because science is by definition objective, while opinion is by definition subjective. Scientific consensus is the very definition of pseudoscience, anyone who utters that fallacy is an idiot.
You can have a scientific expert, they must demonstrate the ability to make precise and accurate predictions. For instance the IPCC claiming the earth will warm between 2.5 and 4 degrees is the same as a fortune teller claiming you will live to an age of between 50 and 80.
20
Solar Panels: Biden’s ‘Buy China’ Plan
. Beijing set out to destroy the American solar panel industry with subsidies that allowed Chinese companies to sell below the cost of manufacture — and, with the help of a series of neglectful American presidents, it largely succeeded.
. Americans workers cannot compete with slaves. Chinese solar panels are often made with what is politely termed “forced labor,” Uighurs and other captive Turkic minorities transported around China to factories resembling concentration camps.
. Now, thanks to Biden, products built by forced or slave labor will find their way into the United States tariff-free.
Chinese producers have been shipping China-made products into Southeast Asian countries — most notably Vietnam — and exporting them to the U.S. with labels falsely showing manufacture in those other countries.
. Biden “has opened the door wide for Chinese-funded special interests to defeat the fair application of U.S. trade law.” — Mamun Rashid, Auxin Solar’s CEO, NBC News, June 6, 2022.
. “We have not invested in building up American capacity the way we should, and we have not addressed China’s repeated cheating,” [Senator Sherrod] Brown [D-Ohio] stated. “On all these decisions, American solar manufacturers and their workers must be at the table.”
Biden, unfortunately, has taken away the seats of these domestic stakeholders.
. The second implication is even more important. Biden with his tariff waiver, dog-whistled to American manufacturers to keep factories in China.
. Biden always says he wants to support American manufacturers, but he keeps making decisions favoring Chinese workers. He did that June 6 when, with a single stroke of his pen, he devastated a U.S. industry, undermined the American legal system, and promoted slave labor in China.
40
Woolworths to freeze prices on selected essential items until the end of the year
Australian supermarket chain Woolworths has frozen the prices on a selection of essential products to help combat rising prices caused by out-of-control inflation.
It is unknown if Supermarket chains Coles, IGA, and Aldi will follow Woolworths lead.
Products include food essentials like yogurt, juice, bacon, tuna, pasta, frozen peas, cheese, bread rolls, salsa, flour, sugar, eggs, oats, tea, coffee, vinegar, and canned tomatoes.
As well as household products such as laundry powder, dishwashing liquid, sponges, bin bags and nappies.
https://afipn.com.au/woolworths-to-freeze-prices-on-selected-essential-items-until-the-end-of-the-year/
I’m sure that given their 100% minimum markup on most products that they can afford it. 😈
With eternal 50% off sales like Coles, they must have 200%+ margins on way too many goods. But at least you get to use the self checkouts…
71
Gas For Me But Not For Thee: Obama To Install Massive Propane Tanks In New England Mansion
Former President Barack Obama has ordered three massive propane tanks for his Martha’s Vineyard property as energy prices nationwide continue to surge.
The office of the select board of Edgartown, Massachusetts, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that an application for an “underground propane installment was approved at the 79 Turkeyland Cove Road address,” the location of a property owned by former President Barack Obama. The tanks are to be used for “residential purposes,” the office told The DCNF, and have a total capacity approved of “2,500 gallons which was broken into two 1,000 gallon tanks and one 500 gallon tank.”
“We’ve never had a private propane tank come to us,” select board member Arthur Smadbeck told the MV Times.
Although propane gas yields fewer carbon emissions than oil and coal, it is still considered a fossil fuel, and the massive installation at the Obama estate is not exactly environmentally friendly. Propane combustion produces numerous waste products such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, greenhouse gas, methane and non-methane overall organic carbon.
For the average American household, propane gas is increasingly becoming more expensive. Americans who use propane to heat their homes can expect to spend 54% more to run and maintain their homes due to increased energy prices, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Obama has consistently argued for the importance of fighting climate change and limiting fossil fuel emissions, saying that “no challenge poses a greater threat to our children, our planet, and future generations than climate change” and pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025.
91
Laying on the gas at the seaside mansion, as any true climate warrior would
10
Cattle dying across the USA
https://twitter.com/YouMayCallMeJay/status/1537138418567860225
The cattle equivalent of SADS or an orchestrated attack on the conventional food supply?
62
Dont know. Interesting event. Looks like a quick death event so possible toxicity cause.
50
occam’s razor, spiking grain prices caused someone to skimp on the feed quality. Cattle are at risk of heat stress at this point as they haven’t finish moulting, the wrong feed can cause additional heat from fermentation.
30
UN – In five months we have undone 20 years of progress – we have 10 weeks of wheat left in the world
https://www.bitchute.com/video/3pOGpeqTUsTE/
Never mind. We can eat crickets and locusts, but what will the crickets and locusts eat? 😈
50
Well, I’m sceptical.
Sounds like another Lefty scare story driven by their narrow ideological bias against the free market.
If you drive through the wheat producing areas of Australia you’ll see massive stores of last seasons grain crop still sitting in silos and on-ground storage. They can’t move it because of infrastructure shortfalls.
For example: “logistical challenges getting farm produce to port on trucks and trains (is a problem). CBH, Western Australia’s largest grain-growing cooperative, is investing nearly $1bn in new and upgraded infrastructure.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/3/10/as-wheat-prices-soar-australian-farmers-step-up-to-the-plate
In its 2022-23 Australian winter crop outlook report, Rabobank predicts this year’s planted crop area will reach a record 23.83 million hectares in Australia, up nearly 1 per cent on last year’s record.
They’ll be wanting to feed the world on insects next.
Scrape my windscreen – get a Toyota-burger for free.
82
Poor crops in China and India, Ukraine war, US is looking marginal, and it’s the main staple of middle east and africa. Australia is the one bright spark thanks to la nina. However back to back -ve IOD will spell disaster for the horn of africa. Throw in decreased yield from fertiliser prices and it’s only going to get worse. I hope they plant some potatoes, 14 times more efficient per hectare than grains.
10
Rob JM,
Do you know who the speaker was in the vid posted by John Connor II?
No? Well, she was Sara Menker, CEO of Gro Intelligence, a global company that uses artificial intelligence and public and private data to predict food supply trends.
Models and AI is all she’s got. Models all the way down.
She’s no model. She’s on the make. Getting aboard the global scare industry. She’s a green/lefty looking for some juicy contracts with the UN and the other intellectually-challenged or ideologically brain-dead international organisations.
She want to “organise a global response”. Of course she does. She’s on the make.
And, yes. She’s the cat’s mother. Too bad.
30
Wind has died off in SA and they are importing from somewhere. Luckily a couple of generators were back online today was it ? So coal power is back into the 6+ and so is Qld.
This high pressure system sitting on Australia is when there should be publicity about the problems with wind energy. It shows it up perfectly. People could do with a black out or two to wake them up.
51
Arguing water storage is somehow equivalent to electron storage is crackers as everyone knows.
Water storage NSW is 2,581,850ML (Water NSW) Last weeks output 8989ML. Storage covers 1week supply
x277,846 times. But rain water has to be stored to provide permanent continuous output.It’s not a matter of continuous flow from the clouds falling into house taps, suddenly falling short and having to be covered for a brief period. The total supply for continuity of water flow must be in storage, whether its a day -every day, a month -every month, or a year or three.
For Bowen to equate water with electricity is appallingly stupid from a man in charge of the most important resource of any nation.
That is unless he envisions a storage of electrons so large that generation can be intermittent and all electrons are drawn from 1, 2, 3, or a dozen batteries. Even the greens aren’t this stupid! Imagine the size of those batteries and the potential of their explosive force in one’s backyard. The more one thinks about it, in some ways this may be the only way renewables can work ie solar and wind generator nests scattered around the State, all feeding into huge batteries via their own linkage grids to keep them topped up, and the user drawing power from the closest huge battery network. Why did I even start this entry!
51
Chris Bowen is not known for his common sense and knowledge.
61
He is so..
..
.. for his total lack of either.
30
“Arguing water storage is somehow equivalent to electron storage is crackers as everyone knows.”
Not everyone DOC. Chris Bowen doesn’t know it’s crackers.
By the way, large battery storage costs 60 times as much as Snowy II per MWh stored.
Where is all that investment likely to come from?
30
AEMO has shut down energy market for ‘at least a week’
40
It’s entirely the fault of the previous Federal Government for not forcing State Governments to force private sector investors to fund more renewable energy businesses, and for allowing power station owners to close down, fail to plan for a replacement power station and fail to maintain their assets to a high standard regardless of profitability after renewables are favoured when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining.
/sarc.
Socialism verses capitalism.
41
Global cooling signal seen in Melbourne.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/melbourne-endures-earlyseason-cold-spell-not-seen-for-over-a-century/635158
52
In the late 1970’s there was excitement about extraction of oil from vast deposits of Queensland oil shale but it was always just being economic recovery price at the then oil price.
Surely it is within recoverable price now?
However, even if it was, the present socialist government wouldn’t allow it to be extracted as part of their energy starvation policy.
41
I remember one shale deposit near Rockhampton. They were pretty serious at the time. There is a big gap in power generation in Central Qld so the gas could fire a generator.
20
The AEMO run national grid is broken, yeah well it was fine until the green goblins fooled with it, now the watermelon voters deserve to freeze.
72
I agree watermelons should freeze in the dark but rational people shouldn’t.
It should be compulsory for Green Labor voters to have their electricity cut as soon as load needs to be shed. Smart meters can make that happen with the right software.
50
Since ACT is 100% renewable – Any Power Cut in NSW should cut off ACT first
20
In case the resident Leftists think I’m being a “conspiracy theorist” (a standard insult of the Left dor anuone thay doesn’t follow the narrative) about the global and local push for insect consumption in place of meat, your taxes are funding the CSIRO to research this:
https://research.csiro.au/edibleinsects/
And since the Libs and Green Labor are fanatical followers of UN decrees:
https://www.fao.org/edible-insects/en/
32
Ah FFS!! Just eat the bloody roos! The country is over-run with them and they kill & injure more people than murderers or industrial accidents!
Breed ones that taste decent, like they did when NZ changed ‘deer’ into ‘servina’, and farm roos instead of cattle and sheep. Double the height of the fences and keep them off the roads then export the meat to every country trying to force its subjects to eat bugs.
50
Camel is tasty too.
30
” Insects have a high food conversion rate, e.g. crickets need six times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and twice less than pigs and broiler chickens to produce the same amount of protein. ”
Help from any chemists out there. How can anything produce “more” from “less”. If protiens are nitrogen compounds then whatever system is used it will need the same amount of raw material to produce the same amount of finished produce.
00
Err… it is simply due to efficiency and waste.
20
Here is a helpful guide with an addendum that includes insects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio
Turning around your question compare fuel consumption for a 1950s heavy V8 car at 50km/h for one hour vs a modern 4 cylinder doing the same speed and distance. They achieve the same outcome with a huge difference in fuel input.
30
Fauci has ‘Rona.
I hope he isn’t given access to treatment he denied to others like IVM, HCQ, etc..
82
I wonder if he’s vaxxed? He’s a smart fellow. I doubt he’d allow that stuff to be injected into him.
52
I wonder if he’s vaxxed?
Tony Fauci, the Quadruple Vaxed, Double Masked Oracle of Nonsense, Has COVID
31
Some 4% of our generation assets are owned by Aussies, the rest is foreign owned.
50
Are you sure? Qld Gov owns a lot in spite of labor sell offs.
States must enact some sort of “abandoned asset” legislation that will allow them to take over what others want to scrap. This failed experiment into privatisation must be reversed.
30
Good to see our chemists still practising medicine without a license. Over 55 you can get melatonin without prescription as per TGA guidelines however, a chemist will ask if you have had these pills before at this point you need to say no otherwise the chemist will demand you get a script from your doctor.
The PGA believe they have the authority to override TGA decisions
70
In Nanny State Australia, it used to be a serious offence to import melatonin and it could only be prescribed by an endocrinologist. In the US it is over the counter, I bought a supply at Costco last time I was in the US.
I guess in Australia it was formerly hard to get because the TGA preferred Big Pharma sleep drugs instead of natural melatonin.
Frankly, I find it utterly useless. But that could be because commercial doses are 3mg and at doses over 0.3mg melatonin receptors in the brain are “flooded” and become unresponsive.
Other people might have better outcomes.
Ref: https://news.mit.edu/2005/melatonin
31
Natrol, Melatonin Advanced Sleep, Time Release, 10 mg, 100 Tablets
11
Melatonin.. wasn’t that the stuff the Chinese were putting in baby food?
No wait.. that was Melamine, I think. !
32
Albanese has ‘signed his political death warrant’ All I can see is Albo and co. saying Oh Shit! as they realise that they don’t know what they are doing.
41
“as they realise that they don’t know what they are doing.”
I see no evidence that they have the vaguest clue that they don’t know what they are doing !
51
“The Doolittle Raid | Full Documentary | Jimmy Doolittle | North American Mitchell B-25”
https://youtu.be/68qVYAa1uE0
30
I have often wondered about the value of that raid: The damage was minuscule and the losses, as part of the sphere of operations, also minuscule but it obviously had a BIG psychological effect.
There was a sorta similar raid by the RAF on Berlin while Britain was reeling under air attack. That too changed the course of the war way out of proportion to the damage.
30
It has been said the the Doolittle raid encouraged the Japanese to plan the Midway retaliation, with disastrous results.
00
Hey down there,
do Jacinda and Dan recognize that without us vile gun-toting Americans they’d be speaking Japanese?
And ruled not by the polite Japan of today, but Bushido Japan.
Trump would answer.
Likely no point in calling Joe.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
I’m sure the CCP of today disavows the CCP of of 1958.
51
Yes we do, but isolationist USA was never going to get involved without Pearl. Your actions were self preservation.
No Pearl Harbour raid, no US involvement, Japan would be unlikely to attack Australia because we didn’t have the rubber and oil they needed because of US sanctions
20
Imminent Crisis Approaching by the Hour
11
Just sat through the Q&A discussion on the power situation – aaarrrggghhh!
Three things stood out to me that the participants swerved around. One was a video question from a guy with lots of solar panels on his roof (no battery of course), complaining that his feed-in tariff was reduced to almost nothing whilst his usage charge from his energy provider was way more. None of the Q&A panel was game enough to point out that with about 3 million homes in Oz feeding power into the grid in the middle of the day when no-one really wants it, he is lucky to get anything and of course his main power usage from his supplier is provided when his panels and millions of others have gone to sleep, so he has to pay up.
The second item was about reservation of natural gas for domestic use. NSW and Vic have already reserved large quantities of natural gas for domestic use. The only catch is they will not allow it to be accessed! It’s in the ground in natural storage reservoirs waiting. So convenient – drill into the reservoir, case off the drill hole, put a tap on top, build a distribution pipeline – end of development. Turn the tap on when you need it, turn it off when you don’t. The pipeline is now also a problem because farmers have “shut the gate” and won’t allow them to cross their land. So the SE Australian states rely on a small network of existing pipelines that cannot cope with winter domestic heating use and an increasing number of gas-fired peaker plants all clamoring for the same limited resource. If the farmers complain about a buried gas pipeline that you would be flat out finding if there wasn’t a sign on a post every now and then and happily sowing crops over it, I’m sure that they will be ecstatic about the proposed network of high voltage power lines joining up renewable projects all over the place.
They had no concept of how many batteries (and at what cost) would be needed to back up a renewable grid, and if they did, they were not going to bring it up.
Aaaaarggghhh!
60
You took one for me. I thank you.
30
I wasted my evening, and risked busting a blood vessel watching that also.
It was like watching a troop of monkeys licking each others ar55’s !
It seemed to me that their plan is to hope everyone installs large amounts of RT solar and buys an EV that can be used as a store to feed back into the grid if commanded to.
Of course all at the expence to the individual !
20
Meteorologist: It’s not caused by climate change:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2022/06/14/wyoming-meteorologist-scoffs-at-climate-change-claims-in-yellowstone-flooding/
31
I’m old enough to remember when it was blamed on THE BOMB!
90
Don Day (DayWeather.com) in Cheyenne is a Wyoming State Meteorologist, and one of the most astute individuals I know. He came to Casper for the 2017 total solar eclipse (Casper was on the centerline), and once he helped me with a question I had.
It was springtime, and this one morning, I went out to my car, getting ready to go to work, and I noticed this fine particulate matter on the car. The more I investigated, the more I saw this stuff on every surface I investigated. When I touched it, it did not seem to be what I was expecting: pollen from the native plants. Instead, when I tested it with the ‘geologist taste test’ (taking some of it to see if it was gritty [sand] or smooth [clay]), the stuff I tested was gritty, and I was able to look at some of it with with my hand lens. I could not identify any minerals, but it occurred to me that I might know the source.
I contacted Mr. Day (through his website), explained things, and then asked, ‘is it possible that the eruptions from Kilauea’ were being wafted on the jet stream, into central Wyoming. He supplied a chart of jet stream winds for the past month, and indeed, there was a remote possibility that what had fallen onto central Wyoming was from the active eruption(s). I’ve not seen this same phenomenon since that last active episode, some years ago. I’ve seen pollen-falls, and the difference is distinctive.
I cannot say that I’ve noticed anything from the Tonga eruption, but Wyoming has been it’s normal, windy self this Spring (Fall for y’all Down Under). The nice thing about the wind is that it tends to keep the riff-raff out … … …
… … … except, of course, for me … … …
Vlad
70
We had quite a lot of dust from the volcano in SW WA. It was amazing actually. Made quite a mess for quite a bit of time.
20
Enjoy the ski season my Australian friends, THIS year, will definitely be the last you ever get to experience. Your children will never see snow again.
Trust the Science!
91
“Munich Professor: Role of Methane from Cows on Climate Exaggerated by A Factor Of 3 To 4!”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/06/16/munich-professor-role-of-methane-from-cows-on-climate-exaggerated-by-a-factor-of-3-to-4/
30
From a friend on that –
“”It often goes unmentioned that the climate gases from agriculture come from balanced biogenic cycles ”
He means
“It ALWAYS goes unmentioned that the climate gases from agriculture come from balanced biogenic cycles”
20
Monkeypox update: African countries report 1,597 suspected cases and 66 deaths this year
https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/monkeypox-african-countries-report-1-597-suspected-cases-and-66-deaths-this-year-20220616
Around 2200 cases but no deaths in the west. Cases are increasing very slowly worldwide except for the UK & EU although I expect cases to peak next month in the UK/EU.
We’ll know it’s serious when ICU nurses do dance routines on Tiktok.😉
01
From a while back – Pointman on carbon
“SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY.”
https://thepointman.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/sleeping-with-the-enemy/
00
Well! Well!
From a David Littleproud circular
“NUCLEAR POWER INTO THE ENERGY MIX?
I’ve written to the Prime Minister asking him to consider nuclear power as part of our energy mix. Can we make it safe, affordable and reliable in Australia?
Over the next five to 10 years, we have the opportunity to look at new and emerging technologies. All we want is to see whether nuclear power can be done safely in Australia to both reduce emissions and to give us baseload power. We need to have this conversation and if opportunities exist – back ourselves. “
00
Nuclear isn’t cheap. Not with construction costs, regulatory costs, and decommissioning costs.
10
And totally unnecessary in Australia.
10
Many letters in the Weekend Oz magazine this week from disgruntled former chattering-class Lib voters, mostly female, who switched their ballot to teal, green, or Labor because Morrison was not sufficiently woke and didn’t do enough about ” climate “. They are enjoying Albo’s ” leadership ” so far.
It’s all about showing you ” care ” about climate, indigenous issues, etc.
20
Manic virtue-seeking driven by zero-brain mentality !
10
All too common I’m afraid. I meant to post the comment in the Weekend Unthreaded. My bad.
00