The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to a desperate Europe was supposed to re-open yesterday, instead, Russia announced that it will remain closed due to an oil leak, indefinitely. The announcement was made after markets closed. Germany has about 3 months of gas in storage.
Gas prices are expected to rise Monday.
Ukraine war: Russia to keep key gas pipeline to EU closed
By Robert Plummer & Oliver Slow
BBC News
Faisal Islam, the BBC’s economics editor, described the indefinite closure of Nord Stream 1 as a very serious development, noting that Russia had kept supplies into Europe flowing even at the height of the Cold War.
The stand-off with Russia has forced countries to fill their own gas supplies, with Germany’s stores increasing from less than half in June to 84% full today.
Apparently this is the oil spill that shut down a billion dollar pipeline:
Just bad luck then?
Twitter commenters have some doubts:
@PolemicTMM –– Masterful trolling of the EU by Mr P.
@PrivatinvestN — Is this a Friday night joke or have they actually published this?
@JavierBlas — They did. Obviously, all pretences are gone.
@NathanEYates — Looks like a coffee spill.
@vulcanhammer –– You’ve obviously never had Russian instant coffee. You would then understand why the pipeline is closed.
Jokes aside, Javier Blas warns — “it’s down for good”
Gazprom seems to imply here that the only operating turbine at Nord Stream 1 pipeline can only be repaired now at one of (overseas) Siemens Energy specialised workshops, and until that happens, the pipeline won’t re-start (in other words, it’s down for good)
Seimens says that the leak should not stop the operation of the pipeline.
““… we have already pointed out several times that there are sufficient other turbines available at the Portovaya compressor station for Nord Stream 1 to operate,” Siemens Energy said.“
Looks like another move in the energy wars which didn’t have to be this way.
If only Europe had an energy policy that wasn’t designed by teenage girls.
The teenage girls are bankers, Klaus Schwab and the UN 2030 Green Agenda:
“On August 22 the exchange-traded market price for natural gas in the German THE (Trading Hub Europe) gas hub was trading more than 1000% higher than a year ago. Most citizens are told by the Scholz regime that the reason is Putin and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The truth is quite otherwise. EU politicians and major financial interests are using Russia to cover what is a Made in Germany and Brussels energy crisis. The consequences are not accidental.
It is not because politicians like Scholz or German Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck, nor EU Commission Green Energy Vice President Frans Timmermans are stupid or clueless. Corrupt and dishonest, maybe yes. They know exactly what they are doing. They are reading a script. It is all part of the EU plan to deindustrialize one of the most energy-efficient industrial concentrations on the planet. This is the UN Green Agenda 2030 otherwise known as Klaus Schwab’s Great Reset…”
https://www.globalresearch.ca/europe-energy-armageddon-from-berlin-brussels-not-moscow/5792005
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Interesting. In Germany, sun and wind gathering energy subsides are tied to the highest electric grid hydrocarbon fuel which is now natural gas. It appears the sun and wind subsidizes will increase exponentially with the price of natural gas.
The US/EU’s most recent ‘plan’ is to set a price cap on what the EU and UK will pay for Russian oil and gas. Russia’s immediate response is they will not accept a price cap less than world price and will simply not supply energy. It appears however the EU cannot backdown or change their minds or consider the consequences of severe energy shortages/economic collapse.
“On August 28, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the sole cabinet member from the Liberal Party (FDP), revealed that under the opaque terms of the complex EU Electricity Market Reform measures, the producers of electricity from solar or wind automatically receive the same price for their “renewable” electricity they sell to the power companies for the grid as the highest cost, i.e. natural gas!
Lindner called for an “urgent” change to the German energy law to decouple different markets. The fanatical Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck immediately replied that, “We are working hard to find a new market model,” but cautioning that the government must be mindful not to intervene too much: “We need functioning markets and, at the same time, we need to set the right rules so that positions in the market are not abused.””
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/g7-finance-chiefs-seen-advancing-russian-oil-price-cap-plan-2022-09-02/
https://time.com/6209272/europes-energy-crisis-getting-worse/
With Europe dependent on Russian imports for over 40% of its gas needs, and 46% for coal and 27% for oil, Putin has a lot of leverage.
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we need to set the right rules so that positions in the market are not abused.””
Is he seriously saying that the market is not being abused? It’s working as designed and the design is cactus.
Those on the prickly side of the cactus are the end users,ie. the public.
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Exactly what I was thinking. Well, that just before I thought about the customers being abused.
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From https://voxday.net/2022/09/03/play-stupid-energy-games/
“Let’s get this straight. Europe has a perfectly operational natural gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, that it refuses to use. Russia has, quite reasonably, decided that it’s not interested in continuing to provide natural gas to the same countries that are a) sanctioning its people and b) arming and funding the Ukrainian war against Russia on the terms of those enemies.”
“Can you even imagine how many contracts have been violated by the European sanctions against Russia? This anti-Russian rhetoric is as ineffective as it is retarded. Frankly, I’m astonished that the Russians didn’t shut down the pipeline months ago.”
Do RTWT. It’s really short…
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@ Fuel Filter:- I assume you are aware of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Other than sanctions what alternative measures would you suggest – nuclear war perhaps?
No amount of stupidity of Europe excuses Putin’s invasion which is based upon greed for power and a bygone era.
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And another thing:
Its a Russian war against Ukraine.
You do realize Russia was conducting a proxy war in Ukraine since 2014? In 2014 a commercial passenger plane was shot out of the sky in the name of Putin’s greed. Not sure what is your nationality but as an Australian I wouldn’t take kindly to a foreign power attempting to carve out part of my country.
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Seriously? They are using which country to fight it’s war?
The accusation of a proxy war was levelled at the US and UK. They have supported fighters who have terrorised the people in Russian held territories. You might want to view as legitimate fighting back for their homeland but it’s no excuse for the BS.
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Yes seriously, Ukraine territory was decided in 1991 with the fall of the Soviet Union. 31 years ago.
What BS? The Russian Buk missile that shot down MH-17 is a fact. Of course Ukraine is legitimately fighting back for their homeland. What if an Australian state invited a foreign nuclear superpower to forcefully succeed from the Federation would you expect the Australian government to resist with military force? Why do you think NATO even exists? Putin proved why. Russia is utterly corrupt, and China is using Putin.
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The accusation of a proxy war was levelled at the US and UK – by Russia. BS. Credibility zero. You believe Putin? Why? Why would the west risk nuclear war it has absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose, including a few billion lives. Russia is traditionally paranoid, and Putin exploits this paranoia to extend his power. This is why he annexed Crimea under Obama’s nose. This is why he moved on Ukraine.
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Here is how much the German Greens care about their voters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buvztavdd6Y
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The greens have their own agenda and it doesn’t include looking after you.
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“Greens” are, and have ALWAYS been, a DEATH CULT, GLOBALLY.
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The uk imports no gas from Russia so is not directly affected. However it imports gas from Norway and other energy from the European interconnectors. So it is possible that any European nations that are short of energy might be able to divert it from the UK
The EU are still hopping mad about brexit so we shall have to see how orderly this will all be.
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Merkel is directly responsible for the EU. Dependence on Russian energy. It beats me as to why she was considered such a great stateswoman. As well as putting all the energy eggs in one basket she also refused to properly defend Europe through NATO and put great emphasis on trading with Russia with all that implies on not wishing to rock the boat .
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And she also welcomed all the so-called “refugees”. Germany is still paying the price for that folly.
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Waiting for the US Dollar to collapse completely as more and more sabotage could really cause damage to the billions invested.
Putin has already commented on the collapse of the old Soviet Union is following the same path as the US Dollar currently.
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That’s why a US Dollar is now worth more than an Euro 🙂
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The dollar is historically high against the uk pound, the euro and the yen. No sign of it collapsing. As a reserve currency it tends to strengthen at times of crisis
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In times of crisis, International Capital flows to the US Markets. US dollars need to be bought so up goes the US dollar against most other currencies, all things being equal.
The US dollar is the best of a bad bunch and will be the last to fall. The first will be the Euro as part of the break up of the EU (a failed experimental currency).
Brexit was just the start – All IMHO.
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Frasck, frack, frack those rocks in the Per-me-ian. . .
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THe only currency doing better than USD is the RUB. Before Ukraine, USD1 bought RUB75. It now only buys RUB60.
Energy is the real currency in the modern world.
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I am no fan of Russia or Putin but this has to happen to force woke Europe to wake up. They were warned years ago by you know who and they just laughed at him. Well are you still laughing EU? Self important fools.
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A Russian signature under a contract means nothing.
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Funny, I don’t see anyone complaining about all the western corporations and governments that pulled out of Russian contracts after the sanctions were announced. Russia is simply responding, tit-for-tat. I’m honestly surprised it has taken them this long.
Many western leaders have said outright their end goal is the collapse of the Russian government and/or regime change. Why should Russia continue to supply energy to governments that have declared economic war on them and are trying to crush them?
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I think a lot of business owners with Ukrainian flags in their Twitter and Facebook accounts will be upset when they have to close down because they cant afford to pay their bills.
Still, despite much evidence of multiple failures by multiple governments to consider energy security (if not energy independence), it’s all apparently the fault of Russia…
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I’ve already seen a few shop owners with Ukrainian flags in the Twitter profiles complaining about their electricity bills. Well, they got the total economic war against Ukraine that they wanted, now they are getting the unintended consequences, good and hard.
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If you want to send arms and money to Ukraine to kill Russian men don’t be surprised that Russia does something to hurt you.
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Russia is a proud guarantor of Ukrainian territorial integrity. (Also the United States, and the United Kingdom). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances
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Though to be fair Russia DID invade Ukraine didn’t it?
Or are you ignoring that part of the argument?
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They were killing ethnic Russians long before the invasion, hence the invasion
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Russian men should not be invading Ukraine. If you want to to kill Ukrainian men who during WWII fought with the Soviet Red army to defeat Hitler don’t be surprised that Ukraine might want to fight back. There was also Holodomor. Defending a monster is indefensible.
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French have the same view of Australians.
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But they are in denial, the contract was staged meaning as each stage was completed or not completed there was payment or provision to cancel the contract. The design stage was running late and the quoted project price was increased with no cap. By that time circumstances had changed and AUKUS was formed including many agreements on supply of weapons and weapons systems and closer military cooperation including nuclear submarines for the RAN of either UK or US design.
I read recently that the RAN Collins Class submarines about to be upgraded use the same technology systems and torpedos as our allies nuclear submarines.
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Yep, the French company basically wasn’t performing.
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With a lot of help from Australian Union-dominated industry I bet.
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Apparently not. They managed to do it all by themselves, but there may have been scope changes which led to quite a bit of rework.
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The EU effed about and found out.
In their rush to embrace a new green utopia they have wounded themselves – will that wound heal or will it become gangrenous and lead to a mass extinction?
Based on their commitment to self harm, it is far too early to be definitive.
But the Australian loons in State and Federal Parliaments should be watching & learning from these ongoing developments…
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‘But the Australian loons in State and Federal Parliaments should be watching & learning from these ongoing developments…”
Sadly, although they may be watching, they are not learning anything, ‘we have a plan’.
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A system for rating parliamentarians
Find their years in parliament
Then realise that
One year of experience that many times
is NOT the same as
that many years of experience
(with minor exceptions)
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Clearly the Europeans just aren’t doing it right as they don’t have people of the intellectual caliber of Albanese, Bowen and Plibersek. Watch us streak ahead through the power of wishful thinking.
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What’s to learn?
Wuhan Flu Lockdowns have already shown that people will do what they are told, and generally wont cause problems.
Blackouts and sky high electricity prices will continue to be blamed on unreliable coal and gas, and a lot of people will believe it.
I believe it’s already too late to avert energy and food related disasters in Australia, no matter who is in government.
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Teenagers. No isms please.
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Someone has to say it. Trump warned them, and they laughed at him.
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Indeed they did:
https://youtu.be/FfJv9QYrlwg
But, because of the blindness of his ideology, your one red thumber can’t accept what his eyes show him.
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EU: Why haven't you turned the gas back on?
Russia: We are missing a necessary spare part.
EU: Why don't you get the spare part you need?
Russia: Well, there are these sanctions...
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And now they are actually saying that:
https://nitter.net/JavierBlas/status/1565791141664100353
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A French energy company (Engie) hasn’t paid their bill for Russian gas, so Russia has cut them off. You know, just the way a normal business operates, yet there is surprise and some consternation about it.
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The French do outrage and victimhood very very well.
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Yes, and our silly weak PM paid the French $830 million when they complained about why we dumped their submarines were way behind schedule and way over budget. This is the same country that conducted thermonuclear tests in our backyard and sunk the Rainbow Warrior. Anthony Albanese as weak as water and this happened after his Treasurer claimed there would be “an end to the waste and rorts”. That claim did age very well.
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German breweries are being force to reduce production of beer. So no beer for Octoberfest!
i AM LOVING IT
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Gorbachev, glasnost and perestroika. Those 3 words started Europe down the path which lead to the situation they are in today
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NO ! The green agenda, and the idiotic refusal to maintain a self-reliance of fossil fuel/nuclear baseload+ electricity is the reason for the current problems.
And yes.. economic structuring by removing bureaucratic controls (perestroika) and “transparency” (glasnost), are very much the enemies of the far left.
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True, although its just a typical market for goods. You buy what you need at the cheapest price, and that happened to be energy from Russia.
The problems came when America told them all to do as they were told and sanction Russia in February. The EU could have tut-tutted at Russia and ignored what they were doing to clear the Yanks out of Ukraine, but they are so under the thumb of the USA it just couldn’t happen.
The Yanks will sacrifice Europe to score one up on the Russians any day of the week.
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Your “yanks” saved Europe from the German/Prussian aggression of the 1914-18 period and again in the 1940s from the German National Socialists and the Russian Communists.
Since the end of WWII the USA has been used and abused by arrogant and conceited self-serving European governments.
If the USA were to “sacrifice” Europe, as you suggest, it would be no loss. Let Europe freeze in its green utopia or frac their way out of it. It’s up to them. They’re beyond help or sympathy.
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So for 70+ years the EU “used and abused” the USA and they just took it? really? the US as the victim is really hard to swallow. Nothing at all to do with US military bases and sigint listening posts everywhere.
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Yarpos, think.
The USA’s bases were in Europe because the Europeans have no ticker. They begged the USA to stay. Why? Because they won’t defend themselves. They won’t rearm to resist the Commo’s aggressions. They’d prefer to trade with their enemies and put their security (be that energy, economic or physical) at risk. That’s why they’ve begged the USA to stay.
They’re a pack of free-loaders. Bludgers. Conceited, arrogant and stupid.
Trump gave them some free advice. They laughed at him. Let them laugh now.
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Indeed, the 1st world nations practice this hypocrisy of “out of sight, out of mind”: If we move the ugly manufacturing, mining and drilling activities far enough away that we don’t see it then it’s all hunky-dory and screw the environment – at the same time we just “move” the “CO2 pollution” to China or India but that’s perfectly fine for our stupid electorate canon fodder…all the while killing our own industries to end up where the EU is now with Russia. And China, Russia, India laughing all the way to the bank…
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Peter showing his true hard core commie roots.
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What gave me away?
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The EU and California are rationing electricity and telling EV owners when and where they can charge their cars, and Bowen is still spruiking the one energy source mantra that 82% renewables is the way to go.
He is living in a parallel universe.
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Actually, Turtle Head Bowen is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. And at this rate, our goose will soon be well and truly cooked (and not by cheap energy either).
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And here, Flinders Island which has the best chance to showcase unreliables, is operating on 93% diesel with a touch of solar…. green, I don’t think so !.
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It’s not a parallel universe it’s a rapidly diverging universe.
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And he’s exchanging notes and ideas with Kerry, one of the biggest leeches off the green gravy train only second to the likes of Musk, Gore, Thunberg et al. Poor fellow my country, but the majority voted for it so not too much sympathy, just a pity those of us with brains need to suffer with them…
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Trump warned them all back in 2016 and they scoffed at him, pulling faces like those you’ll find at your nearest asylum. Now the joke is on them all and they are exposed as the grand fools they are, responsible for the misery that follows. These fools have always claimed they follow the science, but now their Bunsen burners have been shut off, the people of Europe will need to survive their failed experiment.
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The real fools are the electorate that vote their hero fools into office at the behest of the fools in the media!
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“If only Europe had an energy policy that wasn’t designed by teenage girls.”
Or by people with the maturity of same.
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I just heard on the 2SM news that Pew research found that Australians were most concerned about Climate Change. I would have thought that cost of living, electricity prices and mortgage repayments might have ranked higher since their effect is immediate. I have not seen the questions asked but given the choice between climate and Ebola then climate would win hands down. I do note that Pew is resident in DC and it claims to be apolitical. I think they are the go to research centre for leftist governments to obtain their desired result. IOW BS. Senator Canavan admitted on Sky that the Coalition adopted the Net Zero suicide solution as a result of such polls. We are also headed to the European version of oblivion using the Chris Bowen formula of shunning engineering advice and accepting his own fantasy view based on arrogance and ignorance. Maybe the respondents were worried, not so much by climate change itself, but the idiotic government policies to “combat” it.
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The Pew research was designed for them by the CCP. There was only one box to tick and it was (very helpfully) pre-ticked.
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How long will it be until we are subjected to ‘ climate lockdowns’.
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I’m a Native so I will just keep going ‘Walkabout’, unless it’s raining of course.
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If, heaven forbid, the Voice gets up and there is electricity rationing will the Voice call for power to be supplied to the natives and will the Voice be heeded? A true test for Albo the Munificent.
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I can’t see anything wrong with racists wanting to entrench racism in the Australian constitution…
(yes, I’m being extremely sarcastic…)
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Not long
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One delightful aspect amidst all the imposed misery is that EV owners are being locked down first. The ones, that is, that were given a generous subsidy to buy something that now must not be used because there isn’t enough electricity.
The really frightening aspect of all this imposed misery is that the media, whose job is to inform without fear or favour, are in the misery-promotion up to their necks.
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So if lockdowns are necessary in Europe this winter, will people be forced to stay in their powerless freezing homes to flatten the curve?
Casualty disposal might possibly be delayed until spring thaw, saving energy.
Those EU government types are really clever.
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“Stay home and turn everything off to flatten the energy curve, only take two weeks’.
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This will be a serious test of the fat in the German economy. Basic needs will be uppermost if the gas runs out.
What kills humans quickest –
Cold – make sure you have blankets. I understand it is impossible to buy wood or coal in most of Europe.
Need to breathe – air should improve but you may need to ensure the air quality within closed doors is OK. It there a window that can be opened.
Water supply – need to have bottled water on hand for a week or so.
Ability to heat water and food independent of any distributed service would be good.
Have a couple of flashlights that can be useful when the lights do not work.
Need to eat – tinned food can keep you alive.
Need to crap – a bucket and a shovel if you have accessible open space. If you are low lying then be prepared to block the crapper so turds do not infest the residence.
Chaos – be aware of rioting and how you can avoid others pilfering.what is needed to survive.
Distributed water quality – if power goes out then be aware the tap water could get contaminated.
Gas explosion – if gas runs out, make certain manual gas appliances are turned off so air does not infiltrate the pipes or the residence gets filled with gas when service is restored.
This is a start. I expect there are survivalists manuals that might have some good suggestions.
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Articles on emergency preparations
“Emergency preparations, Part 5: Planning your food reserves”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2012/01/emergency-preparations-part-5-planning.html
Links to Parts 1 – 4 are down the side bar a ways
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This situation makes me wonder why Trump warned the Germans of their over reliance on Russian gas. Was it just a strategic risk identified by advisers or was it something that he personally assessed.
Trump has/had some sort of repport with Putin. Did Trump assess that Putin may not be inclined to play nice?
This mess shows how useless the UN actually is. There is a reasonable risk of lives being lost across Europe this year due to lack of energy and UN is unable to do anything about it.
Australia has abundant energy resources but the country is locked into complete reliance on China to avoid energy poverty. Iron ore is now under USD100/t so that is hitting Australia income. Not quite so bad in AUD terms but well below what it was. Fortunately coal and gas prices have gone ballistic but that does not alter the headlong dive toward energy poverty in Australia.
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Trump wanted the Germans to buy US gas, for financial reasons at least. On the other hand, the Deep State has always been at war with Russia. Now it is all out in the open.
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Yes, I expect Trump found out what the Deep State was planning with Russia and saw this war coming. His handlers were probably horrified that he warned Germany at all, and they would have led the charge to discredit him..
Like they do with Biden, ‘the President didn’t mean that, even though he said it, what he meant was this..’
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You need to think a little more deeply before pushing the socialist left’s propaganda.
The Democrats and their corrupt and politicised public servants led the persistent attempts to undermine the American republic. And they’re succeeding. President Trump just got in their way.
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RickWill
September 4, 2022 at 11:18 am · Reply
This situation makes me wonder why Trump warned the Germans of their over reliance on Russian gas. Was it just a strategic risk identified by advisers or was it something that he personally assessed.
===========================================================
Because it’s OBVIOUS, eh? Even to a layman such as myself. Many noted this well before Trump.
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Does the EU and Britain have briquettes or bags of charcoal, I was watching a series about cruising the British canals in narrow boats, there was a delivery service on the canal for diesel and 25 kg bags of coal.
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Inside combustion is a problem. Oxygen has to come from outside and venting is required. Poor implementation can lead to Carbon Monoxide death. This seems to happen a few times every year when poor folks move from a warm to a cold climate. For instance:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-22/mfs-warn-of-carbon-monoxide-dangers/101260706
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Well, it goes without saying that you need a flue to burn stuff inside.
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I have cruised on the canals in one of the hire barges and it used diesel for propulsion and heating. The heating was via a heat exchanger either heated by engine waste heat or a diesel burner. THe diesel burner was probably in the engine well that I had no reason to look into. There was no combustion in the cabin. We had no need for heating in late September but it was not warm at night.
Many boats have little combustion heaters with external stack. You would need to be mindful of reducing oxygen level in the small cabin.
We were on the Oxford canals and the regular operation of lock gates and low bridges provided plenty of warming exercise even if there was slight precipitation. This is our boat:
https://www.collegecruisers.com/somerville/
There were only two of us so we did not need to convert the seating to the bed each night. The locks get tedious after the first five or so. We got very good at going through locks. Did not even need to tie off. I would open the gate, wife bring the barge in with great care and precision, close the gate open valve then open exit gate once level equilibrated. Wife then move out of lock and pull in so I could rebpard after closing the gate.
The barges move slower than walking because they do not want wake to damage canals.
Just before Covid we hired a crewed barge in Europe with a group of friends and travelled the French canals. They are much bigger and our barge was luxurious with accommodation for 12 passengers and 6 crew. However it was still possible to walk from lock to lock and keep up with the barge. The barge had to be moored from sunset to sunrise when in the narrow canals.
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wow. You’re very lucky to have done that. I had no idea those things or the canals existed until I went to England and stumbled across them. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
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We had our wedding reception on a narrow boat on the Kennet and Avon canal (UK)
…very cosey !!
The French canals are a holiday paradise ( in the summer !) ..
..idilic countryside, remote villages, endless relaxation as the locks are mostly automatic (no need to even get off the boat) . The boats are also bigger and can be luxurious,
BUT… they are still commercial waterways, so many large commercial barges which command priority ! ( size matters!)
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The EU certainly does have briquettes, I was buying and using some German ones from Bunnings this winter. I dont expect many will be hitting the export market any more.
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Lots of Australians have rooftop solar pv, but it’s useless once the power goes off.
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Yes, but as I’ve said months ago, people should focus on energy independence.
ie a serious solar array, 5kw or more quality pure-sine inverter and a large battery, so you can run your house independently.
Now we see why…😉
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yes, true, but that is very expensive. And absurd to be pushed into that direction. Its like coming up with the bribe money of your abductor. Even if electricity sky rockets the price of battery would never be recovered.
My house is surrounded by trees that shade the house and we are not allowed to cut down (we asked). We disconnected the useless solar panels someone put on our roof before we arrived. Fortunately we have pretty much endless firewood.
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I agree but ONLY the battery is the killer. $10-$15k for 2 Li-Ion batteries is pricey but there’s not many alternatives yet. How much do people spend on that SUV they don’t need eh? $30-40k 😉
Nothing like a good firewood reserve. Agree. 😊
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Yeah I was at the brink of building an off grid house, had the land and all, but changed plan and ended up back in normality. Seemed sensible at the time (6 years ago) but I kind of regret it now.
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Putting solar on YOUR roof feeding YOUR battery for YOUR use will be lower cost than using the same technology at grid level. You have avoided the very high cost of transmission.
I am yet to see solar panels on an Australian roof optimised for winter sunlight. If you are off the grid then that is when you want to get most from the system. You often see panels on street lighting optimised for winter sunlight. IN Melbourne that is just 30 degrees from vertical.
I have the last kW of my offgrid panels tilted at 40 degrees to vertical. Still not enough to maximise winter input but almost right for the lowest sunlight period usually during May. At that angle, they need considerable horizontal separation to avoid shadowing from northern row to more southern row.
Anyone making a claim that W&S is lower cost than coal generation does not appreciate anything about energy or on-demand generation. But making your own using solar will be lower cost than the grid can supply using W&S unless the grid is funded from general revenue.
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I would point out here that this is not a cost comparison independent-vs-grid issue. It’s a SURVIVAL issue. Having planned ahead and possess power generation the masses don’t when SHTF.
BTW there are adjustable solar arrays either manually or automatically based to track the sun for optimum efficiency.
I designed a sweet manual system for motorhomes a few years back.
Winter is winter…c’est la vie…
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Just as well it’s not a cost comparison because Solar PV fails the test miserably – with or without battery.
Depreciate your capital cost to zero over 20 years. Add in your opportunity cost at the grossed up fully-franked rate of 6-8% pa. Add to that the maintenance and cleaning cost. And then, to top it off, your sale into the grid of any excess kWhs at a FIT rate of 2.5 cents per kWh as an offset against night-time power purchases at 30.0 cents per kWh, and you have the formula for a nice big long-term loss. Batteries just make you go broke faster.
Survival? Well, that’s a different story. Where I live it’s not a problem. Gas, coal, and diesel fired power in abundance. Domestic gas reservation policy in place that ensures gas is, and will continue to be, available. In addition, fireplaces are still OK and fire-wood is plentiful.
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Very few folks cost their solar accurately, and include all the costs you have mentioned. Having included most of these costs except for panel cleaning day every two years, it looks like I’ll be able to pay off my solar system within the 10-year time period that I allocated. I picked 10 years because I’m doubtful that the inverter will last any longer than 15.
I should point out that I rarely use the air con in winter and mainly use it in summer, so I’m obtaining good use from the house solar.
As you point out, adding a battery would not make the system worthwhile.
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Yes Graeme#4, I forgot to add in the replacement of the Inverter, usually after 10 years and just after the guarantee runs out. You can add in another $2,000 to $3,000 to your capital costs for a quality replacement such as SMA or Fronius 5kW model.
The cheapies just fail too often, and generally the installers who recommend and install them close their operations down before they are required to meet the cost associated with their failure.
10
Have a 5kW Fronius Sam, and protect it with an added sunshade. Should get at least 15 years out of it.
10
have you read the articles on vertically mounted panels?
Perhaps a use for north facing building walls without existing windows (as in a shed)
00
building permits in rural WA now require 20m clearance from bush…..
Haven’t had a need to find out how much they might let you remove…. Advantage of larger blocks
20
Not great at night, either, so I am told…
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“Europe On The Brink:” 70,000 Czech Protesters Flood Prague Over Energy Crisis
More than 70,000 Czechs are protesting in Prague, the capital, demanding the ruling coalition take a neutral stance on the Ukraine war to ensure energy supplies from Russia aren’t cut off ahead of winter. Protesters are outraged at the European Union for sanctions against Russia that have sparked soaring electricity bills and triggered a cost-of-living crisis.
“The aim of our demonstration is to demand change, mainly in solving the issue of energy prices, especially electricity and gas, which will destroy our economy this autumn,” event organizer Jiri Havel told local news iDNES and quoted by Reuters.
The entire Wenceslas Square demands the resignation of the government! We will demand that the current cabinet, which is working against us, resign”: A 70,000-strong rally was held in Prague Also demand lower gas and electricity prices and neutrality on the conflict in Ukraine.
Western sanctions are backfiring, and some Europeans are awakening to how their governments sacrificed their livelihoods for NATO’s proxy fight against Russia in Ukraine. What’s happening in Prague could spread like wildfire throughout the EU.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/europe-brink-70000-czech-protesters-flood-prague-over-energy-crisis
Yup. End the proxy war against Russia, sack (and preferably arrest the war-crazed pollies), declare Zelensky et al war criminals, like I said OR face the hell 2023 will be.
So…you’ll be facing 2023 then eh…😲
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From the link:
Sounds like something Trump would say but with Czech replaced with USA.
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Putting your nation before others?
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Love it. Good on them. When will Australians do the same ?
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When the Russians invade us.
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NATO/EU might regret grabbing all the ex-USSR countries and blending them in. It will be made worse when some are freezing and their neighbours like Hungary have steaming hot showers all day, with central heating at 25deg.
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We’ve had energy crises in the past but people adapted, they didnt protest governments about it. So why are they protesting this time around? Because they know these energy crises are planned by western governments and completely intentional.
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Way more than 70k there, 250k+ looking at the pictures I would say.
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was thinking the same, it looked at lore than 70k
10
Europe shouldn’t have laughed at President Trump when he warned them about this.
242
In hindsight, the Russians, eternally vilified by the Democrats for their every failure, will have done the world a great favor by showing that energy independence is political independence. Donald Trump was exactly right. Again.
But it’s not the Russian who created this situation, but democratic governments buying the man made carbon driven Climate Catastrophe story hook, line and sinker. No one is acting in the interests of their own people, all aspiring to ‘save the planet’, which is absurd.
Even huge countries like Canada refuse to harvest their oil and gas under Trudeau. Australia as well, especially Victoria. We are not allowed use or export our own coal. Or use massive known very clean raw gas reserves. The UK and Scotland under Johnson, refusing to turn up oil production and banning fracking. The UK could be totally energy independent except for Carrie’s Climate politics.
The result is a massive energy shortage world wide, a food shortage (Russia and Ukraine are #1 and #3 exporters of wheat), a fertilizer shortage and if China even blockades Taiwan, a semiconductor shortage. And Woke will go out the window with Defund the Police, BLM, Climate Catastrophe, Transphobia, the male Patriachy, Anti Imperialism, #metoo and the rewriting of all history and science by university tenured idi*ts. They will all follow ridiculous cyber currencies which have collapsed except for money laundering of criminal activity.
Electric cars will be next. And it was almost funny in Newsom’s California when the first thing banned in an energy crisis was charging your electric car. Wait till that sinks in.
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Congratulations, you managed to avoid the word Merkel.
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Never mind the teenage girls driving policy and Trump’s warning of relying on Rusky gas. I’m on the left hand side of the IQ bell curve and I was saying years ago I can’t believe Europe would run the risk of relying on Russian gas so they can return to the era of windmills. And if I can see it, anyone can. Astonishing. Now the people pay the price.
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I’m on the right side but I doubt pollies are even on the curve if their actions are anything to go by, and these imbeciles are deciding our future…
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As Thomas Sowell says, intelligence is not the key. Some of the most intelligent people come up with the worst ideas. I would take a bet that it is intelligent people who got us into this mess, and that lesser IQ people don’t care at all about climate change, have probably never considered it to this day. If they ran the place we would have coal power all the way.
I was doing a working class job for a few months this year, real working class, the lowest level, and would try and strike up the climate change topic out of curiosity to what these people think about it. I could never get anyone even slightly interested, they just wouldn’t talk about it, no opinions at all. Fishing, larrikin tales and pay increase were the going topics. That was it, and why they all still vote Labor.
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Hi Philip, I totally agree and so did George Orwell.
“There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them”. George Orwell
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The high IQ people can join MENSA.
The low IQ lot (pollies and climate alarmists) can join DENSA. 😄
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Wisdom and intelligence are ENTIRELY different matters, no?
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Philip says he is:
I’m sceptical of that claim.
Not a single grammatical or typographic error in your post shows my scepticism to be soundly based.
Perhaps you meant the political spectrum?
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“Not a single grammatical or typographic error in your post shows my scepticism to be soundly based.”
Could be a bot then – but not likely with the quote from Thomas Sowell
10
Six in 10 British factories at risk of going under as bills soar
Soaring energy bills are threatening to put six in 10 British manufacturers out of business, according to a survey that lays bare the extent of the crisis facing the next prime minister, Bloomberg reports.
MakeUK, the lobby group for UK factories, said that nearly half of manufacturers have experienced a jump in electricity bills of more than 100% in the past year.
“The current crisis is leaving businesses facing a stark choice,” the report said. “Cut production or shut up shop altogether if help does not come soon.”
The UK’s new prime minister will be announced on Monday, with Liz Truss expected to beat Rishi Sunak, her rival in the Conservative Party leadership race. The government is under intense pressure to announce a wider package of support to help consumers and businesses cope with an unprecedented surge in global energy costs.
Britain’s factory sector is already in decline, according to a purchasing managers’ index published by S&P Global this week. MakeUK’s survey said that 13% of factories now have reduced hours of operation or are avoiding peak periods, while 7% are halting production for longer stretches.
https://www.1lurer.am/en/2022/09/03/Six-in-10-British-factories-at-risk-of-going-under-as-bills-soar/788155
That’s the objective of the NWO. Break but don’t remake.
No capitalism, just UBI and whatever “food” we decide to give you. The vaxx survivors that is.
If that WW3-crazy Truss gets in, rest assured the British people won’t complain about being cold – they’ll be raised to extreme temperatures in under a second…
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Not just Britain.
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/exorbitant-rise-energy-prices-forces-europes-top-steelmaker-close-plants
As Ronin says below, that’s a lot of jobs in Germany and Spain. A lot of insufficiently gruntled steelworkers.
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I’m optimistic about this. It could and should be the moment people wake up and end this nonsense, by whatever means. Nothing like cold to get people to drop their ideologies.
Unfortunately Australia has a long way to go yet. The people are still in theory land.
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“Six in 10 British factories at risk of going under as bills soar”
There goes a lot of jobs too.
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Not to worry. Europe can run on recycled chip fat, can’t it?
50
The UK are pretty big on fish and chips.
30
Chip oil and gas from sewage digesters which could use some of the brown stuff running into lakes and rivers all over the green and pleasant land.
30
not if the fish and chip shops cant afford to stay open because of the electricity bills… and it is looking that way for a lot of pubs as well.
60
I spent 3 years in pommy land and here in Oz we NEVER see a chippie offer vinegar sprinkling on chips!
I have to admit it, I like it.
But we do have chicken salt, unknown in the USA and Europe…
“This is great! We don’t have this” sayeth the tourists in Oz…
60
And jars of pickled onions.
20
Only if cooked in beef dripping. Seed oils are filth, an industrial product not fit for consumption.
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One of my wifes friends was an industrial chemist working with Meadow Lea the margarine maker. My wife commented one day that she noted the friend had butter not margarine in her fridge. The response was, well of course! I know whats in that other rubbish.
20
This is hilarious. Gavin Newsome thinks California can get rid of petrol driven cars in the next 10-15 years. Absolutely no show given this little “experiment”
https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-09-03-californias-amazing-4-second-renewable-energy-test-farce.html#
PS. I did not realise California already has 6 nuclear plants.
60
What an absolute joke, and they don’t have 5 or 6 nuclear power stations, they have one which the morons want to shut down, this should be a fun event.
50
I heard they had just extended Diablo’s life until 2029/30.
30
Natural News is not a great source of accurate info. If I see a linked article to there I dont bother.
00
“UN thanks Russia ‘for keeping nuclear inspectors safe from Ukraine’ ”
https://twitter.com/i/status/1565438154219323393
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2022/09/un-thanks-russia-for-keeping-nuclear-inspectors-safe-from-ukraine.html
30
“Maybe the U.N. should now be asking Boris Johnson, who paid for the mission, who trained the Commando’s for the mission, and provided all necessary equipment, ‘what was the real purpose for the taking of a Nuclear Power station that the Ukrainian military has been shelling for months?”
In the comments.. Love it!
40
There is talk of China needing more coal as their hydro is using too much water during the current dry spell. The following quote from (not my) ABC is telling:
There are some in this country that complain about Australia exporting its coal and not having it accounted for in our greenhouse statistics. I remind these concerned residents that the majority of coal mining and exporting companies are NOT Australian. Most Australian coal-owning companies have divested their holdings to overseas entities in line with new thinking , so not to worry.
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yeah re your last paragraph, Ive often wondered about that issue. They have a point. BUt surely in the end it has to come down to the demand. Theyre the ones who want it, we can provide it. They dont have to buy it. If Aus was a gangster pointing a gun at their head and telling them to buy it, sure, but we aren’t doing that. I guess there is an analogy that the drug dealer is the real problem too. But I dont buy that on the drug issue either. Its the USA party scene, the Hollywood elites, who want the cocaine. Terrible analogy too, big difference between recreational drugs and energy that keeps you warm.
30
The O/S users are not leaving a stable coal supply to chance – they are either buying the coal companies outright, or becoming significant shareholders. The Japanese have been active since last millennium securing a stable supply while allowing local management to essentially run the business, and more recently Yancoal, who purchased all of the Rio Tinto operations in the Hunter Valley as well as part of the Newcastle port infrastructure. Add Glencore as well as Indian interests and South Koreans to the list as well. Don’t forget the good old USA and hedge funds. Not many wholly-Australian owners left.
The greens will have no chance shutting it down without international backlash that makes the submarine incident look like a playground spat.
60
Do Toyota get caned for the emissions their vehicles cause, I would think that if you buy it you own it.
10
Do cigarette companies get caned for the cancers their vehicles cause?
Do sugary drink companies get caned for dental destruction and obesity that their products cause?
We are awfully selective as a society about what we choose to a look at
00
Id just like to thank this blog for keeping me sane. Great therapy.
110
Fall back if anyone needs some
https://www.ruok.org.au/
30
It’s a tough thing to ask for help, and it’s a tough thing to try to help someone too. Thankfully there are still some humane and caring people out there.
40
They just dont work in HR
10
oh, goody, now the ‘free renewable energy’ brigade get to strut their stuff.
100
and how far have they got?
40
UK government tests carbon paper copying – media
Carbon paper copying has been “stress-tested” by Whitehall staffers as Britain braces for potential blackouts this winter, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing three officials familiar with the matter.
The old-fashioned copying technique may be used for internal government correspondence, and was already tested during recent emergency drills.
“The idea is you’d have people running up and down Whitehall handing out carbon copies of documents to colleagues at other departments or agencies, to keep people in touch,” one of the officials told the newspaper.
https://www.rt.com/news/562115-uk-government-carbon-paper/
You’re joking, right? Right? Hello?
If this happens you’d better have had yoga lessons, so you have the flexibility to bend over and kiss your @ss goodbye…
60
Surely critical departments could spring for a standby generator.
10
Um it’s the taxpayer not “critical departments” who pay. And we’re already broke
40
Couldn’t believe it…. Haven’t they heard of that great wee machine … the Banda. Loved the smell … Oh aye, of course, it’s no’ the same as modern smells in officialdom – all those weeds growing, Monocots and Non-Binaries.
20
Boris, forever remembered as the guy who ushered the return of CARBON paper. Now isn’t that ironic. In the hope of reducing CARBON, the UK government could end up relying on CARBON paper.
40
It’s Russian propaganda.
Well done RT. Who says Vlad hasn’t a sense of humour?
00
I see NASA is being reminded what a difficult and nasty substance liquid hydrogen is, leaks galore.
They used it in the Shuttle and it caused no end of delays, so maybe the H2 spruikers should take notice.
70
LH2 is a nightmare to handle, even for NASA.
How anyone thinks it can become a mass market consumer fuel is beyond me.
110
I don’t know what I’m talking about here but that never stopped me so…..while it’s likely the gas pipeline is being held shut for political reasons, anyone who has worked in the oil and gas biz will tell you they are super touchy about any possibility of sparks, electrical equipment heat etc anywhere near their flammable product. Depending on where it is, shutting the plant wouldn’t be out of the question – but not “indefinitely”.
Or is that picture is a joke?
60
Again. It’s Russian propaganda that’s providing the cover for the “Great Turn-off”.
It’s a gas, man. A gas, I tell you.
00
That picture is a joke. Oil leak ? Putin is gaslighting the Europeans, and the fact that they are so comfortable playing ridiculous games like this tells you they have the upper hand.
80
Do you remember the “Burst Water Pipe” in Georgia? It was the story used to send the Republican observers home while they could continue counting in secret … and then the people who had been doing the secret counting slipped out the side door when Republicans came back to check what was going on.
I think this oil leak is a bit like the pipe leak … conveniently turned up at the just right time.
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OK – thanks for your take on what this is about.
00
It isn’t the size of the leak that is a problem, if it is leaking out of cabling that senses shaft speed, that is a big problem as speed control may be compromised and the whole installation could go BANG.
20
It’s only a matter of time before Germany decides they need more “breathing space” and resources and start yet another world war.
With President Trump out of the picture and the United States massively weakened and not respected due to the Biden regime, they could do this with ease.
60
At this point in time Europe is praying for a mild winter.
“If we get an average winter, we should be OK with the level of storage that Europe has been able to build as well as their demand curtailment,” Hochstein said. “But if it gets colder, obviously we’re going have to do more and make sure that we’re prepared for that.” (Fin Review)
30
Well, OBVIOUSLY they will get a mild winter, global warming says so!
50
They might be on the money, with a weak La Nina and positive North Atlantic Oscillation it will be mild.
00
All this pain, because of a fake ideology that is blatantly just a hoax with basically no real science to back it up.
All the grandiose schemes for “Net Zero” and killing off fossil fuels requires a massive increase in mining now, and on a replacement basis.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/09/04/the-quantity-of-metals-required-to-manufacture-just-one-generation-of-renewable-technology-to-phase-out-fossil-fuels/
https://youtu.be/MBVmnKuBocc Video link, over an hour of big numbers. !
It just cannot and will not happen..
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ps.. table at 40:20 in video shows just how impossible the whole “net zero by 2050” idiocy really is.
https://i.ibb.co/5cZnyBL/Total-metal-production-for-renewables.jpg
eg at 2019 production rates, it would take 189 years to mine enough copper
and 9920 years to mine enough lithium
And Germanium.. only 29,000 years !!
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Remember how things have gone full circle.
It was the National Socialists who were the originators of “green” energy as was documented in:
Green Tyranny: Exposing the Totalitarian Roots of the Climate Industrial Complex
By Rupert Darwall.
50
Now that Europe is not using Russian gas, the Chicomms will use it.
They are not stupid.
Plus the Left exempted them from stopping the use of fossil fuels.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-20/china-s-spending-on-russian-energy-jumps-to-6-4-billion-in-june
SEE LINK FOR REST
20
Re that oil slick on the panel at the start –
I once pulled a reasonably big (3000 gal/hr) submersible pump. The electrical leads had double layer insulation and when we clipped that side of the joiner there was water between the layers.
An enquiry to the suppliers brought the quick response of “Get that in here ASAP so we can fix that – or you’ll be buying a new pump”.
So where that oil is coming from could well be important.
10
The pump in question was a Pleuger – also made in Germany – by happenstance
00
European wholesale gas price had jumped 30% this morning to €272 per megawatt hours (MWh).
10
Will be interesting going into winter.
00
By then 2 + 2 will definitely = 4 and it will be real arithmetic from there
10
So where are they going to sell their Russian gas long-term? China has largest shale resources in the world, but they are difficult to recover, they need better-than-contemporary to do this. Despite difficulties China natural gas extraction grows year-by-year. Within like 10 years China may not need Russian gas at all. Building new pipelines there means no return, because of short time they would be needed. India is so close to Iran and Quatar that they even planned a pipeline to Iran. Transportation price alone would make Russian gas non-competitive. Japan has territorial issues with Russia. Africa has their own resuorces and no money to buy overpriced Russian gas. Americas have a lot of their own gas to spare.
Europe was the only customer fitting for Russian gas: relativiely lots of money to spend, can be connected by pipelines, few local resources.
00