You will own nothing and be hot and bothered
Welcome to modern Australia where the grid is so fragile, poor people have to buy air conditioners that the government can remotely switch off . Such is the state of decay that Queensland no longer has enough electricity to allow the riff-raff to have air conditioning whenever they want it — only the rich can do that.
The state energy companies of Queensland offer customers up to $400 cashback when they buy an air conditioner, but in return they allow the government to reach into their homes and turn off the air conditioner when the grid is in trouble, which it seems is a lot lately. It was only supposed to be a “few days a year”.
It’s a way to manage the grid — think of it as 170,000 mini blackouts instead of one big one:
Energex remotely cuts power to 170,000 air conditioners six times in a month
ABC News
Queensland’s state-owned power grid remotely turned down almost 170,000 air conditioners six times in the past two months as part of a scheme to protect the electricity network.
…
So this is where someone owns a Hi-Tech instrument designed to keep them cool, that they can’t use on the hottest days of the year. They call this the PeakSmart scheme (so you know it’s stupid). Gone are the luxury days when consumers could control their own appliances, get cheap reliable electricity, and not need invasive, complicated schemes in order to keep some of their own money.
It also allows the energy companies to send people into your home to “visit” for afternoon tea, or rather, to check you haven’t ripped out the PeakSmart controller boxes. They will give you five days notice. Nice of them, eh?
If you like your air conditioner you can keep it (but you can’t use it…)
Ergon and Energex said PeakSmart limiting should only occur “a few times” per year.
There have been six events since December 1 and nine in the last year — the highest rate since the program began.
On Monday and Saturday last week, Energex used its remote access to limit 169,490 air conditioners to run at 50 per cent power between 4:20pm and 6:50pm across the south-east.
The part I like best is when they tell us that you won’t notice anything different about having a compressor that is only running on half strength, but they won’t tell you when they are cutting your air-con (in case you do notice). Somehow they cut your cooling in secret but find the time to tell the company you bought the air conditioner from, just in case you not only notice but call out a repairman.
Users are not told when their unit is affected, but installers and repairers are given notice in case customers report what they think is a malfunction.
Renters or new property owners may not realise their units are fitted with the device.
Multiple installers contacted by the ABC said they were wary about the meters and the potential for the government and energy providers to control an appliance in the home.
Up until now, the riches of the rich were gradually spread to the poor. Have we reached the point when that reverses?
Image by Ari Galang Udayana from Pixabay
h/t David of Cooyal in Oz
We are governed by technical illiterates and ideologically driven useful idiots.
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Who then govern our technology without our approval.
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A class action should occur immediately.
130
Who are unwilling to accept that the root cause for the increase in Queensland heatwave events is due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The science is clear and unambiguous.
https://www.disaster.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/339311/QFES-State-Heatwave-Risk-Assessment-Executive-Summary.pdf
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You can’t be serious. That is unadulterated BS. Heatwaves are not increasing:
https://kenskingdom.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/are-we-getting-more-heatwaves/
https://joannenova.com.au/2014/02/get-headlines-how-to-find-a-heatwave-in-five-easy-steps/
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Nice to see your species has not gone entirely extinct! We need to preserve you in a protected wildlife reserve.
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In a cave with no heating or cooling.
20
The science is unclear and very ambiguous.
80
Except where it is outright fraudulent.
60
Quite Simply Simon
Nary a Meteorologist to be seen, from my understanding of these institutions and, Love the disclaimer. You should take note!
110
Where is your /sarc tag ?
🤣
60
There has been no dramatic increase is heatwaves, or any other weather events, and you will not be able to demonstrate otherwise. The crisis is purely due to to shortage of conventional reliable power, due to its decommissioning, due to its replacement with unsightly expensive unreliable renewables, due to climate hysteria, due to people like you.
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That is a powerful statement.
10
known in the industry by the four letter acronym DRED
… ‘Demand Response Enabling Device’
https://usp.temperzone.com/NZ-Home/Tech-Info/Technical-Support/What-is-DRED/
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And they judge you too, so Judge DRED?
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Should be DRDD Demand Response Disabling Device
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Way back in BC there was a story that a UK police force’s first computer was known as “FRED” – from “F-in Ridiculous Electronic Device”.
Its newer bigger and better replacement was “ALFRED” for “A Larger FRED”.
“DRED” lends scope for a continuation
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replying to myself so it’s up the top of the page.
they have Demand Response Modes(DRM) for solar inverters as well
https://www.acsolarwarehouse.com/news/drm-compliance/
https://www.gses.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/GC_AU8-2_4777-2016-updates.pdf
30
1 st February. Let’s start the month afresh with some much vaunted “ TRUTH TELLING “ .
Is truth telling allowed or is it reserved for only one section of the Australian community?
The power outage in North Queensland the during faux cyclone was not caused as such by the “ cyclone “ , but by the lack of supply caused by the demand during hot & humid weather conditions. That old South African disease of “ LOAD SHEDDING “ has arrived.
The only cure for the disease is not some green vaccine but the reversal of the Green policies of net zero.
Start the truth telling & watch the government energy minister & his cronies fall over each other like panicking cockroaches scattering when the light of truth is shinning on them.
Just wondering if all the investigator class of journos will partake in the truth telling they’re so fond of extolling. Doubt it!! But the truth will out.
The day of recking is not far off!!
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If politicians in Western democracies get prodded by civil unrest – most likely after a future season of power outages combined with further rises in energy prices – they will look for excuses to do a U-turn, and start listening to those scientists who say CO2 is less influential. But it would be better if they listened to them today out of concern for truth. How much suffering will the poor have undergone in the meantime?
The ‘Club of Rome’ (now overtaken in influence by WEC, the World Economic Forum which meets at Davos) published The Limits to Growth in 1972 and The First Global Revolution in 1991. From the latter: “In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill… All these dangers are caused by human intervention… The real enemy, then, is humanity itself”.
Their perceived enemy, of course, is us, not themselves, although they belong to the wealthiest 1% of humanity which emits more CO2 than the poorest 2/3.
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The Club of Rome is still active and influential and hosted a number of sessions at Davos 2024 and previous ones.
https://www.clubofrome.org/events/wef-forum-2024/
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I notice Al Gore is described as ‘ former U.S. president’. How fortunate for the world that plan did not eventuate. He remains a loser forever.
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Too right the CoR is active. Two Aussie engineers are well involved. This bloke I’ve been arguing with for years and this one I discovered because someone forgot to Bcc. The climate alarmist movement is a machine well connected and influential. Some of the members are happy to ad hom their opponents, especially when they have little or nothing left in the tank.
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This bunch and their ilk have unfortunately infiltrated the corporate boardrooms and C-suite of most companies and are enabled and fed by the likes of AICD etc with their ESG (not to mention DEI which is just the more vulgar younger manifestation) over everything mindset. Refreshing to see there is a backlash building in the US, but in lily livered land down under it will still take a while for that to arrive.
20
Blame it on coal. Those old dirty clunkers are the problem, always failing when they are needed!!
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TRUTH! Brother received a hotshot load to FNQ for ENERGEX preparing for the onslaught. Took the job, arrived at the yard expecting to load a 1400KVA unit…they gave him 2x20KVA units!!!!! Enough to power an office!!!
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I must admit I am confused by your message… what is a “hotshot load”? What is “FNQ”? And why is 2×20 kVA (= 40 kVA) astonishing when one was expecting 1x 1400 kVA, which is 35x more powerful? And how much bigger is an “office” than “FNQ”? So many questions…
01
It wasn’t just air cons. On Monday they cut our power for 3.5 hours from 7:15 pm. Three doors up the road had power, but all the lines were in tact. Energex website showed many small areas that were out, listed as “storm damage” yet there was no significant storm activity. Brown out. Tell me again what century this is???
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The cyclone was the cover story.
20
According to OpenNEM, several times in the last week diesel generators have been used to assist in meeting the evening peak demand, and spot prices have jumped to over $300/MWhr, and in two cases to $13,000.
AEMO’s spot price forecast for 6.30pm tonight is $1,000.
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Paying more and more for something spruiked as “free” while getting cheaper and cheaper without effectively reaching zero.
I’d never have guessed that the morons who brought us “the greenhouse effect” and its dismal sequels would invent a whole new branch of economics and mathematics to go with their tenuous grasp of science, but there you have it.
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Melbourne has a 4 in the preceding digit of its forecast temperature in the near future. That could stretch the grid during the evening peak if warm and humid is still being experienced further north.
Anyhow the BoM has forecast we can expect wet weather after the recent drought as La Nina conditions prevail across the Pacific.
Despite the drought, in the forecast world, northern Australia has pulled enough water off the oceans to pull the temperature down by as much as 2C while moisture continues to stream in:
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/primary/waves/overlay=sea_surface_temp_anomaly/orthographic=-226.12,-24.87,493/loc=128.347,-11.736
US west coast into some more good surf as 970hPa low whips up 10m waves off Vancouver Island:
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/overlay=mean_sea_level_pressure/orthographic=-123.84,28.53,345/loc=-134.219,45.573
If you rotate the globe to Scandinavia you will see an even deeper low likely to impact weather in Scandinavia.
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The BoM 7 day forecast for Melbourne is full of low 20’s in the main. I’m in Adelaide, so a 40-something in Melbourne is bloody scary for us if/when it happens – who made this forecast may I ask?
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I got it from the Channel 7 news. I gather it is based on BoM modelling.
The highest in BoMs forecast now is 34C on Sunday.
Still warm enough to push up air-conditioning demand in Melbourne.
00
OIC, panic over. I thought the “4” was the first digit. I am sure you will have seen the very powerful low currently well SW of Cape Leeuwin?
00
In principle, air conditioner compressors are quite hardy but what impact does this sort of action have on them, and their associated electronics?
I’m not an electrician or electrical engineer, but I probably know more than I realise – regardless, consider I’m not much beyond the basics of circuits and the like – what does running at 50% power actually mean (how is it done), what impact if any, would this have on failure rates and indeed, a warranty or guarantee?
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As far as I can work out the DRED signal once received by the unit just raises the set temp and places the unit in economy mode so no harm to the unit itself but if the day was hot it probably wouldn’t be long before you noticed depending on how well insulated your house was .
As for pool pumps unless the pump was built to have an eco mode I’d reckon it would burn out if grid voltage dropped too far out of spec .
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IIRC, the demand reduction at peak time is supposed to encourage “storage” at off-peak times.
i.e. Reduce the temperature at off-peak so that the house stays cooled when DRED kicks in.
It’s a silly strategy as DRED isn’t very predictable; especially if you rely on BoM to forecast conditions. 😉 And at other times, it increases power consumption and waste as a cooler interior increases the rate of heat transfer during the peak heat of the day; also making the unit work harder and wear out sooner.
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Yes, that comment didn’t make much sense. Of course, you can lower the compressor speed by changing the inverter duty cycle, thus increasing temperature.
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The technology that allows Big Brother to control your heating and cooling is called, appropriately, DRED, Demand Response Enable Device. Pretty well all air conditioning units sold in Australia come equipped with it although the feature does have to be purposefully connected.
The device can also control the temperature in case Big Brother doesn’t want you to be too warm or too cool. It can also be used with other high power appliances like swimming pool pumps.
I wrote an article about it April 2017:
https://www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/2017/April/DRED%3A+they+can+turn+your+aircon+off
How long before connection of DRED becomes compulsory?
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Ergon Energy has the ability to remotely control my swimming pool pump here in Central Queensland. Each time this occurs I have to reset the pump timer which is a pain and I believe is gradually deteriorating the equipment’s electronic timing controls. Normally electricity spikes throw the microwave and electric clock lights and are a telltale sign of an event. But about 2 days ago I presume Ergon decided it needed to shut down my pool pump without telling me. It was the second time in as many weeks. The microwave and clocks were unaffected. Brave New World!
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We brought a split system for a caravan we were doing up last year , I was after one that was high efficiency, low weight and small physical size , I ended up at Hardly Normal and the saleswoman was going through the computer and I was allowed to see the specs on each unit . 99% of every one I seen had DRED enabled in big letters near the top and I asked the saleswoman if she knew what that was and she didn’t have a clue . The unit we bought did have DRED but it’s running off lithium batteries 99% of the time so didn’t matter , I also think that the DRED function is enabled by the way it’s wired up but will check .
Ironically this unit we bought couldn’t be legally installed into a house in Victoriastan and the only reason I could think of is that it was a cooling only model made especially for the Tropics .
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That figures.
Sicktoria is in the process of banning natural gas so all new heating installations have to be electric.
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As an EE, I am interested in the technical side of DRED. Are DRED signals received by a switching device in the meter box, with all DRED controlled devices connected to that switch? Or, are DRED controlled devices simply connected as normal and the control signal appears at all outlets/lights/etc in a premises? I guess I’m wondering how “smart” the control system is in the aircons/etc themselves. Also, would anyone know what frequency is used by the DRED ripple signal?
80
Good luck in finding out exactly what frequency or pulse they use , and whatever they do use would go to whatever was running at the time but only affect enabled devices . Not sure if smart meters may be configured to trip internally using the same method which would mean a simple pulse sequence sent through the line could black out a street or streets even a suburb possibly but in a specific locality .
30
Ripple control receivers: https://www.mvtech.com.au/_files/ugd/80403c_7883281ee84f4cdba38f873fdb8d9018.pdf
Mfr specs and info: https://www.mvtech.com.au/ripple-control-systems
Queensland/NSW: 750Hz and 1050Hz is the ripple frequency. Notch filters, eh?
https://www.melec.com.au/news/supply-authority-ripple-frequency-flickering-led-lights/
40
Back in the mid-90’s I was doing my honors thesis in Computer Engineering.
Three of the forty-or-so guys in the thesis lab were working on theses about control signals over power cables – basically sending signals over the household electricity and grid wiring to turn electrical equipment on and off. Back at that time it was something new and was a big deal.
If your air con system is plugged into a socket (rather than being hard-wired), you could always get one of those power filters from JayCar/DickSmith (which cleans up the power signal) and put it between the power point and the socket – that will filter out any frequencies not around 50Hz, which will clean away any “signals” coming from the power grid.
And of course, when the “checkers” say they are coming, you just unplug the filters and put them in a drawer until the “checkers” leave.
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Thanks Lance that clears things up and tells me why the flickering Led lights I had no idea .
30
Notch filter calculator. how to shunt/disable a signal. Merely an exercise in electronics. Nothing more.
http://learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Notch-filter-calculator.php#answer2
50
any dielectric capacitor values must be 2 times the mains to ground voltage. Be safe and smart. Or, don’t do it.
40
In Brisbane, one could hear the ripple signal come through the AM radio tuned to 4BC when it was on 1116khz, they moved down to 882 to avoid the interference.
30
In the aforementioned article I wtote:
3G is obsolete now, presumably 4G or 5G.
51
I believe the smart meters throughout Victoria work on 3G. They should be capable of working on 4G but that will require a change. The change can probably be done remotely. The L&G E360 meter I have is stated as being 4G enabled. Its coms element will need to be replaced if 4G is terminated.
The UK has some 7M meters that are only 2G and 3G enabled so they are up for coms upgrade.
10
My meter box is a Faraday cage. 😉
Most of them in WA are pretty close to that.
So it’ll have to be powerline signal.
20
It should be FUD. ‘UD’ stands for User Demand.
10
The next stage after forcing Queenslanders to buy EVs (that only beta males reallly want) is to have “smart rechargers” that will allow Big Brother to suck electricity out of your EV’s battery at times of peak demand and where you will be prevented from unplugging your EV to go for a drive when you want.
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Are EV charge points DRED enabled ?
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Bloody good question RR.
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Short answer: yes
Charging electric cars can strain the grid, but when managed properly, they can be beneficial through the use of OCPP.
OCPP is an IoT protocol that connects EV chargers and software backend systems through bilateral communication. Most public charging stations utilize this protocol for payment systems, user access, and charger monitoring.
To implement demand response, the charging point operator must utilize the smart charging module within the OCPP protocol. The OCPP smart charging module enables the central software backend to send charging commands (profiles) to the charging stations. This includes reducing charging during peak demand periods or increasing vehicle charging when there is a high supply of wind or solar power.
https://www.einfochips.com/blog/the-role-of-demand-response-aggregators-in-enabling-effective-ev-charging-strategies/
10
You can bet they will be once there’s enough of them.
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That is called V2G.. Vehicle to Grid… BUT in order to do that the charger would need to have a DC/AC inverter incorporated which none do currently.
For home charging, those V2G inverters cost $10,000+
Preventing anyone unplugging an EV from a charger, sounds like a major safety issue ?
20
Demand response is governed by Australian Standard AS 4755.
Here is the AEMO propaganda about it (link below). They talk about it as though it were actually a good thing, not a way to keep the proles too hot or too cold and uncomfortable.
Do you think the Elites who impose this garbage on us will allow their household temperatures to be controlled in this manner? I don’t think so….
https://aemo.com.au/en/initiatives/major-programs/nem-distributed-energy-resources-der-program/standards-and-connections/as-4755-demand-response-standard
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TRUTH! Another brother working for a tech firm here in the glorious workers republic. The brief received from our supreme leaders was to devise a smart meter for water connections!!!!
60
Of course, this is only the start, incentives via a discount for “voluntarily” adopting it.
I have no doubt it will sooner or later, probably sooner, become compulsory for all households and a wider range of appliances.
That’s if we continue to elect non-conservative governments like the Lib/Lab/Green Uniparty.
Vote for a conservative oriented party like:
United Australia Party
Libertarian Party
One Nation
And I am told Great Australian Party but I don’t know anything about them.
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I wonder what the ramifications are of me having to buy a new A/C Unit ( Mine are getting a bit long in the tooth and they all appear to suffer from terminal corrosion up here in Queensland ) and whilst it is being installed , I ask the sparky not to hook up the DRED device. If I pay full price for the thing, and do not take up the governments offer , I would assume that I then decide when and how often I use my A/C and how cold/hot I set the temp ?
Like the Covid ” vaccines ” I wonder when/if this will be made mandatory as we have less and less ” free ” energy from the wind and Sun.
Why would you buy something you cannot control and use as you wish. These idiots have really lost the plot. Rather than build more reliable coal/gas generators, we appear to be limiting the free use of appliances in a band aid attempt to keep the failing grid alive.
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In Queenslandistan the feature is called PeakSmart.
Here is some info. about it.
https://www.energex.com.au/manage-your-energy/cashback-rewards-program/peaksmart-air-conditioning
https://www.allpurposeairconditioning.com.au/air-conditioning-installation/information/peaksmart-air-conditioning
AND HOPE IS NOT LOST. THIS QLD CCOMPANY IS EXTREMELY CRITICAL OF PEAKSMART:
Wonderful!
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Glenn, if your old aircons are the previous on/off control, when you get the new smart inverter type installed, you will notice a pleasant reduction in power use.
And DON’T fall for the $200 rebate trick, especially in FNQ, pay the money and have full control of our A/C.
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Hi Ronin,
All my A/C Units are inverter type, and I have control over all of them. However, they do appear to rust out up here over time, so my main unit will probably need replacing in the next year or two, but there is no way I’ll accept DRED control. Something to be aware of when it is installed however and I’ll be paying close attention when that happens.
I was forced to have a ” Smart Meter ” installed in my powerbox some time ago…I elected to keep the old meters, but was informed that I could, but would have to PAY to have the meters read, so reluctantly went ahead with the smart meters that appear to be all setup for time of day charging when it comes, which cannot be too far off. They dump their data via the mobile phone system on the back of the clock. They do not appear to be physically large enough to be able to turn off the AC on the incoming line however ( i.e remote disconnect via a relay or disconnector ).
30
It is not April 1st, so this story appeared on the Babylon Bee – right?
150
Leftist policies are now so absurd that it is frequently impossible to tell if they are satire or real without doing further research.
The Left have become parodies of themselves.
It so happens that this is real.
301
Stranger announcements still. Within the last week it has suddenly become apparent that the wholesale price of electricity can be reduced by 64%.
LETS HAVE ADDITIONAL TRUTH TELLING. Which politicians & or bureaucrats are about to be caught out for the lies, propaganda & BS they spread.
Who are running scared & what is the cause of the admission there is room in electricity price structuring & subsidies for talk of over 50% in price.reduction. Is there some sort of scandal & political bomb to be dropped??
Time for “ TRUTH TELLING “
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…..Remember, “Wholesale price” is just a market driven number. Nothing to do eith method of generation, price of coal, gas, or solar panels.
As with all markets, it is driven by the supply/demand situation at any given time, and can be manipulated by the participants for their advantage.
20
How dumb are woke corporate bosses who learnt nothing from the “Go Woke-Go Broke” Bud Light disaster in the USA.
Now it is Australians turn for the Big Boycott
Add Rip Curl to Woke Wolllies to boycott.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13026623/Aussie-dad-burns-Rip-Curl-shorts-iconic-brand-used-trans-woman-promote-womens-surfing-woke-broke.html
Bud Light sales keep sinking
190
The last of Aus’s Big Three gone…
As for the UK’s DailyFail, they obviously don’t surf:
“[Bethany] Hamilton and fellow Aussie surf legend Kelly Slater…” are both American and both know men are men and women are women and that’s that.
31
Is that on Oahu North Shore.
00
A mere $400 as a one off payment doesn’t seem all that much. I’m surprised anyone chooses that.
Can’t help thinking, probably installers include that in the fine print without home owners knowing what it means. Possibly it’s done by the developers for new apartments and then sold with the unit and the buyer doesn’t even know.
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The builder/developer certainly would pocket the $200/$400, because it adds up on a block of units or highrise and they won’t be the ones sweating through a 99% humidity day.
100
AGAIN here’s the OECD and NON OECD countries’ graphs since 1990 to 2022.
The OECD countries co2 emissions per year are lower in 2022 than in 1990. Just check it out using the active graph.
Aussies emit about 1% of Human co2 emissions, so our endless BILLIONS of $ WASTED every year achieves NOTHING.
But we will wreck our environments everywhere if we continue with the Bowen idiot’s plan and replacement costs will continue FOREVER and only achieve a MUCH LOWER standard of living for future generations of Aussies.
Add the two co2 emissions together and add 1 billion tons per year for Air travel and shipping.
That’s a total of about 37 billion tons in 2022.
And the extra 13 billion Ts per year in 2022 are because of the huge increase in NON OECD co2 emissions. I’ve left out the 1 billion tons per year for Ship & Air travel in 2022.
IOW the OECD countries have WASTED 32 years and TRILLIONS of $ for NOTHING. When will they WAKE UP?
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=Non-OECD+%28GCP%29~OECD+%28GCP%29
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Woke stupidity never ends
Australia is already at “Net Zero”!
https://www.atlasiron.com.au/australia-has-been-at-net-zero-for-a-long-time-ian-plimer-rowan-dean-the-outsiders/
Having outsourced car production to China Aluminium Smellting shoud be next as it only survives in Australia on taxpayer subsidies.
However, the Gladstone smelter will be “saved” with a new solar farm project – no mention of where the electricity will come from at night!
https://www.riotinto.com/en/news/releases/2024/rio-tinto-to-drive-development-of-australias-largest-solar-farm-at-gladstone
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Thanks co2 Lover and even their CSIRO admit that the entire SH is a co2 SINK and the NH is a co2 SOURCE.
I’ve linked to this CSIRO Cape Grim data a lot, but apparently the Bowen idiot couldn’t care less about DATA.
Perhaps he just loves his BS and FRAUD?
130
It is well known that Australia’s CO2 output is miniscule but because our dimwit pollies tend to mouth off a lot on the world stage, we have to “be seen setting an example”, or “leading the way”.
111
Running an aluminium smelter on the output of a solar installation? (I flatly refuse to call any of these outfits “farms”!)
How much big battery storage is that going to need? At what cost? Is it even possible to generate and store enough electricity to run a smelter?
Maintaining the temperature in the pot lines is critical. Once the product cools in the processing line, it takes a heck of a lot to clean out and get back on line. Lost production, plus the clean up, cost a lot. How soon before production becomes unviable?
There is already a perfectly good power station right in Gladstone, purpose built as I understand it, to support the industries that are located there to take advantage of the close coal supplies, the generally good weather that causes minimum interference to shipping and operations, as well as a good harbour conveniently located for international shipping of both raw product (coal, gas, grain) and export of alumina and aluminium. The bauxite (the ore from which alumina is refined to make aluminium) comes around the top of Cape York from Weipa, making use of yet another Australian resource.
Then we have twiggy forrest wanting to build a “green” hydrogen outfit around there as well. Wind turbine installations going in all along the Great Dividing Range all up the state, plus a couple of mad pumped hydro schemes are all part of the mad Qld government “plan”. None of this is subject to the normal environmental harm assessments or restrictions placed on everyone else from farmers to fisheries. Killing the environment to save it!
141
More to that I think –
How big a “solar instillation” do you need to run such a smelter in daylight?
How big a battery do you need to run its night cycle?
Then – How big a “solar instillation” do you need to run the smelter in daylight and get to charge the battery that is going to power it through the night?
And, unlike the spherical cow, some cloudy days get assumed?
70
That too.
It is a 24/7 operation.
As are both alumina refineries, the coal terminals and the CSG terminals and all other port operations.
10
No matter how many times you , or any other spokesperson, repeat this,…. You know it is not true in the eyes of the UNIPCC under their definition of “Net Zero” HUMAN IMMISSIONS AND HUMAN SINKS !
Under their definition ,Australia is one of the worst emitters per head of population.
We have got to work against their definition rather than fool ourselves with simple facts !
20
Time to review the movie Soylent Green
110
They are half way there.
Goolag “human composting” without quote marks.
51
I remember back in the day, in Australia, people were actually encouraged to use MORE electricity.
Those were the days when Australia had a go-ahead attitude and a bright future.
221
Here’s an incentive plan for politicians and public serpents.
Every time Demand Response is enabled, the air conditioning should be turned OFF in their offices as well, plus their pay should be docked for every hour Demand Response is enabled.
312
Oh you’re funny DM. The rule that should have been applied during COVID lockdowns. That variation being that all politicians and senior bureaucrats pay reduced by the time spent in lockdown. If it was for a week, then salary slashed for a week. Instead what happened was that gave themselves a pay rise and now get Australia Day awards. There’s a big club…..
270
They don’t turn them off, they set them to economy. I have several aircons fitted with these devices.
I think this is way better than blackouts.
338
No Duane, reliable baseload electricity generation is better than blackouts, not phantom government fingers fiddling with your appliance settings.
491
You are part of the problem Duane, it’s like the govt telling us ‘you can only drive your car on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday because we can’t make enough petrol.’
361
Why do you use them at all Duane?
Disconnect them permanently so the non-woke community can live in the comfort we expect and pay for.
261
Way better than blackouts? Why are we even talking about blacouts in a country with copious coal,gas and uranium reserves. Talk about indoctrinated.
121
Maybe the biggest effect of DRED for AC’s will be that people will just turn on their A/C’s earlier on hot days. Perhaps turn them on in the morning and leave them going all day. Or turn on via remote or timer control. So, that instead of peak when everyone gets home in the afternoon, consumption might then be spread during the day. Which will probably lead to more DRED events. Which means the law of unintended consequences will apply. That, or a lot of those smart meters get bypassed or removed by agro homeowners. Then a lot of inspectors get bitten by dogs or have their tyres slashed.
231
Which now makes me wonder about the wind farms in QLD , as we know when there is no wind they need power from the grid to rotate , lubricate and face the turbine in the optimum position. If households are having their aircons shutdown shouldn’t wind farms that aren’t producing electricity be subject to DRED as well ?
160
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature, helps smooth the duck curve.
10
That would not work. To overcome the switch-off when temperature is high, you should turn the target temperature down – lower. The house will be a bit cooler than you want, but when DRED turns the aircon off, you have sufficient buffer to withstand the lack of aircon power. You could say you store the cold, not in ice but in a cooler house.
10
Thermal mass works for home cooling as well as home heating.
If you have a wood heater (Yea country living) use the requirement to have a non-flammable barrier to add that mass.
00
I grew up in Southern California where the summer temperatures got quite hot where I lived. We did not have air conditioning for several years. However, it did cool off a lot at night and we’d open windows in the evenings and early morning and let the cool air blow through and then about 9-10 AM, the house would be closed up, all the drapes would be closed and the temperature inside would not rise that much during the day.
I realize Queensland is not Southern California and it may be warm and humid all day and night but the way to keep comfortable would be to chill your home to 68F (20C) or less when power was available and use the thermal inertia in the house to stay cool doing the “PeakSmart” times. Unfortunately, everyone will likely be using more power overall to keep their house temperatures cooler when power is available to maintain their comfort when the AC units get shut off.
140
Sean, exactly what I wrote above in 19,3.
Yes, cool your home down at no charge when you can, but if you cannot, cool it down with the aircon to prepare for DRED.
00
Peak stupid
80
you wish
21
Sadly, you are probably right.
We’re not @Peak Stoopid yet.
I fear there may be much, much more serious stoopid to come.
In Australia, generally, I gather it is not so cold, and heat is survivable with care.
Here in the UK, we will, this winter, next winter, have blackouts – dunkelflaute …
And people will die – in their thousands or more, I am convinced. I hoope not, but I fear.
Auto.
10
The QLD grid looks to be in big trouble, usually we export lots to NSW but recently we are taking power from them, supported mainly by Victoria exporting to everyone.
I think I read that one interconnector is constrained and the other works in export only, might be some of the problem.
70
Isn’t the problem Callide – the Queensland Government’s coal-fired power station – that they’ve managed to prevent operating at full capacity since 2021?
All four units at Callide ceased to operate after a structural failure at the cooling plant brought the C3 unit offline, and later on the B2 unit tripped during scheduled testing, followed by the last unit, B1, also tripping.
They’ve been “investigating” what went wrong for two and a half years and still no report.
I suspect the reason for the delay is the the Queensland green-left Labor Government is looking for the means to ensure the report doesn’t reveal the truth.
What might that be? Did the Government find a way to sabotage its own plant? Has the investigation found out about this action? Is the Government looking for a way to censor the report, or better still, ensure the investigator writes up a work-around?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-29/federal-court-new-investigator-callide-power-station-explosion/103400520
Looks like the Federal Court has suspicions that there’s been green-left manipulation.
10
Callide 1 $ 2 seem to be operating, but with low utilisation (37%)
3 & 4 still offline .
10
Thanks for that Chad.
So, Callide is 63% under utilized. That’s due to the damage resulting from the two incidents.
I suspect that damage was due to sabotage. Is that why the report has yet to see the light of day?
Why the delay in the report? Is that process being sabotaged too?
00
Does the government allow you guys to buy generators. If so, I would get one in the shape of a middle finger and a window unit A/C and cool my home that way.
110
I have a conventional air conditioning system (installed years ago) and it is not DRED capable thank goodness.
I will maintain and repair it ad infinitum rather than replace it with a DRED unit that is controlled by someone else’s whim.
I also refuse to have “smart” metering in my power box because that would allow the supplier to control my supply and adjust pricing at whim. Who knows where that could lead in the future.
To keep tabs on the meter readings/billing I routinely read and record my meters on the first of every month to allow cross checking the readings on my bill.
It pays to keep the bastards honest!
130
Smart idea to keep meter readings, if you ring up and complain about a high bill, if you don’t have numbers and dates to quote, they assume you know nothing and will treat you accordingly, but quote meter readings and dates and watch them backpedal.
I have solar and have recorded the numbers since it was installed, it keeps tabs not only on the panel performance but if any reading ‘mistakes’ are made, you have ready proof to fight them with, it works, I have done it for friends.
80
They’ve completely messed up the whole energy grid system haven’t they? Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away you would get your bill and go, “meh, no big deal”. No we’re comparing kWH charges, system costs, rebates and advised to shop around for the best deal. It’s all over- complicated hype. Apart from maybe a large connection fee if you built a dwelling in a remote rural area ( used to be $1000/pole roughly) there was little to be concerned with. I don’t want to regress to the days when one government body did everything electricity wise, because the power unions abused their position, but it sure had its advantages. Now the whole electricity generation/supply market is so complicated it’s being gamed by the power companies. Any climate changed polices just further complicates it and leads to further gaming. Because, at the end of the day the power companies employ smarter people than government.
51
No surprise that “Demand Response” is a globalist policy.
And as Australia is a fanatical follower of globalist policies, so the state of South Australia gets a mention along with the EU and Korea (it doesn’t specify North or South, but I assume South as the North is already living the socialist dream).
https://www.iea.org/energy-system/energy-efficiency-and-demand/demand-response
111
I think we have arrived at peak stupid. Governments (mine is Qld) instead of doing the obvious like building actual power stations that have worked 24/7 for the last 20 years, in order to ensure supply for, the taxpayers, and encourage industry and economic development. Or focus on crazy things like cheap electricity as they did in the 1980’s. Instead of any of those noble ideals, Governments have sold us the taxpayers out. With stupid ideas that cost a fortune and give us 3rd world power systems. Just economic vandals the lot of them.
210
How come this DREDD (how apt) can get a phone signal when I can’t always get one, what gives.
Where’s the antenna or is it ripple control.
90
Probably through the powerlines. Much as time signals are sent e.g. your digital clock, Oven, TV tuner etc.
80
To answer my own question, it is by ripple control, DRED is $200 for up to 10KW systems and $400 for over 10KW.
70
Sufficiently remote in regional WA that Western Power had to come and install an external antenna for the self reading smart meter.
Technician said frequencies were not mobile phone related and if I recall correctly it was a multi node mesh network depending on other smart meters/readers to access the central server…..
20
Back in the day before we had politicians and Leftist fanatics making engineering decisions, plus engineers who actually had pride in doing a job properly, Australia never had any concerns about the availability of electricity or its cost (which was among the world’s cheapest).
181
OMG, Qld is only the second most expensive wholesale generator this morning and………… ‘drum roll’, we are EXPORTING.
90
Presumably the technology is connected over a 4g unit. So, in theory, just find the 4g transceiver unit and place some copper foil around it to block the remote signals.
Of course, legally, if you’ve taken their money then you have no right to do this.
40
Steve, I had a look online and it is a ripple control.
50
It’d be a real shame if the DRED disabling method ever went public.
Not that I or DM would ever do that of course! 😎
Using Mitsubishi as an example.
https://www.energex.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/1001056/Mitsubishi.pdf
They don’t make ’em like they used to. Connectors not seated correctly, bad solder joints, connector contamination, corrosion…
Now onto “remote” programming! 😎
61
None of this will end well.
With Australia’s anti-energy policies it is inevitable that:
1) Prices will continue to rise.
2) Reliability of supply will continue to decrease. Note that supply reliability is partly hidden because the government uses large amounts of taxpayer money to incentivise big consumers like aluminium smelters to be load shed on demand so the domestic consumer doesn’t usually notice lack of supply.
161
My aircon went on the blink (geckos!) just as the Qld Govt introduced this Peak Smart offer.
For my new one I got the $400 rebate by picking a model that complied.
There was no insistence to link up with DRED so of course I haven’t, and nor do I ever intend to!
A mate of mine has suffered the effects of that external control of his aircon on those extremely hot and humid days we had recently. He’s furious!
131
“For my new one I got the $400 rebate by picking a model that complied.”
Sounds like you have got DRED if you got a unit ‘that complied’, the installer would have set it up to be connected to DRED.
60
So where is their so called DANGEROUS CC or even Biden’s loony EXISTENTIAL THREAT?
We know that most Coral islands are growing and the world’s coastal land has INCREASED over the last 30 years.
See the Dutch study etc and even NASA has linked to the Dutch study on their site.
And we also know that SLs were about 1.5 metres HIGHER on our east Aussie coast just 4,000 years ago and that was at the end of the much warmer Holocene climate OPTIMUM.
So why are we WRECKING our electricity grids and ruining the ENVIRONMENT for NOTHING and at a cost of TRILLIONs of $ and WASTING decades of our time?
80
“Cooling Halls” for summer in QLD
This could be a real vote winner for the Qld elections
https://www.thelocal.de/20220712/no-one-should-freeze-german-cities-plan-public-warming-halls-for-winter
50
“Cooling Halls” for summer in QLD”
We already have them, they’re called shopping malls and cinemas, pubs and clubs.
60
A pub open for 24 hours – that is where I would be!
20
Very good Ronin. We have a Stockland as our closest shopping here in regional Victoria. My wife and I call it the ” great untaxed”. Full of people with lots of time on their hands and either enjoying the warmth during winter or the cool during those hot days of summer.
20
Hmmmm, “public cooling/warming halls”admission only for the jabbed, digitally ID’d, digital currency-compliant etc perhaps??
Problem, solution, control.
No problem to me, I don’t have aircon, only use a fan and a damp cloth in summer, and I work outdoors so am accustomed to sweating a lot; wear warmer clothes in winter.
The people living in dog-box appartments without proper ventilation, crammed into those lovely idyllic 15-minute towns and cities, are the ones who will suffer.
60
They do it in Tasmania too! Here they call it “Peak and Off Peak control” and mandating “Smart Meters” that they can control wholesale!
https://richardsonpost.com/cliff-reece/34723/ecocide-is-about-control-over-food-production/
70
” Peak Smart”, now there’s an oxymoron if ever there was one.
40
Queensland got lucky.
They constructed four power plants which were one level of Tech higher than existing plants in Australia, all those others the lowest level of tech for coal fired plants, sub critical. Those four plants have six Units, all of them Critical, and now there are three levels of tech higher than that, Super Critical, Ultra Super Critical, and Advanced Ultra Super Critical.
The Queensland coal fired power plants constitute the youngest ‘fleet’ in the Country. The plant at Gladstone (Nameplate 1680MW) is privately owned, and supplies the nearby aluminium smelter, and the Queensland Government has a purchase agreement to buy the remaining generated power not being consumed by the smelter. That plant is the oldest in the State, now 48 years old, and with no plans to shut down soon. Right now, this ancient clunker has all six Units delivering power.
Of the eight plants in total, three of them are privately owned. The others are all owned by State Government Corporations, CS Energy, and Stanwell Corp.
The Government owns these plants, the coal mines which supply those plants, and the rail network which delivers the coal to the plants. Of those privately owned plants, the Government has purchase plans for the generated electricity. This same Governemt also has the highest coal royalty tax ….. in the World.
Both of those Government owned Corporations pay a Dividend to the Government.
At the moment (right now) only three of those 22 Units are offline, one at Tarong for maintenance, and the, umm, blown up Unit at Callide C, which is STILL not back on line, (it ‘blew up’ almost three years ago now) along with its sister Unit.
The Queensland Government is the largest power consumer in the State, much of that for its rail network in the South East. Backing onto my apartment complex here in Beenleigh is the main rail line to the Gold Coast. Backing onto that is a rail ‘parking lot’, where, after the evening rush, they park the trains, around eight of them every night, and each morning, they are gone, back in service. I asked about these parking lots, and was told that this one is just one of a large number of them in and around Brisbane. Those trains, all of them, are left lit up and ready to go ….. all night.
The Queensland did its much vaunted 50% renewables by 2030. One of the major finding released was that they would not be closing ANY coal fired power plants in the near future.
They then doubled down on that by saying that no coal fired power plants would be closed in their Nett Zero quest. (Umm ….. WHAT!)
To say that the Government ‘knows’ what it is doing when it comes to power generation, well that would be a bit of a stretch, eh!
Tony.
150
Kogan Creek has the largest single unit in Australia, it’s a 750Mw ,single boiler, turbine, generator unit with dry cooling (no Cooling towers).
50
Tony,
Just did a quick check – 88% of QLD generation is coal and 10% is gas. The shortage could be driven by other states demand when renewables crash . Western Australia is struggling to cope and everyone else will be joining them soon . Big batteries will only allow “Demand Managment” or load shedding to be implemented before grid collapse . How long do you think we have before we have scheduled blackouts like South Africa ?
30
How long do you think we have before we have scheduled blackouts like South Africa?
If you think ‘ANY’ Government will allow that to happen, there’s a bridge for sale.
Why do you really think that the Government in Queensland has doubled down on NOT closing those coal fired plants, as I mentioned in my original comment
I seriously think that politicians actually know that, and it’s just that they are too scared to tell the public, after all these years.
Power failure, blackouts, brownouts, loadshedding, whichever, would just be political su1c1de.
Trust me on this ….. They KNOW!
There will be so many excuses made to keep those coal fired plants operational.
How much kudos would they receive if they just passed the edict. CO2 Emissions = coal fired power ….. shut ’em down.
THAT’S why it won’t happen.
Tony.
60
We hope.
40
I think the ‘events’ at Callide C3&4 showed up failures to maintain equipment, a turbine that oversped to destruction after dropping offline and a section of cooling tower that ‘fell down’ doesn’t engender much confidence that all is well.
60
“What ‘doubling the electrical grid’ really means”
“It’s a lot easier to Photoshop than to build. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Brian Zinchuk: Imagine twinning every highway, grid road, street and alleyway across the country in 25 years. Because that’s what doubling the #grid is going to be equivalent of.”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/01/31/what-doubling-the-electrical-grid-really-means/
40
” by the time they get close to finishing the doubling, they should have tripled it”
40
Wow! Just wow!
30
At 170,000 aircon units, if they are inverter driven DRED compliant, at half motor speed, that’s a 62.5% reduction in absorbed power. Or, something akin to 300 MW. Okay. Fine.
This is really an admission by the AEMO that their national grid is short some 300 MW of dispatchable generation, and that to keep the lights on, overall, AEMO must limit public demand to balance their unstable grid.
This simply hides the problem, it doesn’t solve it. There’s a lack of dispatchable generation. That’s the point.
Technological tricks to shut off demand does NOT imply the grid is stable. It implies desperate efforts to hide grid instability.
20 years ago, this wasn’t even a consideration. Now it is. What’s changed, eh?
110
Then there are the HWS, dishwashers and pool pumps still connected to tariff 33, so they were looking for far more than 300MW.
40
The grid doesn’t even have to be overloaded or unstable, just the $ per MWH figure getting a bit high will trigger a DRED event.
40
Plus the ability to load shed big consumers like aluminium smelters also hides the deficit.
11
For those who can do so, water spray on roofs and walls is a way to reduce internal heat gain.
Each 4 liters of water evaporated is some 2 KW of avoided heat gain. Yes there is the issue of calcium buildup from hard water and yes not all have the option. But it does, in fact, work, where it is feasible.
Early on in history, it was the only option, before mechanical refrigeration. If the humidity is low, something like 30% RH, then evaporative cooling can achieve discharge temperatures of 13C.
On the other hand, when generation was reliable and plentiful, these discussions were not necessary.
80
In Victoria we have roof top evaporative cooling systems which are generally quite effective and much cheaper to run compared to air conditioning due to our low humidity – but these are completely useless in humid Queensland.
40
In QLD you pretty much have to be west of the Divide for them to work.
20
Definitely west of the divide.
And water and heat equals corrosion. I think they are high maintenance.
20
Much less corrosion now that evaporative are mostly plastic
20
Qld has two standard rates for domestic consumers, tariff 11 @ 30¢/kWh and tariff 33 (controlled supply) @ 20.5¢/kWh.
It is a CLEARLY stated right of Ergon to switch the controlled supply for 1 hour during evening peak. This began life for stored hot water systems. We now have a choice to connect air cons to this supply. I have made that choice because I don’t use my conditioners much during the day when my solar system would be working [only the bedrooms are conditioned].
I don’t know about this $400 cashback, it may extend the permissible down time.
30
Even their Wiki gets it right sometimes and here they tell us that Eemian SLs were 6 to 9 METRES ( 20 to 30 feet) higher than our HOLOCENE. DUH? They also tell us that forests grew in the far Northern hemisphere where there is just TUNDRA today in 2024. IOW it’s too cold today to grown anything in that region but there is plenty of ICE in 2024.
Here’s the Wiki link and their Sea Level quote for the Eemian inter-glacial. OH and every Human then was a hunter gatherer and the numbers were tiny or perhaps 100,000 to 200,000? Who knows?
And co2 levels during the Eemian were about 280 ppm OR 140 ppm LOWER than the 420 ppm in 2024. Are our Bowen and Albo + Greens donkeys etc starting to WAKE UP yet?
“Sea level at peak was probably 6 to 9 metres (20 to 30 feet) higher than today,[25][26] with Greenland contributing 0.6 to 3.5 m (2.0 to 11.5 ft),[27] thermal expansion and mountain glaciers contributing up to 1 m (3.3 ft),[28] and an uncertain contribution from Antarctica.[29] A 2007 study found evidence that the Greenland ice core site Dye 3 was glaciated during the Eemian,[30] which implies that Greenland could have contributed at most 2 m (6.6 ft) to sea level rise.[31][32] Recent research on marine sediment cores offshore of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet suggest that the sheet melted during the Eemian”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eemian#Climate
30
Hitting the Green Wall
The transition to renewables involves adding a bit of extra (unreliable) wind or solar power to the grid at a time with much political fanfare at that time. The gradual increase of unreliable wind and solar replacing reliable coal goes unnoticed until a “tipping point” is reached {THE GREEN WALL}
That is when all hell will break looose.
The cost of having enough battery back-up for a “renewables only” power grid to cover the unrelliabity of wind and solar is around $10 Trlllion (not billion) and so will never happen (Australia’s GDP is only around $1.5 Trillion).
We are getting closer and closer to that tipping point.
Hitting the Green Wall is only a few years away (maybe even months if the East Coast of Australia finally has a hot end of summer or Autumn}.
40
The farmers are on the move, both over the intrusion of turbines and panels onto their (formerly) owned properties and the live sheep trade basically killed off by the stroke of a WA Minister’s pen. No discussion. The same thing is happening on the entire WA South Coast, to be declared a National Park, devoid of all fishing. No discussion with interested parties that depend on the seas for their living, and recreational fishing. This comes at the hands of the USA Pew Centre and includes a statement that the current region is in good health and sustainably fished.
It can’t take a lot more to get a groundswell of the nation on the streets now they are being shown the devastation the extreme left of Labor, Greens , Teals and activists are bringing down on us all. One can’t help but get the feeling that in the USA and Australia we are reaching an endpoint bringing 50% plus of the people onto the streets. In the USA I get a horrible feeling it is really facing another civil Armageddon. Imposition of bad laws with loss of most freedoms and impoverishment by governments upon the people can only end up with authoritarianism and bloodshed.
50
And they have the means to defend themselves.
20
In WA, Synergy has sent an email to customers requesting turn-off of all electrical equipment if not in use or needed. Sounds like even in WA our power system is running close to falling over.
I mean electrical power, not governing power! It’s a shame such can’t be reversed by a switch!
60
WA has no interconnector to Victoria with its cheap and reliable coal fired power stations, like the parasites in South Australia.
50
Griffin coal is in receivership, Bluewater depends on Griffin coal which is nearly out of coal, so it’s gas to the rescue but there are problems with that too.
30
I’ve occasionally heard that there are problems with the gas. Can you expand? Insufficient pipeline capacity?
10
Hmmm. Right now, with the WA SWIS running well above its normal max, gas is doing most of the heavy lifting, and there still appears to be additional gas energy reserve.
00
The WA SWIS grid, normally peaking at 2.6 GW on summer evenings, is currently peaking at over 4GW. Not sure what is delivering the extra power, as the AEMO WA website has been incapable of supplying info on where the power is coming from for months now.
00
Riddle me this
The Paris Accord is all about limiting a “global” temperature increase to 1.5°C
So why has Australia and other countries in the Southern Hemisphere signed up when we are starting from a lower base that is already 1.5°C below the “danger zone”?
20
Because the people who represented Australia ( and other SH countries ) who agreed to all the protocols in the last 3 decades are all idiots. Or as Monty Python would say, nincompoops.
40
Because they like to have a bit of show and tell when they all meet up for those G 5.7.10. 15, or whatever, they are scared of being seen as the odd one out, so they spend our money because they are sooks and have no spine at all.
20
There is no puzzle – its called Antarctica and a larger proportion of Sea compared to land
00
A holiday in Queensland in summer,
A holiday in Queensland in summer,
May become a destination bummer,
If the air cons. shut down,
For the visitors in town,
Especially for a tourist newcomer.
90
Off topic. Just to say you must have carried those South West giants a long way Jo. Good to see you on Fox News last night doing your thing. I bet today’s emails are full of preludes to further attempts at cancellation and personal derision. I wonder if Murray, Bolt or Kenny will attempt to get you and another in debate against BOM people and/or re the AGW in general. It’s what’s essential world wide. I think you, with others, would bring the message that most adults, having experienced pre and post AGW life, would love to hear. People are now receptive to the debate. They would toss AGW theory into the bin if given the excuse to do so.
They sure understand the current, painful hip pocket nerve which they know is going to get worse and more restrictive on their lives as governments and bureaucracies dominate them. Thanks for what you do.
70
https://stopsmartmeters.com.au
30
Australia the Corrupt Country
It is not what you know – but who you know
The maximum penalty for fabricating evidence in NSW is 10 years imprisonment.
I would say more about the integrity (or lack thereof) of judges but this would not be allowed.
90
‘Intensive Correction Order’ is a level below weekend detention, nice of his mum to pull a few strings.
70
Our efficiently working analogue electricity meter was replaced with a smart meter which now sends usage info. back to base about every 5 minutes, according to the guy who installed it. It is not there for the customer’s convenience but that of the energy provider who will soon create 6 or 7 tiers of payment based upon time of use.
60
They’ll screw you every which way if you let them.
60
Sorry Joanne, this is sort of unrelated, but my Dad is looking for a reliable weather app – now that he has been convinced that the BOM is a bomb. He is an avid gardener, and likes to keep on top of what is coming.
I see that there is Our Climate iphone app, but does that look at forcasting as well? (And if you know of a good one for andriod that would be good for me:D)
Thanks for all you do. I really enjoy your interviews with Topher and appreciate your knowledge, experience and communication style.
Thanks again
20
Thanks TheJanJans. Good question. I would check out the longer forecasts of Hayden Walker . But there are other apps for short term forecasts that might be useful, no doubt readers here will have suggestions. I hear some talk about Windy.com, but I’ve never used it, so I don’t know. I admire NullSchool for the beauty of it all, but I don’t use it for forecasts much.
30
I’m surprised how much interest and controversy there is on this topic when a post I made last week on how fragile our grid is when 60,000 homes in Townsville went off line when we had 25 mil of rain and winds gusting to 100 khp, failed to promt any interest . The last big pocket without power with over 1,000 customers only went back on line yesterday.
Be assured that these blackouts were NOT caused by the usual damage to poles and wires in a cyclone, driving around I saw none, although I believe there were a few wires brought down but with the crews they had on standby they could have been fixed by lunchtime.
This was a cascading grid failure exacerbated, it seems, by lack of spares. I’m on the outside so don’t know HOW it happened but I’ve been through a few cyclones and know what things usually look like. The town was essentially undamaged but for some vegetation.
No one will be asked what happened because no one wants the answers.
70
Don’t ya just hate that!
40
The EU is forcing farmers out of their farms. Our bank accounts may be next
40
In the Dutch city Utrecht (the fourth largest city), the local government will soon start to squeeze the electricity flowing out of public charging facilities for EVs. Between 4pm and 8pm fast charging station will become slow charging station. During those hours general electricity demand is too high.
Article in Dutch : https://www.ad.nl/utrecht/stroomnet-overbelast-1000-laadpalen-in-utrecht-knijpen-toevoer-af-tijdens-spitsuren~af25c560/
40
In an interview with Adam Bandt earlier this week on Their ABC – he was actually proud of the cancellation of half of all coal oil and gas projects which in the coming catastrophy will be our only sources of revenue once our steel making, plastics and manufacturing industries are all gone and our farmers are driven off the land by low prices and restrictions on how they can farm.
10
[…] GRID ON THE EDGE: QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT SWITCHED OFF THOUSANDS OF HOME AIR CONDITIONERS SIX TIMES IN… […]
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