By Jo Nova
There is such a glut in solar panels, the Financial Times reported that people in Germany and the Netherlands are using them as cheap garden fencing, even though the angle is not good for catching the sun. Though given that there is also a glut of solar power at lunchtime this is probably a “good” thing.
Great time for the Australian Government to spend a billion dollars setting up a giant solar panel production industry, eh?
With exquisite timing the Australian Labor government has just announced a Solar Sunshot for Our Regions. It our Prime Ministers ambition for us to be a “Renewable Energy Superpower” twenty years too late. One third of homes in Australia already have solar panels, but only 1% were made here. The NSW State government will also lob $275 million to support the embryonic industry and workers, most of whom will presumably be doorknocking to give away the panels with lamingtons. After we finish building garden fences, we might be using them to build sheds and cubby houses.
The big solar rush is over…
The global frenzy to install solar panels has suddenly flattened out last year when it was supposed to be launching for orbit. The IEA estimated the world now has about 800 GW of solar panel plants. But demand for solar panels this year is only expected to be 402GW. The glut is so bad, the whole global solar panel industry could take half the year off to play golf and no one would notice.
In the media, everyone is saying “China has flooded the market”, but for some reason, no one wants to mention that the demand curve has suddenly slowed. The CCP has bet big on renewables sales and was probably expecting that rapidly rising curve to take off. Instead as interest rate rises clamped down on “luxury” spending people ditched their plans to install solar PV.
The glut should be no surprise to any investor. The over supply has been recognised since January. And any serious investor in solar PV would know that solar stocks around the world were down 40% in the first three quarters of last year. The Australian Prime Minister has a whole team of researchers and Ministers and none of them have even hired a high schooler to google the news on the solar industry?
China has flooded the market with so many solar panels that people are using them as garden fencing
Huileng Tan, Business Insider
China’s manufacturers are pumping out so many solar panels that the resulting global glut has caused prices to tank.
Solar panels are typically installed on rooftops, where they can capture the most sunlight — but there’s so much excess supply that some people are putting them on fences. This also saves on pricey labor and scaffolding costs required for roof installations, FT reported.
Fences covered in solar panels are also starting to take off in the UK, North America, and Australia.
Solar-panel supply globally is forecast to reach 1,100 gigawatts by the end of this year — three times more than demand, the International Energy Agency wrote in a report released in January.
If China makes 80% of the worlds solar panels, and if solar energy is so cheap and efficient, why doesn’t China just keep those panels and use them itself?
Solar panels aren’t entirely useless.
Apart from garden fencing, they can supply small amounts of power such as, when used with a battery, to keep one or two lights going at home, a small internet connected appliance to receive government propaganda and for Government to spy on you (Orwell’s Telescreen) and maybe a small amount of power to heat your daily ration of insects and gruel. Forget about heating, cooling, swimming pools, hot water or any other “luxury” items.
Given that the Left think the standard of living for non-Elites is already too high, the above scenario will be considered adequate.
The Chicomms are laughing all the way to world domination with the West’s idolatry of solar panels and windmills.
Emperor Xi wants China to be the dominant and only world power within 10-20 years. If conservatives and fellow rational thinkers remain silent, he will achieve that objective.
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Don’t forget Christmas lighting!
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David,
Don’t forget if the power runs out at night time you can always drive your EV in front of the panels and leave the car lights on – there problem solved!!
Who says these electric things aren’t multi-functional!!
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https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=277676687177920
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Whats free about a solar panel system, an EV, a tax on EV mileage, etc?
All that has happened is the sunlight was free but is no longer. Now there is an indirect tax on sunlight. Taxes ALWAYS increase.
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A couple a months ago there was a tech “expert” on a radio station I was listening to. A caller was having a problem with a new TV that had a solar powered remote. He was exposing the panel to the sun but couldn’t get it to charge. The tech “expert” suggested that he leave the remote face up in ambient light which would solve the problem.
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Electrical energy is currently extremely wasteful. Methods of making and distributing electricity lose 45% of electrical energy output as heat and create a heat island effect at every major city. It’s a world electric kettle. Just like the kettle, it is not heating CO2. Renewables are driving this effect to new heights. They are so inefficient that this 45% is increasing under government mandate and associated vote buying of the weak minded or self interested. No-one has realized what might happen if we triple the electric power wastage to heating atmospheric water worldwide via renewables everywhere. Then we may see a real government-made climate crisis.
If government wants to redirect human activity, it needs to show methods of making energy less expensive at a similar or better performance. The simplest method of reducing cost is to lower waste.
Government has never lowered waste. They either take other peoples money by force or create it from nothing. The only relief is smaller government. As government grows, waste grows exponentially.
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Mounting solar panels vertically does reduce the risk of damage from hail storms and makes them easier to clean
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…while increasing the risk of damage from stones thrown up by motor mowers and cars or balls during back yard cricket matches? Howzat lol.
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Actually we rely on solar panels for our house usage. Not connected to the grid. Induction cooktop, electric oven, heat pump electric hot water, lights, water pump etc. Basically everything electric except our major heating source is firewood in a glass fronted cast iron combustion heater.
7.5kw panels. Lead acid batteries 35kw capacity, but we stay above 50% to give them a longer life so effectively only 17kw storage. We havent had to use the back-up generator very often to stay above 50% and are mostly above 70% charge. We even use a clothes dryer from time to time.
They’re quite effective at running a domestic home. Even in southern Vic where we are.
Heating a home and charging a car in addition to the other domestic uses would need a larger system. Or more regular use of a generator.
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David,
When you write “The Chicomms are laughing all the way to world domination with the West’s idolatry of solar panels and windmills”, you seem to be lecturing ordinary Auastralians that this is a bad thing that they should resist.
Too late. The educational system and the capture of politicians with hands out for brown paper bags has already led half the younger population to be green and to believe that the Chicom stuff is quite normal, the expected way to do business.
You might need to add explanations of an alternative way to manage energy that you consider to be better.
Geoff S
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“You might need to add explanations of an alternative way to manage energy that you consider to be better.“
The first two paragraphs kind of make sense, although l don’t think too many “ordinary” Australians will be visiting this site in order to be lectured. A lot of people commenting in these threads would love to have ordinary Australians to visit and read their opinions and click on their links, but the reality is it will not happen often.
The third paragraph? Well, clean Australian coal, nuclear, gas and hydroelectric (based on a realistic schedule) are viable options. It’s possible you may have been hinting there is a need for those reliable energy sources having a better PR campaign
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So Long SoLar! Labor isn’t about setting up a solar production line in The Hunter but attempting to placate Labour Unions and their superannuation investments in a futile attempt to shore up blue-collar votes for next year’s election.
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Solar Panel production in Australia will be the next Green Elephant following on from Snowy 2.0 where the cost has escalated from $2 Billion to $20 Billion
It is so easy to waste other people’s money.
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Australian production of panels won’t be price competitive with the Chicomms so the Government will have to either mandate the purchase of Australian panels or impose tariffs on Chinese ones.
That will upset the Chicomms.
Watch Leftists heads explode!
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Germany abandoned the production of solar panels because the price of electricity was too high. So much so for ‘renewables’ which is a contradiction in terms. ‘Frequently replacables’ would be a more accurate description.
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The problem with all these lunatic antics is that the Coalition will carry them thru to completion.
The Coalition will press ahead with SH2 as sure as night follows day. Don’t put any money on them dumping the solar panel hoax either. Should they win the next election the “conversation “ on nuclear power will carry on until they lose the following election & renewables by wind & solar will carry on. Uniparty politics!
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The coalition started the scam, of course they will follow through.
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Ah – Shifty Mal’s Pallid Pachyderm – the Gift That Goes On Taking! How is poor Florence by the way??
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This is a good thing. Solar energy has become the ‘cheapest energy source in history’
https://www.wtsenergy.com/solar-cheapest-energy-source-in-history-factor/
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Simon, you forgot the /sarc tag.
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Two sets of delusions
That it is cheap. (Nowhere near it once the layers have been added to make it useful, and;
That cheap = good
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And according to our esteemed Prime Minister you can recharge your EV at night using solar panels.
Albo and Energy Minister Bowen are the Dumb and Dumber of Australia politics.
Wonderful things until a hail storm comes along!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=277676687177920
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But what good is energy if it’s not reliable?
Imagine a car that could only be driven during the day – how much would one pay for such a car? To ask the question is to answer it.
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Why imagine when I can have a car that charges from solar at zero cost, and I can drive at night.
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Once again Simon gives us the binary choice, to red downtick or abstain.
I’m going to abstain because for every red tick he gets $2 from Klaus in his Swiss hideyhole.
I hope readers didn’t think he was doing this for nothing.
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Your comments are wonder-full, Simon …and bring a chuckle ….
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“at zero cost..” oh dear, there is a grip on reality
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“This is a good thing. Solar energy has become the ‘cheapest energy source in history”
SARC/
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Solar is only “cheap” when someone else pays half the cost of installation, plus network, interconnectors, back up, FCAS, and all the money to keep huge capital assets sitting around at lunchtime doing nothing useful.
Solar is only cheap when communist dictators steal IP, use slave labor, grossly overestimate the demand, and create an artificial surplus.
Simon, are you happy that poor people pay more for electricity so you can get yours cheaper? Are you happy that slaves helped make your panels? Ethically, do you feel fulfillment being a parasite of human society, or do you need to lie to yourself that you are “saving the world” as an excuse to sponge off the vulnerable…
And the EV you charge probably has cobalt mined by child labor in the Congo. All good for you, yeah? Those stupid African kids don’t deserve a life like yours in a civilization built on cheap coal, gas, and oil.
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Well said, Jo.
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‘cheapest energy source in history’
No, natural gas.
Free. Tradeable. Commandable. Not variable. Available 24/7. Zero pipe transport cost. Zero transfer energy loss over any distance. Storeable indefinitely. Tradeable internationally. Zero pollution. 100% efficient in heating, even at night. Can be used to directly power refrigerators, cars, engines, trains. No wiring. No manufacturing cost and pollution and limits. Zero loss of farming land. No mining required. No overburden. No damage to national parks. Not unsightly. Zero heavy metal pollution. No use by date. No guarantees required. No service costs. 100% natural.
And in some cases, no processing required at all.
Which is why the solar and wind vendors want it banned.
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Interesting that at the moment the “gas industry” are running ads in prime time TV slots extolling the need for gas fired power backup for solar and wind. The ad depicts a solar panel array getting rained on and the need for gas to provide quick backup. Hence, gas being essential for our energy supply. Makes me wonder how long the ad will last before the green blob complain. Years ago the mining industry ran ads showing a HELE generator in Japan using Australian coal and how we should be proud etc. Other idiot members of the Mining Council complained and the ad was pulled.
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Ross,
In the 1970-80 era, I attended many Australiam Mining Industry Council and held positions like 6 years as Pres or VP of the NT Chamber of Mines. We did not lack the guts to counter the green rubbish that had started to take root.
It has been one of my subsequent life disappointments to see bodies like AMIC, the State Chambers, the BCA and so on get infiltrated by ignoramus level thinkers and actors. There must surely be a core of younger people with the same objectives that we had, ready to emerge from the green fogs of DEI and ESG, do a palace revolt and restore sdanity.
The present preponderance of government decisions and policies is so unlike what we toiled for that we might as well be in a different country. Not only in my mining industry circles – take defence. I spent some years in the services, latterly the RAAF and have an Army officer Duntroon graduate in the family. We/they are conspicuously different to the very model of the modern poofy indeterminate suit illustrated below.
It is time for a reversion to the norm.
Geoff S
https://www.geoffstuff.com/soldier.jpg
Geoff S
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“It is time for a reversion to the norm.”
Maybe not, maybe it will never happen and this ‘civilisation’ will vanish into history. We are too far down the dead-end road and will be replaced by younger cultures who have places to be and things to prove.
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From Simon’s link above –
Factor #4: Government policies and incentives.
Government policies and incentives have also played a significant role in the expansion of solar energy. In many countries, government subsidies and tax credits have encouraged the adoption of solar power, creating a stable and supportive environment for the deployment of solar panels. Governments have also implemented policies that require utilities to use more renewable energy sources, which has helped to spur demand for solar power
…In other words, we have been forced/conned into this scam.
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Simon gives us a binary choice where we lose either way.
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Aloha! The insane idea that the West can control the Earth’s atmosphere and extreme weather with this alternative energy that depends on the weather is like saying you are going to rely on politicians to define what the truth is. Politicians rely on constant lies to be elected and to stay in power. I only wish we could power our grid from “political lies” because that would be more reliable than using weather based power sources to fight climate change.
The only thing worse than finite mined and drilled resources is finite debt to fund this green energy transition. Its nothing more than a “wealth transfer” where a billionaire Davos cartel gets richer.
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Clueless as ever Simon who seems unable to realize that it doesn’t work at night and under cloudy skies and always relies on baseline 24/7 power generation back up.
This means it doesn’t generate power for at least 50% of the clock.
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So why are subsidies still needed? Oh, of course, to make the new transmission lines look cheap.
Are you familiar with the issue of transmission losses? longer transmission lines equal more transmission losses.
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Propagandists always tell us how cheap wind and solar are, but it is an undeniable fact that the more we get, the more expensive electricity becomes and the more deindustrialisation takes place. Of course, that is the plan.
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The Chinese know that solar is unreliable so don’t use it themselves but they do know that our government is unreliable and gullible so know they will buy this rubbish. In short China smart, we dumb.
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It’s analogous to a drug pusher that sells drugs to addicts but won’t use the substances themselves because they know how dangerous and destructive they are.
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China is in deflationary mode and is exporting their economic woes.
‘The United States and the EU are fretting over potential “dumping” by China — that is, exporting goods at artificially low prices — with electric vehicles among the products caught in the crosshairs.’ (CNN)
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Flinders and King Islands in Bass Strait (southern Australia, in the Roaring Forties with plenty of wind and with reasonable amounts of sun) are two places in the world where wind and solar plantations should work (if they are to work anywhere), but they don’t. Without the luxury of being connected to the mainland grid, they are heavily reliant on diesel generators for power.
That is the large scale experiment that Australian politicians and senior public serpents, all of whom are unqualified to make the engineering decisions they are making, should be looking at.
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I have been pounding this case home for a while now, even to the odd politician here and there.
Make it work on the islands without diesel, then give us the price tag.
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The design and implementation of wind and solar on the islands were “to reduce the diesel usage”. After seeing what was installed someone cut costs in such a way to restrict the likelihood of “success”. I suspect the outback miners in WA had the same goals and had rather more profitable results.
If you are going to do something, at least choose the most likely path to actually succeed. Whether it will or not is a different analysis.
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Real time energy dashboard
You’re seeing in real time the dashboard for our King Island renewable energy solution.
It is based on contributions from wind and solar and the enabling technologies that improve system security and reliability, such as battery, dynamic resister, flywheel and demand side management.
Diesel 48% Wind 26% Solar 26%
Fair bit of cloud – wind speed 38 Km/hr – https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-38.0;157.8;3&l=clouds-total
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While solar power seems fairly constant wind is fluctuating wildly making the diesel just in unison. Thankfully it is automatic for a human would never keep up. That diesel cannot possibly be operating at its maximum efficiency. Surplus power must be dumped straight into the ground.
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“Make it work in Canberra without importing power, then give us the price tag.”
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Vertical Solar Panel installations in Australia and Antarctica
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/australia-vertical-solar-mb1697/
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Vertical panels are not far off the ideal angle to collect winter sunshine in high latitudes. Vertical panels do not collect snow and the snow on the ground is easier to remove than snow on panels. Also far less likely to suffer hail damage.
The remote fishing shacks in Tasmania’s high country that run off solar power have almost vertical panels. Winter is the time you need to maximise collection. It results in the lowest overall system cost.
Ideal angle for winter at 50N is 73 degrees. Way closer to vertical than horizontal. Some buildings have south facing walls covered in solar panels. An example here:
https://solarbuildermag.com/news/check-out-this-solar-wall-installed-on-the-side-of-a-new-york-hospital/
In summer, vertical panels cool better then ones at lower angles. So they are more efficient albeit less direct sunlight.
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South facing in Tas?
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Simply as a scientific curiosity only, you can get decent power yields with vertical solar arrays because they remain cooler and therefore operate more efficiently, offsetting the loss due to a non-optimal angle of incidence to the sun.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/11/10/researchers-shed-light-on-mysterious-higher-energy-yields-in-vertical-pv-systems/
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Vertical installation can also use bifacial panels
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The discovery that vertical solar panels as per my post and CO2 Lover’s and RickWill’s above, can give decent power yields will unfortunately lead to even more solar panel infestations and beautiful buildings being defaced with more panels.
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Interesting patent re Virtical Solar Panels and Frensel lens
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2019024080A1/en
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And who can forget “solar shingles” answer EVERYBODY!
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And solar roads…
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Albo and BO Bowen and the idiot Greens are living in a FANTASY world and enjoy WASTING BILLIONS of $ for nothing and WASTING decades of time for NOTHING.
The OECD countries will be poorer and will soon be at very high risk if we keep voting for these losers.
Just have a look at the co2 emissions data since 1990 and try to THINK about our future.
I’ve included Australia ( 1% of global co2 emissions) for reference and don’t forget that the entire SH is already a NET co2 SINK. See CSIRO.
Are we really that stupid that we can’t understand these very simple SUMS or understand very simple graphs and data over the last 34 years?
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=OWID_WRL~AUS~OECD+%28GCP%29~Non-OECD+%28GCP%29
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Are we really that stupid? Yes – Albo and Bowen are that stupid
https://www.atlasiron.com.au/australia-has-been-at-net-zero-for-a-long-time-ian-plimer-rowan-dean-the-outsiders/
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“Albo and Bowen are that stupid ”
Don’t forget the voters that put them there are even more stupid!
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If they showed the bottom 1/3 of the planet, you would look at the Australia line. Only 2% of people live below the Tropic of Capricorn which is a massive CO2 sink. If all life stopped south of the Tropic it would make zero difference to CO2.
It is impossible for Albanese and Bowen to justify punishing Australia. And all the state Premiers.
We cannot save the world by ceasing to exist or make anything or grow any food.
So why are they doing all this damage? I cannot think of a single good reason. And idiocy does not explain it.
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TdeF,
“So why are they doing all this damage? I cannot think of a single good reason. And idiocy does not explain it.”
👍🏻 Hanlon’s Razor truly is useless here. We are in the frame.
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While the exact carbon footprint varies depending on the technology and location of manufacture, studies estimate that it ranges between 40 to 100 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (gCO2/kWh) produced. Polysilicon production accounts for about half of the total carbon emissions associated with solar panel manufacturing.
Producing 1 kilogram of metallurgical grade silicon requires 14-16 kWh of power, which of course is much cheaper in China compared to Australia.
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Let’s face it CO2 lover- start manufacturing ANYTHING on this planet, sooner or later there will be a substantial production of CO2. But when I say substantial that means just normal. Then there is the further problem- whether its Net Zero or calculations of each country’s CO2 emissions, the consumption of CO2 as eg. sequestration at its source is generally not considered. Carbon accounting- the dodgiest form of accounting ever devised.
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FWIW
“Country announces plans to ban import of gas-powered vehicles with unprecedented new law: ‘A decision has been made'”
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/ethiopia-ban-on-gas-vehicles/
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I didn’t realise that Ethiopa had oodles of reliable power available to the masses to charge up their electric everythings.
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Let them ride camels. Of course, that might mean they have to forego food…
(From Web.)
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Ian,
Its the price of being dependent on foreign aid . The US is a major donor of aid and insanity .
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Per https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ Ethiopia has a population approaching 129 million [and catching Mexico].
I imagine they have a lot of sunshine much of the year.
Not sure about solar panels ….
Auto
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That’s fine, in a century Ethiopia will be just as it is now..
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How ugly would the back of that solar fence be.
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Again here’s the 2022 global primary energy consumption by SOURCE and you’ll note TOXIC W & S are only about 2.13%. And OWI Data uses Vaclav Smil’s data.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-primary-energy-share-inc-biomass?time=latest
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BTW Fossil fuels + traditional bio-mass still supply 92.28% of BASE-LOAD global energy.
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Back to horizontal panels – now if we can just get them to work at night
Paving the way: are solar sidewalks a viable way to decarbonise our cities?
https://www.power-technology.com/features/paving-the-way-are-solar-sidewalks-a-viable-way-to-decarbonise-our-cities/?cf-view
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Been around a while. Likewise solar roadways. They found that they became very dirty and scratched and very unusable very quickly. A money pit. A daft idea.
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Hopefully –
“A new variant called
“waking up” is spreading
around the world.
I hope you
catch it.
OBJECTIVE AND UNCENSORED ANALYSIS”
https://img.patriotpost.us/01HTQEP8K0G5DEHQH0W4Q48GGS.jpeg?w=445&dpr=1&q=75
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Oh the irony – China making solar panels with coal fired power which we export to them . They get power 24 x 7 and we get variable part time power . The general population has lost their minds due to being fed lies (the old misinformation) by the MSM . Stupid will get more expensive soon as its way underpriced…..
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Super Fund HESTA last year invested $100,000,000 of your retirement savings in Renu Energy RNE. Today it’s worth $22,000,000.
Let’s have a look at the board – https://www.hesta.com.au/about-us/leadership/hesta-board
The infiltration is complete.
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I am a member of QSuper (now part of the Australian Retirement Trust). On 19 March it advised members that QSuper’s investment options would change from 1 July 2024. e.g. the advice said that the respective Australian Shares and International Shares options would have Return Objectives of ‘aims to closely match the returns of the performance benchmark and “maintain a lower weighted carbon intensity”. While I have questioned what the latter term meant QSuper has failed to provide a definition. This appears strange as it would surely have been known by the staff redefining the Return Objectives you would think. Guess it is a terribly hard question as they intimated it could take up to 45 business days to give me a reply. The HESTA example given above by YYY Guy says it all really. Caveat emptor!
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I would steer clear of any super fund trying to make money out of the theft associated with grid scale WDGs. The sovereign risk is mounting. The guaranteed theft only survives as long as it has government support. Take away the theft and the whole WDG industry collapses.
The way to pay for nuclear is to replace the current theft and shift it to direct investment opportunity for consumers in nuclear power. For example, offer high yield government bonds specifically for nuclear power plants.
The last COP elevated the sovereign risk. The pivot to nuclear is a major step forward.
There will be no more viable grid scale wind or solar project in Australia without more storage. Even Snowy 2 does not enable a lot more generating capacity because rooftop keep stealing the market. Rooftops will always outcompete grid scale generation because it does not get a price signal. And there is no benefit of scale with WDGs but they are stuck with high cost of transmission.
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Rickwill,
Rooftop solar IS getting a price signal – the “Sun Tax” and declining rates for solar power fed to the grid . As far as the Super boondoggle – get a self managed super fund . Then you will have control where your money is invested and can avoid WDG investments and invest in companies that have a profitable future .
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In the last ten years roof top solar power being fed back into the grid has NOT been the rationale for installing the panels.
Can you say avoidance of grid supplied power costs. Use what you self generate !
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Agreed. At 7c/kWh, the return for my panels doesn’t make any significant difference to when my solar system will be paid off.
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You can have very granular control over where you super is invested if you care to make the effort. Thats not an exclusive feature of SMSFs , although they do maximise options.
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About 4 years ago the was a company called Windlab listed on the ASX. II recall that its stated purpose was to commercialise the CSIRO wind technology.
As far as I could see, the initial listing price was $2.00. Over the next couple of years the price drifted up and down, mostly down, until when it was around $0.80 cents per share, one of the private investment funds made a takeover offer at $1 per share. The Windlab CEO said the $1 per share was a fair offer, with the share price at $0.80 cents per share. No mention of the investors who paid $2 per share.
My thinking at the time was that, as a listed company, any news, good and bad but mostly bad, about Windlab had to be reported to the ASX, however in private hands all news, mostly, bad stays private.
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So many on HESTA Boards with Not For Profit backgrounds.
Guess $80 000 000 loss in our investment fund returns won’t upset them unduly.
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I particularly liked director Catherine (Cath) Smith.
Qualifications: Master of Strategic Foresight
Say no more.
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China’s strategy is to price other countries industries out of existence then to take over the market. If the Australian governments are looking to compete then they are looking at being well and truly f’d over.
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Which is why I have hope for the hydrogen reduction of iron ore to pig iron. If that can be completed in a somewhat economical manner, then the export of iron ore could be restricted. Though I expect the Chinese would say – we would rather do that ourselves.
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Wave a stupid idea in front of the present Australian government and no force on Earth can hold them back from signing up to the racket, even if it has long passed its use-by date.
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Time to remind readers of this animated movie of our dystopian future.
With a fanatical UN/WEF compliant Government, Australia is a test case for this very scenario.
Feel free to point out anything portrayed in the movie that isn’t plausible or hasn’t already happened.
https://youtu.be/vWkepoLUZfs
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And in other ruinables news……
Federal government proposes wind farm in the middle of a whale migration route
The federal government has proposed developing an offshore wind farm in the middle of a massively popular tourist destination.
In what is believed to be a world first, the federal government has proposed developing an offshore wind farm in the middle of a whale super highway off Western Australia’s southwest coast.
Each year, tens of thousands of whales use the water in and around Geographe Bay on their annual migration to Antarctica.
The bay is described as a pristine marine ecosystem off Bunbury, about 168km south of Perth, and stretches 98km along the coastline to Cape Naturaliste, between Dunsborough and Yallingup…..first it was Greenpeace save the whales, now it’s but, but, but climate change.
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What is it with the Left’s obsession with harming whales with offshore wind plantations?
They are doing it in the US (Martha’s Vineyard) and in Australia in Vicdanistan and now Western Australia.
I guess whales must be responsible for Climate Change. Why else would they be harming them?
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They are also planning two massive offshore wind factories in NSW, off the Hunter/Newcastle and Illawarra coasts, smack bang in the middle of the east coast whale migration route. Silence from “environmentalists,” but the locals are furious.
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I can top that Maree. Orchid Energy (Brisbane based) is planning 2 x 3000 MW capacity Offshore Wind ‘Farms’ to be situated in the Curtis Channel off the Capricorn and Gladstone coasts in Central Queensland. The Curtis channel is located between the Capricorn – Bunker Group of coral reefs and cays and the coastline. It is a major migration channel for humpback whales and their calves travelling down to Hervey Bay for a ‘pit stop’ on their way back to Antarctica. The Curtis Channel is also within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park – inscribed World Heritage Area! An unbelievable proposal from Orchid Energy who must have been given a wink & a nod from some influential politician or bureaucrat. Twiggy Forrest also needs a lot of cheap (government a la taxpayer) subsidised energy for his Hydrogen plant to be built in Gladstone too.
Don’t worry you say. They’ll never let such massive offshore wind ‘farms’ to be erected on our treasured GBR – World Heritage Area. Yes, that one – with “outstanding universal values”. They wouldn’t surely? Unfortunately the Queensland Government has form. A string of land based wind turbine ‘farms’ have been approved/proposed for the ridge lines in the coastal ranges between Rockhampton and Mackay. These ranges are steep and their upper slopes would never be allowed to be cleared under Queensland’s Vegetation Management Act (1999). Land holders who have ignored the provisions of this Act have been routinely subjected to six figure fines. Because the ranges are largely untouched up to the present time and have very few access tracks they support quite large populations of endangered koalas (Queensland’s fauna emblem) and the magnificent Greater Glider inter alia.
Oops. All these facts must be a big problem for prospective wind farm developers to overcome? Nope. The government has simply exempted renewable energy projects from the provisions of the VMA (1999) and the Nature Conservation Act (1992) and replaced them with State Planning Code 23, the Wind Farm Code, which overrides those two acts.
Queensland – The Last resort. They called it paradise – I don’t know why. (Ask ‘The Eagles’).
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Such chicanery is testament to the decrepitude of governance throughout this country; they’ve even opened a simple route to the undoing of the principle that federal law overrides state law; ugly practice by yer international climatebaggers now running amok.
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Whales used to be non negotiable, the koalas of the marine world, what happened, did the save a whale mob get told to sit down and shutup.
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Moving on –
“Kill a koala, save a polar bear”
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FWIW
“The Reality Of Vitamin D Supplementation”
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/reality-vitamin-d-supplementation
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Oops! Wrong thread but this also fits-
“Scientists Shed New Light on the Anti-Aging Effect of Vitamin D”
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-shed-new-light-on-the-anti-aging-effect-of-vitamin-d/
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Thanks a i,
Some interesting bits, but a mixed bag.
Some old numbers, and the overdosing limits are poorly discussed.
No mention of cofactors at all.
The mention of cancer is valuable.
Cheers,
Dave B
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There is some irony in subsidising a solar panel factory at the old Liddell coal fired generator site. If we had retained more coal generation in our energy mix and not subsidised intermittents (wind/ solar), the electricity would be cheap enough for us to possibly compete with Chinese made solar panels. But right now, there’s no hope.
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It is shaping up that China will be stuck with a whole lot of solar panels and no market. Building a solar panel factory in Australia would be a dead end. It would make a lot more sense for Victoria to literally become the powerhouse of Australia. Just burn through more of its abundant lignite reserves to supply the rest of Australia; continually upgrading to the most efficient technology. The benefit of using lignite is that the international market for it is small because its low heat value does not justify the transport costs across oceans. Hence there is no global competition for it. Unlike high rank anthracite.
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I know that, you know that and a lot of other people know that. But it would seem those in power are completely oblivious to that fact. Victoria already props up the power supply for SA and has links to both NSW and Tasmania. When we lost Hazelwood Power Station (1600 MW), the dye was cast for higher power prices Australia wide. The power station closed in March 2017. When the power station closed, wholesale prices in Victoria went up 85% compared to 2016.
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Daniel Andrews said no more than 20%. But then to be fair, when did he ever tell the truth?
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Suddenly opting to turn a decommissioned coal-fired baseload power generator into a solar panel factory when there’s a world-wide glut of solar panels on the market is clearly a profligate waste of taxpayer money. Albanese is a hustler and also what’s known in Poker as a four-flusher. His Far-Left-Green-Teal Socialist Labour government is interested mainly in upping the ante on the Coalition’s nuclear push and not Australia becoming self-sufficient in solar panels.
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“A four flush is a poker hand that is one card short of being a full flush. A four flusher is a person who makes empty boasts or bluffs when holding a four flush.” And I thought it was a floater like Albanese.
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What could go wrong with solar panel fences? MSM story in a couple of years- “As the state faces potential water shortages after a succession of dry winters, residents are being advised not to wash down their solar panel fences to conserve water. Plus it has been found that washing solar panel fences leaches harmful metals into the soil”.
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These fences would not be allowed in the USA.
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Anything goes when it has green credentials. Look at the development of offshore wind in the USA. All the old environmental issue are swept under the carpet to save the planet.
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Yes Rick, but the kids in America play baseball in the
backyard, and those balls are incompatible with glassified fencing.
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No lomger a worry – most are inside glued to screens now
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If you are short sighted and can’t see that far then try what is going on in Qld –
like #23.1.1.1
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Depends really on the size of the rocks the lawn mower throws up I guess, and where the kids draw their crickets stumps
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Wasted government expenditure?
A recent example. They went around dairy farms here recently handing out Ecogenica pump hot water systems, FREE! Turns out its not hot enough to clean the stainless vats, so now they’re ripped out and sitting in the shed.
One might expect they’d think of that beforehand. But how would you know? The technician here said, when they turned up, that he would refuse to install it because it won’t get hot enough. He left school at 14. So I would expect these university graduates in leadership positions should be able to work it out?
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Some of the dumbest people I have met in life went to uni.
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“Specialists” – “knowing everything about nothing”?
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Where a generalist knows almost nothing about everything?
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And most of the smartest.
It’s also true that University used to be 10% of people. Now it’s closer to 50%, which has devastated essential trades. And often left such people unemployable. Except as politicians like Albanese.
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The universties have been totally dumbed-down to ensure that even the worst students doing the most absurd subjects like “gender studies” can’t possibly fail. Then the graduates ho and work as public serpents or politicians and make public policy.
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And the most indoctrinated.
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Perhaps they could preheat the water to the real gas fired heater,
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“So I would expect these university graduates in leadership positions should be able to work it out?”
That would need a pencil – like the constipated clerk
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I envision solar panels mounted as walls to be prime real estate for graffiti.
You saw it here first!
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If all the korruption was removed from electricity generation, then, engineering would prevail and energy prices would plummet.
That relatively small trickle of inducement to political engineers in parliament house needs to be halted.
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“even though the angle is not good for catching the sun”
I’m not so sure that it’s as bad as you think. Germany is so very far North that they are probably quite close to the optimum angle.
“If China makes 80% of the worlds solar panels, and if solar energy is so cheap and efficient, why doesn’t China just keep those panels and use them itself?”
Because China isn’t stupid?
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Wind turbines are like strippers, they stop working when you stop throwing money at them.
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You are wise in the ways of windmills.
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Guaranteed to operate but only for 2.5 days in every 7.0 days, problem being no guarantee as to which days they will operate.
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I was in a medium-sized country town in South Australia over the weekend and saw an electical shop which was in the solar business but their sign XXXXXXX SOLAR SOLUTIONS had been painted out but you could still read what it said. The shop is still operating with all other types of electrical products. An online search revealed the solar business probably when it started with an accompanying electric-vehicle parked outside proudly advertising it. The search result now has “permanently closed” next to it.
While it is good that the business is still going that particular “line” proved to be unviable!
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Looks like the owner found the solution to the problems of being in that business?
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Labor and private sector recipients of the taxpayer billion dollar subsidy the PM announced via two jets FIFO to Liddell Power Station NSW say Australians will pay more for Made in Australia.
Who remembers the many Buy Australian campaigns of past decades as Australians embraced cheaper imported products, even 8 of every 10 motor vehicles were imported much to the frustration at GM Holden, Ford and Toyota, earlier British Leyland, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and others.
I heard today that there are Australian made solar panels and that the government is paying a premium price to subsidise them as a renewable energy expense and publicity stunt.
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I noticed that some people had gained the impression that the Dutton Coalition Opposition were fully backing nuclear, Small Modular Reactors. But that is misleading, they support coal and gas fuelled base load generators, whatever the market offers than delivers cheaper electricity and reliably.
The only reason for pursuing nuclear is to conform to zero emissions demands. Obviously utilising existing power station locations and main grid would be far more cost effective than attempting to transition to a wind solar hybrid system.
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Solar?
The Andrews Government has been wiping out every alternative to solar and wind and there are agreed to be absolutely disastrous consequences in the following years. Forget modular nuclear. We have run out of time.
The Victorian Labor government has been on a long campaign to wipe out gas as well as coal. Without any idea how to replace them. It is even illegal to pick up fallen sticks in the forest for your fire.
In ‘The Australian’ on the well planned massive gas shortage in Victoria “Australia will need more than one LNG import terminal: AGL”
“Victoria may be softening its ideological opposition to gas”
Incredible. That’s the only problem, ideological government malevolence. We have plenty of gas, the best possible fuel and Melbourne is built for gas, at least since the 1860s. All my Victorian light fittings were gas. We made gas from coal. No longer. It seems we have run out of coal gas we have plenty of other gas. Except it’s all illegal to use. New gas is banned.
While the people responsible for this Andrews government legislated and planned disaster are having urgent meetings, the time is running out to do anything at all about it. The deck chairs are being shuffled at meetings.
I don’t think there has been a more planned economic and practical disaster in Australian history.
But the Labor politicians think this just might change voting intentions so they are starting to worry. Forget responsible government. The Victorian Government saboteurs are worrying people might notice the lights are off, the stoves don’t work, the factories are closed. Really? As in the man made pandemic disaster, the good ship Victoria, the Titanic of Australia has been steered quite deliberately into another iceberg. All to save China from Climate Change?
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Meanwhile the Victorian Liberal Leader is heading to court for his ideological opposition to the idea that women exist. I expect his views on power are also restricted to political power but otherwise identical, that China and Chinese manufacturing must be saved at all costs. You have to wonder how long it will be before he too is making regular trips to Beijing to get his orders and beg for cash.
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And while Victoria owns all the mineral resources including coal and gas, they have found that the Federal government owns the wind, so there is a stand off with off shore wind. Meanwhile both will try to blame commercial power generation and distribution when the owners of all the free energy are at loggerheads trying to please the UN.
Then they get jobs after retirement, like Helen Clarke and now Julie Bishop who is going to solve all the problems of Myanmar for the UN?
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[…] published JoNova; Subsidising capacity expansion in the middle of a glut – these jobs will evaporate as soon […]
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Got no problem with people using their own money to solarfy their own house – or anyone else’s house, if they feel like it – but anything else is slop. Absolute suboptimal waste-biscuits for public and network projects.
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What’s not to love about solar? It takes advantage of free energy. The problem is that it guts pay to produce energy when the sun is high and lives free of consequence when it’s dark outside..
Yep, solar is a real winner when it can choose the races it’s bound to win with imputity and without consequence of not powering up in darker times.
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