Lesson 4-billion-and-one in How Big Government Screws Everything Up
Cuadrilla Shale Gas.
Remember Cuadrilla, the company that discovered 200 trillion cubic feet of gas in Lancashire, UK in 2011? It multiplied the entire national reserve of shale gas by 37 fold. At one point the market value was estimated to be something like £136 billion and could keep the UK “in gas” for 56 years.
It should have changed everything. But in 2022 the UK is in an energy crisis and instead of expanding those shale wells, the UK government is sealing them up. They’re the only two viable shale gas wells in Britain, and the government wants them to pour concrete down the holes.
It’s been a long slow grind to nothing. The anti-frackers frightened the people with stories of “known carcinogens called ‘silicon dioxide’” and seismic shocks that registered 1.5 on the Richter scale. So the people of the UK gave up an industry worth £6 billion a year, and a reliable energy supply because a government department was afraid of pure sand and a class of earthquake so small it’s “rarely felt” and so common the world has “several million” of them each year.
Andrew Montford, of NetZeroWatch explains that the UK government regulated Cuadrilla out of existence:
The Spectator
The aim of the campaigners and their media allies was to destroy the industry before it took off, or at least to have it regulated into irrelevance. At first, the government held its ground, but with the media in full chorus that didn’t last for very long. After drilling operations caused a pair of microtremors (of a size somewhat smaller than a lorry rumbling past your window) the scaremongering reached a new intensity. Stories were circulated to the media that homes had been damaged. These claims were later shown to be baseless, but by then the government had had enough, and their resistance crumbled. New rules were put in place that made operators stop work if they caused even a tiny earth tremor. The so-called ‘red light’ level was set so low – far below anything detectable – it was said that if you wanted a long weekend, all you had to do was drop a spanner on the drilling pad on Thursday evening.
It’s a case of selective enforcement. No other industry has to keep seismic events to nothing; not truckers, or miners, or pop singers. Even primary school children are allowed to generate seismic shocks ten times bigger than Cuadrilla is. In 2001, one million of children jumped off chairs to create a shake of about a 3.0.
And it’s no accident. The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) was created to drive fossil fuels out of business.
…how can we explain the decision to seal the wells up? In fact, it makes sense if you take a look at the OGA’s remit. In this extraordinary document, you will find no mention of any duty to ensure that operators aren’t cutting corners. There is nothing about making sure that they deliver for consumers, nor even anything about national energy security (another issue of pressing urgency, given Mr Putin’s machinations). Instead, the role that government has given it revolves entirely around delivering Net Zero. Put bluntly, the OGA is more about closing the industry down than regulating it.
When the price cap on domestic energy bills is lifted in a few weeks’ time, there is likely to be a great deal of anger.
It’s almost like the OGA serves the enemies and competitors of the UK, and not the people. Someone is profiting from the scare campaign, and the rigged committee, but it isn’t most of the voters.
If it was “One Law For All”, the law could never have been made. Being able to make petty regulations or grant industry-licenses makes the bureaucrats the Kingmakers. Unaccountable tyrants.
Worth sharing
It’s essential UK produces its own Shale gas. The problem is Green zealots make wild claims that tiny well pads would industrialise our countryside. Greens fail to admit solar requires 40X the area of a well site to produce 1/20 of the energy. Support UK gas & not fuel poverty pic.twitter.com/gZLoDzrmlm
— Lorraine Allanson (@LorraineAllans1) February 13, 2022
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That concluding paragraph from Lorraine is fascinating. We need more bite sized facts like these.
The situation is not as gloomy as the excellent mr Montfort paints.
A number of us are approaching their local mp’s during their ‘surgery’ armed with facts and figures. There is a growing group of anti net zero mp’s totalling some 25 to 35 . They have come to the notice of desmog blog and green peace.
The two leading contenders should boris fall are both very cool on net zero. The PM’s wife is said to be the main instigator and I dare say is hurrying to kill the tracking industry whilst she still has influence.
https://www.politico.eu/article/partygate-uk-net-zero-plans-boris-johnson-climate-change/
Reality is coming to the fore. Power shortages are likely and huge energy price increases certain and more people are realising we have a lot of energy unused beneath our feet.
People are very lukewarm over heat pumps and do not like the prospect of gas boilers and cookers being phased out nor the crackdown on fossil fuel vehicles.
So I would say this is just the start of a concerted effort to make mp’s see sense. There is a huge kickback from the members forum ‘ Conservative home’ when they run regular articles from Tory MP’s about the delights of net zero.
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‘The PM’s wife is said to be the main instigator and I dare say is hurrying to kill the tracking industry whilst she still has influence.’
Is that what we’re calling it now?
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Unelected and all, dictating policy; she’ll certainly file for divorce when Boris’s end arrives, the sooner the better.
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[…] Amid energy crisis, UK Government uses Regulatory Death Curse on gas industry […]
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They allowed the Russians to interfere and spread misinformation about fracking and to fund their useful idiot eco-loons. It’s not even a secret or seriously denied that this was real and happened. It obviously suited UK gov. policy. It make us even more pathetic when trying to deal with the Ukraine situation.
The other contradiction is that the piling works for the Rampion offshore windfarm caused real ‘earthquakes’ that you could feel not just measure with highly sensitive equipment. It was 10km from me but we had months of headaches and lost sleep from the pressure waves and some nights the whole house was shaking multiple times a minute and dust was falling down and small objects vibrating about. Imagine being smacked around the head with a 20lb rubber mallet multiple times a minute whilst someone kicks the bass drum from a heavy metal band.
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Once Great Britain, like most Western countries, is totally committed to self destruction by its “leaders”.
The only question is, which one will totally fall first and can any country be saved by “people power”.
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David,
Russia will go into Ukraine (just before end the Winter Olympics because Xi asked Putin to wait!), EU and US will apply economic sanctions, Russia will reply by cutting the gas off, Germany will freeze with NO POWER and the German population will revolt BIGTIME!
So my answer is Germany 🙂
Mean while,
Xi closes his boarders with a whole heap of Olympians who were too stupid to get on the first plane out, then Xi will invade Taiwan.
Biteme has a brain freeze from too much ice cream, and Camel Harris has a serious attack of Arkancide and Dillary becomes POTUS;
Frudeau goes into hiding – permanently;
Boris abdicates to his wife who was running the whole bloody show anyway!
Scomo forms a minority government with the Greens, tells everyone it’s better than Labor running the show but no one will notice any difference.
What could possibly go wrong??????
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Yes David, Xi and Putin know that the US is too weak to fight wars on two fronts. It was also interesting to watch The Outsiders on Sunday and hear how much influence the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab have over western democracies. How many politicians have been inserted or ‘educated’ by the WEF. I have no doubt Xi, Putin and Schwab are a new triumvirate.
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Russia will not go into Ukraine provided that Ukraine doesn’t go into Nato.
Placing Nuclear missiles into Ukraine would be an act of war and leave Russia no choice.
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https://stopthesethings.com/2022/02/12/ev-collision-course-more-big-batteries-means-more-major-environmental-destruction/
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It’s only going to stop when sufficient people in the UK get fed up with this garbage.
Have you seen this one?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10416599/New-climate-change-rules-outlaw-new-build-conservatories-create-unwanted-solar-gain.html
Banning conservatories because the pea-brain experts claim they might perhaps get too warm, or too cool, or because greenhouse bad mkay? But if you pay for enough modelling to demonstrate no “unwanted solar gain” you can get one. Sheesh … normal people just open a window, because the “greenhouse effect” is caused by preventing convection cooling, and in a place like the UK the gain you get in Winter from additional solar heating vastly outweighs the small number of Summer days when the conservatory might be uncomfortably warm. Besides, who owns the house anyhow?
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It is maybe not as stupid as would first appear, at least for a select group of people. I would suspect that you would find that the required modelling can only be carried out by a specified agency, and if you dug deep enough, you would uncover a commercial arrangement between that agency and the government administrators. Not unlike getting various permits required to build/renovate a house in Australia.
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Just say “corruption” … you know you want to.
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P C to me means “Political Corruption”.
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Here in the south west of England a cold day with no sun will mean my conservatory, double glazed and with low brick walls, will be at around 12 degrees centigrade if the temperature outside is say 7 degrees centigrade. When the sun shines the temperature becomes a very comfortable 21 centigrade or more. In general the solar gain is very useful and saves us a lot of fuel. In the peak of the summer we wil open all doors and windows to keep the heat down.
So all in all the sun is a very positive contributor . To think of banning conservatories is nonsensical for they also provide additional much needed space.
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That is bizarre. Is this a new physical principle, that the earth can be heated by building conservatories (basically glass houses)?
The whole point of a conservatory is because it’s miserably cold in Once Great Britain and remains so despite false claims to the contrary.
Don’t the people of Once Great Britain seek the warmth, just like all other peoples of the world?
I keep aaking Leftists, but NEVER get an answer, when was a time in human history when natural warming was a bad thing? The Minoan, Egyptian, Roman and Medieval Warm periods were times when civilisation thrived. Not so with naturally cool periods.
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“I keep aaking Leftists, but NEVER get an answer, when was a time in human history when natural warming was a bad thing? ”
Actually as I’m a small l liberal and thus strictly speaking a Leftist it still isn’t an answer from a Leftist, a group of people with whom you seems inordinately obsessed.
Couple of answers
“climatic, and ge-ologic evidence which supports the hypothesis that climate change instigated by an intense El Nino activity contributed to the demise and eventual disappearance of the Minoan civilization due to dry conditions.
https://d-nb.info/1142560163/34
There was a severe 200-year drought in North and East Africa around 2200 B.C. Hieroglyphics record that the annual Nile flood failed for 50 about years and many people died of famine. That’s quite a bad thing.
https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub364/entry-6158.html
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A crucial bungle I wrote ” strictly speaking a Leftist” Should have written “strictly speaking not a Leftist” Suspect ordure and fans will greet this apology
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The Minoans were not destroyed by CLimate Change. They were destroyed by the eruption of Thera (the islands of Santorini are the remnants.)
It was recorded in the book of Exodus that on leaving Egypt The Lord went before them in a Pillar of Smoke by day and as a column of Fire by night.” That was about 1650 BC or thereabouts. The tidal wave from the pyroclastic eruption could have just about broken over the highest points on the island of Crete.
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Exodus 13:21.
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repeated in Numbers 14:14
See also: https://www.britannica.com/event/eruption-of-Thera
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The literature on the causes of the destruction of the Minoan civilisation certainly does discuss, at length, the effect of the volcanic eruption.
More recent studies as to when the eruption occurred leave little doubt about the date of the eruption which they all place as occurring several hundred years before the destruction of the Minoan palaces which took place around 1450 BC and the final disappearance of Minoans around 1200 BC. That seems to rule out the theory that volcanic eruption was the sole cause of the end of the Minoan civilisation.
There are theories that the destruction of the Minoan civilisation was caused by El Nino https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/6/525/2010/
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Ian,
your claim that climate change around 2200BC is supported by the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, and there was troubles elsewhere. The end of the Neolithic in Orkney (collapse of the Ness of Brodgar and the abandonment of Scara Brae also), the halt in any work at Stonehenge, the collapse of the Akkadian empire in Mesopotamia, and of at least one early kingdom in China with possibly the decline of the Harrapan civilisation in the Punjab.
So climate change certainly, and another around 1180BC (sea peoples + ‘end of the bronze Age)’ but that couldn’t have been due to rising CO2 levels.
To claim natural climate change validates belief in modern Climate Change© is bizarre.
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see “1177 BC The Year Civilization Collapsed” by Eric Cline.
(Princeton University Press, ISBN: 978-0-691-14089-6 (hardback) )
It wasn’t quite that year, as Cline explains in the book. It was more a collection of years leading up to it.
It’s a fascinating and compelling read: strongly recommended. (and/or you can watch the video. — also recommended.)
It was a period of intense and frequent tectonic action — frequent and large earthquakes brought down city walls,
both external and internal — not so much just CC. The end of the Bronze Age was an economic collapse mixed with geologic disasters.
The Sea Peoples were a motley crew fleeing the disasters to the West and North, and inflicting their own social disasters on the Mediteranean city states.
Up to then was the destruction of the City State as a civilising force. After 1177 it all settled down.
The tectonic action, volcanic actions etc etc all faded back into obscurity.
Tin (and its ore) was to the Bronze Age as Oil is to ours. The Mediterranean States traded around the Eastern Mediterranean intensively, as we trade Globally. The end of our age will be like that of the Bronze Age — like hitting a wall, except that our age is being brought down deliberately by the blinkered and misguided.
Turkey is on its own tectonic plate which is squeezed beteen the plate to the North (Central Asia) and the Africa plate to the south.
It is moving westwards — like an apple/pear pip squeezed between your fingers — into the Aegean Sea.
That area has bursts of activity. Maybe it’s time for it to wake up again.
Cline has published a number of U-Tube videos:
See: 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Eric Cline, PhD) plus others on Youtube.
Enjoy.
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Everybody knows climate change causes volcanic eruptions.
https://www.livescience.com/25936-climate-change-causes-volcanism.html
And anything else you can think of.
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Climate change maybe,…but is there evidence to suggest it was a GLOBAL change ?
There is plenty of current examples of localised climate changes, long droughts, etc,..but we all agree that those alone are not evidence of global climate change or warming.
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Have people forgotten the warmth-related place names in Britain such as names related to vineyards?
E.g. Vine Street, London, was the location of a Roman vineyard.
Vineyards existed there from the time of the Roman invasion and possibly before that.
The climate varies naturally.
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All of my family in England will be champing at the bit to get to the Med to take advantage of that (much more than 1.5 degrees) warmth.
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Imagine a world with solar farms and sufficient battery back-up to cover a week of low sunshine.
Nope, I can’t imagine that either.
Maybe the plan really is to own nothing and be happy. With ownership referring to all domestic assets along with your countries industry, which was replaced by others who don’t follow these silly plans.
Prosperity flows to those who do things, not those who shut it down.
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When the Marxist elites at the WEF tell us “you will own nothing, but you will be happy”, they never explain how or why we will be happy with this scenario. No house, no car, no money in the bank and essentially homeless. Personally, I would like these people to test their own theory on themselves first, by having all of their own assets confiscated and then the rest of us can make a judgement if they appear happier after moving from their luxury mansions and penthouses, to a life sleeping in the subways covered in newspapers alongside an empty donations box.
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All you need to do is talk to someone who escaped from East Germany or Estonia when they were part of the USSR. They owned nothing and were very far from happy. The parasites that inhabit the WEF will do quite well sucking the blood from the extremely unhappy workers who will be reduced to serfs. These socialists are all the same and all believe that they will be living on the top floor and able to shop at the party store. They won’t but they don’t believe that. BTW if I remember correctly the paradise of the USSR relied on fossil fuels to make it’s economy run and will again given the chance.
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Lawrie, the elites just have not explained the benefits of poverty to the masses well enough. When they do the masses will be very happy to live in poverty.
I think it was Col Joye who said that poverty is the one thing that money cannot buy.
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As I previously remarked, THEY will own everything and THEY will be ecstatic.
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Serge,..you are missreading the phrase.
“You will be happy”… is not a reassurance,…. it is an “INSTRUCTION “ !
IE……..”you WILL. be happy !
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Certainly there are possible issues with fracking, but the biggest problem faced by most citizens is the failure of designated government authorities to monitor, oversee and control industrial processes correctly.
Modern industry has mostly got well recognised anti-pollution procedures to adhere to but they add “cost” to the production.
The problem comes with government failure to ensure regulations are followed but I’m sure that no government departments would ever be induced to turn a blind eye to let companies save money. Surely not.
KK
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How the UK became vulnerable.
‘The UK’s own gas fields in the North Sea and Irish Sea have served the nation well – but their output is falling, partly because too few new fields have been developed. From self-sufficiency in 2004 the UK can now meet only half its own gas needs.’ (OEUK)
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Is it because of insufficient remaining supplies of gas or an unwillingness to explore for them and/or develop the gas deposits?
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Both, in part. Drilling in the UK sector of the North Sea is challenging, and expensive. Challenging for environmental, geological, and regulatory reasons, and expensive for regulatory and environmental reasons. Reserves are harder to access, and more complex to turn into productive resources.
A lot of people seem to think that drilling oil and gas wells is as easy as putting some holes in a wall to hang a picture, but it isn’t. Modern techniques are amazing, but even with drilling for decades in the same geological formations, we still have problems we haven’t solved.
At least, this is my perspective as someone who has both geological, and engineering roles in oil/gas well drilling for the past couple of decades.
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Russian collusion? Putin’s hold on the EU would be somewhat diminished if the UK was able to prop up supply during times of crisis.
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Uk only gets about 5% of it’s gas requirements from Russia. This hardly gives Putin a hold over Uk. Unlike Germany that gets 50% from Russia.
However it’s a huge mistake for the Uk not to develop it’s own shale gas resources . .
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This situation is very straight forward.
There were two courses of action, each with known consequences. The first option was to extract your own gas and have cheap energy and energy independence until the end of the century. The second option was to rely on the same volume of gas from a hostile foreign country, where the gas supply would be restricted to create shortages and price spikes, inflicting economic damage and where the foreign power was enabled to carry put military actions at will, knowing it’s enemies would be powerless to act due to fear of having the energy supply cut off completely.
Faced with these two options, those in power decided to go with option 2, where the hostile foreign power is now executing the hostile attack as expected.
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I keep hearing about the looming electricity price jump,but when exactly does it happen?
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Well, it’s already happened in Australia.
Due to extreme green policies we’ve gone from some of the world’s cheapest electricity to some of the most expensive.
And the more solar, wind and Big Batteries they install, the more expensive it continues to get, despite endless lies from the Left that “wind power is far cheaper than coal”. Strangely, they won’t allow that claim to be tested in a free market.
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Different in different places. It just happened in Europe.
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Germany is the “flag bearer” for increased power prices with the introduction of RE,…
….with California a prime example , being the state leading the Wind/ Solar charge in the USA.
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I believe it is in APRIL. we haven’t heard anything yet and are caught up in all this Gov pushing us from a failed UK supplier to Eon – a German Co which promotes wind power. … and I don’t want to support ANY wind power, far less a foreign one. But being pragmatic on least cost ……. well, I am finding out now that burning OIL ( Kerosene) since before Christmas is my cheapest fuel for heating , cooking and DHW. Auld Alec Tricity just can’t match – and worse when the wind BLOWS ( power failure) .. and the rest. Looking forward to 2022 ??? Delta Government.
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Memories of Kero Lamps as backup for blackouts in Sydney early 1950s
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Some people in regional Australia might still have a few kero lamps (on top of the fridge?)
Now if the batteries that would keep my electric lights powered during grid outages would be a little less expensive?
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David,
The price rise of 54% will happen in April, following a removal of the unsustainable price caps.
“The regulator said that for customers paying by direct debit from their bank account, annual charges would increase by 693 pounds (USD$940), to £1,971. The big rise will affect about 22 million customers who currently buy energy under a price cap set by the regulator.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/business/uk-energy-prices-bills-rise.html
This amounts to a price rise of ~ AUD$1330 which will create a huge social problem, especially for low income earners and pensioners. When you include the additional inflationary effects of high energy costs across the broader economy it will be a very bad outcome. But, we all need to remember that people in the UK voted for this outcome, which was not just totally predictable, but bleeding obvious. After all, what else would you expect when you hinge your energy requirements on imports which ultimately come from a hostile nation to the east?. As the old saying goes “If you make your own bed then you need you lie on it” and now the people in the UK get to experience the life they demanded and many people demanded this new lifestyle quite violently by gluing themselves to roadways and blockading traffic.
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I have believed for many years that the only way some people will wake up is a lump of 4×2 between the eyes. When people can no longer afford electricity then and only then will they rebel against their politicians who it must be said are pretty stupid not to realise that many of their constituents are in trouble. The only problem is that the alternative, as it is here, is worse so the voter has to throw out both sides of politics and find a better candidate.
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Yes I have heard April, but when in April? Is there a date certain when the caps are removed? Or at least an approximate date? April is a long time.
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Those are the “expendable” users.
Their job is to die and not bother the elites again.
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The UK and the Europe have had the electric price jump. What comes next for countries that are not energy independent, depends on natural gas supply and oil supply.
UK and Europe are now highly reliant on Middle East natural gas. The Middle east natural gas liquifying plants are soft targets and take years to replace. Without the natural gas liquifying plants the Middle east gas cannot reach the UK and Europe. In event of a shortage of natural gas the UK and Europe have no choice but to start rationing electricity and industries that use natural gas. An energy shortage shuts down a country. The middle east oil terminals are also soft targets.
I would assume that Putin has some sneaky plan which explains why he has surrounded the Ukraine with 130k troops while talking to world leaders. Putin is a smart guy. The negotiations have gotten Putin nothing except time.
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Hmm…and the psycopaths who run countries cant work out why normal people are marching in rallies and having sit-ins, like in Canada?
Its a mystery…..
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My thoughts are that the Chinese have asked Putin to surround Ukraine, which is a distraction to their Taiwan ambitions. The plan seems to be that China will ask Russia to invade Ukraine so it will simultaneously invade Taiwan, creating a dual conflict that makes it difficult for the west. China will then block sea routes through the south China sea to stop middle eastern gas and oil exports and Russia will turn off supply to Europe. This energy starvation scenario will cause the west to surrender without a fight and even sanctions will not be possible, else the energy will be turned off again. What follows this test of power and control will be more sinister, as China has it’s eyes set mainly on Australia, where it can get free iron ore, uranium, coal and gas, and extract the huge shale oil supply under SA – the one that the greens have banned. I’m sure the people in our military have worked out the plan, but the idiots in Canberra can’t organise a chook raffle and will make sure we are sitting ducks. The ALP and Greens still see China as friendly, as evidenced by China’s attempt to help get the ALP elected, in their little venture that was exposed by Asio and an ALP victory will make the job is even easier for China.
And the root cause of this mess is the west’s obsession with climate change and shutting down it’s energy resources, which has made us dependent on hostile authoritarian nations and left us as a weak and impotent target, ready to be crushed. The harsh reality of the actions of people who glued themselves to roadways to shut down our energy resources is the mess we see unfolding now.
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Opt for ‘green’, renewable, ‘lower cost than fossil feuled power’ for your electricity supply and you will need to add a surcharge.
Why, if its generation is cheaper?
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I’m going to contact my supplier to see if I can sign up for coal power only.
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Climate change lockdowns here we come. The insanity continues on two fronts at the moment.
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What’s Good For Generac Is Bad For America
Over the past few months, while doing speaking engagements, I have been asking the people in the audience to raise their hands if they have a home generator. Usually, a handful, or perhaps a dozen hands, go up. Then I ask, “now raise your hand if you are planning to buy a generator or have already ordered one.” Invariably, most of the remaining people in the audience raise their hands.
One of the people aiming to get a new generator for their home is my friend, K., who lives near Houston. (K. asked me not to use her full name.) She and her husband are spending $11,600 on a new 24-kilowatt Generac generator. (She sent me the receipt.) They put half of the money down last December, but don’t expect to get the machine delivered and hooked up to their home until the end of this year. They recently got an email update telling them that more than 2,500 people are in line ahead of them.
The reason why K. and so many other people in Texas and across the country are buying generators is obvious: the reliability of the electric grid is declining.
Consumers and businesses have responded to the decline in electric reliability by rushing to install backup generators. That’s good news for companies like Generac Power Systems, which manufactures about three-quarters of the home backup generators sold in this country.
But, what’s good for Generac (and Kohler) is bad for America. That’s not a slam on those companies. They are well-run outfits that produce quality products that consumers want.
That said, soaring sales of standby generators are concrete proof of the declining reliability of our electric grid and therefore a decline in our national wealth and our national security. Our collective wealth is being reduced because consumers and businesses are spending billions of dollars on standby generators.
The question that must be addressed is this: why is the grid becoming less reliable? While some recent news stories are pinning the blame on climate change, the reality is that bad policy and grid mismanagement are fragilizing our most important energy network. Over the past two decades, our grid has been fragilized by three things: the headlong rush to add weather-dependent renewables like wind and solar, the closure of coal and nuclear plants which provide baseload power and help keep the grid stable, and mismanagement of the country’s bulk power system by regional transmission organizations like ERCOT in Texas and CAISO in California, which do not provide the incentives needed to assure reliability and resilience.
Of course, climate activists and renewable promoters are loath to admit that wind and solar are undermining our grid.
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Unreliability began when the first iweather dependent generator was permitted to connect to the grid and be paid for the energy exported. This is best described as a Ponzi scheme where the first in cause little disruption. Once WDGs are supplying around 20% of the total energy, the system becomes far more complicated to manage. They are now dealing with millions of small generators that have limited ability to control and a few large controllable generators that now do all the heavy lifting for keeping lights on.
There is a basic fact that is easily ignored. There is no benefit of scale with solar. Solar subsidy farms use the same panels as installed on any rooftop. There is a slight benefit of scale with wind generators but all wind generators are limited by the proportion of energy they can extract from an airstream and that is independent of scale. Any benefit of scale by getting turbines into higher airflow is more than offset by the cost of transmitting the energy from a remote windy location to where the energy is used.
People in Texas and similar latitudes installing back-up generators would be better served by disconnecting from the grid so they avoid connection fee. Then installing solar panels and a battery to save on fuel costs. They would have been wiser to buy a smaller generator – say 2kW. So battery/inverter large enough to run the full load. A small generator large enough to cover the AVERAGE daily demand not the peak. And solar panels to reduce fuel costs and the inconvenience of refuelling frequently.
Once people have sunk costs in generator and/or solar panels it is not a big step to get off the grid.
The grid will continue to degrade until the grid operators and regulators understand the basics of weather dependent generators. Unless someone is presently operating off-grid, they do not appreciate the challenges. I doubt any of the regulators anywhere have their current household operating off-grid.
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We bit the bullet several years ago , and amalgamated the 13 farm connections down to three main hubs each with a generator input, so our line charges are eight fewer.
we have four gennies ; 90KVA tractor P.T.O at the cowshed , 60 KVA at the factory, 20KVA small tractor P.T.O. for the house /woolshed hub , and a spare 10KVA mobile .
Only problem now is that NZ is closing its only refinery.
Sunflower oil?
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If you already have the sunk cost in generators then the equation becomes one of solar with battery as a fuel replacement and any connection fees. That is an economic proposition in most remote parts of Australia where fuel is trucked in.
The panels would be on fixed mounts but oriented to maximums the winter sunlight. In Victoria May is the worst month for just solar/battery without backup. But with backup it might be different month.
The only cost of mounting panels to maximise winter input is extra spacing between panels to cater for the shadow but they will produce rated output in winter when perpendicular to the sun because the slight increase in losses in the atmosphere are offset by the efficiency gain with cooler panels.
Melbourne is latitude 37S. So panel tilt for best winter performance is 60 degrees. For 2m high panel, that requires a row separation of 4m. If land is free then that makes sense. Also a highly tilted panel is immune to hail strike. Needs support up to the task of handling the wind loads.
A tilted panel in Melbourne will average around 5 hours sunshine per day or 1800kWh per installed kW. The battery and inverter would be sized to start the largest load as well as meeting peak demand at 1C rate. With current fuel cost, I expect you are paying around NZD0.62/kWh in fuel. That should give a payback inside 7 years. You may even find the woke NZ government will pay for half of it. For example:
https://www.eeca.govt.nz/co-funding/industry-decarbonisation/about-the-government-investment-in-decarbonising-industry-fund/
There is not much prospect for energy costs to decline. Funding is drying up for fossil fuel project development. No country is changing course while the UN IPCC exists.
If Trump returns, he should kick the UN offices off US soil. Suggest they find a base in China.
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I’d just like to add to the economy of scale comparison between coal fired power and the renewables of choice, wind or solar.
Let’s compare the smallest operating coal fired Unit in the Country with the second largest wind Plant in the Country.
The smallest coal fired Unit is (one of six) a 280MW Unit at the Gladstone Plant in Central Queensland, and let’s compare that with Macarthur Wind Plant in Central Western Victoria, and that has a Nameplate of 420MW, so, on the surface (using the bogus Nameplate comparison) the wind plant is larger.
Over a full year, that Single coal fired Unit at Gladstone will deliver 1850GWH of power to the Aluminium Plant and also to the Queensland grid.
Over a full year, the larger Nameplate Macarthur wind plant will deliver 1010GWH of power to the Victorian Grid, a full 45% LESS power.
So, pretending your wildest dreams come true, and Macarthur lasts the ‘proposed’ 25 years, it will deliver 25250GWH of power over its life time.
That Unit at Gladstone has already been in operation for 46 years, and has ALREADY delivered 85100GWH of power, so almost 3.4 times the total hoped for power from the wind plant.
There are six of those Units at Gladstone, and the plant is privately owned by the operator of the Aluminium plant, so there’s no calls from Government to close that ancient old clunker down, so it will be in operation for many many more years.
ONE Unit, the smallest in the Country delivers way more power than the hugest wind plant in the Country.
There’s economy of scale right there.
Tony.
Oh, and I only used wind power here, because solar power is even worse than that, and hey, remember concentrating solar power, the supposed saviour from barely five years back now. Hmm! Now just what did happen to that eh?
150
Yes of course, there are generators and then there are generators. Speaking from experience, there is a lot that need be learned before one can sit back and think that they have this base covered. Where possible, these devices can be connected into the mains gas supply as an energy source. That is convenient provided the gas is available when needed. Further there will be a need for regular maintenance regardless of use. Have read where there are a lot of red thumbs registered in that regard.
I recently had the need to use a 5kva device that I long ago ‘acquired’, and had never before needed to use. It is of reputable make and the model is still listed for sale for close to $2000. We had 2 significant wind storms in Gippsland (Vic. – Aust.) last year. So, some fallen pines bring down the power lines in a property next door. There was similar damage over a large area, and the advice is, the power will be off for “days”.
We’ll be right, got the generator out – it has been kept in a state ready for use, and within a short time, I had blown up – burnt out the controls of our water pressure pump. Anyway, we ended up surviving for 5 days without losing any food from either the fridge or deepfreeze. As well as losing power, we were without phone reception for the first 2 days, so google was not available as my friend. I spent a lot of time checking power output with a multimeter, and with trial and error, learned how to optimize and regulate power output by adjusting the auto advance and retard. there was no other way on this machine.
Ah, there are just so many variables that need be considered, and are for now just taken for granted by all and sundry.
60
PTR I copped the same power outage as you. Luckily I have an old 3500 Watt Gun. So I can use power tools all over my property.
We have mains water as well as tanks.I turned off my house pump ran leads to my fridge and freezer, the old gen chugged happily away till the power came back on.
50
The usual petrol powered 3000 rpm generators will last a very short time on continuous duty, they simply are not made for that sort of service.
40
Knowing Sleepy Joe and his advisers it won’t be long before he bans the use of home gen sets or stops the purchase of fuel. The Demonrats in cahoots with the globalists want to kill the US and us with their schemes all to the benefit of the CCP and Putin. These creeps are dangerous. In the fifties near Muswellbrook where I grew up we had a power station that provided power to the local area. I don’t know how much it generated and I do know we had occasional blackouts but we were independent. Then the gradual amalgamation of similar small power companies began leading to the conglomerate we put up with today. With the advent of numerous independent generators we are turning full circle. It may not be long before local government areas install their own power systems. After all they operate water supply and sewerage in town. What is to stop a group setting up a community power grid with it’s own generator? In time that could be a small nuke. Now that would send the left into a spin.
120
This is where Small Modular Reactors will come into their own. I can foresee that small rural towns and remote minesites would embrace SMRs in a heartbeat, if the government would man up and repeal the moratorium on nuclear power here in Australia
121
Many people may not be aware that in Vicdanistan, Australia, ruled with an iron fist by probably the most far loony Left Government in Australia, most terrestrial oil and gas exploration is banned, and even worse, fracking is banned by decree and is even now in the state constitution.
Beyond that, the Government is actually proud of their science by decree.
https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/enshrining-victorias-ban-fracking-forever
230
This is an election year for Andrews isn’t it?
I can’t imagine enduring another 4 years of that Marxist loon.
180
You should leave. I know quite a few people who have gone north or south.
Victoria is rapidly heading for the same mess it was in when Joan Kirner was in charge. The big difference is Dan is a bully. But he has presided over the fastest growing State debt in the history of Australia. The infrastructure projects are a disaster waiting to be called.
In the year ending March 2021, Victoria’s population declined by 42.854 – and not many from covid. So state debt is ballooning and population is declining. That is how it was in the Kirner era.
The Andrews Government is dysfunctional. How many Victorians realise that?
I mix in the wrong circles because I do not know anyone who admits they vote for Labor in Victoria but they keep getting in.
180
At least after the Kirner disaster there were some state assets that could be sold to help pay off the debt.
Now there is very little left to sell so the debt won’t be easy to pay off.
70
Don’t worry.
Victoria can just create a new Victorian coin, devalue that new currency and Quantitatively Ease all those troubles away, until next time.
As long as you don’t cross any borders you wouldn’t know there was a problem: until your annual tax accounting with the Feds.
40
Your description of Victoria is apt. But, as I think you know. the state LNP (present state oppo, to those not in the know) themselves were the first to be anti-fracking. They thought there was votes in it because potential frack sites could infringe on farming land. The whole crazy thing is that there is no real need for fracking in Victoria anyway. There’s heaps of conventional gas just sitting there in Gippsland. Not only that, there is a tremendous supply of clean ground water associated with it that could support irrigated farming in the region. So its both sides of politics- any wonder people are going to vote for UAP, PHON in the next election.
120
Good one.
20
The next election in the UK will be fought primarily over energy costs, and we need new political single-issue parties to rise *now* that will threaten to draw votes from the large parties and thereby cause them to adopt sane energy policies.
It is likely that Boris Johnson is listening to his green (and third) wife, but he probably also genuinely believes the exaggerations about the effects of manmade CO2 – and he is an effective leader (when not ignoring his own lockdown laws and holding parties). He is not a scientist, and the grossly misleading slides which were used to brief him about climate change the month after he won the 2019 General election have been made public following a Freedom of Information request. They are dissected here:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/02/03/how-boris-was-conned-by-the-met-office/
Liz Truss, a likely successor if Boris holds one party too many, is mercifully something of a climate sceptic. 29 Tory MPs have called for fracking to ease the present energy cost crisis in the UK:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/13/david-frost-joins-tory-mps-in-calls-for-return-of-fracking-in-uk
140
“It is likely that Boris Johnson is listening to his green (and third) wife, but he probably also genuinely believes the exaggerations about the effects of manmade CO2.”
Of course he is listening to his eco loon wife, if he doesn’t want to be sleeping on the couch.
160
We all hear the mantra that unreliables are cheaper than traditional baseload power, is this before storage costs are factored in.
80
In a single word – no. NOTHING is factored in.
A grid cannot be operated on weather dependent sources alone. It cannot self-start. It cannot operate in a stable mode. The only guaranteed output is ZERO.
102
GEEEZZZZ and we’re supposed to be completing all of this idiocy because the Human race is facing EXTINCTION if we don’t or so says the so called leader of the free world and other world leaders (???) .
So is this true or not? The DATA tells us that we so called imperiled (?) Humans have more than doubled our population since 1970 and our poorest continent has increased their pop by 3.8 times.
But the icing on the cake also proves that we are much healthier and wealthier since 1970 or 1990 as well. LOOK UP the DATA for yourselves. HIGHER numbers of live births and survival of infants DATA again proves the case. IOW our recent climate is very beneficial for Human survival since 1970.
Therefore the evidence proves these fools are delusional and don’t even understand very simple sums, yet they’re committing the world to participate in the waste of endless TRILLIONs of $ for a guaranteed ZERO return for their taxpayers.
But they’re also guaranteeing terrible environmental disasters because of the ongoing TOXIC S & W + EV nonsense.
We either follow the REAL WORLD DATA or we BELIEVE in their fanatical religion and soon end up in a perilous position compared to China, Russia etc.
But will we ever wake up? I’m very doubtful we will.
120
I do believe as a whole people will wake up eventually but by that time so much damage will have been done, if not already, that we will be faced with the huge task of rebuilding everything that drives our lives today, including the form and structure of the governments themselves. It will be a huge change for the whole world. It’s inevitable and only the timing is unclear, unless Martin Armstrong is right; 2032 & Knowing Your Enemy
He will be doing a report on post-2032 and the opportunity this presents. As he states, there must be some chaotic times we must navigate through, but in the end, we get to try a new form of government developed from the past mistakes of all those who have gone before us. I personally have my doubts that will work as I’m expecting a much better outcome; the return of our Lord to fix things once and for all. However, he could be right and the His return will happen later. Either way, things are going to get really crazy before it’s all over. Be prepared and be aware.
81
In the UK, aren’t your conservatories sited such that the maximum solar gain is in winter, and less in summer, so if they can offset or replace heating, isn’t that a ‘climate saving’ action.
100
Exactly, but don’t expect government employees to know that. ALL the heat that goes into a British conservatory comes from the sun. It is free, it is only available when the sun shines. And all a conservatory does is trap some of that heat, that might otherwise disperse to space, for a few minutes for the comfort of the inhabitants. It does not generate heat, and it will not raise the world’s temperatures. Talk about idiotic, and these are the people that we vote in to govern us!
40
Not only is the Human race much better off than at any time in history, but the so called CLIMATE MITIGATION is just more BS and fra-d.
Dr Hansen called Paris COP 25 BS and fra-d in 2015 and of course he was correct.
But in 2015 Lomborg and his group of Maths, stats and economic experts produced a PR study that proved that the impact of Paris would be small.
IOW even if every country followed the agreement (they didn’t) the reduction in temperature by 2050 or 2100 would be tiny. Of course co2 levels have continued to rise every year since Paris and this will happen AGAIN because of further BS and fra-d, thanks to Glasgow COP 26 2021. Here AGAIN is Lomborg’s PR study in 2015.
https://www.lomborg.com/press-release-research-reveals-negligible-impact-of-paris-climate-promises
50
Here’s the alarmist Dr Hansen’s BS and fra-d claims in 2015 after the loony Paris COP 2015.
And Glasgow 2021 is even more obvious after wasting TRILLIONs of $ for years and DEFINITELY a ZERO return AGAIN for the world’s long suffering taxpayers.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/12/james-hansen-climate-change-paris-talks-fraud
70
trillions were not “wasted”, they went into some VERY “interesting” pockets.
50
Is there a way to make a donation to the Canadian truckers other than GiveSendGo which has had the cash confiscated ? I heard there was a crypto ‘account’ ? I don’t have one myself but have a friend who is happy donate on my behalf if anyone can provide me with some details.
40
BTW here’s the NOAA Mauna Loa co2 levels and the data shows a GROWTH of 2.5 + ppm every YEAR from 2015 to 2021 inclusive.
This proves AGAIN that Lomborg’s expert team and the alarmist Dr Hansen were correct in 2015.
Indeed Paris was just more BS and fra-d and DITTO for Glasgow COP 26. Who doesn’t understand this very simple DATA and their ongoing BS and FRA-D?
https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
41
Thai would be the Mauna Loa that is the active Hawaiian volcano, I suspect.
And 2.5 ppm is a whole lot: 0.00025%.
30
And the big 2020 shut down, which crippled economies, had zero impact. That’s gross zero.
20
The complete nutters who hate nuclear power, fracking, even petrol and diesel and utterly abhor coal are the energy equivalent of breatharians.
“Breatharianism is the claimed ability for a person to live without consuming food, and in some cases water. It is a deadly pseudoscience and several adherents of these practices have died from starvation or dehydration.”
In the case of the infinite Free Green energy believers, in the UK it will be a case of freezing to death or more likely condemning poorer people to do so through energy starvation and making all industry unviable. Which is great because factories are all polluters anyway and you can buy it all from China which is opening a new coal power plant every week. And grow your own food in your backyard in the middle of winter because farmers are evil.
The Eloi have spoken.
120
And last year in shutting a fertilizer plant for which natural gas is used, there was a major shortage of CO2 in the UK, threatening a meat shortage last september. CO2 is essential for a lot of food, not just to grow food but to preserve it. It is far too expensive to pull out of the air so it is a byproduct of the production of essential nitrogen fertilizers. So you lose double.
The energy breatharians have no idea. When you make energy expensive, you run out of food. Surprise, surprise.
80
It’s not just about heating. Try turning off the refrigerators and freezers for a week and see how your quality of life changes. Even in mid winter.
70
Oh come on!
Everyone knows you can buy everything on line.
Who needs farms and shops and truck drivers?
Silly you
(I suppose I should include \sarc)
50
Good Luck.
You’re really going to need it …
00
““Breatharianism is the claimed ability for a person to live without consuming food, and in some cases water. It is a deadly pseudoscience and several adherents of these practices have died from starvation or dehydration.”
This wonderful idea should be encouraged to the max, how can we promote it.
30
If you do not breathe out, you will not pollute the planet with CO2. Equally clever.
10
Here’s the 2015 Lancet study that found that deaths from cold were by far the biggest killer from around the world.
Compared to deaths because of heatwaves the cold deaths were far greater and this occurred in all countries.
The the column graphs in the study prove the point and this applies to NH or SH countries.
See FIG 2 at the link. But why aren’t the school kids given this information?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4521077/
90
Deaths from extreme weather events have dropped by 95% since 1920 and yet our MSM, so called scientists and Pollies etc continue their BS and fra-d.
Population in 1920 was 1.7 billion and today 7.8 bn and yet deaths have dropped to very low numbers in 2021.
How is this possible if Humans are facing an EXISTENTIAL THREAT? And why do these people continue to lie about the true DATA?
100
Okay. I predict the NEG (NEG = New English Glacier) will cover
Scotland and most of Yorkshire and Northern Ireland when it sets
in later this decade.
It will last fifty years, at least.
If GB amends its climate/fuel policies over the next five years, I will have to revise my estimate.
50
“known carcinogens called ‘silicon dioxide’”
They also use DiHydrogen Monoxide (DHMO), which can cause asphyxiation and is known to be associated with cancers.
80
Old Cockney,
Watch it – I walk on DHMO every day. It needs more respect
50
Steggall statement – “If you rule out donations from anyone invested in coal, you pretty much rule out everyone”
60
Next Question – Which of these is is the Real Albo?
40
This is the Army’s plan to battle climate change—and still fight wars
How the branch that operates the fuel-guzzling M1 Abrams tank wants to reduce emissions, while not decreasing the scope of its operations.
On Tuesday, the US Army released its climate strategy, a big policy plan that details steps and goals for how this branch of the military will be adapting to climate change, while still preserving its ability to fight wars. The strategy, which outlines everything from greenhouse gas reduction targets to electrification of vehicles, is transformative within constraints. As outlined, the Army is working towards doing what it already does while producing fewer emissions, rather than reducing the scope of its operations.
The report, a tight 20 pages front-to-back, outlines three primary areas for how the Army plans to adapt to climate change. These areas cover better buildings, better vehicle purchases and supply chains, and better training.
“The effects of climate change have taken a toll on supply chains, damaged our infrastructure, and increased risks to Army Soldiers and families due to natural disasters and extreme weather,” wrote Christine E. Wormuth, Secretary of the Army, in the foreword to the strategy. “The Army must adapt across our entire enterprise and purposefully pursue greenhouse gas mitigation strategies to reduce climate risks.”
For its more than 130 installations across the globe, the Army intends to incorporate on-site carbon-pollution-free power generation by 2040, which suggests wind and/or solar power, but possibly other options as well. Heating and powering buildings is a major source of energy use, though one the military has passively gotten better at, as it has reduced the number of bases it maintains and builds new facilities in accordance with energy efficiency standards.
30
Australian soldiers are testing out stealthy e-bikes for scouting missions
Quiet bikes like these are a new way of carrying out the age-old battlefield task of reconnaissance.
In the scrubgrass of Queensland, the cavalry speeds silently through the woods. Wearing combat fatigues, motocross helmets, and goggles, two scouts from the Light Horse Regiment with Queensland Mounted Infantry roll through light brush and narrow paths, beneath the canopy of trees. But they’re not riding horses—they’re on e-bikes. The scouts (seen in a video, at bottom) are demonstrating a new answer to an ancient military question: how can soldiers move without being detected?
For centuries, seeing where the enemy is without being caught was the primary form of military intelligence. Human scouts, on foot or horseback, would advance beyond the main formations of an advancing army, looking for the telltale signs of a mass of armed people. In modern times, that task has expanded to include work done from vehicles on land, sea, air, and satellites in space, but the human scouts haven’t been forgotten. With the scouts seeing immediately ahead, a moving column of troops can avoid danger or prepare for an ambush.
For a unit moving by armored transports, scouting can be tricky. The armored vehicles are large and loud, giving away their position through noise as much as size. Motorcycles, which have a long history in war, are nimble and fast, but their engines scream, and exhaust too can reveal a position. In the trial, the bikes also scout paths for armored vehicles, like checking to see if a stream could be cleared by larger troop transports.
“The footprint [with e-bikes] is minimised due to less power, less noise, and you’re not kicking up much dust that could be seen by enemy forces,” corporal Thomas Ovey of the Queensland Mounted Infantry said in a release. “It’s much more effective than a standard motorbike.”
The e-bikes used have a top speed of 55 mph and a range of 62 miles. For a scouting run, that means the bikes can cover 30 miles in just over half an hour, and then return back to the unit before the bikes run out of charge. Even then, the fact that it is a bike means soldiers could still pedal it to its destination.
With that range, and with the quieter profile provided by electric motors, the bikes could also work as battlefield couriers.
10
Military specifications for motorbikes have always had rather strict noise limits, so “but their engines scream” is pushing things a bit.
If the e-bikes have less power, they must be pretty anaemic. The specifications already require detuning to meet the noise limits, and because high speed isn’t needed.
The e-bikes do seem to meet a lot of the objectives. Range may be a problem, but 60-odd miles seems reasonable. I assume a quick-change battery pack will be one of the requirements.
Don’t count on getting far pedalling. These will be more like a trail bike than a pushbike with an electric motor.
30
I seem to remember seeing BSA 350 cc Army dispatch bikes still being used in the late 70’s, rather than a ‘scream’, their engines had a stifled puthering sound.
30
So, some military idiot is assuming that opposing forces will simply be listening for motorbikes ?
What about the modern technology of IR scanners (for heat signals) , or EMF detectors which could easily pick up unidentified Ebikes.
I would have thought that Drones etc would have made human scouting obsolete in most situations.
Or why not have trained dogs, or birds, etc with remote cameras attached ?
00
There will still be situations which need human scouts, particularly in timbered country. The bikes may well just be to get the scouts to their starting point, then travelling by foot.
Relying on one approach, particularly aerial surveillance can be quite misleading. There have been some interesting docos recently which have touched on the British WWII ruses to fool the Luftwaffe.
The heat signature of the e-bikes should be considerably lower than petrol engined versions, particularly the older air-cooled machines such as the B40.
Dogs don’t understand the scouting requirements well enough to get into the right areas and return to their handlers, and even small cameras will be noticed. The jungle greens are a giveaway as well.
00
Cocky,
I think you underestimate the capeabilities of modern technology…
… Heat sensors/IR scanners, ( working for both attackers and defenders) ,
..Drones (high and low altitude , operational below treetop level with AI tech to self seek specific targets ( heat /sound/ gas signals)..
Survelance Satelites.
Vibration detectors, etc etc..
No, i suspect our Military leaders are still looking for Jap snipers hiding in palm trees, instead of taking advice from modern sources.
00
Pushies seemed to work for the nips when raiding Singapore.
40
The Abrams runs on a gas turbine. They have already done their part, though the normal emission from an Abrams is slightly more deadly than CO2.
30
O/T does anyone here have any medical/side affects information in regard to the Novax vaccine.?? Considering this vaccine, but want to do “more homework” before committing, in any form. WHO.. ABC or equivalent sites, don’t rate as genuine and trustworthy sites to me. Any information would be appreciated….
50
shannon,
at this stage, as one who was waiting for Novavax, problem is that it has not been approved as a booster, and as I said to my wife, why shoudld I bother to take Novavax jab if it does not lead to a Vaccination Certificate. With a Major Op 17 Feb, as Novavax not till 21 Feb, not a particular worry.
My feeling is I will continue with 2 year anti-viral approach – still healthiest person in 3 generation family household and as I reach round 33 of Cancer Treatment tomorrow – feeling fit and healthy.
90
Willis Eschenbach tries to calculate the cost of NET ZERO by 2050 and just for the USA.
It will never happen EVER, but the Biden donkey will try to kick start this lunacy and hopefully he will suffer a very SEVERE roadblock by NOV this year.
We can only hope that the voters hand these DEM idiots the greatest belting they’ve ever experienced and leave them to stew until NOV 2024.
BTW Willis seems to have calculated and used similar Nuclear power plant numbers to Dr Roger Pielke jr and he has also drawn the same very obvious conclusions.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/02/13/electric-transportation-by-2050/
30
The secret is in the word.” NET”.
They know thay can never reduce CO2 to anything like zero, so they will simply come up with amazing new methods of “offsetting”. much of the essential CO2.
Tricks like CCS., Tree plantations, etc
00
“They’re the only two viable shale gas wells in Britain, and the government wants them to pour concrete down the holes.”
The cement component of concrete produces a lot of CO2.
50
When they plug and abandon wells, they use cement, not concrete, and they set plugs of it at different depths to isolate different formations. the whole well is not filled, it’d be too expensive, would cause more problems than it solves due to its density, and not very easy from a logistics perspective either.
the cement is, for the most part, normal cement that anyone can buy at a hardware shop. if it’s for a high temperature environment, it can have silica added to it. Other common additives adjust the density, prevent the cement from curing too fast, too slowly, reduce the mobility of gas, reduce the amount of fluid lost to the surrounding formation, etc, but these take up little volume.
just as an example, one common hole diameter for one section of a well is 12.25inches. one metre of 12.25in hole holds about 76 litres. so, if you want to set a cement plug covering 45m of hole (not unrealistic), you’d need 3420 Litres of cement slurry, plus a safety margin, maybe 10-15% by volume. Set multiple plugs (as is normal) per well, and you still need a lot of cement!
Between the cement plugs… is usually existing drilling fluid, plus some high viscosity fluid to help support the cement above it. There may be mechanical devices to stop the cement sinking as well, but it depends on requirements. setting these plugs is like making a fancy cocktail; layering different fluids on top of each other without them mixing. There are checks done to verify that the top of the cement is where it is supposed to be, once it has cured sufficiently.
30
Is it just me ?…..but i do not find 3500 Ltrs (3.5 cu mtrs….one truck load ?) … to be a lot of cement per well…….considering the overall scale of gas exploration for that same well !
00
To add…
But i would not support plugging those wells anyway !
00
How the government screws everything up? The following well known observation is hyperbolic but indicative of government bungling nevertheless: “If the government was in charge of the Sahara desert they would run out of sand within a month”.
50
‘We tested families in fracking country for harmful chemicals and revealed unexplained exposures, sick children, and a family’s “dream life” upended.’
https://www.ehn.org/fractured-harmful-chemicals-fracking-2650428324/children-levels
Replace old coal generators with new coal generators (residents have chosen to move to where there is existing coal pollution), and increase capacity with nuclear.
20
Apparently fossil fuels are ok as long as they find left wing lunatic politicians.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/zali-steggall-admits-mistake-but-defends-taking-donation-from-coal-investor-20220214-p59weo.html
Caught trying to pretend a $100k donation was 8 small donations to avoid having to declare it. Of course any conservative politician would be forced out by such revelations…. But media will blame this on misogynistic bullies attacking a poor petal.
70
If we didn’t have fossil fuels, the modern world would not exist. And those who live in the unprecedented luxury afforded by fossil fuels think they do not need them. Intelligence has not kept up with technology.
50
*fund
30
“the people of the UK gave up an industry worth £6 billion a year”.
Small point but pleased not confuse ‘the people of the UK’ with the slimy creatures and their puppet masters acting under the pseudonym of Government.
50
The greenies etc who are so against fossil fuels, and support “renewable energy” are so stupid. After all, there is no such thing as “renewable energy” , wrt current technologies. ALL energy production (except wood) is finite, as long as we depend on mining.
31
Doug Ford has apparently lifted vax passports in Ontario effective March 1.
30
See the new post. Indeed John!
30