Weekend Unthreaded

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8.6 out of 10 based on 20 ratings

104 comments to Weekend Unthreaded

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    Kalm Keith

    And so the tragedy continues.

    At all levels of politics it seems that reality is believed to be controlled by the headlines and sound bites that can be created in the media.

    The only bit of good news currently is that the Laba Parti has been taught a lesson that reality is not so easily distorted.

    Their review of the last federal election acknowledges that voters may not be as dumb as they believed.

    For too many decades now all levels of government have redirected voter focus using the media so that now Australia’s back is broken. We are at rock bottom. Farmers are stuffed and in my hometown shops are emptying and being left vacant in an unprecedented manner.

    But the main issue is the Environment which has been neglected and misrepresented by politicians now for fifty years.

    After that unbelievable Victorian fire tragedy all governments got the message, didn’t they.

    Well No, they didn’t, and now history repeats with nature sending the same message.

    Two confirmed Deaths by fire on NSW North coast and another seven reported Missing. Homes gone for 150 families, whole communities torn asunder and massive natural devastation.

    The Lesson.
    Reducing overburden in the Environment reduces fire intensity.
    Or put another way, hazard reduction burns are essential.
    Backburning is best done Before the emergency arrives.
    Animals prefer low intensity, regular burns: the alternative as we have now is inescapable.

    It’s surely now over, surely politicians can see that fire is dangerous and must be managed. Surely??

    Sadly, politicians won’t change, but they will learn that the general public will finally see reality and hold them accountable.

    Or am I dreaming.

    KK

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      Sambar

      KK, sorry to confirm that, yes, you are dreaming. This exemplified by the premier of Victoriastan declaring that logging of native forests will be phased out by 2030.
      What a disaster just waiting to happen. All timber will be supplied by “plantation” forests.
      As always with government decisions we have the LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. So, plantation timber sounds like a good idea except.1/ Plantations tend to be monoculture, little diversity of flora absolutely means little diversity of fauna. Look at any dark closely planted pine forest.
      2/ Plantation forests burn just as well as native forests. 3/ Native forest harvest is ACTUALLY farmed forests with very notable, and favourable differences. Native forests have long rotation cycles, 70 years plus, they are regenerated with the primary species and then left to their own devices with widely varying non commercial species filling the gaps providing a widely varying habitat for hundreds of differing species. 4/ A conservationist interviewed on the telly declared how leaving forests standing bound carbon into them and therefore good for the global warming abatement, yet its generally accepted that harvested timber stores carbon for substantially long periods and b/ young rapidly growing forests draw greater levels of CO2 from the atmosphere as opposed to mature trees.
      4/ The falsehood about saving the bloody Ledbetters possum. This possum was ALWAYS living on the brink of extinction. It requires very specific conditions to flourish. Strangely the best places for these special conditions appears to be the interface between clear felled areas and standing forest ! And last 5/ When huge areas of native , unmanaged forest goes up in flames the most notable thing is everything dies. Plants, rare species of animals, insects. Everything changes and what returns in many instances bears no resemblance to what was trying to be preserved.
      Some times I despair.

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        sophocles

        You’re right about monoculture forests having little variety of fauna, Sambar.

        We have a lot of pinus radiata plantation forest in NZ. There’s a huge shortage of birdsong (almost none), and around the edges it’s wildlife is rabbits, stoats (wherever there are rabbits), rabbits, a few weasels every now and then, rabbits and rats ‘n meeses. Oh, yes, there are also rabbits. I’ve not seen any feral cats in the pine forests, but that may have been just luck — they like forests with a bit of variety which are not as dark.

        The monoculture is … silent.

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    StephenP

    A rather surprising programme the other day on the BBC World Service, included input from Roger Pielke jnr, on the reality of going to Carbon Zero.
    The general message was that no way could it be done before 2050, and Roger Pielke gave his weight behind 2100 as being the earliest.
    The section on Africa was a bit odd. Are the declining yields of crops due to climate change or poor farming practices?

    How soon can we go carbon zero?
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csytgx

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    Anyone know why Victoria is experiencing this unprecedented climate change? It’s been a week at least, with more coming and almost no end in sight. We’ve had to run our temperature control systems constantly to overcome this temperature anomaly.

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      el gordo

      Now don’t laugh, its known as climate change and the first sign of its appearance will be extreme unseasonal weather in mid latitudes.

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      Yonniestone

      Back to winter temperatures here in Ballarat with heavy rainfalls to boot, our local show Friday 8 to Sunday 10 won’t be doing so well.

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      Sambar

      Three weeks ago I started collecting next years firewood. Last night I started burning it. I better double my efforts !

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        el gordo

        Going into summer it should remain variable, a cold air outbreak for a week, followed by a few days of above average temperatures from a north-westerly blast furnace.

        Temperatures overall may come up average and the propaganda wing of the klimatariat won’t utter a word.

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        el gordo

        Global cooling signal.

        ‘This fluctuation in temperature is due to the passage of low pressure troughs and cold fronts, the boundary between two air masses. Today for example, Melbourne is under a relatively cold airmass and in a cool south-westerly wind regime. These winds will shift north-westerly overnight ahead of an approaching trough and cold front, drawing down a warmer airmass from the north.

        ‘As the front continues east however these warm northerly winds will move ahead of it, away from Melbourne and western Victoria, with a much cooler airmass behind the front.’

        Weatherzone

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    Another Ian

    “Indonesia reports first African Swine Fever outbreak”

    https://www.beefcentral.com/news/indonesia-reports-first-african-swine-fever-outbreak/

    It is already in East Timor

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    Another Ian

    A multi-part dissection of yet another Californian electricity supply solution

    Part 1

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/08/pathway-2045-edisons-roadmap-to-energy-hell-1/

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    Dennis

    From The Daily Telegraph

    “Were we warned about this? Tony Thomas:

    Germany now has 29,000 wind towers. The nightmare of scrappage and decontamination has already started, with 250MW decommissioned last year. Close to 10,000 towers must be decommissioned by 2023. One tactic has been to ship the toxic parts and rubble to corrupt African states to deal with. As for the US, it will have more than 720,000 tons of blade material alone to dispose of by 2040…

    Toxic? Where are the Greens?

    And here come the carpet-baggers for more:

    Overall, the wind industry is blowing cold. Australian wind operators’ so-called Clean Energy Council bemoaned last September a “collapse” in renewables investment in the first half of 2019. Late last year investors had signed on for 4500MW of new renewables, but this surge “has since collapsed to less than 800MW in each of the first two quarters of 2019”. The Council blamed “lack of federal energy policy certainty” (translated: ‘We want more subsidies!’)…”

    Andrew Bolt

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      Elgorza Narce

      When investors sign on for renewable energy projects, are the stated MW outputs what they can realistically expect them to generate or are they fantasy nameplate figures?

      If the latter, then surely ASIC should be auditing these companies for false and misleading information in their prospectuses..

      Or perhaps when taxpayer subsidies are in play there is far more scope for rubbery figures?

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        Dennis

        I understand that the AEMO is now discounting “farms” claims for energy supply by the transmission line loss feeding into the main grid..

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        Graeme No.3

        There has been a drop in shares in off-shore wind farmers. Their projections were for 48-50% Capacity Factor.
        Reality has crept in. Very few make that figure, and it tends to reduce as the turbines age.
        No Danish wind farms reach 50% although 2 ALMOST reach 48%. The rest are all below 41% and 2 below 30%.
        Newer turbines tend to do better, but the 5 German wind farms under 2 years old average 36.2% The 6 newest UK ones average 39.1% The 2 newest Belgium farms average 35%.
        Then there are the transmission losses getting the power into the grid.

        Most windfarms seem to have been projected on “optimistic” C.F. figures and never reach them. The wind farm in Albany W.A. is in an ideal situation and was expected to reach 40-41% C.F. Warwick Hughes calculated their actual output a few years ago as 31-33% C.F. Others, as TonyfromOz notes, expect 38% when raising money.
        My advice is not to invest in them.

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      Zane

      German wind billionaire Aloys Wobben is the go-to guy located at ground zero of this travesty. His company is appropriately named Enercon, for an energy con it is. A very profitable con for Herr Webben, ja.

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    Another Ian

    “Texas State Geologist Scott Tinker on Solving Climate Change and Energy Poverty”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/09/texas-state-geologist-scott-tinker-on-solving-climate-change-and-energy-poverty/

    ” He closed his remarks by saying,

    “When someone asks you what you do, reply with ‘I work in the oil & gas industry, I lift people out of poverty. What do you do?’”

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      Screaming Nutbag

      The possibilities are endless:

      “I’m a property developer, I sell people prime swampland in Florida”.

      “I’m a politician, I tell people the truth”.

      Oil & Gas ruin the water supply, suck up huge quantities of taxpayer subsidy, and cost way more than wind power and slightly more than solar power.

      In Australia, private companies working in Oil & Gas have made Australians poorer as a result of massive overcharging at the retail level and wasteful gold-plating at the transmission level, not to mention buying up power stations like Hazelwood and then shutting them down to generate book profits.

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        el gordo

        Gladys rashly sold off the poles and wires, and the new owners appear to have corrupted the system by gouging.

        Old world capitalism is pathetic, under the new world order these renegade consortiums making my gas bill higher will be brought into line. Morrison says he has a big stick to gain concessions from the multinationals, but I don’t fancy his chances.

        ‘ …. shutting them down to generate book profits.’

        This will all come up in the Royal Commission.

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          Brian

          Not so el gordo. The gold-plating wires claim was ill considered. The government and customer funded incentives to install rooftop solar places an increasing strain on distribution infrastructure due to the variable nature of the power input and the fact that suddenly a distributed generating system was pumping power into the grid from a direction it was not designed for. Worse, the inverter AC input voltage is greater than the grid 240 volts. Pole transformers overheat, voltage and frequency control becomes problematic and the old reliable grid could no longer cope. Top that off with intermittent wind generated power from a distributed generating system and even more instability surfaced. Oh the wholesale energy companies have been making record profits, gouging the system and lobbying for more yet subsidies. The retailers have to buy carbon certificates off the renewables generators and pass the cost to customers. The regulator has given temporary relief to power costs by allowing retailers to defer purchase of certificates for 2 years but at the end of that time they must buy the backlog and then prices will soar. The bottom line is more government interference such as Victoria’s splurge on rooftop solar means more costs to band-aid a fragile grid resulting in higher costs to customers who will blame the retailer rather than the politicians who have caused the problem by interfering in the market.

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            el gordo

            Okay, thanks Brian.

            Is there a chance that Gladys might seek tenders for a Hele coal fired power station?

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            • #
              GD

              Is there a chance that Gladys might seek tenders for a Hele coal fired power station?

              Yes, there’s a chance, it’s called a snowflake’s chance in Hell.

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        Graeme#4

        SN, you have made a number of negative assertions about our oil and gas industry without providing any data to back them up. For a start, I don’t believe that they “ruin the water supply” in any way. They certainly haven’t done this in the U.S. And I don’t believe that they require huge subsidies.
        And in WA, there is a domestic gas reservation policy in place that reserves 15% of gas for domestic purposes at what I believe are similar prices to the export prices, so I’m not sure where your assertion of higher costs come from. The gas plants in WA seem to be generate a nice profit for their owners and WA consumers are also benefiting, so it’s a win-win for everybody. In the U.S., the fracked gas is the main source of cheap energy.

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    dinn, rob

    Listen up if you would learn: 56. A wise host does not light all fires without special purpose. Thus in ancient legends there is mentioned the mountain surrounded by flame, but it is not stated anywhere that the fire burnt continuously; it rose according to the need. Thus also your fires glow according to necessity,…it is necessary to permit them to be kindled according to their natures. It is necessary to point out that the fires act according to their power of contact with Hierarchy. Conflagration or unbridled burning is not permissible. In the Great Service care and caution are the first principles of the highest cooperation. We protect each particle of the energy of Elohim….accountability is demanded especially during the battle’s tension. -Morya: Heart 1932

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      el gordo

      There is more than one deity and creating humanity was no easy task.

      What is your field in this amazing experiment?

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        Peter C

        dinn,rob gives a metaphysical explanation for the NSW bushfires!

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          Peter C

          Thus in ancient legends there is mentioned the mountain surrounded by flame, but it is not stated anywhere that the fire burnt continuously; it rose according to the need. Thus also your fires glow according to necessity,…it is necessary to permit them to be kindled according to their natures. It is necessary to point out that the fires act according to their power of contact with Hierarchy.

          It seemed like a metaphysical explanation of the NSW bushfires to me.

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            Graeme No.3

            The answer is in the article.

            But other researchers are not convinced. “I’m definitely cautious about using modern genetic distributions to infer exactly where ancestral populations were living 200,000 years ago, particularly in a continent as large and complex as Africa,” said Chris Stringer, who studies human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. “

            Also The conclusions, which have raised eyebrows among some experts, are based on an analysis of 1,217 samples of mitochondrial DNA, All of the DNA used in the study came from people living in southern Africa today, including the Khoisan, a population who speak with “click” consonants and traditionally practiced foraging. You might know the Khoisan as the Bushmen.

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    Travis T. Jones

    Showing on BBC4 next week – Climategate: Science of a Scandal. The biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the public by [doomsday global warming] deniers.

    “Documentary that reveals the truth behind a data breach at the University of East Anglia in 2009 that suggested that scientists had manipulated data to exaggerate evidence of climate change.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b8p2

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      Serp

      It’s taken them ten years to contrive what can only be the most dismal excuse of a defence; could be good for a laugh like the rest of the climate industry.

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    robert rosicka

    Anyone know what happened to the “Outsiders” program on Skynews channel this morning ? Been replaced by sport although still advertised .

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    Peter C

    I have written two letters to the Federal Minster for Education (Hon Dan Tehan) in recent months and I have just received a reply to the second one.

    The trigger for the letter was the news that James Cook VC Sandra Harding had decided to appeal the judgement of the Federal Court that Peter Ridd’s dismissal as unjust and illegal. My letter is reproduced here:

    The Honorable Dan Tehan
    Minister for Education
    Parliament House Canberra.
    22 Jul 2019

    James Cook University and Professor Peter Ridd

    Dear Minister Tehan,

    There is a serious problem in our Universities. A Leftist/Socialist ideology has been cultivated for decades and has taken root. Now it has taken over.

    It is no longer possible for reasonable academic debate to occur in our Universities. That manifests itself in a lot of ways. Most seriously the debate about whether humans are causing Global Warming (Anthropogenic Global Warming- AGW) and the possible effects of AGW is actively and viciously suppressed.

    Professor Ridd challenged the orthodoxy at his University (James Cook). He offended his academic colleagues because he said that the Great Barrier Reef was OK and other academics at the University had become emotionally attached to their brand of “science” and had lost objectivity.

    I cannot see any problem with that. It is an honest and important contribution to academic debate. It is an ISSUE and it should be addressed. It is important to the all Australian people because the Reef is important to us. and so is the impact of on agriculture in Queensland. However the University administration did not take that approach at all. Instead they sacked him for being “uncollegiate”.

    “Uncollegiate” is not a proper reason for sacking Professor Ridd. It should be a reason to open up this debate and address the issues which he has raised.

    Professor Peter Ridd chose to challenge the University and appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of Queensland. He had to spend his own savings and was assisted by fund raising from like minded Australians. I am one of those who helped him. The University was able to spend taxpayers money to defend their case.

    The case was decided on a narrow legal view of Professor Ridd’s employment contract. Judge Vasta said that Ridd was correct on all ten of the appeal ground’s.
    None the less the case has a much wider context, with respect to the freedom of academic free speech and the Climate Change debate.

    Now the James Cook University Vice Chancellor (Professor Sandra Harding) has said that the JCU will appeal the decision.

    I appeal to you, as Minister for Education, to put a stop to this.
    My Taxpayer dollars should not be used by the James Cook University (JCU) to punish Professor Ridd any further for his supposed Heresy. Nor should the JCU try to justify their egregious behaviour, in court, with our money.

    There is a legislative requirement that freedom of speech is preserved in our Universities. I hope that you will apply that to the JCU, and their administration.

    Yours Sincerely
    Peter C

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      Kalm Keith

      Excellent!

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      Peter C

      Another email sent 23 September 2019.

      23 September 2019

      Dear Minister,

      James Cook University has announced that they will appeal the judgement in which it was found that they unlawfully sacked Professor Ridd, loosing on all 20 points of the judgement.

      It seems that they have learned nothing, nor understood anything about the importance of Academic Free Speech.

      Professor Ridd was making important points about the validity of Barrier Reef Science. If he is correct Australian citizens and Agriculture in Queensland will not pay a massive penalty to prevent a Non Existent Problem. Surely we need to hear these arguments, not have them suppressed by easily offended academics and University Councils.

      The Ministry of Education has responsibility for funding our Universities. I do not think that they should spend our money pursuing Professor Ridd any further. Why should they be entitled to do that? Would you please intervene now and ask the Vice Chancellor and the Council why they think their decision is appropriate.

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      Peter C

      I received a reply from Dan Tehan’s Office a few days ago:

      6 Nov 2019
      Thank you for email of 23 September 2019 to the Hon Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Education, regarding the issue of freedom of speech at James Cook University. The Minister has asked me to reply on his behalf.

      The Australian Government shares your view that universities are important institutions in which ideas are debated and challenged and must be prot4ected as places of free speech, even when what is being said may be unpopular or controversial. That is why the Minister commissioned the independent review into Freedom of Speech in Australian Higher Education Providers, led by the former chief justice of the High Court of Australia, the Hon Robert French AC.
      The Review report is at http://www.docs.education.gov.au/node/52661.

      The Minister has accepted the Review’s recommendations on how to strengthen the protection of freedom of speech at universities. He has asked all higher education providers to adopt Mr French’s Model Code for the Protection of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in Australian Higher Education Providers by embedding it in institutional regulations or policy.

      Under the Higher Educations Standards Framework (the Standards), higher education providers are required to maintain an environment in which freedom of intellectual enquiry is upheld and protected. If the higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, determines an institution is not complying with the Standards it can impose conditions on the providers registration.

      As the specific case of Professor Peter Ridd and James Cook University is still subject to a legal process, I am unable to comment further.

      Thank you for bringing your concerns to the Minister’s attention.

      Yours sincerely
      PHIL CONNOLE
      Chief of Staff

      So Dan Tehan and his office have declined to say if they will put pressure on the JCU directly to behave correctly in relation to Professor Peter. Nor do they comment on the charge of misuse of public money.

      However there is an implied threat to the JCU if they do not adopt or comply with the Standards. That may weaken their appeal against the Ridd judgement, at least I hope so.
      There also the possibility of someone making a complaint against the JCU directly to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
      ps: I had to retype the Minister’s letter. Hopefully I have done so without mistakes

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        Robert Swan

        Pretty much a fob-off letter.

        In particular:

        As the specific case of Professor Peter Ridd and James Cook University is still subject to a legal process, I am unable to comment further.

        It’s catch 22. You write to complain that legal process has been re-entered out of spite and should be stopped. The minister’s miniion responds in pleasant tones saying that their hands are tied because the legal process is underway. Pish.

        Have you considered contacting the shadow minister? In my (small) experience contacting people in opposition, you tend to get the real person rather than some minder. It’s a long shot that a Labor person is going to go in to bat for Ridd, but if there’s a chance to embarrass the minister…

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          Peter C

          Responses from Ministers (or their staff) are usually like that.

          Thanks for your letter…the Minister appreciates your taking the time to communicate your view….etc.

          In this case however the letter endorses my view that Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom are threatened in our Universities. He has taken action by way of commissioning the French Enquiry and then endorsing the remedies that Robert French recommended. The Universities have been requested to adopt the code and institute it in their regulations and policies.

          I think that all have done so, perhaps without any real commitment to actually changing anything. However if the JCU has adopted policies which protect free speech and guarantee an environment in which ideas are debated and challenged even when what is being said may be unpopular or controversial how can they, at the same time, appeal a court judgement that said they did not do those things.

          Then there is the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, which I did not know about. Perhaps I might request the shadow minister to raise the matter with them.

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      Screaming Nutbag

      So you’d like a communist-style government that prevents people from accessing the court system if you don’t like them?

      Not going to happen.
      Ridd peddled nonsense, directly impugned his colleagues’ professionalism without ever producing any relevant research to back his contentions, and he did all this in the tabloids instead of doing it professionally.
      Whether his dismissal was valid or not is something the courts can decide.

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    So, part of the water deal done with the consumers along the Murray Darling was that the Taxpayers Federal Government would stump up $100 Million so Adelaide could fire up the desalination plant to maximum.

    Hmm! $100 Million. How come so much?

    These things are ‘liquid’ electricity. It is a reverse osmosis plant, so, at maximum operation will draw 3.7KWH for every Kilolitre of fresh water produced.

    So, at 100 Gigalitres capacity (40 this year and 60 next year) there’s 370GWH of power to run the plant. That’s the same power used by 57,000 homes. As South Australia is the second smallest power consumer in Australia, (around 6.25% of all Australia’s power) that power consumption for this plant now adds an extra 2.8% to this State’s total power generation.

    As this plant is under continuous operation, that means it will be needing reliable, full time, round the clock power, so while renewables will be delivering some of that, I might suggest it was indeed fortunate that the new gas fired plant opened up in that State recently, so that will help out considerably, and hey, wasn’t it lucky that new plant opened, and hey, wasn’t it fortunate how a ready made consumer was found in the nick of time, and hey wasn’t it nice of the Feds to come to the party to help foot the bill, and hey, there’s where a big chunk of that $100 Million will be going, and hey, who would have thought it would be owned by AGL, you know, that mob who are getting out of fossil fuels.

    Tony.

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      Hatrack

      Tony’s post articulates exactly why it is going to be almost impossible for Australia to rid itself of the “climate change” parasite in the short term – so much money invested by public companies, super funds and (one suspects) politicians for a government guaranteed return.

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      Graeme No.3

      Tony:

      part of the electricity will come from diesels already installed (and occasionally run) at the Desalination plant.

      The ‘new’ gas fired plant (State owned) is actually Open Cycle Gas Turbines, and were originally going to run on diesel fuel (as gas was scarce).
      In July 2017, AGL announced a $295 million investment to develop a 210 MW reciprocating engine power station, the Barker Inlet Power Station. This station would sit alongside our Torrens Island Power Station site near Adelaide, South Australia. Half of the Torrens Island Station (gas fired steam boilers around 600MW) will be shut down.

      The Barker Inlet Power Station will comprise 12 reciprocating engines capable of generating approximately 18 MW of output each. The engines operate at high efficiency and with a lower heat rate than other forms of fast-start plants currently available. The station will also be capable of operating at full capacity within five minutes, providing a rapid response to changes in renewable generation supply.
      Full operation of the power station is expected late 2019.

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    Another Ian

    “UK police urge citizens to dob in white people who hate – even if they’ve committed no crime”

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2019/11/uk-police-urge-citizens-to-dob-in-white-people-who-hate-even-if-theyve-committed-no-crime.html

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    Another Ian

    Latest Californian electricity scheme analysis Round 2

    “Pathway 2045 (2)”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/09/pathway-2045-2/

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    Another Ian

    “Formula 1 champ Lewis Hamilton flies 200 times/yr by private jet, goes vegan to save the planet, then lectures leaders who “don’t care about the environment” – is climate dialogue possible when no one considers that crazy?”

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/index.php/2019/11/09/formula-1-champ-lewis-hamilton-flies-200-times-yr-by-private-jet-goes-vegan-to-save-the-planet-then-lectures-leaders-who-dont-care-about-the-environment-is-clima/

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      Dennis

      Tell him that if he is in Australia Hungry Jacks can supply a vegan burger for just under $10.00 to cater for a growing demand, accordingly the price is above the real meat Whopper which retails for just under $7.00

      Come in vegan.

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      Screaming Nutbag

      Gosh, man who burns copious amounts of kerosene for a living travels a lot by plane.

      If *that* isn’t proof that global warming is a hoax, I don’t know what is…

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    Ross

    Last week in NZ, the Parliament passed the Zero Carbon Bill ( the NZ Initiative think tank thinks it could possibly cost the country 15-20% of GDP by 2050 !!).

    It was the Greens who “wrote” it and pushed it through with support of all but one party ( which only has one MP) in Parliament.

    Here is a quote from the Guardian (so it must be right! ) from the James Shaw the Climate Change Minister

    “Part of what we’re doing is we’re role modelling for other countries. And actually, countries do look at each other and go, where are we relative to the pack?”

    On whether global heating can be curbed, he says: “I think the chances are slim.” But there’s no reason for not trying, he adds. “In fact, that’s all the more reason to try.”

    So when the ABC pick it up and try to push it in Aussie, that is the money quote to throw back at them.

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      Dennis

      Zero carbon?

      So no problem with carbon dioxide emissions?

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        Greg in NZ

        You’d think the Minister for Global Warming would know the difference but no, as an ex-banker he only has one interest, and it isn’t chemistry nor biology nor science of any kind: it’s the art of the pick-pocket, a snake in a suit, the Green Deceiver.

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        Screaming Nutbag

        OK, Here’s something you two seem to not know:

        The word “carbon” is used in this context because it covers both CO2 as well as CH4.

        You’re very welcome.

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    RicDre

    From Judith Curry’s Week in review – science edition:

    Gavin Schmidt on climate sensitivity: Sensitive but unclassified

    http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2019/11/sensitive-but-unclassified/

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    Zane

    I wonder how much Greenpeace is paying the Guardian to run its climate nonsense non-stop everyday? Serious money is being spent to promulgate the con.

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      Ross

      Not just Greenpeace Zane. Lots of NGOs with G Soros’ money as well.
      The same has happened in NZ with the former Fairfax owned newspapers –wall to wall all this year. There was always a lot but this year it has been put on “steroids” They even went to the extent of putting a bit at the bottom of each article saying the paper accepts the science as being settled and they moderated out any comments with opposing views.

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      Screaming Nutbag

      Never mind The Grauniad, I want to know how much Greenpeace is paying the Arctic ice to melt, so as to promulgate the con.

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    Zane

    ” Climate ” is another word that has been hijacked and misappropriated by a particular group with an agenda. (Like the word ” gay ” was). So now we have terminology like ” real climate action “, ” climate criminal “, ” climate justice warrior “, and even the meaningless phrase ” climate change ” itself.

    It is an incredible act of Orwellian proportions, straight out of Goebbels. Only 13000 – 20000 years ago (which in geological time is yesterday) ice sheets a mile thick covered Canada, New York, Chicago, and most of northern Europe. Luckily the climate did change – it got warmer. No thanks to carbon dioxide.

    Speaking of warmth, the earth’s core is supposedly 6000 Celsius. Similar temp to the surface of the sun. Now that’s hot. The deepest hole ever dug by humans was done in Russia, near the Finnish border. They drilled down 12 kilometres. The temp at that depth was 180 C. Twice what the ” experts ” and scientists were expecting.

    CC is a political project designed to transfer wealth. Science it ain’t.

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    dinn, rob

    for those who have never heard of international capitalism we spell it out–
      Apple’s CEO Tim Cook recently became the chairman of an advisory board at the business school under China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, as the tech giant faced criticism for caving in to the Chinese regime’s censorship rules owing to its business interests in China.
      Cook’s role at the board was to make Tsinghua’s School of Economics and Management a world-class institution during his three-year stint, according to the school website’s report on an advisory board meeting held on Oct. 18. Cook hosted the meeting with 35 members in attendance.
      The advisory board, established in 2000, comprises roughly 70 business leaders and scholars from the United States, Europe and Asia, as well as Chinese Communist Party officials. Wang Qishan (was 2012-17 on Politburo Standing Committee, consisting of the top ~7 leaders of the Communist Party of China) is also an honorary member.
      Reports from the website show that Cook joined the advisory board in October 2013.   China’s Vice Premier Liu He, Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent CEO Pony Ma, and Baidu Chairman Robin Li, who recently stepped down from his role at the cloud computing unit of internet giant Baidu, also served as board members in the past year.  Tsinghua receives substantial funding from the Chinese regime, including to conduct research benefiting the Chinese military. Apple hasn’t responded to a media inquiry as of press time.
    Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) took to Twitter on Oct. 21, criticizing Cook for his decision to chair the board.  “Will you teach a course on human liberties [and] Tiananmen Square?  Maybe update students about what’s happening in Hong Kong protests?” he asked….
      Chinese factories assemble the majority of Apple iPhones. The greater China area also generated $52 billion of sales in 2018, which accounted for roughly one-fifth of the company’s global total in 2018, according to Apple’s financial earnings report.
      On Oct. 17 Cook met with Chinese market regulators in Beijing for “deep discussions” about issues such as corporate social responsibility and business expansion in the country, according to a statement from Chinese authorities….Apple has also been sending data, such as IP addresses, to Tencent, a social media and gaming company with government ties, as part of an iPhone and iPad security feature, according to media reports.
    https://www.theepochtimes.com/apple-ceo-appointed-chair-of-board-at-top-chinese-university-with-close-ties-to-beijing_3123297.html

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    dinn, rob

    how ’bout some plain English?
    11-3-19 Sen. Josh Hawley says Apple and TikTok may be threatening U.S. national security through their Chinese operations and connections.
    • In an exclusive interview with “Axios on HBO,” the Missouri Republican called out Apple for choosing Chinese profits over American values. He also called on TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, to testify under oath that it does not share American data with China’s Communist Party. “I don’t know that it matters where the data is stored for that kind of a company. I think you’ve got to assume that there is a backdoor way into that data.” -Hawley
    Why it matters: On Tuesday, Hawley will chair a hearing highlighting the compromises that, he argues, U.S. tech companies make to do business in China. The hearing comes amid increasing tensions over trade and technology transfers between the U.S. and China.
    • Hawley invited Apple and TikTok executives to testify at Tuesday’s hearing, called “How Corporations and Big Tech Leave Our Data Exposed to Criminals, China and Other Bad Actors.”
    • The companies declined to appear, as of Sunday. https://www.axios.com/apple-tiktok-china-josh-hawley-d2b5df17-15ce-4f43-ab6e-36804774e62f.html
    ………………………….…
    China’s government scoffs at the notion that they rival the U.S. in anything. They’re years behind, everyone in China tells you. They’ve got to be joking. Have they seen their country lately? After a 10-day trip to China, my first virgin-eyes impression is that China is as advanced as the U.S. They are developing fast in everything tech: artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, hightech telecommunications systems infrastructure and internet of things. In some cases they are even more advanced. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2018/11/30/dont-believe-beijing-china-really-does-rival-the-u-s/#26c5c8f2f05a

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    Slithers

    I can see it now!
    Sarc/ on
    Eminent professor admits he got it wrong!
    ‘CO2 is radiating Earths energy out into space at an ever faster rate’. Says the climate scientist.
    ‘We must reduce CO2 emissions or freeze to death’!
    ‘Action is desperately REQUIRED’!
    ‘We only have 3 years to save the planet’!
    Sarc/off

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    Peter C

    Very Depressing Article in “The Age” (and I assume the SMH as well) this morning by Ian Dunlop (Ian Dunlop was formerly an international oil, gas and coal industry executive, chair of the Australian Coal Association)

    CLimate denialists are leading us to disaster

    Dunlop trots out every extravagant alarmist claim and falsehood without even a hint of doubt or self awareness.

    How a man with his undoubted abilities and background can become so consumed by this idiocy is both depressing and a cause for alarm.

    As he says at the end; “Expect more protests not less”

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    Dennis

    Meteorologist Ben Domensino said a mass of hot air was moving across to the east from Western Australia.
    “It is elevating fire danger ratings in South Australia and parts of Victoria today on Monday, then on Tuesday, the threat will shift and focus into NSW and Wednesday, it pushes further north,” he said.
    “So that’s why we’re seeing these danger ratings in South Australia elevated fire danger ratings across multiple states on multiple days.

    FROM NEWS.COM.AU

    Stay updated with the latest in the world of entertainment. Sign up now

    “The drought’s been widespread and in some places record breaking.
    “We have known this has been coming for months because we’ve had this dry weather leading up to the hottest time of year.
    “Now we’re seeing the winds increasing, the temperatures increasing, which are typical of this time of year. But we don’t normally have this much fuel.
    “We are seeing all of those conditions combined to create the perfect conditions for catastrophic fire danger ratings which is the highest rating on that scale and the first time it has been issued for Sydney.”

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    Zane

    Exxon has full page ads in The Economist about the need for carbon capture technology, which coincidentally they have a division doing. Big Oil & Gas is riding the scam too.

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    Environment Skeptic

    Why filling a double glazed window with CO2 does not work and a lot more, with our favorite astrophysicist Piers Corbyn

    Climate Change with Piers Corbyn Two
    810 views
    •Nov 1, 2019
    https://youtu.be/7hkOPkmzm2w?list=PLXx6sNYNiueuxx2D_1f4s_KxK_2xbGa3M&t=1273

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    el gordo

    ‘Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Sunday he would resign after the military called on him to step down and allies tumbled away amid a fierce backlash over a disputed election.’ ABC

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    Rocket Rod

    Can’t help but wonder what would happen if Jo dared to take on the [snip] lying vaccine industry.

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    Slithers

    This is a Political Party message from the NMF party
    The No More Fires Party is appalled at the current spate of CAGW wild fires and sends its condolences to those who’s families lost lives and properties.
    We will immediately nationalize those areas devastated by fire and offer them under license to Investors in Wind and Solar energy.
    Those licenses will include a requirement that all vehicles used in the erecting process and ongoing maintenance be EV’s.
    There will be a requirement to provide EV charging places every 10km where public roads pass trough or alongside the new developments.
    Long term conversion of National and State, Parks and Forests to Wind Farms and Solar arrays will follow.
    This initiative will greatly assist in meeting our Paris accord targets well ahead of the 2030 deadline.
    It is possible to achieve net zero CO2 emissions and energy requirements allowing the closure of COAL fired electricity generation and shut down all those horrible COAL mines.
    In this way we will ensure that there never can be another years fire season like 2019 EVAH!
    Send donations or join us!
    Slithers aka PF.

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