France will still be left with 56 pressurised water reactors at 18 nuclear power plants — only the United States has more reactors, at 98 — generating an unmatched 70 percent of its electricity needs.

Just months after his 2017 election, Macron infuriated environmental activists by abandoning a 2015 target to reduce nuclear in France’s energy mix to just half by 2025.
He staunchly defends the use of what he calls “zero carbon” nuclear energy in coming decades, putting him at odds with fellow EU giant Germany, which swore to drop nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

“Pretending that we should speed up nuclear plant closures… would force us to reopen coal-fired plants in the coming years,” Macron said at the UN’s COP23 climate change conference in Bonn in 2017…

The government confirmed in January that it aims to shut down 12 more reactors nearing or exceeding their original 40-year age limit by 2035, when nuclear power should represent just 50 percent of its energy mix.
But at the same time, state-owned energy giant EDF is racing to get its first next-generation reactor running at the Flamanville plant in 2022 — 10 years behind schedule — and more may be in the pipeline…

The plants have been a boon for regional economies, where many officials now fear the loss of high-paying jobs. At Fessenheim alone, just 60 EDF workers will remain once dismantling operations start in 2025, a fraction of the 650 today…
https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/france-shuts-oldest-reactors-nuclear-power-still-reigns-doc-1p32de1

00

21 Feb: UK Telegraph editorial: A hasty crackdown on hearth and home
Today, the Government has announced that it plans to phase out the sale of coal and wet wood for domestic burning between 2021 and 2023, and that it will encourage the use of cleaner fuels instead. The explanation given is that wood burning stoves and coal fires, cherished by many people as a way to keep warm or add character to their homes, are in fact the single largest source of the pollutant PM2.5. This follows a crackdown on inefficient stoves….
To some eyes, it would appear ludicrous that the Government is choosing to crack down on domestic hearths and stoves when Germany has has only this month agreed the opening of a new coal-fired power plant”….

21 Feb: Daily Mail: Driven to distraction
IT will come as no surprise to long-suffering passengers that just two-thirds of train services arrived on time last year.
Equally predictably, a major survey showed that one in three motorists, having largely given up on public transport, is now more dependent on their car than a year ago.
And having been driven back on to the roads, there is a strong rumour they are to be penalised again in the Budget, with a sharp increase in fuel duty.
The rise would no doubt be dressed up as a green tax, necessary to fight climate change. But that would cut little ice with battling commuters.
They’d see it as yet another government fleecing motorists, while failing to provide them with realistic alternative ways of getting get to work. And they’d be right…

22 Feb: CarbonPulse: EU leaders delay deal on budget that could divert over half of nations’ ETS revenue
EU leaders failed to agree late Friday on the bloc’s joint budget for 2021-27, postponing talks that included among the main sticking points plans that could divert over half of nations’ future ETS revenues.

22 Feb: Daily Mail: EU gripped by budget chaos after Brexit: Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden REFUSE to pay for one trillion euro plan to help poor regions, ***fight climate change and plug budget black hole left by Britain’s departure
By Tim Stickings
Germany wants to spend more on climate change while France is seeking more money for a joint defence, with poorer nations determined to keep their generous EU payouts.
But the so-called ‘frugal four’ of Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden are unwilling to pay more to plug the gap…

Germany, the Netherlands and others are keen to shift funds towards new priorities including global warming, migration and growth in the digital economy…
The bloc is also looking for new sources of revenue, but the leaders are split on a proposed tax on plastic waste or sharing profits from carbon emissions trade…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8028565/EU-leaders-argue-early-hours-bruising-budget-talks.html

00

I am truly sick and tired of a direct correlation being made between the extremists of Extinction Rebellion and how much you care about climate change or protecting the environment.
I’m also sick and tired of XR and Greta Thunberg setting the media agenda on the so-called “climate emergency”, a term designed to conjure up terror in young people today. It means completely ignoring the progressive and dramatic policies that have already been enacted by the Government to make us first in the western world when it comes to pushing towards becoming carbon neutral.

It’s time there is an acknowledgement that it is possible to be passionate about the need to rebalance the environment and a believer in climate change without wanting to destroy our economy, shut down farming in the UK, force the entire population to go vegan and limit flights to one every six years.

I also implore the police to stop facilitating criminal behaviour by the XR morons.
At Trinity College in Cambridge this week, much money was spent and resources wasted on cops overseeing crimes being committed.
Not only is it completely sickening given the pressure on our emergency forces these days, the idea that XR represent in any way peaceful protest sets a terrible example to our kids…

As an aside, just last year Nasa scientists announced that the ozone hole is now the smallest since it was discovered in 1982.
That’s proof that the modern world can adapt and change the environment — sensibly and over a long period of time.
And it’s also an illustration of why catastrophising such events to terrify children is totally unnecessary.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11007520/greta-thunberg-extinction-rebellion-green-wrecking/

00

20

Facebook: Uni Students for Climate Justice
(multiple entries for Saturday 22 Feb 2020 Climate Crisis: National Day of Action)
https://www.facebook.com/pg/unistudentsforclimatejustice/events/

(summaries along the lines of)
Join Uni Students for Climate Justice at the Climate Crisis National day of Action on Feb 22 in Adelaide! Time to keep up the pressure on the government to demand an end to the fossil fuel industry.
We’ll be meeting at Parliament House with loads of megaphones and plenty of placards and banners – come find us!

Geelong climate protest: Extinction Rebellion among nine groups in activism march
Geelong Advertiser – 20 Feb 2020
Climate activists from nine groups will protest in Geelong’s CBD on Saturday as part of a national day of action. … “2019 was the year the climate crisis became impossible to ignore for millions. We must act now…

5 Feb: GreenLeft: Climate crisis: Join the February 22 national day of action
PIC: Details for February 22 national day of action rallies across Australia
The following statement was released by various organisations calling for a national day of action to demand climate action on February 22:

(excerpts) 2019 was the year the climate crisis became impossible to ignore for millions. School strikers mobilised in their hundreds of thousands in Australia and inspired workers and other adults to rise up against the Morrison government’s climate vandalism.
Now, savage fires are devastating peoples’ lives, water shortages are pushing many towns to crisis point, millions have endured weeks or months of hazardous air quality, and over a billion native animals have been killed. Yet, Morrison still refuses to accept the reality of climate change, wrecked the global climate negotiations in December 2019, and doesn’t want to pay the people fighting the fires or expand resources for firefighting…
1. 100% renewable energy…Build a 100% publicly owned renewable energy system by 2030…
2. No new fossil fuel or nuclear projects. End subsidies to these industries…
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/climate-crisis-join-february-22-national-day-action

19 Feb: 7News: Extinction Rebellion protest causes Victorian Parliament to be suspended
by Lucy Mae Beers
Victoria’s parliament has been brought to a standstill after Extinction Rebellion protesters start chanting and holding banners.
Just before 11.30am on Wednesday, parliament was suspended after the protesters unfurled a banner from the gallery saying “Climate emergency, Act Now”.
There was a nine-minute stoppage, before a separate protest caused parliament to come to a standstill for a second time.
Men wearing high-vis shirts with messages directed at Transport Minister Melissa Horne started their own protest.
https://7news.com.au/news/climate-change/extinction-rebellion-protest-causes-victorian-parliament-to-be-suspended–c-705027

00

another excerpt from Barnaby Joyce’s website – posted in comment #45:

Apr 2016: Barnaby Joyce: $400m White Rock Wind Farm to begin construction in New England Electorate
Transgrid is engaged to establish the connection to the 132kV transmission system and construct a 132kV transmission line and substation on the project site. Fulton Hogan have been appointed to perform the main wind farm civil and electrical works as well as public road works associated with the project.
https://barnabyjoyce.com.au/News/Releases/-400m-White-Rock-Wind-Farm-to-begin-construction-in-New-England-Electorate/

00

also shows that the idea of an ‘Energy Balance’ of such a system does not have to be ‘in balance’ at any time period, it only has to balance finally e.g. when all natural processes finish and the Earth is at an end.
Between now and that eventuality the ‘Energy Balance’ can flap about as much as it will, natural processes (conversion of solar energy to chemical bonds via plants and algae, the up-take or release of ocean heat, clouds and atmospheric pressures, the size of atmospheric layers, etc) will ensure that the energy is distributed as nature, not man, sees fit.

10

Where in the conclusion’ last few lines they say …

Weather conditions and climate as illustrated in the greenhouse effect are clearly demonstrated in the distribution of water, particularly on land. The apparently linear relationship between the water content of the atmosphere is direct verification of the greenhouse warming effect of this greenhouse gas. By contrast, other than by correlation, there is no such direct verification possible for the greenhouse effect of CO2 . We rely on the forcing equation of 5.3ln[(CO 2 ) t /(CO2 ) o ] to estimate the climate sensitivity with respect to varying concentration (ppmv) of this greenhouse gas. Early hopes that a clear spectral signal was available showing significantly reduced OLR from increasing CO2, proving the hypothesis of climate forcing by permanent GHGs, have not been realised [5]. A focus using new satellites on the longer wavelength OLR associated with rotations of water might help resolve this question. Up till now, OLR is estimated for this region based on shorter wavelengths. The natural experiment provided by the flooding of Lake Eyre of the greenhouse effect by significantly reducing the OLR provides confirmation that irrigation water typically applied to dry land will have a measurable greenhouse effect. This work should be repeated using satellite data of higher resolution obtained over irrigated land. In [7] Davis et al. have recently drawn attention to the possibility of significant water use efficiency through optimised crop distribution. If it is true that increased use of water has made a similar contribution to global warming as CO2 since 1960, there is an equally strong case to provide greenhouse credits to promote water use efficiency as for restricting evolution of permanent GHGs.

[my bold]

many thanks to Kenneth Richard for point up this research paper.

00

The Antarctic Anomaly (that's the 1950's name for what the British Antarctic Expedition `discovered' in 1984 and called the Ozone Hole) is supposedly a result of low low temperatures `freezing CFCs hiding on the edges of clouds.'

If that happens Down South why should it not happen Up North? Shouldn't there be more CFCs Up North? That's where they were made and used?

Or is it more pseudo-science, like Climate Change, and CO2 atmospheric warming?

20

00

00

I hung around to hear it start….nothing quite like the whine if a starter before a big block v8 bursts into life…..the smell of the unburnt fuel and the lumpy idle was marvellous. His wife who was with him had a big grin on her face too….great to see.

Serously…you can have your woosy EVs…i prefer something a bit more interesting and, quite frankly, with a but of aural drama and marvelling at the moisy symphony of years of R & D and something to drink many beers over with mates while pontificatin nover the merits of a 253 vs a 350 big block…..

By comparison ….an EV starting….

click……

You get the idea…..

00

20

10

If a person buys a house a long way from the nearest electricity connection, …

THEY have to pay for the wire and poles to connect to the grid.

10