Last week small electricity retailers were bleeding so badly they doubled their prices and asked their customers to leave.
This week it’s a big gas retailer, as Australia belatedly faces the same pain that hit and wiped out UK energy retailers:
Gas retailer Weston Energy’s collapse stirs call for Labor intervention
Perry Williams, The Australian
Weston Energy, which provides gas to more than 400 companies and government agencies, ceased trading with immediate effect on Monday, creating uncertainty for major manufacturers with 7 per cent of the east coast’s commercial and industrial market forced to find a new supplier.
The company said it could no longer finance cash flow requirements of its trading portfolio “on a timely basis” with prices rising over 180 per cent since April, and almost three times higher than at the start of the year.
These are blistering rises in costs:
With spot gas prices up to four times higher than normal levels and wholesale electricity prices in NSW on track to finish the June quarter twice as high as the previous record, Mr Willox called on the Albanese government to respond.
It’s a cult.
Presumably at this point geniuses will suggest we need even more solar power — thus creating an even greater demand for expensive gas until we get a battery the size of Tasmania, or the sun goes Supernova and runs 24 hours a day.
Better yet — the inner city Teal voters could offer to run off their solar panels and donate their gas to the poor?
Will any of the Labor Party, Professors and Energy Experts even think of boosting gas production and exploration, and vaporizing the red tape? Probably not. But will they miss the chance to redevelop the cheap brown coal of La Trobe Valley and take the pressure off gas use and energy prices. We know they will…
We could make Australia more competitive, help plants thrive and food grow, and stop feeding foreign wars (do Ukrainian Lives Matter?). But we probably won’t. Not yet at least. Wait til those bills start to come in:
The Australian Energy Regulator will publish its default market offer for NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia on Thursday. Households in those states may face a 10-20 per cent jump in their bills when new annual charges kick in on July 1, experts say.
Those states being about 65% of Australias population.
All the mainland states on the NEM are all still struggling with incredibly high $200+ per megawatt hour prices.
The terrifying thing is that those in power don’t see the lack of reliable coal and gas generation as a problem (that’s what they want) but they believe the problem will be solved with ever more solar, wind and Big Battery subsidy farms.
They still think that it is actually possible to run a modern civilisation on such things.
Australia has already got a live experiment, The King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project (KIREIP) and even it is an expensive disaster and Hydro Tasmania who run it refuse to release financials.
This is not going to end well, especially after Labor cause the destruction of the next one or two coal power stations. The grid will be slightly saved for a short time as Labor causes the closure of the remaining aluminium smelters and what little heavy industry we have left.
1232
Well said, David. This is a key issue.
They actually believe their own nonsense.
711
I’m forced to live amongst them.
Their main motivation is the punishment and toppling of Western European, especially American, culture.
Trump and MAGA represented that.
It’s why he drove them mad.
They despise alpha male confidence.
It’s the reason Biden’s puppeteers move his lips to say the greatest threat is Blanco Supremeista.
As Elon Musk said, they hate everything, including themselves.
761
They despise the smart women running the revolt against the ‘SWAMP’ in the USA. The attempt to save Freedom does not discriminate, the movement encompasses a broad church of brave and thinking peoples.
Hence the surprised looks on the face of the Left when they realise they are just a small group who have stolen tremendous power under the guise of saving polar bears and curing all society’s ills. They blame the ‘message’ for the absence of support. It must be!
312
King Island KIREIP all fancy on the presentation of it but when it gets down to the nitty gritty of actually working it’s all unicorn farts and fairy dust!
They have a ‘Real Time Energy Dashboard’ on their website – it hasn’t worked for months probably so you can’t see how useless the system is, I wrote to them months ago for what should be publicly available production information I needed for some work I was doing for client and they ignored my request.
https://www.hydro.com.au/clean-energy/hybrid-energy-solutions/success-stories/king-island
170
Reliability of supply means you also need reliability of usage.
That is what the aluminium smelters provide.
They allow the coalies to operate at a reasonably high level most of the time.
If those close, the fluctuations in demand will be much more pronounced, and average prices will sky-rocket.
840
Spot on, b.nice. SPOT ON TARGET! Home and office consumption is a parasite. What can cause a change back to reality is that we all cop this new regime good and bloody hard. 2, 3, or even 400% energy cost rises alongside unreliable energy supply with plenty of brownouts causing huge amounts of appliance and equipment failures. Utopia is a green dream that is a reality nightmare.
171
Well, not really !
Total power consumption of all the smelters in Au is approx 3 GW…
Modern High rise Office, Commercial, and Apartment buildings in urban areas, have a bigger demand for their HVAC, …..and will continue to increase in the future.
So, the “base load” will still be there,..24/7
30
“Total power consumption of all the smelters in Au is approx 3 GW…”
Two questions;
Is peak operating time for smelters after offices have closed down and we are asleep?
Also most of our smelters have closed because they couldn’t function with the excessive rise in power charges.
What was the total power usage before this “lockdown”.
Coal fired power spins 24 hours and cannot be fully efficient unless something can be done to use the off peak spin.
Answers?
50
The answer is a free market, as usual, so cheap power after 9pm until 6am. Smelters run on night shift.
Same with nuclear, so Cape Town used night power from Koeberg to pump the water back uphill into the storage dams.
30
is approx 3 GW… so what 14% of total usage.
Of course it makes a difference have that near constant load on the system.
60
I just had a quick look and couldn’t find the total usage of electricity by draglines on our coal fields but I suspect it would be similar. I know it is a lot in Qld.
20
I suspect the “wobbles” in the mains may be due to the switch-on rate at the smelters.
I would posit that they CANNOT just flick a giant knife switch, a la the one on Frankenstein’s laboratory wall.
If they did, the entire rock-show would probably fall over because of the inrush demand.
The big open-cut mining operations use a prodigious amount of juice. That big, black snake training behind the drag-lines is not a fuel pipe but a serious electrical cable. Friends working in Worst Oz noted that they could tell when one fired up or shut down: AC synchronous motors would go into “vari-speed” mode for a few seconds as the entire grid has a voltage and frequency conniption. Does weird things to Linn (and other) turntables. That was a couple of decades ago, though.
Fun stuff, electricity; you haven’t lived until you have watched a tradie casually use an electric gouger to hack into a walk-in sized excavator bucket.
50
The air con demand of high rise buildings would drop off significantly at night when general demand drops ADDING to the volatility.
20
Doubtful !
Big HVAC systems are run continuously to maintain constant temperature to avoid peak loads .
Dont forget also , domestic AC and heating is now a major load on the grid too.
Tony has repeatedly posted that the MINIMUM load on the grid is approx 18GW in the early hours .
We may need to be lucky to have enough Coal/Gas left to supply that, after a few years og this Govmnt. !
30
“They still think that it is actually possible to run a modern civilisation on such things”
I dont think they do. I think they know it will destroy modern civilisation. It is becoming clear how many decades this downfall of the west has been planned an in execution. The goal appears to be the death of billions. I have trouble contemplating the mind set of people who see this as attractive. Western civilisation has been great.
641
Spot on, lets cut to the chase, I had recently the displeasure of conversing with some Melbourne inner city Greens, when the subject of energy came up they actually admitted renewables can’t replace coal/gas and ICE’s with EV’s but the critical goal is less people to preserve the planet, I asked if they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause the answer was yes.
Have a look at the cult photo Jo has above, its bang on and growing by the day, the Greens just had their best election result in Australia so good luck convincing the NWO sheeple reliable energy is good for people because they don’t want any more of either including themselves.
501
I asked if they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause the answer was yes. If they haven’t already done so, they are hypocrites.
450
To do so now would be less chaotic than to die in a Mad Max world of food and fuel starvation.
10
Talk is cheap. Until it actually comes knocking on their door it’s easy to be willing to “sacrifice”, but their reasoning is actually to sacrifice the people around them as they’re the virtuous, good ones. Do not underestimate the underlying evil in these people – we have morphed into a humanistic bunch where we believe people are inherently good. They’re not.
291
In 1965 The Who in My Generation sang “I hope I die before I get old” and that was a common thought with our generation, especially when told we drove, and lived, dangerously.
Today if asked “What’s it like to be old?” most [including the band if they are still around] would say “Beats the alternative”.
50
At least 1 Green was honest enough about who she wants gone!
https://michaelsmithnews.typepad.com/.a/6a0177444b0c2e970d0278807e9c36200d-pi
60
Circulate the briefing notes of the Energy Realists of Australianem
.
And encourage people to check the NewWatch widget between dusk and dawn to see the lunacy of the green transition. (hint – check out how much the green on the bars has to grow to displace the black, brown and red bits.)
The RenewEconomy people are RE tragics and they have unwittingly provided the widget that can be used as our most effective weapon to demonstrate to people who don’t have time to do research that RE is not going anywhere much in our lifetime.
221
Or perhaps they do know it’s a problem and want to bring down the system.
41
No Serge – if it is a question of whether a conspiracy is in place or collective stupidity, stupidity usually rises to the surface. I think the powers that be who are running this scam are the same people who gain from renewables. That so many believe them shows how cults are created, and those cults survive because of the stupidity, gullibility and irrational fear of the cult members.
91
Once the country has rolling blackouts I doubt that foreign students will come anymore. Also would you want to migrate to a country with rolling black outs? I doubt it. This will be fun to watch.
40
The King Island and the Finders Island sites are well worth the ocassional visit to see our future. Also here is a statement by the Essential Services Commission re Weston.
251
I wouldnt mind a future on King Island, as long as those mainland subsidies keep flowing.
40
Question for the anti-energy lobby:
Why was wind, animal and human power abandoned as an energy source for machinery (e.g. grain mills) as soon as reliable steam engines were developed?
561
True, can’t find a “save the whales” movement back then either.
120
“Land Rights for Gay Whales” my favourite bumper sticker
190
Since updated to “All rights belong to the loudest wailers”.
70
Obviously exporting your heavy industry will help you save energy and do you really need aircon ? Of course not. Neither do you need electric cookers , after all, what are barbies for?
You need many more solar panels which need to track the sun through the day otherwise they will generate only 30 % of their available power. I am a bit hazy on the technical details but think solar panels in oz work at night. Something to do with being in the southern hemisphere?
Only charge Ev’s to 20% of their capacity in order to conserve power ( running out of power on your journey can be quite liberating) and instal heat pumps in every home, which I understand only cost about 50 dollars, so quite a bargain. Note all costs and projections come from reliable green modelling.
The Achilles heel are cloudy times and your summer, when light levels might be a little low so undoubtedly you will need batteries to store power
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/05/24/batteries-can-store-10-minutes-of-electricity-needs/
As can be seen from the link, using OGT ( optimistic green technology) it should be straightforward to ramp up battery storage. A battery the size of Tasmania jo? That looks about right. The residents are just cluttering up the place anyway, Cost is probably going to be 10000 dollars or so according to my green algorithms.
So Oz can soon be a low cost renewables power house, with very little sacrifice by its inhabitants. OGT will come to your rescue
362
There was that item recently on California spending $US 5.2 billion on improving their power supply. It was calculated that was 509 AA batteries per resident.
161
Per day?
40
That was the single issue per person from the $5.2 bil – so day of issue only
30
Track-the-Sun is a losing proposition. The panels and the supporting structure and mechanicals (to rotate and tilt through the day/year) consume considerable power through the day, then they need to be re-oriented over night (powered from batteries or the grid) to greet the sun the next morning. The small net gain in output never repays the additional cost of the system.
40
Which brings the question:
How do sunflowers manage to grow by tracking the sun?
https://news.berkeley.edu/story_jump/how-sunflowers-follow-the-sun/
10
All part of the plan.
Biden has recently made it clear that the sky high fuel and energy prices will make the middle class poor and the poor destitute and totally dependent on a socialist government.
The next step is a global dictatorship.
Anthony Biden and the Greens are all in.
What the idiots don’t realise is that they won’t get a seat at the table.
They will be relegated to the proles.
390
The Teals will be miffed if Labor has its own majority. They wont get there 15 minutes of virtue signalling fame. They will just have to lay back and think of their parliamentary pension.
70
News says UK price cap will rise from approx £2000 to £2800 in October. (That’s the amount an average user will pay per year.)
230
Surely now is the time to suggest that windmills should be installed along the coastlines of the Teal voters homes.
Direct exposure to the trade winds fresh from the ocean and close proximity to a large demand for electricity ensures the coastline of Sydney and Melbourne Teal homes are the perfect location.
520
Rosco
In the UK you can make a planning application on a piece of land or building, even if you don’t own it.
Obviously if you want to subsequently build then you need to acquire the land or building.
Some well publicised plans for windmills in the teals favourite park? Solar panels on top of the areas smartest buildings? Giant battery storage units destined on top of local park lakes?
You would get great publicity and get some satisfaction at the alarm the teals would get in believing their local environment is about to be destroyed
271
Good on you sport!
Can you tell this poor inmate of Saint Nicolas Scottish asylum what is a teal?
Thanks for all your efforts on Joanne’s great web site.
40
The teal wave
When we are talking about “teals” we are talking about the 23 independent candidates, most of them women, who have challenged traditionally Liberal-held seats or Senate spots. All have received support from fundraising organisation Climate 200.
– – – – – – –
The term is now more widely used —
Think green but not quite. Sort of ‘teal”.
https://www.colorpsychology.org/teal/
30
Of course they would rather it fouls someone else’s landscape. NIMBY please.
180
When Zalli Steggal first got in there was a Windmills for Warringah campaign.
140
“When Zalli Steggal first got in there was a Windmills for Warringah campaign.”
As Zali Steggall retained her seat with an increased majority of around 6% it could be that the campaign is progressing well.
410
Is that because voters want more Windmills for Warringah (or because they want her to keep them elsewhere?)
120
Indicates just how vacuous and hypocritical inner city rich folk are. Surely you must arrive at the same conclusion.
121
“Surely you must arrive at the same conclusion.”
He’s certainly vacuous and hypocritical. !
62
I’m sure Ian would welcome a couple of wind turbines 1km or so from his home. 😉
I can assure you that Steggals would never allow a wind turbine in her electorate.
112
Of course she did, and I am sure she will lower levels around the world, just like Obama did.
41
Perhaps a simpler question (for them) would be how have they recycled their campaign tee shirts and pamphlets. The tee shirts would be of considerable interest given the recent increased focus on clothing “waste” in landfills. The subject has had Australian government attention for at least the last year so it is a well recognised and known local issue.
Having got rid of single use plastic bags – many of which were actually recycled – time for political parties to rethink their election campaign materials.
Of course we could all rethink the bur ka… lol.
61
Here we go down the slippery slope: “Anthony Albanese has joined Joe Biden’s climate change crusade and unveiled Australia’s new international approach on global carbon emissions at a Quad meeting in Tokyo.”
“Under my government, Australia will set a new target to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030.”
We know Albo is always across the details, so perhaps he would now like to explain what happens to electricity generation.
In the AEMO grid, “renewables” currently supply 31% of generation on average: Solar 9%, Wind 12%, Hydro 10%, with Coal 60%, Gas 9% to keep the lights on when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.
Now consider a future where on average Solar provides 20% of demand and Wind 30%, with Hydro still at 10%, Gas 10%, and Coal reduced to 30%, a 50% reduction from the current supply.
To get to 20% Solar would mean Solar supplying 65% during the day, and its usual zero at night.
But if wind is to deliver 30%, that would mean 95% wind/solar during the day, with just 5% gas, everything else shutdown.
That means every coal station would have to close down during daylight hours – completely unrealistic.
Yet at night, with zero Solar, Wind 30%, Hydro 10%, Coal and Gas would need to fire up to meet 60% of demand.
Meanwhile, in the real world, AEMO average wholesale prices for May $200-350/MWhr, compared to $70-130/MWhr last May.
422
One problem with Albo’s solution is the 43% when every sane thinking person knows it should be 42% because 42 is the Universal Answer to every question in the Universe according to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Albo really needs to get with the program!
101
Perhaps he added a safety factor?
1% would be a good Green number.
Cheers
Dave B
41
It will be fun to watch.
I expect Labor will ditch the ESB dispatchable capacity payment proposed to commence in 2025 as that is viewed as a leg up for coal plants to survive.
Putin has created a nightmare for the western world. The amount of gas coming into Europe was their dirty little secret until Putin made his move.
It is really sad that all this waste of resources is based on ZERO due diligence on climate models. Who would invest trillions of dollars based on a myth?
271
Yay!! a new target!! that will fix it! thanks Albo. Where is the popcorn?
80
I assume that this refers to Australia’s TOTAL emissions, of which power generation here constitutes 32.4%. So is Albo and Friends going to entirely shut down all fossil-fuelled power generation and bite severely into other sectors to achieve his target?
What does the 43% really refer to?
Does he really know what hardship he will be subjecting this country to with this kind of target?
He should be referred to his integrity commission for issuing such statements a few days after an election without warning the electors of his true agenda. The nothing statement “acting on climate change” during the election lead-up is just not good enough.
70
Yes,we will trash our economy, and have to buy everything off China.
For no result.
But some idealistic, but simple people will at least feel really good about themselves.
70
Your new Dear Leader is a quick learner.
When our own idiot – Bumbling Boris – led our pretend Conservative party to a whacking majority, no mention was made of global warming.
Shortly after the event he unilaterally promised to cut our plant food generation by a bigger and faster margin.
Many of use believe this was done in order to get more access to nookie from his concubine who is a rabid greenie.
Just like the Wuhan Flu agenda we have no viable opposition to these insane policies, and sadly none on the horizon.
As Private Frazer in Dad’s Army says “We’re doomed – doomed I tell ye”
100
After a successful election he is flushed (or should that be brainwashed?) with victory. Reality will set in about one week after 1 or 2 coal-fired stations shut down.
And why is it that the gullible always talk of electricity generation as the first target to be destroyed.
91
And never forget before RET that coal was stable over many decades at prices of $30/MWHr.
So we are already seeing prices constantly 10x higher under this market manipulation.
This country is absolutely screwed.
150
Sure, we are “seeing” those higher price figures, ..
..but that is NOT the actual cost of generating power, which has changed little !
These are artificial MARKET PRICES…
..the result of a false cost model from AEMO
We (consumers) are being suckered out of our cash buy a rigged market system.
151
Our major parties across the west no longer fear their citizens, in fact they despise them.
Consequently, nothing short of armed revolution will change our trajectory. If we can’t even demand the use of a safe and proven, cheap and plentiful treatment for Covid, what chance do we have of having any say in our energy production?
461
Orwell was correct one of those things needs to be hanging on every wall and behind door of every humble workers cottage
00
It was bad enough with the anti-reliable energy policies of Morrison, such as keeping us in the Paris Accords, but under Green Labor, the destruction they will do, and are already doing after two days, is sickening.
Green Labor will make Morrison look as though he actually supported reliable energy production.
271
“It was bad enough with the anti-reliable energy policies of Morrison, such as keeping us in the Paris Accords, ”
You seem to have forgotten Tony Abbott changed his mind in 2019 and said Australia should not pull out of the Paris Agreement. Morrison was merely maintaining that stance
110
A smart politician (diplomat ?) would “go with the flow” on Paris etc, publicly saying what the public want to hear said,.. but effectively doing nothing other than juggling numbers to give the impression of progress whilst playing for science, time and technology developments to provide a workable solution. !
(A bit like China & india etc ?)
But ,..all that needs smart politicians… an extinct breed i fear !
121
Yes, Abbott did say there was no need to pull out of Paris and in the next breath urged a rapid increase in base load power. Still classifies as a backflip. He has now learnt the error of his ways but should quietly realise he compromised his position for zero gain. His opponents can point to this and laugh at him. Ian, what happened in Warringah in 2019 was an indicator of what was coming. Even Katherine Deves could not dint this female woke vote. Watch the next election in 2025 Albo may well finally lose to a green as the ALP feels the heat from the dragon they should have slew decades ago…thanks Richo, you created a monster.
100
slain
00
Federally we’ll be governed by the dumbest pollies in history for the next 3 years.
Every time they waste another billion $ on their S & W fantasy,it will force us to try to live with unreliable energy and to reject modern BASE-LOAD power like coal and gas.
The ABC were lying again this morning and telling listeners that Labor will make life safer for Island countries because they’re “taking action on climate change”.
How did Aussies vote for these imbeciles and yet people were cheering for this idiotic disaster on Saturday night?
541
Absolutely!
301
No! Governed by the most mendacious, people-hating, poor-despising bunch of fascists the world has ever seen.
171
How did Aussies vote for these imbeciles and yet people were cheering for this idiotic disaster on Saturday night?
7 out of 10 didn’t vote for them – they can hardly claim a mandate for this foolishness.
370
I believe Aussies were dumb enough to vote them in but the possibility of a minority or hung parliament was removed with the “adjustment” of the preferences system, we are now in good company with the USA/Democrats.
141
Let’s be honest and drop the 7 out of 10 didn’t vote for them. Labour, greens and teals come to 45%, so it’s 5.5 out of 10. We’re supposed to be about the facts remember.
101
That a very cherry picked statement really. If you include preferences (which are votes) they got more votes than the LNP with something like a 3.5% swing. Fair to say though neither of the Uniparty factions did well in first preference votes.
90
Preferences mean that many parties received a vote, it’s the order that determines who gets the vote. Labor may have been well down the list of preferences for many but the higher order candidates were eliminated.
The statement that Labor only recieved 30% of the PRIMARY vote still makes a valid point as to how many preferred them as a first choice.
61
Indeed it would, but wasnt what was said is it? and not what I was responding to.
Mind you its much the same for the LNP.
31
Graham Lloyd is onto it.
‘Severe weather amped up climate ‘doomism’ vote.
‘Of all the weapons picked up in the fight against climate change, catastrophisation of the weather has been the most potent. And it showed in the election result.’ (Oz)
61
Well we re confident that the weather will improve now with a change of government.After all Obarma held back the waves – thus saving the Maldives and further healed the planet. Look on the bright side people and wonder at it all when the Left starts to eat itself.
71
The media constantly amplified weather events in order to promote catastrophism. Bushfire, drought,flooding hot/cold – throw in a couple of unprecedented tornadoes all imprinted on stupid minds – largely in urban areas who, let’s face it, lack any real life experience and are oblivious of the wider world. Shame really.
91
‘ … stupid minds …’
Sad but true. Its up to Dutton to humiliate the government on climate change, nothing to lose and everything to gain.
91
Neville, I think you might be getting a little too tribal. The majority of the governance of this country for the last 20 years has been under LNP. Sure, we had Rudd/Gillard when some of the “green” policies were accelerated. But mostly all the vandalism of the Australian electricity grid has occurred with Howard/Abbott/Turnbull/ Morrison. For the last 3 years the Minister for Energy & Emissions reductions (Angus Taylor) has been promoting pumped hydro, green hydrogen and converting coal fired electricity to gas. All the half baked ideas like pumped hydro and Green hydrogen have occurred because a succession of “conservative” governments signed Australia up to treaties, that they were then obliged to conform to. Its a Uniparty on energy policy – they’re both almost the same in terms of policy and outcomes.
100
Federal governance yes, most if not all of Victorian power vandalism has occurred under ALP/Green governance without any input by the feds other than RE policy settings support. No mandate for closing or destruction of power generation facilities.
60
Agreed- but after the last state election the opposition leader, Michael O’ Brien stated that he thought the LNP might have performed better if they had campaigned harder on ” Climate”. Those were his very words. It’s the same throughout both the Liberal and National Party members in Victoria. We have a Uniparty in Australia on energy policy. Hence, don’t expect Vic LNP to be suddenly the saviours of our energy supply.
31
Hazelwood needed to be closed down as it was an outdated high pollution (no SO2 scrubbing) station that had run out of coal. The problem is that no new replacement generators are being built. Ie the two sites sitting vacant at loy yang B.
02
What a deeply uninformed post. Wrong in all respects.
10
Welcome to your “individual carbon footprint tracker”
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2022/05/orwellian.html
140
More on that
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/05/24/canadian-multinational-executive-outlines-tech-initiative-to-create-consumer-carbon-footprint-tracker/
80
Goes with it too (IMO)
“Bullshit in the Sustainability and Transitions Literature: A Provocation”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/24/bullshit-in-the-sustainability-and-transitions-literature-a-provocation/
30
For those who need a reference for John Brignell’s
“A complete list of things caused by global warming”
https://web.archive.org/web/20180307015437/http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
30
See Steve Case’s comment at 6:53 am 24th May
Correction – Brignal’s
10
From an email
“Extract from a comment on WUWT by Alan MacRae , Allan MacRae, B.A.Sc.(Eng.), M.Eng.
Calgary
https://energy-experts-international.com/
https://www.inderscience.com/info/inarticle.php?artid=112896
By the end of 2020, the climate doomsters (aka the IPCC and the radical greens) were proved wrong in their scary climate predictions 48 consecutive times. At 50:50 odds for each prediction, that is like flipping a coin 48 times and losing every time! The probability of that being mere random ignorance is 1 in 281 trillion! But no sensible person makes a 50:50 prediction – at 60:40 the odds against being this wrong are 1 in 13 quintillion; at 70:30 the odds are 1 in 13 septillion. It’s not just climate scientists being incompetent.
70
because, apparently, if a human drives an SUV in the Amazonian rain forest, it can change the weather half a world away (don’t worry about the volcanoes though).
91
To Hell with them!
Fire up the slow-combustion stove (with hot-water-sytem attachment) and kerosene-fueled pressure lanterns.
Thus you will have light and food while you finish building a basic, steam-powered generator. It might not have enough grunt to run the three-phase Lincoln welder in the shed, but you have to start somewhere.
And be prepared to repel “boarders” with extreme prejudice!
41
I recall as a kid we used to have a kero pressure heater in the lounge room. Just a portable thing, but seemed to do an Ok job. It was my job to get the wick soaked in metho and light it to get the process started.
But I guess kero is out now too. Shame about airline travel.
30
? Doesn’t make sense. Why has a major gas supplier in a booming market gone bust? “said it could no longer finance cash flow requirements of its trading portfolio” – that is not operations. Get out of the trading portfolio – sell the shares whilst they are up. Restructure.
121
Their key input has gone up 300%.
They probably pay on the spot for that input.
They probably give 30 days credit to their retailers.
Boom! Gone. Pretty simple.
150
Much like the UK where they stopped storing gas, and developing new supplies on-shore and relied on spot prices. When they decided to rely on wind and using gas to fill the shortages. And when the output from those (Saudi Arabi of wind) turbines reduced output for 2021 by over 28% (and continued in 2022) those spot prices shot up, so did the bills. Hence the scramble to restart old coal-fired plants and (maybe) a new coal mine.
Same for Germany except they kept some of their coal-fired stations in mothballs rather than demolishing them as the Mad Dogs and Englishmen did. As our politicians have had their brains fried by solar I expect the first shutdown of a powerstation with be celebrated with dynamite.
It’s all Putin’s fault – they should give him the OBE (Order of the Bloodygood Excuse).
50
High gas prices force out NSW retailer Weston
NSW’s Weston Energy has become the next casualty of soaring wholesale energy prices, losing its gas-retailing licence after being put in what managing director Garbis Simonian called an “untenable” position.
The company will cease its gas-trading operations immediately after becoming unable to finance cash flow requirements of its trading portfolio after gas prices tripled since the start of the year, including over 180 per cent since April.
The exit of Weston from gas retailing follows the demise of small Queensland electricity retailer LPE, which last week told its 20,000 customers in Queensland to go to another retailer, as it struggled with cash flow requirements.
60
LPE set to exit retail energy market as customers depart
LPE, the small Queensland electricity retail company, will become the first casualty of Australia’s energy crunch, shedding retail customers as it struggles with cash flow requirements, though its CEO denied the company had mismanaged its risk and was instead a victim of a failed energy market.
A jump of 140 per cent in the wholesale cost of producing electricity has stoked fears about the capacity of households to cope with bigger bills, while the viability of smaller retailers has been questioned.
LPE on Thursday told its 20,000 customers in Queensland it could not compete against its rivals, sending shares down 15 per cent.
Chief executive Damien Glanville told The Australian Financial Review on Friday the company expects to entirely exit the retail market as its customers heed advice to seek alternative suppliers.
While some analysts have accused struggling companies of failing to prepare, Mr Glanville denied the company had mismanaged its risk, insisting it was hamstrung by the soaring wholesale electricity price.
“It’s cash flow. Our hedged positions are brilliant. It’s really about how you manage cash flow and your obligations to [Australian Energy Market Operator AEMO] and the only way you can do that under the archaic method is to retract your customer numbers to support it,” Mr Glanville said.
“We’ve been supporting it all this time, but the market keeps getting worse and worse and at some point you conclude that it is safer to retract than grow.”
Mr Glanville said LPE’s hedging strategies have consistently been in the money, but these would pay out five weeks after the company was required to pay daily credit to AEMO, which were linked to the wholesale electricity price.
“We had $10 million in cash sitting with AEMO, which for a small business is a lot of money,” said Mr Glanville. “And it can vary, Monday it was a million dollars, and today it was $220,000.”
Finger pointing at state government
Mr Glanville said the root cause of the LPE’s cash flow issue is, however, the soaring cost of wholesale electricity.AEMO’s daily capital security is linked to the wholesale prices, which have rallied significantly in parts of the country most dependent on coal for its generation.
AEMO last month said Queensland endured the highest average wholesale electricity prices in the first three months of 2022, totalling $150/MWh. AEMO said this is the second-highest average price recorded for that region in any quarter since the NEM began.
Much of the rise in wholesale electricity generation prices stems from soaring prices for coal amid a global energy crunch fuelled by Russia’s war in Ukraine that left much of Europe looking to switch away from Moscow’s gas supplies.
The situation got worse when some 30 per cent Australia’s coal power capacity was offline as the country’s ageing infrastructure requires regular maintenance and suffers unplanned outages.
“Why did Annastacia Palaszczuk let this happen? If the state government owns the assets, and they wanted to keep them to make sure energy prices were fair and competitive, what is she doing wrong?” Mr Glanville asked, referring to the Queensland premier.
Mr Glanville said he expects other smaller retail companies to also announce a contraction as wholesale electricity prices show little sign of abating.
The two main political parties have tried to sway voters, saying they will cut power bills, although analysts insist little can be done in the short term to reduce bills, and analysts said it will expose some companies.
“Think we’re about to find out which electricity retailers have been skinny-dipping,” said Dylan McConnell, research fellow at the University of Melbourne’s climate and energy college, citing a quote from Warren Buffett about only when the tide goes out do you discover who has been swimming naked,
61
?? Those two statements are contradictory !!
..And…the world coal prices are no more than an oportunity for coal generators in Australia to artificially hike their margins on self produced coal.
Its just another profiteering exercise enabled by the corrupt AEMO market model.
Follow the money !!…. who is making a pile out of this ?
50
A rubbish statement anyway, Europe switching from Russia’s gas wouldn’t affect the coal market, the Yanks promised to deliver gas by tanker. Oh, wait..
Actually, its so amusing watching them squirm and lie and prevaricate about using coal…
From this-
“Germany, the continent’s largest coal burner, announced last year that it was accelerating its phaseout from 2038 to 2030. The United Kingdom has committed to turning off its coal facilities by 2024.’
To this-
“an additional 120 terrawatt-hours of coal-fired power could cut gas demand by 22 billion cubic meters this year, reducing the need for Russian imports — though it would need to be temporary and limited to avoid increasing overall emissions.
That would require an additional 50 million tons of coal at a time when producers are already looking for alternative suppliers to replace the 50 million tons of Russian coal they import annually”
Nah, they’ll end up buying Russian gas, in Roubles, currently worth the same as an Australian dollar against the Greenback, probably worth more than our dollar in 6months.
40
I wonder how various European governments feel about fighting civil wars in the snow?
Probably not to worried because just about everywhere in western Europe is screwed down pretty tightly by legislative “implied” threat and the foolish notion among a lot of the population that war is the ultimate, intolerable horror.
FAIL!
30
Putin’s fault that I use coal.
I didn’t want to, but Putin forced me … blame Putin!
20
Weston are a reseller, not a producer.
I don’t see any actual gas producers going to the wall, not until Labor/Greens ban production anyway.
91
AGAIN here’s the only question the fanatical donkeys must answer.
If you can’t provide reliable BASE-LOAD power for a very small island without fossil fuel support, then tell us how you can provide RELIABLE power for a huge continent of 26 million people?
And AGAIN why would you want to waste endless billions of $ for a guaranteed ZERO return?
261
a) because things always get simpler and more manageable when you scale up massively
c) its for the planet and the virtue feels; priceless
31
Wait until Labor and the Teals go after animal agriculture. Climate Change has become a cult. What is said prior to an election is disregarded after assuming power when you’re saving the world. Like the pro and anti-abortion, pro and anti-gun lobbies in the US, compromise is only a term that you want the other side to embrace.
211
To the Left, ‘compromise’ just means a temporary ceasefire while reloading. They are relentless and ALWAYS get what they want eventually. Just try to think of a single issue where, in the past ten years, the conservative side has succeeded in denying anything to the Left. Even where a demand has been resisted or watered-down, the Left simply regroups and recommences battle. They will NOT be denied.
In any battle where one side is willing to compromise and the other isn’t, the outcome really is inevitable.
171
Oh, they are going after that alright, for non-Elites of course.
Insect protein is definitely on the agenda of the UN/FAO globalists and the new regime in Australia is even more globalist than Morrison was. This is the UN/FAO web page promoting insect consumption.
https://www.fao.org/edible-insects/en/
Google “insect protein australia” without the quote marks to see how far down the track we already are here.
Even the CSIRO is exploring or promoting insect consumption.
https://research.csiro.au/edibleinsects/
And look how fertiliser use was banned in Sri Lanka.
Apart from destruction of the energy supply by the Left, they are also going after the food supply.
Do y’all see where this is heading?
181
There’s practically zero chance the “teals” will have any part in government whatsoever.
Labor has fairly good numbers in the lower house, and if they do need additional support they will go with their traditional alliance which is the proper Greens, not the fake Greens.
There’s almost no ideological overlap between the working class ALP (admittedly, they have become the party of the non-working welfare class) and the wealthy upper-class teal candidates, who are really in there with the hope of some corporate welfare for their sponsors.
OK, there’s an ideological overlap in terms that both groups want to loot the middle-class taxpayers but it would be difficult to get an agreement over who gets to keep said loot.
122
Doesn’t need to be Labor/Teals/Greens – it was already happening under Liberal and the Nationals. They’ve been asleep at the wheel funding research into projects like ameliorating feed rations to reduce methane production. CSIRO are into it big time with funding because they believe methane is an important Climate change gas. Methane- you measure it in ppb, its only transient in the atmosphere and oxidises to CO2 anyway. Plus the termites of the world produce an equivalent amount to all the burping cows. But it’s not just politicians, you have farmer organisations going along with it as well. David Littleproud (Nationals) is one of the biggest “warmists” in parliament.
101
Anyone see the green hydrogen advertisement that AGL is running. It is all happening. Australia is already running on green hydrogen. The green hydrogen molecules are green of course and mix with yellow natural gas. The flame then burns green. Obviously green flames are good and yellow flames are bad.
So – AGL is teaming up with FFI to replace the Liddell and Bayswater power stations with green energy hubs – all sorted apart from a few reality checks on costs to determine what level of subsidy they need to make it profitable:
https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/media-centre/asx-and-media-releases/2021/december/agl-and-fortescue-to-explore-green-hydrogen-for-hunter-energy-hu?zcf97o=vlx3ap
The question for Labor is whether they impose the subsidies directly on consumers or fund from general revenue and all tax payers.
111
I highlighted the most basic inputs. In other words they have crunched no numbers whatsoever. So what exactly do they mean by “early estimates”? It is no more than a virtue-signaling thought bubble.
181
Green hydrogen is already being produced and used in South Australia. They know the costs and it does not work without substantial subsidy. So the only question is – what level of subsidy will be needed to make it profitable in NSW.
The SA plant cost AUD14.5m and produces 20kg/h. So capital cost alone amortised over a 20 year life at 100% reliability will produce hydrogen at $4.13/kg. However it is supposed to use excess S&W so it will have an average utilisation of about 10% without burning gas or importing coal fired electricity from Victoria. So just the capital cost is $40/kg over its lifetime.
Taking another view, hydrogen has a maximum heating value of 140MJ/kg. So 20kg/day gives 2.8GJ/day. My retail gas unit cost is $25/GJ. So at maximum output the plant can produce a revenue of $70/d or $25,550/year. No way it adds up on capital of $14.5M.
No matter how you look at it, it can never repay its capital let alone meet any operating costs and yet it has been built and is touted as the future.
AGL and FFI have little concern for the cost as they will garner whatever government support they need to make a profit. They are the modern heroes saving our little planet.
I expect AGL and FFI will be looking at the funding model for poles and wires where capital spent has a guaranteed returned. These are listed companies that are incentivised to spend capital to get a guaranteed return. Getting into green hydrogen now is HIGHLY fashionable. AGLs advertisement should make people squirm but they do not have any facts to realise how they are being duped. I give it a decade before the connection is made. Very few people realise they are still subsidising wind and solar directly and how it has added to system costs.
141
Its all starting to sound a bit Idiocracy with everyone saying “we got Hydrogen” while its not working commercially , at scale, anywhere. I think we may be on that upward slope of inflated expectations.
50
“We’s got hydrogen here but we haven’t got it to there yet”
20
Given th e”interesting” problems involved in storing and transporting Hydrogen, I’m not surprised they “haven’t got t there, yet”.
Hydrogen leaks will lead to catastrophic incidents, but not like the “Hindenburg”; just “different”.
Furthermore, as a source of “propulsive energy” it’s is a joke, unless you are driving a serious booster rocket using LIQUID Hydrogen and LIQUID Oxygen, NASA style. You will need more than you fluffy woolly gloves to play with that stuff.. Check out flame-front velocities and expansion ratios. The entire “Hydrogen’ fuel” caper is a colossal fraud, with the scammers trying to rake off massive amounts of taxpayers money; the “spillage”.
The old hippie sewage-fueled “methane generator” will provide a marginally better output, with interesting and useful by-products.
I just got off the phone with some cold-calling bozo trying to persuade me to let them to do a bill comparison on my energy costs. No way, Jose!
The sociopaths have let slip the Hyenas of war, apparently.
Robbery, extortion and outright parasitism feature bigly in our futures. Oh, Gooddy!!
60
So how ignorant and stupid are our pollies and why do they refuse to THINK?
Here AGAIN is the WIKI graph of all the world’s countries co2 emissions since 1970 or 1990 and just proves that there’s nothing the OECD countries can change about co2 levels by 2030 or 2050 at all.
We now have 50 years of reliable DATA and yet they still refuse to understand the REAL world and would rather BELIEVE their religious fantasies?
And if we believe our clueless pollies the wealthy OECD countries are prepared to waste endless trillions of $ on this fra-dulent con trick for decades.
China, Russia, Nth Korea etc will be pleased and happily watch as we force our countries to descend into poverty and destruction in a very short time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions#/media/File:World_fossil_carbon_dioxide_emissions_six_top_countries_and_confederations.png
151
Well , there is thinking but you have to think about the right things, come to rational conclusions and then have the intelligence and application to see the solution through.
Does that sound like modern politics?
41
This is a subject that could get endlessly complicated with historical and technical perspectives. I think it can be simplified and put more succinctly – Expensive energy is really BAD.
161
It has something to do with the Ukraine war.
https://www.reuters.com/article/australia-gas-weston-idCAKCN2NA06I
23
“All the mainland states on the NEM are all still struggling with incredibly high $200+ per megawatt hour prices.”
The average price over the last 30 days is $379.60 per MWhr.
https://opennem.org.au/energy/nem/?range=30d&interval=1d
91
In that graph, look at the cost of distillate (diesel) generation, over $2304 per MWh or $2.30 per kwh.
Once Labor destroys the coal, gas and maybe even the hydro plants (like they are doing in Commiefornia), if people are to have any electricity at all, it will be up to diesel to do the job, either small home generators or large numbers of MW monsters based on 747 engines that produce around 60MW.
71
The $2304/MWh is not the cost of the diesel generation. It is the price they got when they were scheduled. All scheduled generators got the same price as the diesels when the diesels were scheduled.
An efficient diesel will produce 4kWh per litre so the fuel cost corresponds to about 50c/kWh at retail price. O&M costs will add about 10% . Capital can be significant with low utilisation so they offer energy at high price when they can to ensure a good return on capital.
81
” the fuel cost corresponds to about 50c/kWh at retail price. ”
Ah, but if you’re a farmer…. or even have a good mate who is a farmer…
Sadly petrol & diesel will go up in lockstep, I’m sure!
31
Jo, the average price over the last 30 days is far above $200- it’s $379.60 according to NEM.
80
Had to happen and it is great that it will happen under Labor. They will blame the Coalition but the bills will be while Labor is in office and shutting down coal stations. Even the dumbest of dumb bunnies will make the connection between big bills and Labor. Now is the chance for the Nationals to promote nuclear and coal. I’ve given up on the Liberals having anything sensible to say.
221
Unless the Libs change direction now, it would be worth the Nats do the following experiment. The Nats split off from the Libs and formed a coalition with as many of the minor parties as possible that all want to restore coal fired power as our number one power source. Although I have no problem with nuclear I don’t believe we need it. Net zero emissions is a hoax and a scam and as such must be disbanded completely. That makes the nuclear option unnecessary. If the people won’t support such a new party coalition then that means the people haven’t woken up as yet and haven’t learned the hard lesson. So, the pain must continue to increase under the ALP+Greens (the Libs will never win office again without the Nats) until enough people have woken up, and when that happens the new coalition will win office hands down flushing away the Libs, the ALP and Greens forever, allowing new second party to form our of the ashes of the old ones. Yes, I know – too hopeful but IMHO it’s well worth a try and possibly the only option for Australia to survive. If nothing changes with the LNP and the Nats stay as a partner (in crime) then we are most definitely heading for a catastrophic economic and social disaster regardless of which major party is in office.
91
The Biden Administration Deliberately Destroyed Our Capacity to Produce Energy
So those who voted for the teal parties, ALP and Greens are responsible for the destruction of our ability to produce low cost and reliable power. Even if the LNP still held office, very little would have changed. One would have to start wondering if by the time we have the next federal election, people will wake up enough to stop voting for such parties and start voting for minor parties that actually do know that climate change people are terrorists in masks.
61
Civil unrest is coming.
121
According to Martin Armstrong:
Population & Social Security – Civil Unrest
71
Not until the lights go out, and they will when the renewables go full throttle.
50
A target of -43% CO2 by 2030 cannot be achieved by reductions from the power generators alone !since they only responsible for <30% of the emissions.
Some significant impacts would also have to be targeted on Industry & Agriculture ( Fertiliser , Cement, Steel, etc ?), and the Transport sector (petrol & Diesel users)
But, the only alternative for transport is Electricity, !
So then, even more “Green” electricity would be needed before 2030 ( 10x current RE capacity ?) , together with some miraculous technology changes/revolutions in industry , agriculture and transport…
This will be interesting !!
111
as my old boss used to say “never confuse the budget and the 3 year plan with what is actually going to happen” with Albo shooting, the safest place is probably the target.
61
kill the economy and there wont be a need for cement and steel, or fuel to transport it. Blame Russia, the former Morrison government, and climate change.
Decreases in agricultural productivity can be blamed on Russia for a while, then back to climate change.
So may potential excuses that the Australian media, and the majority of Australian people will never question…
71
USA fuel prices going through the roof are being blamed on the “evil” oil companies, much like high electricity prices in Australia were blamed on “gold plating the grid” and greedy electricity companies.
41
Our grid doesn’t look so gold plated these days. More like a patchwork of bandaids.
50
And right on cue – BBC headline
“Australia Becoming Unlivable–BBC”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/24/australia-becoming-unlivable-bbc/
Logic more in keeping with #12.1.1 though
60
You know the one single application of solar that works but only because their is no grid power?
A solar powered light.
They can be used in mud huts in Africa so that children can do homework for a couple of hours at night and others can see in the hut. It can also be used as a bicycle light.
I guess if we don’t fight back soon, the Elites will have us all living in mud huts.
https://www.eco-business.com/news/solar-lamps-light-up-more-african-nights/
101
A lot of school zone flashing signs are solar powered.
But of course, they only have to operate for a couple of hours in the morning and in the afternoon
50
Only as long as the rechargeable battery lasts…1-3 years…. before an unafordable replacement is needed.
Most African communities that have been given Solar systems, ditch them as soon as a local (fossil powered) 24 hr grid is available……which normally does occurr.
80
My solar powered gate keeps chugging along. Its been 8 years now. Has some little Panasonic sealed lead acids. If I get to 10 years I think I will just replace them any way.
40
Just think, if we were sane, we could have a nice combined system of renewables and reliables.
But, no.
Puritans.
Net Zero … yep.
They are so un-self aware they don’t even realize how revealing the ‘goal’ is.
They meme themselves at this point.
61
Solar does all right pumping stock water too – easy to have a reasonable “pumped storage” there
50
“Solar does all right pumping stock water too – easy to have a reasonable “pumped storage” there”
That is such a sweeping statement, it is not worth consideration
02
Maybe you’ll educate us on stock watering systems then?
60
It’s not my role to do that; you made the statement, you justify it. I did it for nearly 20 years, so have some experience, but of course that relates to my circumstance. For periods at certain times of the year, I was up early taking out batteries that had been charging overnight to work the pump before the sun became effective enough, to get the panels working nearing mid morning, then the same occurred after about 4.30 in the afternoon.
So, are you pumping or drawing, over what distances, how many watering points how many storage points, what sort of storage points, how many head of stock, how will extended cloudy periods be managed, they can occur during the hot summer, and so it goes. Wonder if you have ever seem dozens of sheep smother before you as they rush for water, and when you can’t stop them. I’ll accept an apology from whoever it was that gave you the green thumb.
Sure, solar can be an aid, but it has it’s limitations, drawing or pushing water requires a big energy input
41
One son manages Top End stations.
The last one is converting to solar due to diesel theft
30
Some more on that
Solar is now up to 3 phase.
They are using solar for pipelines. You have to adjust to having solar availability v/s 24 hours for diesel or electric.
00
Old farm saying…
“Make hay whilst the sun shines “ !
00
How does the cost compare to a windmill?
I assume it uses a small submersible pump down the bore.
20
Have you priced the leather windmill buckets recently?
20
We went away from leather pump buckets donkey’s ages ago. Our biggest problem was corrosion in the pipes.
It turns out that there was a much higher volume deeper aquifer with much lower salinity which allowed us to replace the problematic bores and use a submersible pump. Putting the bore down and adding a new pole and transformer wasn’t cheap, but solar powered pumps weren’t an option in the mid 1980s.
20
I can’t remember exactly how it was done now, but back in the 80’s when I was managing in the Riverina, we got tired of the laborious job of pulling mills for whatever reason. Switched over to using a polypipe setup. Can’t be sure, but think that there might have been a valve system at the bottom, so as to let the water enter the pipe. Can’t have been the conventional pump rods either, because to pull it, depending on depth and thus weight, it could be an over the shoulder job or otherwise hooked up to a ute. It was important not to have the pipe kink so it had to be pulled over a raised, curved surface. No doubt there is info out there about the system. More recently I have tried with pumping air down and raising the water that way. But whatever, when there are a lot of dependent stock, the system has to work and be reliable.
10
Yeah, pulling the pipes up is a hassle. It wasn’t too bad in the paddocks with fresher water, where they only needed to come up every 5 or 6 years. The bores we replaced had a salt content borderline for cattle, and seemed to form galvanic rust holes at the pump body every year or two. No matter what we tried, we just couldn’t stop that.
I’ve been in the big smoke for years, so probably should have called myself “ex Cocky” rather than “Old Cocky”, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Anyway, discussing bores and mills brings back lots of memories.
00
The Top End has a problem getting anyone to do windmill maintenance so our son doesn’t have comparison of costs.
A while ago we had an estimate for a bore (pumping from about 350 feet) of around $8500 for solar.
A local bloke about the same time had a quote for the head of a mill on a somewhat similar bore of about $5000.
00
350 feet is bloody deep. Our standing water level was about 80, so we ran the pipes down to about 100.
The deeper aquifer was around 400, but still had a standing water level around 80.
Replacing the head on a mill is a big job, so not surprised at the cost.
00
That is the pump depth and pretty common around here. The bore is 520 feet- I know because we blew it with a big air compressor and blue stripe poly to check for a problem. That was an education in itself.
It only does about 400 gallons/hour so solar will work.
It was equipped with a pumphead and used 4inch belled casing which now seems to be made from “unobtanium”. Just as well as about 25 years ago replacing a casing string that long was more expensive than replacing with a submersible, all the fittings and the gen set.
And it has the only Kelly and Lewis diesel I’ve ever seen – started use 1955 and still going strong.
00
400 gallons per hour is pretty good for a stock bore.
I knew Kelly and Lewis made pumps, but didn’t know they made motors as well.
The solar setup seems an interesting bit of gear. As James said, more info please.
00
Check Grundfos and Lorentz which are the names mentioned
00
Ran into the maximum depth again…
Thanks for the info. Grundfos made quality submersibles, etc, way back when. It’s good to see that they’re still going strong.
00
What system is this? I would like a back up solar power bore pump for my bore for home water.
00
This sounds like the rising inventory cost has bled their bank.
I try to warn of this when consumers cry that retailers have no “right” to sell existing inventory at the new price. This shows why they must.
91
Victoria raises standing offer power prices 5pc
The first signs of the price surge feeding through to household power bills came on Tuesday as the Victorian regulator announced a 5 per cent average increase in standing offer power bills from July 1.
Increased standing offer prices are expected to be announced for other states by the Australian Energy Regulator on Thursday, reflecting the leap higher in wholesale costs in recent months.
Wholesale gas prices have doubled this month, coming on top of electricity forward prices that have risen up to five-fold in 12 months. The price surges have triggered fears of an energy price crisis similar to Europe’s and led to warnings that the new Labor government will fall short of targeted price reductions.
The AER decision was delayed in late March by then federal energy minister Angus Taylor until after the election, in which the cost of living and future energy prices became a heated topic of debate.
The escalation in gas prices on the east coast in May builds on April’s 46 per cent jump and is forcing manufacturers that rely on wholesale tariffs to the brink of closure, as well as squeezing retailers caught in between.
Prices for wholesale power in the 2022-23 financial year have surged almost five-fold in NSW over the past 12 months, and more than trebled in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, according to energy adviser Energy Edge.
NSW gas wholesaler and retailer Weston Energy became the latest casualty of the crisis on Monday, losing its licence from the Australian Energy Regulator to retail gas, citing an “unprecedented” price spike that trebled its working capital requirement. More than 1000 industrial sites across the east coast that were supplied by Weston were affected and had to be switched to a “retailer of last resort”.
Last week, a small Queensland electricity retailer, LPE, made an exit from the retail market after succumbing to similar circumstances in power.
Energy bills headed higher
The news this week on increases in the default market offer for power prices is set to drive energy bills higher, despite forecasts of reductions from the Coalition and Labor during the election campaign.
Victoria’s regulator announced on Tuesday that power bills for households and small businesses would rise by 5 per cent on average from July 1, primarily because of higher wholesale electricity prices. The increases vary from about 1 per cent to as much as 9 per cent in some areas because of varying increases in network tariffs between distributors.
But analysts say the price increases allowed from July 1 will not encapsulate the full extent of the surge in wholesale prices.
40
The Victorian Default Offer is the maximum electricity price allowed to be charged to retail customers by the myriad of electricity marketers (about 30).
The current VDO for metro Melbourne is $1.063/day and 22.4 cents/kWh.
Origin and AGL websites indicate 14% discount is available.
Interestingly, Tango website offers 16% discount, but if you want 100% renewable electricity, the offer is 12% above the VDO!!
Of course all Teal voters will be happy to pay the 28% higher price 🙂
The rates announced for July 1 are $1.075/day and 23.3 cents/kWh, an increase of about 5%.
However it will be interesting to see what happens to the rebates on offer.
You can enter your usage details at the compare.energy.vic.gov.au – based on the data I entered, the best price on offer is $1,050/year, and the highest price $1,490/year.
The Victorian Government obviously expects a significant escalation in electricity prices, because on their website is a new $250 Power Saving Bonus program for all Victorian households that can be applied for from July 1.
30
There is possibly one smart person advising the Victoriastan Government who seems to be aware of imminent grid collapse.
Hence Comrade Andrews is giving away lots of “free stuff”* to effectively shed load. E.g. he is offering to replace resistive hot water heaters with heat pump type ones and also contributing $1000 toward replacing various forms of heating with reverse cycle style air conditioning.
*Of course, a vast majority of the Sheeple are too stupid to realise they are the ones paying for the “free stuff”.
70
OT,
Arctic sea ice extent for day of year, is now above every year back to 2002, except 2003 and 2009.
72
. Its also above 1995.
51
Its patchy.
‘Reductions in sea ice extent during April occurred primarily in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. Other regions had small losses at most. The southern Barents Sea lost some ice, but the channel of open water north of Novaya Zemlya that persisted for much of the winter closed during April.’ (NSIDC)
10
Perhaps when conventional energy suppliers all go bust and everyone HAS to use solar & wind and that fails totally to work, they’ll wake up to the lie & joke it always was.
People just have to learn the hard way for some reason.
80
By that stage, most of the nation’s petrol stations will have converted to EV charging points. Refineries will have reduced their throughput and government vehicle fleets will be exclusively EV. Good luck trying to restore fossil fuels. The cost will be enormous going into mostly renewable electricity and even more enormous trying to back out of it.
21
“more enormous trying to back out of it.”
Back out? We never had renewable electricity!
You can’t back out of something you were never in.
41
with the current technology set there is effectively zero chance of getting significant “RE” penetration before catastrophe. SA, Germany, California demonstrate the principle. Backing out is costly but not insurmountable from where they can actually get to.
30
where are these refineries? Pretty much all Australian fuel now comes from Singapore…
00
You know how sometimes, when outlining a project, you are asked to describe what success looks like? Well in the case of climate change, it looks like this:
“Perhaps when conventional energy suppliers all go bust and everyone HAS to use solar & wind and that fails totally to work, they’ll wake up to the lie & joke it always was.”
61
What’s our crying shame, that despite our wonderful natural energy resources of coal, natural gas and uranium we’d rather flog them off cheaply to other countries than use them ourselves to provide ample supplies of electrical and gas energy for our industries and homes. The gas supply problem of Western Energy is suspicious in light of the fact that Australia is the worlds largest exporter of LNG and, according to an ABC article, has offered to help out the Ukraine with LNG.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-27/why-australia-is-offering-natural-gas-to-europe-ukraine-tensions/100784520
50
Lol!! Why?? Ukraine is still piping Russian gas to Europe across its own land! One very notable part of the conflict is how those gas pipelines have been left untouched by both sides.
Of course the problem is Ukraine has to pay for the gas they use, and they are not only broke, they are heading into South American levels of debt to the USA for arms. If we shipped them gas they’d never be able to pay for it, might as well ship it to Somalia..
Big Zee would like us to ship him money so they can buy gas.. after everyone in the Govt has stuck their hands in the pot!
21
Not just in Oz.
Cost-of-living crisis: Price cap will soar to £2,800 in October, warns Ofgem boss as households face ‘deep crisis’
The head of Ofgem has said the energy price cap is expected to increase by a further £830 to £2,800 in October
The head of Ofgem has said the energy price cap is expected to increase by a further £830 to £2,800 in October
The SNP reiterated calls for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to launch an emergency budget, with MP Alan Brown – a member of the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee – describing the £2,800 warning as a “devastating hammer blow to families”.
“As Ofgem has made clear, unless the UK Government urgently acts 12 million households could end up in fuel poverty,” he said. “This is a national emergency and it’s shameful that the UK Government has failed to step up.”
Adam Scorer, chief executive of National Energy Action, said: “Ofgem’s warning that the price cap will rise again by over £800 in October will strike terror into the hearts of millions of people already unable to heat and power their homes.
“It will plunge households into deep, deep crisis. The financial, social and health impacts are unthinkable.
https://www.scotsman.com/business/consumer/cost-of-living-crisis-price-cap-will-soar-to-ps2800-in-october-warns-ofgem-boss-as-households-face-deep-crisis-3707492
An orchestrated global event to force people into renewables?
50
So, in the long run, Putin is winning the war.
40
Here is another attempt at a hiccup in that
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/05/24/u-s-poised-to-force-russian-debt-default/
20
Another slimy trick by the Yanks to make life difficult for Russians. Russia has the money and is willing to pay, but America shuts the bank’s doors and locks them. That’s after stealing half of Russia’s $600billion in foreign reserves..
01
Dont follow. How does any of that force people into renewables?
10
The plan is to make it prohibitively expensive in comparison…
00
How would it do that ?
If you cannot afford to pay your utility bill, you sure wont be able to afford to install solar etc instead !
Many will revert to wood burners for heat,..
… and likely look to illegally bypass their meters for lighting etc.
..or stolen generators running in garden sheds !
When folk get cold and hungry, they will do desperate things.
A real step forward for a civilised society .!
End the madness,..call out the green liars !
91
Interestingly, Latvia might drop the requirement to blend biofuel with petrol and diesel…because of the cost…
https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/transport/latvia-could-suspend-mandatory-biofuel-blend-to-slow-inflation.a455038/
also in the same country, wood chips are the cheapest fuel for heating…
https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/economy/woodchips-still-cheapest-among-heating-resources-in-latvia.a443491/
21
Jo asks “Will any of the Labor Party, Professors and Energy Experts even think of boosting gas production and exploration, and vaporizing the red tape?” Then answers it “Probably not”
Replace Labor with Liberal and the answer remains the same-and therein lies the problem why this lifelong Liberal/Nat voter relegated them to just above the ALP and Greens and voted for everyone else. The Nats got my preference in the end but they didnt get my $2.91-and that is how you change the behaviour of the weak assed LNP-take their cash flow off them.
121
Before anyone can progress more Gas/Coal generators, they will need to neutralise the whole CO2/Climate change movement.
No one seems prepared to do that !
It would appear humans have learned nothing from past civilisations, and are intent on going into self destruct mode again !
Energy is what built our current society and civilisation, ..break the energy system,..break
the civilisation !
61
It is a global problem. Sit down with a friend or neighbour and mention Climate Change and their eyes glaze over. No-one wants to hear or understand. It is a lost cause. I am a nonagenarian hoping to live until 2030, just so that I can say, “I told you so, but you wouldn’t listen”.
100
Sometimes it works to start with the money. Ask who is profiting. Gets them thinking.
101
After thinking for some seconds they answer, “The ones who are resisting change”.
413
Keep going Gee Aye. Who profits from “climate change”? Whose income is 100% dependent on a government fantasy decree about changing the weather and who makes money because 100% of citizens voluntarily buy what they are selling.
You aren’t there…
111
That’s two false absolutes there. Richard might need to argue with smart people so maybe use arguments that assume they are smart and they will start to respect and listen.
414
Anyone that actually “believes” in the AGW meme… IS NOT SMART !!
Particularly those shills who know that they can’t produce one iota of scientific evidence to back up AGW scam..
Those people are just very dumb and brain-washed.
52
Tell me Gee have your eyes glazed over when that subject comes up? Since you’ve proffered zilch in the way of positive argument here you would be a contender for walleye of the year.
31
‘ … maybe use arguments that assume they are smart and they will start to respect and listen.’
Women won’t listen or talk on the subject under any circumstances and millennials are a lost cause. You’re a bright fella, why have tropical cyclones in Australia waters been decreasing since 1982?
32
el g,
you just made me realize climate is a form of Zen.
Questions for which there are no answers.
Since I became interested, almost all my questions have gone unanswered.
Like … “how much warmer is it than it should be?”
Or “what’s the ‘natural’ amount of hurricanes?”
I’ve been feeling beaucoup Zen lately.
50
Its a little more complex than the sound of one hand clapping.
Professor Leaf needs to trick his mind out of conscious thought and delve into intuitive awareness.
10
““The ones who are resisting change”.”
Rubbish.
If you could put forward a scientific reason and rational economic and scientific pathway for change, people would accept it.
So far the AGW meme is totally devoid of either.
There is absolutely no rational scientific reason for this anti-CO2 change
There is absolutely no reasonable economic and non-destructive way such a change could be made, anyway.
52
Energy security outweighing carbon for customers: Woodside CEO
Customer demand for energy to be low carbon “goes out the window” if it is not reliable and affordable, Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill has told an international audience of LNG executives.
She told the World Gas Conference in South Korea that after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, customers are “doubling down, saying let’s start with security and reliability – because we need energy to keep our lights on, to keep our homes warm, to keep our businesses running”.
Demand that energy must also be low carbon had temporarily taken a back seat for some customers, she said.
That was supported by Hee-Bong Chae, president and CEO of major Woodside LNG customer Korea Gas Corporation, who said that while the transition to low-carbon energy needed to accelerate in the long term, security of energy supply was the immediate priority.
“Right now it is time to decide between energy security and energy transition,” he said.
Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher pointed to a significant change in the dialogue around emissions reduction at the post-COP26 ministerial meeting in March amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the surge in crude oil prices, with the issue of energy security much more in evidence.
“Of course energy security was on the agenda, and it hadn’t been on the agenda at COP26 at all: I can’t remember anyone mentioning energy security,” Mr Gallagher said on a separate panel at the conference in Daegu.
He said that at government levels around the world there was a recognition of the complexity of the energy transition and the need to balance that with the need to provide reliable, secure and affordable energy.
New LNG projects
Woodside and Santos are both fighting hostile opposition from pressure groups, the public and some shareholders over their plans to invest billions of dollars in new LNG projects, including Woodside’s $16.5 billion Scarborough project in Western Australia and Santos’ $5 billion Barossa gas project off the northern coast that will supply replacement gas for Darwin LNG.
The climate pressures on the projects look set to grow under the new Labor government, as the Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate. But the projects are well supported by LNG customers, with Ms O’Neill saying recently that Woodside is fielding strong interest from potential buyers for LNG from Scarborough that it still has available.
She said gas was “playing in the sweet spot” in being able to be supplied reliably, at the same time as contributing to emissions reduction when it displaced coal in power generation.
“If you look at what a customer wants, the customer wants energy that is reliable, affordable and lower carbon, but if it’s not reliable and affordable lower carbon goes out the window.”
Octavio Simoes, CEO of US LNG player Tellurian, called for a pragmatic approach to the transition because of the lack of low-carbon alternatives to gas that can do the same job.
“Transition can be a dangerous word,” he said. “If we decide to transition to something that doesn’t exist today you will severely impact your energy security, because without energy there is no security.”
101
This gives me some comfort. A couple of months ago I dumped all my Origin shares and reinvested in Santos and Woodside. Mostly because Origin had announced plans to dump all coal fired electricity generation. I voted with my feet.
80
You bought Santos when they were already at the top … do you really think they will go up any more? The interest rate rises have put the wind up a lot of people lately.
Anyone who grabbed Santos back in December is doing OK.
41
I buy shares for a long term investment. Since purchase my Santos shares they have increased by about 4% in value. That’s after about 2 months. Yes, wished I’d bought them back in December 21!!!!
30
Before the election, not one politician was prepared to talk about Australia’s unstable power grid. When there is too much electricity demand, commercial and industrial users are going to stop production and get paid for power they DON’T use.
It’s called a demand reduction scheme, kiss productivity and a pay rise goodbye, it will turn the Australian economy into a 3rd world basket case.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-12/power-saving-scheme-fast-tracked-for-summer-rollout/12047040
Electricity companies now have the green light to charge rooftop solar owners for exporting power to grid. And pigs will fly before solar farms owned by large corporations get charged to export power.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-12/power-companies-to-charge-solar-owners-for-exporting-to-grid/100368588
With uncontrolled growth of solar installations, like trying to reach a 43% emission reduction by 2030; The energy operator wants to remotely switch off rooftop solar systems to stabilise the grid.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-30/grid-operator-looks-to-manage-solar-power-output-in-sa/12202004
Meanwhile 300 years of coal power at $30 Mw sits in the ground and the Chinese laugh all the way to the bank.
71
Charging home solar owners to export their power to the grid? That’s crazy! Why not simply disable all export?
30
The maximum amount of rooftop solar power you can export varies across Victoria depending on which power company network your connected to. Usually its between 5Kw and 9Kw’s maximum feed into the grid. First ask your installer what the export limit will be set to inside your new inverter, before you go ahead with solar.
When your application to install solar is sent to your power company (that supplies and maintains all the street wiring) they can limit your feed into the grid to as low as zero kilowatts. The solar installer MUST set the inverter to their determined export limit.
Solar power export reduction occurs in many areas already that are heavily installed with rooftop solar.
The rush to meet the 43% emissions target will make this a whole lot worse. Too much rooftop solar in many areas causes high line voltages. It makes the grid supply voltage unstable.
Our new Labor government plan to spend up to 30 billion dollars to fix the national power grid. It was never built to have solar fed into it.
Giving the power companies free power is one thing, having to pay for giving them free power will be a whole new level of renewable discomfort and pain. If you are considering installing solar, your export limit could immediately be set to zero or within the months ahead ALL rooftop solar owners could be paying to have their “free power” exported. If this plan goes ahead, it wont save the planet, or your wallet.
Imagine if tens of thousands of rooftop solar owners protested and set their export power to zero to avoid these new proposed power export charges?
Thanks to Lefty Liberals, Labor, Greens, Teals, there will be National power grid chaos in the near future.
10
meh Liberals had one too.
01
Australia Becoming Unlivable–BBC
From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
This may come as news to the Aussies!
then
Perhaps somebody should have told their 19th ancestors!
THE CLIMATE OF AUSTRALIA.
A correspondent of the Grafton Observer Tue 13 Oct 1868 writes to that journal as follows:—
” From observations made by those who have had the best opportunities of forming a correct opinion, there is little doubt that Australia is subject to long periods during which dry seasons prevail, and again, intervals of some years, in which there is a preva-
lence of floods; and it may prove of interest to some of your readers to have before them a record of the observations made since the colony was first established, which bear upon this subject.
” I therefore append at foot, an account of all the recorded floods and droughts which have taken place since the colony was mind that these observations are of necessity confined to those districts which were settled at the various periods, and will not, until lately, refer to any part north of the Hunter or Port Macquarie.
” This table was for the most part prepared by Dr.Jevons, and I extracted it from a document in the Sydney Observatory.
“The theory of alternate long period or prevailing wet or dry seasons may be confirmed in the mind of any one who will observe the numerous small swamps in which there is a growth of gum trees, which must have required a period of at least fifteen years, during
which there was no standing water on the ground, and after they had attained their present growth, a succession of hot seasons has left sufficient water on the ground to kill them. “It is, of course, impossible to predict that any particular year will be wet or dry, but we may reasonably conclude that there is every probability of a greater number of dry seasons than floods during the next fifteen or twenty years, and those whose interests are likely to be affected either way, will, in my opinion, be acting prudently, by taking precautions rather against droughts than floods.
” I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
” THOMAS CARTER.
“Grafton, October 3rd.
DRY period.
1789 . Drought
1791 . Drought
1797 . Drought
WET PERIOD.
1799 . Flood
1800 . Flood
1801 . Flood
1805 . Flood
1806 . Flood
1808 . Flood
1809 . Flood
1810 . Flood
1811 . Do, slight drought
1812 . Flood
1814 . Severe drought
1815 . Severe drought
1816. Flood
1817 . Flood
1818 . Slight drought
1819 . Flood
1820 . Flood
1821 . Flood
DRY PERIOD.
1823 . Slight drought
1824. Slight drought
1826 . Flood
1827. Do., severe drought
1828 . Severe drought
1829 . Severe drought
1830 . Flood
1831 . Flood
1832 . Flood
1835 . Slight drought
1836. Slight drought
1837. Extreme drought
1838 . Extreme drought
1839 . Extreme drought
1840 . Flood
1841 . Slight drought
WET PERIOD.
1842 . Flood
1843 .. Flood
1844 . Flood
1845 . Drought
1846. Flood
1847. Flood
1848. Flood
1849 .Drought
1850 .Flood—drought
1851. Flood
1852. Flood
1853 . Flood
1856. Flood
1857. Do., slight drought
1859 . Flood
1861 . Flood
1862 . Flood
1863 . Flood
1864 . Flood
81
Oops missed out
” I therefore append at foot, an account of all the recorded floods and droughts which have taken place since the colony was established. It must be borne in mind that these observations are of necessity confined to those districts which were settled at the various periods, and will not, until lately, refer to any part north of the Hunter or Port Macquarie.
81
I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror- the wide brown land for me!
100
I love the way the Poms talk about Australia with sweeping generalisations as though its the size on an English county.
70
The great Hawkesbury-Nepean Flood of 1867:
“If a flood similar to the 1867 flood occurred today, around 90,000 people would need to be evacuated, an estimated 12,000 homes would be impacted and the damage bill would be approximately $5 billion”.
60
The Waragamba operators have made it clear on many occasions that they have no responsibility for flood mitigation.
Not saying this is what they should do … but no one can claim they were not told.
70
Peak fossil fuel in 2023?
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/global-energy-perspective-2022
BP’s 2022 Energy Outlook makes good reading too.
As per mckinsey’s report, all sources declining and renewables increasing markedly.
https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/energy-outlook/bp-energy-outlook-2022.pdf
2023 – “Peak everything” but renewables…
30
Yep, if you shut exploration and exploitation down, you can have your peak anywhere you care to manufacture it.
21
[…] JoNova; Surging wholesale gas prices have claimed a major scalp, catapulting our new climate activist […]
11
Some words from Katie Hopkins
“Are these electric car freaks INSANE?”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jEhzQshpUWk
30
[…] JoNova; Surging wholesale gas prices have claimed a major scalp, catapulting our new climate activist […]
01
[…] / t JoNova; Soaring wholesale gas prices have plunged the federal government into our new climate into its […]
00
I live in the US. Australia is a complete enigma to me. My impression of it from media, including a couple of good movies such as “The Gods Must Be Crazy,” is it was like the Old West here in the US. Robust people who had a “get it done” attitude. My first doubts about my impression occurred when I read about the gun confiscation. Australian citizens now live at the whim of an ever-irrational government. They will have no defense as they are headed into tight living quarters in squalid cities when the climate crazies decide suburban life “hurts the planet.” This last election put the icing on the cake. What are Australians thinking to elect such idiots? Can anyone explain what happened?
[What were Americans thinking when they supposedly elected Biden, and, a few others, Schiff, Schumer, Pelosi, Reid, AOC, Maxine Waters, etc? Can anyone explain that?- LVA]
00
Jim, think of us as an odd mix of half-Brit-half-US in culture (because we were raised on that mix on TV). Then put us on a somewhat tropical island, with 200 years of almost entirely peaceful bliss, with floods and fires and droughts and snakes, but no War of Independence, and no Civil War. (We fought in WWI and II, but almost never on our own land.) The Queen is still our Head of State mainly because we can’t be bothered working out an alternative and the system’s been pretty good. “Can’t complain” is the nation motto. Let me have my own beach because I can. Call us the Lucky Country because we are. But too much luck breeds complacency. The anti-gun, anti-frack, anti-nuclear political movements descended on Australia in a fully mature state with well practiced techniques and found little resistance.
There’s no gun debate here — I grew up thinking Americans had guns to stop burglars, but we didn’t need them. That’s how innocent we are as a nation.
Australians think they have Private Education but don’t realize it’s two different shades of Public, with one curriculum for all, and all schools getting some form of major govt funding and all teachers being “Govt approved”. Then add in that the largest media group here is the Govt funded ABC. Australians just don’t realize the socialist creep has consumed the entities that actually were probably pretty good 50 years ago. Australians think we have media diversity. There is no FOX here, only the good but small SkyNews, tiny in comparison.
Then add in 40 years of immigration from SE Asia, middle East and Africa to the point where we have the highest per capita growth in immigration in the Western World but 99% of Australians don’t even know that.
Don’t write us off, we are best friends of the US, and UK, and we know that alliance is the main thing stopping China from rolling right in.
And remember Australian may be daft for voting for a weak incompetent government but at least we know we can vote them out in less than 3 years. The last US election terrifies me.
And don’t be so astonished that we’ve just elected a government pretty similar to NZ and Canada. US/UK/Hollywood culture radiating out in the last 20 years hasn’t exactly been the beacon of leadership on free speech, tradition and the wonders of the free market. I’m not blaming the US at all, I’m just saying the whole Anglosphere needs some reminding of the things that matter. We all kind of forgot. Wokism is everywhere, but in the wake of Covid I am appreciating that the UK and US systems of government and constitution have a depth and maturity we don’t see in the Canada/NZ and Aus.
30
I’m not singling out Australia. The US has a serious case of leftitis that could be terminal and that’s certainly true for Europe as well. It’s just that the events in Australia set off a bout of cognitive dissonance, that’s all.
20
Jim, “The Gods Must Be Crazy” is set in sub-Saharan Africa, but thank you for the initial compliment.
10
Sorry, my mistake.
10
jim2
Correction – “The Gods must be crazy” is set in South Africa
10
jim2
Have a look at this
“Alexandra Marshall joins Mark Steyn to discuss the Australian election – YouTube”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeSQa5EqE18
00
More on that
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_Must_Be_Crazy
00
“What were Americans thinking when they supposedly elected Biden, and, a few others, Schiff, Schumer, Pelosi, Reid, AOC, Maxine Waters, etc? Can anyone explain that?- LVA”
I certainly can’t explain it. That, too, is an enigma to me!
00
The “Gods must be crazy” was a movie about South Africa or Namibia, not Australia. Wrong continent.
00
“Oh, Transition Eh?”
“I hope you enjoy what’s happening because no matter the promises made by politicians thermodynamics is not a set of suggestions and, during the 2020 campaign, you were told precisely what Biden’s administration was going to do if elected and they have now done exactly that.
In short Biden promised to wildly raise the cost of fuels of all types and, because fuels of all types are in fact behind every single thing produced, made, sold and consumed by you — whether you like it or not — he also promised to crash the stock market and saddle you with raging inflation.
For once a politician in fact kept his promise.”
More at
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=245961
10
Driving law changes: All home EV chargepoints will need smart chargers from next month
MASSIVE law changes are coming into effect at the end of June which will require all home and workplace electric car chargers to have smart charging capabilities.
The Government regulations come into effect on June 30, and are intended to help manage the strain on the National Grid with thousands of electric cars charging at once. These set out minimum standards for all home and workplace chargepoints sold in England, Scotland and Wales from that date, whereas previous rules had only applied to units funded by OZEV grant schemes.
So whenever there’s “strain on the National Grid” your charger will be remotely turned off. Which at very least means the evening and morning peaks. Thus instead of about 14 hours of charging after getting home from work you might get 8: from 10pm to 6am.
10
[…] h/t JoNova; Surging wholesale gas prices have claimed a major scalp, catapulting our new climate activist federal government into their first energy supply crisis. […]
00
At 11 pm South Australia, the wind-leading state was importing a third of its power from Victoria while gas provided 90% of local generation. Check the widget (it is a live display so it will change). The windmills in SA were delivering 3% of capacity.
Across the NEM wind provided 6% of demand at 16% of capacity (29% is the average). Coal 67% of demand, gas 12, hydro 15%.
–
10