JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Batteries don’t work for net zero.
Making PJM all wind and solar would cost over $2.4 trillion in battery backup
ByDavid Wojick
https://www.cfact.org/2025/07/12/making-pjm-all-wind-and-solar-would-cost-over-2-4-trillion-in-battery-backup/
The beginning: “I keep reading how big batteries are all it takes to make wind and solar reliable as the sole grid electricity source. The reality is that making wind and solar work at all requires a fantastic amount of battery backup, far more than is possible.
Below is an example using the PJM grid. PJM is America’s biggest grid operator, with a territory covering the Mid-Atlantic and points west. Their territory includes the Washington, DC metro area, where all the federal bigwigs live, making it a good place to start. I also live there.
We are quantifying a fantasy, so let’s keep it very simple. In fact, the basic question is why hasn’t PJM done this simple analysis? They do a lot of sophisticated grid modeling. Or maybe they have done this crucial assessment, but it is a secret, which is even worse.”
The analysis is in the article. Please share it.
David
292
And the thing about wind, solar and battery is that it’s all inverter based and that has its limitations.
170
What limitations?
210
Zero inertia for a start and bodgy harmonics for another.
171
They are expensive with a high failure rate. No. 1 son replaces them at local solar farms. Spinning armatures have been engineered for over 100 yrs and made in their millions. There are no “secrets”.
DC is a pain in the butt. Remember when BssLink blew up because of operator error?
90
Today’s bit of ruinable propaganda in the Sydney Morning Herald is all about batteries and how you need to buy the biggest one you can, and buy it now before the rush that is on exhausts the supply… Subsidised by Albosleazy so you can be sure the price is now 30% above what it should be!
Not paywalled of course, and definitely doesn’t mention the Govt draining your battery overnight to keep power on for those that don’t have one.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sick-of-power-bills-what-you-need-to-know-before-buying-a-home-battery-20250708-p5mdgh.html
150
There has been a lot of discussion about home batteries in The Australia’s at one stage. Currently only one in 40 home solars also has a battery. The general consensus was that even with extra govt subsidies, you would need to save an extra $1000/year to pay off the battery in its short lifetime, and that wasn’t going to happen.
190
I find it interesting that solar panels and batteries always involve a discussion about the return on investment (ROI), and I do not pretend to be immune from it. Marketing is amazing.
People spend similar amounts, or even more, on cars without worrying if there is a positive ROI.
I’ve never heard anyone (sane) asking an electrician what the ROI is on rewiring a house…
I imagine it’s a controversial stance, but I don’t think a continuous and reliable home power supply should need:
1. Discussions of ROI unless it is a personal choice to really go off-grid.
2. Extra very expensive hardware that I have to pay for myself (with taxpayers subsidising it), on top of the existing wiring and fittings.
00
ROI gets discussed with solar panels and/or batteries because they are a choice for nearly all households.
If you have a connection to the electricity grid then you would almost only ever consider solar panels etc if you thought they’d save you money. i.e. provide a ROI.
A few people might be willing to have them at any cost in the belief they’ll reduce their CO2 footprint.
ROI is or should be the primary consideration for most people.
Re-wiring a house sounds like renovation scenario. People do consider the investment in renovations verses the value of the property so as not to over capitalise.
Everyone knows that cars are a cost and not an ROI consideration. But some people will buy secondhand cars to reduce the depreciation cost over the period they’ll own the car. Or they’ll weigh up the cost of having a second car verses the occasional cost of using a taxi or availability and cost of public transport.
While not specifically ROI, cost benefit considerations are definitely in people’s thoughts.
20
I noticed in the article that you selected the PEAK demand, (need), as the default supply requirement.
Can you clarify, was that the PEAK demand during any hour of the day or was it the PEAK demand of any 24 hour period?
If the latter, then this seems unreasonably onerous. If the former, then your assumption is high but in light of the growing needs of AI and electrification, it could be very close to reality too.
20
I use the projected hourly peak for simplicity for the entire 24 hours, while pointing out that PJM et al can model a projected demand profile. The storage need might be 20% lower but that still leaves $2 trillion. Plus going to multi-day near peak events more than wipes out any possible cost reducing factors. $2.4 trillion is very low.
62
I’m not sure of their peak to trough numbers. In Oz, the peak demand, for say NSW, can easily be 12MW yet the daily average demand can be down below half of that. That is a 50% over burden that, (if using NSW data), would represent a clear angle of attack for anyone to question your methods. Is the PJM peak to average a closer ratio, ie closer to the 20% you mention?
And yes, a multi day lull in wind and solar would swamp ANY calculation that only works on a single data day. It would have been better to use a duration based on the true ruinable output. This of course will offer several load cases, one or many could be the failure point, depending on the time of the year and the time to the next, (or previous), recharge if not full.
As an example. A simple rainy day with no wind. Solar output near to 10% of name plate, (NP). Wind at zero. Or a longer duration with less drastic weather, say solar at 15%NP, wind at 15%NP but duration of 3 days. Or maybe a longer event through the middle of winter, solar at 30%NP and wind at 5% but duration at 3 weeks.
Do you have access in the PJM region for the ruinable outputs, similar to what in Oz is available from AEMO? It would be good to use real data and real weather, even if the data is only for a limited period, say the preceding 12 months.
20
The only permissible power rating for wind and solar should be actual dispatchable power from a battery.
And it goes without saying, no subsidies and they must compete against coal, gas, nuclear and real hydro (not SH2).
171
The Texas law makers disagree with this. They specifically exclude batteries from dispatchable power. A flat battery is as useless as an empty stockpiler of coal. But restocking the coal can be planned weeks to months in advance. That is not the case with a weather dependent charging system for a battery.
The dispatchable rating of a wind/battery system is not much above zero over an annual cycle.
130
In Australia it now seems that the govt want more solar owners to install batteries that can be used by the power authorities. This may be because they have finally realised that large-scale batteries are not the answer to make unreliable renewables reliable.
150
And Vehicle to Grid (V2G) electric cars.
The grid could drain your car battery overnight and it will be flat when you have to go to work…
191
The software that governs the charging and discharging of each if the huge number of cells in a grid scale facility is very complex and expensive. How this could operate with a huge number of household batteries, that are also subject to household use, I cannot imagine. It is pure fantasy.
92
The software is quite simple.
There is a power flow sensor on the mains. If power is flowing out due to excess solar, the battery will charge; either limited by the capacity of the solar panels or the battery charger. If the internal demand is greater than the solar output, the battery will contribute up to its rating before the site import power.
If the battery system has grid support capabilities then there is an override on the export that allows the battery too export. My battery does not have export capability. It has not output when the solar is exporting.
30
Anyone has any bright ideas about “gas batteries” please ?
Few days ago I wrote about announced 42% increase c/kWh by my electricity supplier.
Now the same crowd warned us :
Effective from the 1st of August, your rates will change due to an annual network and wholesale cost review, however, rest assured, we will continue to provide the most competitive rates and discounts possible.
Which is about 29% increase. we have been with them about 6 months, time to change according to Vic government.
20
They are asking us to cover their butts, LOL.
10
This is an old article from 2011 that examines the infeasibility of hydro storage for the United States intermittent energy supply.
Fortunately, under TRUMP the unreliables fantasy is finished.
101
The best article that I have seen on pumped hydro.
00
True David, but why bother with analysis when its not your money?
10
Countries urged to reject power grab by WHO
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/who-deadline-and-james-roguskis-open-letter/
181
This is a very serious matter and the Lamestream Media haven’t bothered reporting it and the woke globalist governments of the world will undoubtedly sign up.
I posted last Friday:
Important information about WHO amendments which Australia will almost certainly agree to as it’s globalist and WHO supporting.
From Dr John Campbell:
https://youtu.be/VO8HVTSGLTI
NOTE URL’s INCOMPLETE, SEE IN VIDEO DESCRIPTION
120
There is a certain pointlessness about any WHO directions.
Let’s say that a plague kicks off in France. The WHO declare that no one can enter or exit France so that the disease may be controlled.
Now imagine reality. If the UK, (with a wet border to France), can’t stop the current and seemingly unlimited number of incoming boats, then how would it be possible to stop a population who ALL have a reason for leaving. And some of the borders, (most actually), can be walked over without any means of control.
The only purpose of the WHO is to drain your bank account. They can’t possibly do what they state they can achieve.
221
I sent a letter to Editor of The Australian last Friday. Not published in the Weekend Australian. Not holding my breath for today, Monday.
Here in Australia, might I suggest that we need to work hard on a national scale protest to cause fewer people to be paid to tell others what they can and cannot do. Growth of these people and payments is the biggest social change that I have seen in my 84 years.
The growth is mainly in bureaucrats and politicians who usually direct payments to them. When they are regulating what folk can do they are not being productive for increasing our national economy. We badly need more good people in productive agriculture, mining, farming, manufacturing goods for export. We used to make cars and aircraft, now we make words instead.
When next you think about what can be done to improve Australia, simply think of ways to stop paying people to constrict your life options. It is simply masochistic to allow it.
Watch the USA progress with their new Dept of Govt Expenditure, DOGE. Read and weep about their team listing huge rorts like USAID. This is also rampant here. It has to be stopped before it grows itself so large that only revolution can correct it. Geoff S
40
Climate change solutions are all Wall Street
https://x.com/wideawake_media/status/1944016630263976392?t=f0WaZsKVz0pn1EoGvkNKcw&s=09
40
I recently came across a graph from a 1976 edition of National Geographic. The original is behind a paywall. The graph starts in 1880, the same starting point as the NOAA graph for climate change. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
NOAA claim that the average 20th century temperature was 13.9 c. Interesting because in 1976, National Geographic already had a 20th century average of 15 c, the same temperature that NASA reckons should be the natural global temperature without man’s input https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/faq/what-is-the-greenhouse-effect/.
2024 was 15.1 c, so nothing to see here. Both NOAA and National Geographic graphs show a late 19th century cooler than today. However, for the portion of the graph between 1880 and 1900, the National Geographic states “KRAKATOA ERUPTED in 1883. The dust it flung into the stratosphere circled the earth and cooled global climate for several years.” NOAA conveniently omit this little fact. But it just happens to be a very good starting point if you are looking to support the bogus man made climate change narrative. Deliberately pick the start of your graph when global temperatures were cooled by 0.6 c (estimates vary a little but the most commonly cited temperature drop is 0.6 c). This means that the actual global temperature in 1883 would have been 14.31 c had it not been for Krakatoa dropping the temperature to 13.71 c. But hey, who cares about the real world when you have a climate catastrophe to fuel. The temperature of 14.31c when adjusted to take out the Krakatoa cooling, would be a much better fit with von Hann’s temperature assessment of 14.4 c for the year 1908. If 2024 was indeed 15.1 c, then since the 1880’s the Earth, in real terms, has warmed by 0.79 c and not the claimed 1.39 c. The National Geographic then goes on to state, for the period of 1938 into 1976, “ DOWNTREND of temperature since 1938 has come nearly halfway back to the chill of the Little Ice Age 300 years ago.” All the time, carbon dioxide levels were rising. How does that happen?
NOAA manipulating data through deliberate omission?
351
Well spotted!
How damned inconvenient for Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.
160
Thanks Esra, good catch.
40
My old 1970s high school atlas (yes, I still have it) states 15*C as Earth’s average temperature… which I always thought was cold as that’s a typical winter’s day here, as it is today. You don’t think they’re re-writing history for nefarious purposes do you?
101
More recently, over the past 25 years warming has been caused by cloud thinning and not CO2
https://notrickszone.com/2025/07/10/german-professor-2022-2024-warming-mostly-linked-to-natural-factors-not-co2/
20
Aww, didums. Somebody who doesn’t like the truth giving thumbs down. Mind you, there’s always someone sitting in a dark corner playing with themselves who knows sod all about the real world and only believes propaganda. Poor delusional little souls.
61
Australia’s climate left won’t be able to stand new Trump appointee Steven E. Koonin who dares to question the science around global warming
Trump’s appointment of a persistent irritant to the climate change establishment to a top government role will strike fear in the hearts of Australia’s green energy zealots
Nick Cater SkyNews Contributor and Political Commentator
In May, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Gold Standard Science,” requiring federally funded agencies to ensure their work is accountable, reproducible, and subject to open debate.
The clause insisting that scientists consider dissenting views and protect employees from retaliation for expressing them cuts across the grain.
The New York Times ….. reported this week that the Department of Energy had hired three scientists “well-known for their rejection of the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change”.
The three were named as physicist Steven E. Koonin, atmospheric scientist John Christy, and meteorologist Roy Spencer.
80
Berlin street renamed to cancel out historic references
https://brusselssignal.eu/2025/07/berlin-renames-major-road-after-300-years-for-political-correctness/
90
IIRC, the Mohrenstrasse UBahn station has the distinction of being tiled in red Swedish marble from a certain dictator’s chancellery.
60
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a statement of interest backing US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) who sued the BBC lead Trusted News Initiative (TNI) which colluded with tech platforms to censor doctors and alternative viewpoints to the British government approved narrative. Jed Rubenfeld, an attorney for CHD, said the DOJ’s statement confirms the “importance of this case and the gravity of the TNI’s concerted attack on dissenting online news publishers” “The TNI is a classic abuse of market power and its censorship of facts and opinions online, especially during the pandemic, was and is a grave threat to democracy.” The plaintiffs allege they were censored, banned, deplatformed, shadow-banned or otherwise penalised by the Big Tech firms that partnered with the BBC lead TNI. The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial.
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the TNI was initiated by the BBC and sought to prevent the publication of stories or events that deviated from government orthodoxy. But the role of the media is to speak truth to power and safeguard the freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The BBC lead TNI was defended by GCHQ under orders from Ken (Duggie) McCallum of the Marxist Idiots section 5 (MI5) as a symbolic gesture in support of Big Pharma and to demonstrate compliance with the demands of the UK Health Security Agency to hide data from the public and to assist the Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee (DSMA) to use D Notices to censor information on behalf of the Office For Censorship Obedience & Manipulation (OFCOM), as well as the National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT), the 77th Brigade Domestic Psyops Team, the Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) and all ‘Senior Cobblers’ and all. This was so that the British governments Counter Disinformation Cell could stop ‘Online harms’ to the honourable respected British Government, inflicted by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, talking to the millions of vaccine injured, who tell everyone ‘Malinformation’ that the Covid jabs are not ‘Safe & Effective’. This is why the government gave Big Pharma liability protection from ‘enemies of the state’ injured and murdered by vaccines.
300
“BBC-led Trusted News Initiative ” LOL.
Now seriously why would you call your self that?
So nothing else can be trusted ?
Is that it?
Sounds a bit like Jacinda.
210
You always call it exactly what it is not! George Orwell had that down completely.
Anything called The Peoples Republic of China/Congo/Korea is definitely NOT for the people, but those in charge still name all their organisations with similar titles.
150
Similiarly it’s not “Our ABC” (Australia), it’s Their ABC (the Left’s one billion per year taxpayer-funded 24/7 propaganda machine).
171
This is easy to spot when they endlessly sprout slogans like “ad free” and “most trusted news”.
Are they not Ads?
Not to mention “download the app and you can listen anytime”!
111
The BBC-led ‘Trusted News Initiative’ was inspired by the ‘Ministry of Truth’ and the concept of doublethink in creating “trust” in the Newspeak sense of the word by doctoring medical data to show a government-approved version of events and to maintain the illusion that the British government is absolutely infallible, and should be trusted without question.
10
Sounds better than Controlled News Initiative , which is what it was.
00
“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.”
A witches brew of a record.
‘It has been the western Med’s most extreme marine heatwave ever recorded for the time of year, affecting large areas of the sea for weeks on end.’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g2v1l7j6yo.amp
As their graph shows, the whole story is that a part of the Med. reached a temperature a few days earlier than some other recent years, and it’s already cooled off.
120
But – but – Doctor Greta said we’re all gonna die!
And she knows – doesn’t she?
This wailing over every ‘hottest day of the year’ [Saturday is NOT that for 2025 for the UK, but IS the Hottest DotY for Scotland [Hottest for 2 Years!], AND for Northern Ireland [Hottest for – intake of breath – THREE years! [almost]].
Not apparently for Wales – otherwise the BBC would’ve made sure we were properly alarmed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y2jd5yye9o
And –
“The heat has also affected sporting events, with Wimbledon fans braving close to the hottest women’s finals day at the tennis championship.”
Close to – ahh.
So, obviously, we’re all going to die.
Auto
200
I’ve yet to experience the third ‘wave.
Haven’t reached the arbitrary threshold once.
Peculiar as I’m so far south, 24C briefly today, survived!
70
German public broadcasters and parties like the Green Party have been spreading panic about the summer heat. There are even preposterous demands for “heat days off” from work. The number of so-called summerlike days (i.e. temps 25°C and over) has increased from an average of 20-30 in the 1950s to 40-50 per year today.
German professor Fritz Vahrenholt reports how the global average temperature has decreased in June and early July 2025, and has seen a downward trend since January 2025.
Back in 2006 –Senator James Inhofe,
Since 1895, the media has alternated between global cooling and warming scares during four separate and sometimes overlapping time periods. From 1895 until the 1930’s the media peddled a coming ice age. From the late 1920’s until the 1960’s they warned of global warming. From the 1950’s until the 1970’s they warned us again of a coming ice age. This makes modern global warming the fourth estate’s fourth attempt to promote opposing climate change fears during the last 100 years.”
120
Wales DID have a report of its hottest day of the year – of the year, only –
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-07-12/parts-of-uk-record-warmest-day-in-years-as-heatwave-temperatures-soar
Note the link includes ‘soar’.
And from that link
“Meanwhile, fire chiefs have urged people to stay safe as they warned of the increased risk of wildfires and drowning.”
Not clear how much the risk is increased – but, yes, it’s been dry, and careless barbecuers [& arsonists] are not wholly unknown.
Auto – glad to update on the concerning, terrible, life-threatening temperatures here in the Septic Isle.
About 28C in Sarf Lunnnon, inside the M25; & UHI possible …
30
Southampton 40miles from me as the crow flies reached 31C, 7C warmer than me, just goes to show how local weather is.
It was certainly the hottest day UK wide for some time, very widely 30C+.
20
They don’t mention the mechanisms involved in marine heatwaves, perhaps large blocking high pressure caused by a meandering jet stream.
‘The comparison between observed and counterfactual sea surface temperatures reveals the dominant contribution of anthropogenic forcing to observed marine heatwaves, especially since year 2000.’
Off the top of my head, the jet stream began to wobble around 2000.
00
It suggests that many – or all – of the prognosticators have not actually been out on the oceans – and so have no idea how big they are.
The thought that human influences can significantly affect the temperature of thousands, or millions, of cubic kilometres of sea water would need some serious proof – not just a computer-game ‘attribution study’ and some nifty PR.
Auto
30
Here is a video compilation, 1hr21m, of really bad engineering and other designs.
https://youtu.be/0U2xq_DREac
00
Whose side is the communist Australian PM Albanese on, China or the United States?
Comments by Tony Abbott and Pauline Hanson on Sky News Australia:
https://youtu.be/nqJb0CcjPKQ
131
Opinion piece by Tim Costello in the SMH talks of how aid budgets are being cut for the call to increase military spending across the West. ..and how Govts prepare for war with increased military spending, it never results in more peace.
Certainly a thin rope for Albosleazy to high-wire on, any increase in military spending will be frowned on by China, and any buddying up to China will be frowned on by the Pentagon.
“Following the Israel/US pre-emptive bombing of Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the hawkish slogans insist that “if we want peace we have to prepare for war”; that saving lives requires even bigger defence budgets. And let’s be clear: the unspoken focus of this military build-up is our largest trading partner, China….In response to Trump’s calls for higher defence spending, most European nations have cut aid to increase defence. Britain cut its aid budget from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of gross national income (GNI) — a significant drop, yet still well above Australia’s current aid level of just 0.19 per cent of GNI and 0.65 per cent of total federal budget expenditure. ”
He’s sure cutting USAID will kill all the children and puppies in the 3rd world, but he’s as left as Albo himself I am sure. Not a mention, and certainly the Left don’t believe this, that the best defence is arming every citizen with an assault rifle. That leads to a polite society and a very careful Govt.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/bigger-defence-budgets-are-more-often-a-prelude-to-war-not-peace-20250710-p5mdyv.html
Comments range..
“Things like justice, food, shelter, and a right to have your opinion heard and considered are more universal than that. We might call them ‘Human Rights’.”
“A country that does not protect itself shouldn’t be surprised if it’s taken from them.”
“”If we want peace, we have to prepare for war” is not hawkish or right wing at all- it is basic common sense through deterrence. ”
“Seems the right wingers and their voters/follows have forgotten the horrors of war.
Good thing Dutton was dislodged ensuring common sense prevailed.”
11
Being a pedant, or maybe just keen on precision, I’d like to point out USAID does not mean “US aid”, but does stand for “United States Agency for International Development”.
70
Yes david.. very important clarification.
And much of that “international Development” money was/is used for foreign political manipulation,..
…not feeding starving children .
40
Anthony Albanese thinks only of Australia’s interests, and he gets important advice on that from Xi Jinping.
130
If Australians could wean themselves off voting for “free stuff” they could elect an actual conservative party like One Nation or Libertarian Party.
The free stuff has a huge cost to present and future generations:
Total Australian Government debt, federal, state and local, now $2.121 trillion and increasing, without limit, by $6500 per second.
http://australiandebtclock.com.au/
Enjoy!
161
Well the obvious answer for the conservatives is – instead of cutting free stuff people want, give them more and cut the public service and other qango’s and NGO’s from the government budget. Cut whole departments. When complaints arrive answer with, it was needed to provide people with their free stuff. Cut the supporting legislation. Do it for the people, to give them free stuff.
E.G. Cut the ABC , $1B = a pension for 33,000 pensioners
110
The current election in Tasmania is a prime example of a WIIFM! Both Main Parties are falling over their own tongues to invent new schemes to give away more money and The Greens, who always support Labor, aren’t far behind them. The Liberals have three major financial elephants in the room to overcome. The largest of which is a football stadium that less than 50% of voters appear to want but two new interstate ferries, that are unable to berth in Tasmania, and surging electricity costs that are destroying business’ all add to State debt for the next 50 years. It’s looking more like another hung or compromised Parliament will be the result.
30
I like your thinking.
50
Why does wind and solar generation have to receive massive subsidies and forced purchases if in Australia we keep getting told it’s the cheapest form of electricity production.
And why is it that the more of it we get, the more expensive electricity becomes?
Also, most present company excepted, why doesn’t anyone, including the Lamestream Media ask such questions?
200
Air India Preliminary Report 11 July – blancolirio
A good detailed youtube explanation
50
It’s hard to get around the hard fact, that one of the pilots did it-On purpose.
The mechanical switches were switched one after another about one second apart. This disproves any possible theories that the switches were defective, worn out, and/or installed wrongly. It disproves that the switches were accidently switched. It disproves that the switches were switched by a jolt. (the switches after being reset stayed in the run position even during the crash). That they were deliberately switched in the cockpit is made clear by the CVR pointing out that they could be and were physically seen. That the computer system worked as designed after the switches were reset makes a software glitch the cause extremely unlikely.
20
Potentially Good News for America no hope in Australia
New poll delivers troubling signs for Democrats
The Democratic Party’s credibility with voters has plummeted even further since the 2024 election, raising alarm bells as the party looks to rebuild ahead of the midterms and the next presidential election, according to a poll obtained by The Hill.
The poll, conducted between May and June by Unite the Country, a Democratic super PAC, showed voters perceived the Democratic Party as “out of touch,” “woke” and “weak.”
The party has seen its support erode with white men, Hispanic men and working-class voters across the board, with approval ratings sitting below 35 percent across those demographics. And enthusiasm within the party continues to wane in the wake of 2024, the poll revealed.
120
Of course we here will say, “Surprise!” and celebrate the reality check for Dems, they won’t adjust their thinking but instead massage the messaging to make it SEEM like they’re listening. Their policies, because the purpose is to divide and destroy, won’t change should they be elected on that platform of lies and deception.
30
The 2025 Ho Chi Minh drone show
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sza3o1bZSC1z23obp.mp4
Spectacular!
50
Amazing. Hope it’s not AI.
00
“Spectacular!”
It certainly is! .and that’s 10,500 dead enemy soldiers with one hand grenade each! bullets are cheap, but it appears to take half a million of them to kill one enemy soldier, and I doubt that has changed since the Vietnam war.
11
My Albanese subsidised battery using OPM was commissioned today.
The fellow commissioning the batteries since the rebate took effect is doing 12 hours a day 7 days a week. And there is no end in sight for the demand. He would like to put on more sparkles but the pool of competent electricians is not that large and he has found managing more than 10 reduces his profitability.
50
” the pool of competent electricians is not that large”
Never been a problem for a Govt before.. rush out some certificate and suddenly we’re all experts in installing fibreglass! Oh, wait..
“Why does wind and solar generation have to receive massive subsidies and forced purchases if in Australia we keep getting told it’s the cheapest form of electricity production.”
Price of electricity will have to keep going up, now there’s 30% subsidy on batteries to join the panels and wind turbines.
Its a form of tulipmania that has hit Western Govts.
130
I am convinced it is a case of the innumerate believing that wishful thinking trumps basic maths.
Those who can do the maths should be aiming to insulate themselves from the results of wishful thinking.
The problem for Australia is that wishful thinkers have taken over the purse strings and reward wishful thinking more than hard science and engineering.
The western world now runs on “views” or “likes”. It is Google’s model. Musk’s purchase of Twitter was highly strategic. He now commands technology over a broad front and is positioning himself to be more powerful than any government. Australia’s once proud Telstra has now contracted with Starlink for offering communications to the outback.
Musk is no longer bothered with PayPal but it alone had 26 billion transactions in 2024 with revenue of USD317bn and profit of USD41bn. It has only been operating for a little over 25 years.
Musk will eventually move beyond batteries to real power generation but the batteries will remain in the technology landscape.
Starlink had a revenue of USD6.4bn in 2024 but it is doubling year-on-year.
X turned a profit of USD1.25bn in 2024 and forecast to make USD3.4bn in 2025.
Tesla 2024 revenue was just short of USD100bn.
So we can look forward to a world moulded into Musk’s vision. I know he recognises that he has a lot to learn and is constantly learning. That is what separates him from the wishful thinkers who have lost the ability to learn before they got into their late teens..
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Yes, we need a few Elon’s in Australia, the last one I can think of is Dick Smith- people who are rich enough to be beyond licking ass in the Govt for favours, powerful enough to command a wide media profile, and have enough sense to work out what Govt policies will work and which are just rubbish!
What do we get?
Twiggy Forrest and Cannon Brookes pushing the most embarrassingly childish ideas to try and rape the taxpayer through a stupid Govt!
Gina Rinehart busy trying to make money within the strictures Govt put on her.
Clive Palmer trying to get into power to make changes.
We’re doomed, doomed I tell ya…
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‘We’re doomed, doomed I tell ya…’
Not so fast, we are not Americans with their enterprising spirit and bags of cash.
Australians are at the forefront of quantum computer components, that should count for something.
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“Australians are at the forefront of quantum computer components”…
If I had written “The UK is at the forefront of quantum mumbo-jumbo . . .” I would be talking about the little rubber things it stands on [which we would obviously need to import, but slap a Union Flag on the packaging, and ‘At the forefront’ – and probably ‘world-leading’ and ‘component superpower’ too. Ta-da!].
Auto feeling a little cynical this Sunday!
40
You’re still good company.
Australia has a different political culture and small population, so cannot be blamed for not producing a Musk.
00
Payback?
00
I will have defined results on savings within two months. I anticipate around $2/day. Cost of 5kWh battery with OPM was $3300 to me. So payback is 1650 days or 4.5 years. A little longer if the $3300 was put into a term deposit as an alternate investment.
30
$3300 for 5 kWh of battery doesnt sound particularly attractive ?
There are currently advertised offers of < $6000 for 30kWh (including inverter)
And LiFePO4 batteries are readily available for $200 per kWh
10
No link so unconvincing.
The best I can get LiFePO4 batteries for is AUD300/kWh. But that is just the battery with an in-built BMS. It is far from an operating system with approved installation.
00
Link..
https://voltxenergy.com.au/pages/australian-federal-home-battery-rebate-offer
00
$3300 for 5 kWh of battery doesnt sound particularly attractive ?
There are currently advertised offers of < $6000 for 30kWh (including inverter)
And LiFePO4 batteries are readily available for $200 per kWh
00
I presume that you haven’t add3d the Opportunity Cost, which would add another 15-20% over that payback period.
00
No need to presume – I stated it. Taking the funds from a 5% TD extends the payback by a year. So still a very good investment.
00
Oz diplomatically handles a thorny question.
‘Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy says the Albanese government will not commit to possible future conflicts, saying the decision for Australia to go to war would be made by the government of the day.
‘His comments come after Elbridge Colby, the Trump administration’s under-secretary of defence for policy, pushed Australia and Japan to make clear what role they would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.’ (AFR)
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It’s very disturbing that Albanese/Wong are aligning us with China rather than the United States.
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I agree, when the Abbott Coalition Government signed the Free Trade Agreement with China they did not turn on our allies, trade should not be about taking sides and must be on a fair and reasonable basis on both sides.
Therein is a problem and it applies not only to China and being the manipulation of trade rules and regulations, example subsidising manufacturers and dumping products into an export market at prices local producers cannot match. Wages and on costs are not the main issue.
Australia has lost the competitive edge provided by a fleet of coal fired power stations in each state (SA TAS VIC NSW/ACT QLD) and interconnected transmission lines providing reliable and cheap electricity, and similar for natural gas supplies.
Look up UN Lima Declaration of 1975 signed for Australia by Whitlam Labor and the transfer of wealth via manufacturing industry from developed countries to developing countries and related world trade arrangements.
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I disagree, the US wants us to gang up on China, which is about to become a democracy after the collapse of the CCP.
In Orwell’s dystopian 1984 we see that Australia is part of Oceania under Big Brother, he couldn’t imagine the economic growth of China, so I’m thinking Oz holds more cards than the US.
China is a threat to nobody and Albo’s six day holiday is very timely. Take note, his meeting with Xi will be brief because the dictator is no longer in charge and will soon resign on medical grounds.
09
Aren’t we already at war? We have soldiers overseas supporting someone else’s war do we not or am I misled?
10
Australia has a number of cooperative defence treaties and agreements with allied nations and part of the strategies of the ADF is to operate with combined allied forces for regular training exercises and deployment as requested, reciprocal arrangements apply.
Obviously our land mass and population number creates many defence issues and problems if the ADF had no support, notably United States and refer firstly to World War 2 and after that ANZUS Treaty signed.
Therefore as I understand it the planning assets are allied nation operating technology equipped.
Supporting overseas does not necessarily involve soldiers on the ground fighting, ADF also provides services such as surveillance aircraft and air to air refuelling aircraft.
30
Thanks for that neat but informative explanation.
00
AI has no idea what a dictator is.
‘Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has issued an apology after its chatbot Grok made a slew of antisemitic and Adolf Hitler-praising comments earlier this week on X.’ (Guardian)
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If you wanna know about the list that the FBI missed, this is the best song of 2025 with very clever lyrics.
https://x.com/Skriptkeeper17/status/1943678615230554427
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FWIW
Not the wisdom of Solomon!
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-jbC2KmdhHqiWcuvBTN0StwahwDFsOQ2h4zIc5UUXVMuA86ouy97IJtJmorCEfu8_WhqGxjLLSZ6UUux4WWU2-47Onbi5kFx_ppKg-DbWxfjAcyVYiFK_3QrOfLs7jCOJN8n2zVun4Anp7f8uML87oRhUEkwJlEDXs95x1lrTFtTftN_UEQjWNQuNv8/s16000/Meme%20-%20STD's%20in%20women.png
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/07/doofus-of-day-1124.html
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FWIW
“Guess Which Crazy Place Just Criminalized WALKING THE DOG”
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2025/07/12/in-iran-walking-the-dog-is-now-a-crime-n4941703
Mind you I just told “my owner” that, if we were in Iran, I’d likely be in more trouble than she would!
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FWIW
“Planet Saved, Family Hospitalized: A Heat Pump Love Story”
“Picture this: You walk into your own living room, ready to relax, and your spouse is dressed in full hazmat gear. Not because it’s Halloween, or the in-laws are visiting, but because the government says you need to “save the planet.” Welcome to the world of “green” heat pumps—a glorious technological leap forward in the same way New Coke was a glorious leap forward in soda. The only thing missing is a government-mandated sticker: “Now With Bonus Legionella!””
More at
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/07/12/planet-saved-family-hospitalized-a-heat-pump-love-story/
Like the observation that the increase in problems of increase in pest insects like bed bugs and lice can be sheeted home to low temperature clothes washing “just producing clean bugs and lice”
20
Plenty of snow on the Alps and only six weeks in.
‘This season, the resorts were blessed with a strong cold front containing ample moisture, getting the season off to a flyer. Since then, snow-bearing fronts became more frequent than during same time last winter and have benefited from feeds of moisture from the northwest. In between these front, the air has stayed cold enough to prevent significant melting.’ (Weatherzone)
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FWIW
“My TCW week in review: Southport, the legacy of corrupted thinking”
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/southport-the-legacy-of-corrupted-thinking/
20
I find it amazing that man made CO2 increase driven rapid Global Warming aka Climate Change is still alive. It’s a long argument and fails at every single logical step.
The one most people do not know is that there is a presumption that CO2 gas in the atmosphere is NOT in rapid equilibrium. That’s a ridiculous assumption. CO2 is incredibly soluble,30x more soluble than oxygen and fish breathe, so there is a huge amount of oxygen in the water. So CO2 goes rapidly into the water. And like H2O it evaporates, so there is a balance. And it is very fast.
Everyone knows this. There are 36 papers referenced here in Table 1 which give a representative time for swapping most of the CO2 with ocean CO2.
Now if some could tell me how fossil fuel CO2 alone stays in the air, I would love to know.
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And the annual contribution of fossil fuel CO2 in the air is a tiny 1%. Historically far less. You would have to have at least 50% of this to stay in the air forever. The latest propaganda puts it at 53%. So like the missing ‘hot spot’ the climate pushers invented a disconnected ‘surface ocean’ which simply cannot accept more CO2, so it is pushed out into the atmosphere because the ocean is ‘full’ of CO2. And ocean pressures go up from 2 atmospheres at 10 metres to 3 atmospheres at 20 metres to 4 atmospheres at 30 metres, far more than any bottle of Coke Cola or Soda. So it’s all made up silly science.
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If you consider soda water, CO2 in water, the usual pressure is 20-35psi( 1.5 to 2.5 atmospheres). The ocean is 1.5atm at only 5 metres. 2.5atm at 15 metres. All the way to 350atm at the average depth.
And the pH of soda water is 3-5, mildly acidic. Ocean water has an alkaline pH around 8.0. No ocean is acidic. The idea that the ocean is stuffed with CO2 and cannot take any more CO2 is absurd. Soda water has 1000 to 100,000x as much CO2 as the ocean surface.
Have a look at Coca Cola if you make all the CO2 come out when you drop in Menthos with a rough surface.
I have no idea who is writing science for the pushers of man made CO2 piling up in the atmospher, but it is all nonsense.
And still no one in the press questions the whole fantasy. The phrase Climate Change is just repeated ad nauseum. And they leave out ‘man made’, so every storm, every flood, even earthquakes and bushfires are proof of Climate Change.
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My point is that arguing the merits of impossibly big batteries (requiring materials and mines which don’t exist) to compensate for totally inadequate and unreliable wind and solar is wrong scientifically, logically, ecologically and environmentally.
The amounts of money being spend on windmills, solar panels, taxes, carbon credits, batteries, distribution lines is in the tens of trillions. We should be exploring and building better solutions, not trying to make failed ones work when they are not fit for purpose. And fit for purpose includes reliability. Of the sort you need for a heart pacemaker or aircraft or parachute or bungee cable.
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In WWII when problems seemed insurmountable, governments put multiple teams of scientists on the job. And changed the world. All they seem to do now is shout down anyone who questions that windmill and solar panels are the best and only solution, even it is to a problem which doesn’t exist. Australia’s vast Snowy II was started without justification and instead of being finished quickly for $2.5Bn, it is over $12Bn and who knows if it will ever be used? But in Australia, Prime Minsters are accountable to no one and have endless personal spending power. Malcolm Turnbull has never explained what happened to the $444Million he gave his wife.
250 years after the start of rapid man made end of worlds Climate Change and 38 years since it was rediscovered by science illiterate college footballer Al Gore, where is the problem? Or at least a problem which has not been solved from Murmansk in the Arctic circle with 350,000 people or Dubai with no natural water, power, agriculture and 5 million people living in luxury in the scorching desert. Where is the climate adjustment problem which cannot be solved or has not been solved? With fossil fuels or nuclear.
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FWIW – on several subjects
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/fb_img_1752179335661.jpg?w=1024
More here
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2025/07/12/and-so-the-memes-have-come/
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And
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1786918687786143744.jpg?w=1024
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Love it! Some great ones in there- An earlier one said-
“The Brits gave up their guns..”
“Now their Govt puts them in jail for Facebook posts”
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I like the first one. This is the ongoing problem.
Proving the whole man made Climate Change is a lie is easy. Getting anyone in government to listen is impossible.
My only conclusion is that they already know it. And the Australian governments are trying to bankrupt us and destroy our existing adequate power systems.
71
😀
Yes,
20
Here is the Spectator Index of the world’s most expensive housing markets. Australia, despite having one of the world’s lowest population densities has one of the highest housing prices. In fact we have 5 in the top 15.
This is partly a consequence of immigration at far higher rates than housing can be built plus land use restrictions and no incentives to decentralise, huge delays on development approvals and many other reasons. Topher Field has also discussed huge hidden taxes on new housing in the following video: https://youtu.be/2KCFTinZd4M Also see another of his videos: https://youtu.be/6fPUlEF2ZiE
https://x.com/spectatorindex/status/1943641429714391387
1. 🇭🇰 Hong Kong
2. 🇦🇺 Sydney
3. 🇺🇸 San Jose
4. 🇨🇦 Vancouver
5. 🇺🇸 Los Angeles
6. 🇦🇺 Adelaide
7. 🇺🇸 Honolulu
8. 🇺🇸 San Francisco
9. 🇦🇺 Melbourne
10. 🇺🇸 San Diego
11. 🇦🇺 Brisbane
12. 🇬🇧 London
13. 🇨🇦 Toronto
14. 🇦🇺 Perth
15. 🇺🇸 Miami
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