New Catallaxy

Greens mugged by reality

In north Queensland the useful idiots of the not-so-green environmental movement have been mugged by reality at Chalumbin. After spending years closing down forest-related industries and putting their neighbours out of work they find that the not-so-green wind industry is coming to get their trees and wildlife. You could say it serves them right.

Short films of environmental destruction in Queensland.

Saving the planet?

Kaban film particularly instructive.

Upper Burdekin  https://vimeo.com/706882264

Kaban   https://vimeo.com/633451905

Chalumbin   https://vimeo.com/582415839

SURVEY OF THE FULL RANGE OF GREEN POLICIES

Not for the faint-hearted.

AND ALL OF THAT WILL NOT REPLACE CONVENTIONAL POWER

Due to the Iron Triangle that locks conventional power in place ( if you want to keep the lights on.)

The triangle, three laws of power supply.

1.There has to be continuous input, like the unbroken fence if you want to keep stock in (or out).

2. Due to wind droughts there will be “breaks” in the fence and on nights with little or no wind there is effectively no wind and solar power.

3. There is no feasible and affordable, grid-scale storage in sight.

 Until that changes all our conventional power will have to be maintained and supplemented by nuclear power.

End of story.

South Australia is indeed the wind-leader because it regularly demonstrates the failure of wind and solar to replace conventional coal and gas. For example this morning at sunrise SA was importing 44% of its consumption from Victoria where over 80% of the power was being generated from brown coal.

Rafe Champion

18 responses to “Greens mugged by reality”

  1. duncanm Avatar
    duncanm

    What these idiots never seem to realise is that all energy solutions (which lead to all the comfort and longevity we enjoy in the first world) require this.

    I experience an immense amount of Schadenfreude watching these videos with their teary backing music. Its almost Conanic (“… lamentations of their women”)

    7
  2. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    “Greens mugged …..”
    saving the planet

    Many thanks; these will be good to pass on.

    7
  3. Rafe Champion Avatar
    Rafe Champion

    You are very welcome Christine, if it is ok with you, you can be on a mailing list to get regular updates from the Energy Realists.

    https://www.flickerpower.com/index.php

    This is the starter kit.
    https://www.flickerpower.com/images/INFORMATION_PACK.pdf

    4
  4. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    Yes indeed

    2
  5. Roger Avatar
    Roger

    Until that changes all our conventional power will have to be maintained…

    QLD’s government owned coal generators are due to be phased out earlier than scheduled and gas investment is paused thanks to the Federal government’s market intervention.

    I’d suggest looking into a diesel generator for your home but they’ll probably be banned before long, along with wood fired heaters and gas cookers.

    We are governed by idiots with a strong misanthropic streak.

    20
  6. mem Avatar
    mem

    I find it quite strange that the Greens somehow neglect to call out the wind and solar farm investors and operators as capitalist pigs. After all they skim billions off tax payers and consumers to feather their own nests. Ah, but I forget, the Greens are funded by these guys to keep the climate mantra going. Quite a relationship really. And of course there are the naïve dimwits who go along with it all not thinking of consequences, not questioning the logistics and not questioning what is presented as “science”. It’s a mighty fine rort.

    14
  7. Bruce Avatar
    Bruce

    @ Roger:

    “We are governed by idiots with a strong misanthropic streak.”

    Or, in “plain-speak” ruled bu “Death-cultists”.

    7
  8. Ceres Avatar
    Ceres

    Schadenfreude indeed, not that those ‘Green’ morons would have a clue what the word meant.

    6
  9. Rockdoctor Avatar
    Rockdoctor

    They are dumping these all over NQ, skyline pollution well away from say the Gold Coast or Noosa. Adjacent to where I live the Queensland Development Corporation has allegedly bought 300ha for a solar farm, problem is the folio says the land is 800ha so what about the other 500ha? They claim it is an investigation but have been allowed to take so many short cuts with the usual EIS that was accepted by the Commonwealth that incidentally a resources company would never get that sort of leeway tells me the fix is in at all levels of Government.

    12
  10. Rockdoctor Avatar
    Rockdoctor

    Oh I forgot to mention the Black Throated Finch which held up Adani, the live cattle yards at Roseneath and some development out at Oak Valley up this way is present as well but the local Conservation Council is strangely mute this time for something that will have a much larger footprint and impact.

    12
  11. Boambee John Avatar
    Boambee John

    mem

    I find it quite strange that the Greens somehow neglect to call out the wind and solar farm investors and operators as capitalist pigs. After all they skim billions off tax payers and consumers to feather their own nests. Ah, but I forget, the Greens are funded by these guys to keep the climate mantra going. Quite a relationship really.

    A symbiotic relationship?

    4
  12. Boambee John Avatar
    Boambee John

    But definitely parasitic on the rest of Australia.

    5
  13. duncanm Avatar
    duncanm

    Shock horror — they’re discussing this on the New Daily.

    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2023/01/17/renewable-energy-green-paradox/

    1
  14. Shy Ted Avatar
    Shy Ted

    Near Tully eh? Good job Innisfail and surrounding areas never get Cat 5 cyclones.

    4
  15. mem Avatar
    mem

    This was posted on the other thread by Old Ozzie but relates to this topic https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/dozens-scottish-power-wind-turbines-29135763
    Scottish Power admitted 71 of its windmills were hooked up to the fossil fuel supply after a fault developed with their power supply.

    Dozens of giant turbines on Scotland’s windfarms have been powered by diesel generators, the Sunday Mail can reveal. Scottish Power admitted 71 of its windmills were hooked up to the fossil fuel supply after a fault developed on the grid.

    The firm said it was forced to act in order to keep the turbines warm during very cold weather in December. But a whistleblower has told the Sunday Mail the incident is among a number of environmental and health and safety failings.

    The worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “The Scottish Government wants to make our country attractive to foreign investors as 40 per cent of the wind that blows across Europe blows across Scotland. However, that should not mean we put up with our waterways and nature being polluted with carbon from diesel generators and hydraulic oil.

    “Whatever the reasons, having to use diesel generators to de-ice faulty turbines is environmental madness. This level of dishonesty cuts to the very core of the SNP and Green Government where their rhetoric on net zero is very different from the reality.”

    Sixty turbines at Arecleoch Wind farm and 11 at Glenn App near Cairnrayn in South Ayrshire were affacted and connected to six huge diesel generators. The windfarms are operated by Scottish Power Renewables, a subsidiary of Spanish-based Iberdrola, which operates 1183 onshore turbines which can produce enough electricity to power two million homes.

    But the whistleblower revealed how they had to bring in generators after the issue was discovered.

    The worker said: “During December 60 turbines at Arecleoch and 11 at Glenn App were de-energised due to a cabling fault originating at Mark Hill wind farm. In order to get these turbines re-energised diesel generators were running for upwards of six hours a day.”

    He also claimed there had been other technical issues and environmental problems discovered. They include:

    . Turbines left operating on half power for long periods due to faulty convertor modules.
    . Others in “test mode” where they take rather than contribute electricity to the grid.
    . Over 4000 litres of oil leaked from hydraulic units on turbines and sprayed over the countryside.
    . Concerns about safety standards and transparency.

    The whistleblower said: “Turbines are regularly offline due to faults where they are taking energy from the grid rather than producing it, and also left operating on half power for long periods due to parts which haven’t been replaced.

    “Dirty hydraulic oil is also regularly being sprayed out across the Scottish countryside due to cracks in mechanisms. Safety standards have not improved since a worker was killed in 2017 at Kilgallioch wind farm.”
    Note there is more at the link.

    3
  16. Damon Avatar
    Damon

    All great ideas have a dirty underbelly.

  17. Robert Sewell Avatar
    Robert Sewell

    Only a wealthy society can afford the damage Greens do.
    Then it becomes a poor society, and the Greens come for our generators. Because they’re cold. And their mobile phones have flat batteries.
    I’ll burn mine before they get one single electron out of it.

    4
  18. Cool-Snoopy Avatar
    Cool-Snoopy

    I note they still claim useful lifespans of 20-25 years in the Kaban video @1:22.
    A 2012 study of almost 3,000 turbines in Britain – the largest of its kind – found Wind Farms have ONLY HALF the useful lifespan (12 years) that was claimed by the UK Government to justify the projects.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254901/Wind-turbines-half-long-previously-thought-study-shows-signs-wearing-just-12-years.html

    Raw Data & Report: Gordon Hughes (2012), “The Performance of Wind Farms in the United Kingdom and Denmark”.
    https://www.ref.org.uk/publications/280-analysis-of-wind-farm-performance-in-uk-and-denmark

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