More Proof ‘Green Energy’ Really Means shortages and blackouts
Out of Australia we bring you some of the least startling news in some time. Excessive faith in and subsidies into alternative energy have produced an alternative to energy, namely shortages and blackouts.
No, wait. That’s not the big unsurprise. The big unsurprise is that the politicians responded by blaming the conventional energy sources they got rid of for the problem, and touted the renewables that aren’t working as the solution.
According to The Australian, “Energy bill crisis deepens as record number struggle/ About 130,000 households are on hardship payment plans, highlighting the toll of Australia’s cost of living crisis that is sapping support for the Albanese government.”
Better get used to it, and not just there, as Britain’s decline due to aggressive Net Zero policies joins Germany’s as a cautionary tale with Australia and others knocking at the door.
As The Australian put it snidely about the blackout warning, “Mildly hot day leads to major problems for electricity grid”. And we must all make sacrifices, if by “we” you mean regular people with regular lives, not politicians flying about from air-conditioned office to air-conditioned venue:
“Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will declare renewables are the only solution to the nation’s energy woes and put the blame for volatility in the electricity grid on coal-fired power stations, after NSW residents were told to avoid using dishwashers, washing machines and pool filter pumps to prevent blackouts.”
Yeah. Who needs to wash clothes? And who doesn’t welcome a “holistic” swimming pool filled with native algae? Somehow it’s the fault of coal, and:
“After the Australian Energy Market Operator was forced to use emergency powers to instruct some NSW businesses to cut energy usage because of feared supply shortages, Mr Bowen will on Thursday tell parliament it was ‘magical thinking’ to suggest extending the life of coal-fired power stations past 2035 would make the electricity market more secure.”
To be fair, he and his ilk know a thing or two about magical thinking. For instance, as the paper pointed out:
“With energy set to be a major policy divide at next year’s election, Mr Bowen will use his annual climate change statement to declare that renewables will lower electricity prices and increase grid stability.
Mr Bowen promised before the 2022 election that Labor’s renewables policy would reduce electricity prices by $275, but household bills have risen since the Albanese government was elected.”
D’oh. And then there’s the bit where solar can get it done. Because, and it’s a bit strange since you might have the impression that Australia is sunny especially in, say, the afternoon during what is for them summer:
“NSW Premier Chris Minns issued an extraordinary request for residents in the nation’s biggest state to avoid using energyintensive household appliances between 3pm and 8pm, warning that rooftop solar production would reduce during that period.”
And here we thought it would reduce during that period when Mr. Sun goes down and it becomes, to employ technical terminology, “night” and “dark”. And again, to dive deep into the technicalities of energy production, you can burn coal no matter what o’clock it is. If only politicians knew. Nuclear works well at all hours too.
Of course the downside to coal is aging plants because politicians have strenuously resisted modernization. And the downside to nuclear is no plants because Australian politicians have strenuously avoided it despite having fully one-third of the world’s proven uranium deposits, partly because the place has so much low-cost coal they won’t use and partly because um aaaaaaah RADIOACTIVITY GIANT MUTANT ANTS or something.
So the Guardian says full speed ahead, warning that “Climate Christmas’ data shows emissions are falling but not fast enough, while Labor’s reforms have yet to kick in”, with a tiny decline in emissions and much more to come:
“Climate pollution needs to be reduced on average by 15m tonnes a year between now and 2030 to reach the government’s legislated target (a 43% cut below 2005 levels). Projections suggest this is possible under existing policies – if everything goes according to plan. The biggest driver of this should be the capacity investment scheme, a program to underwrite 32GW in new large-scale renewable energy and batteries before the end of the decade. That is roughly equivalent to building half the current capacity of the grid again.”
Oh. Just that? And when’s the last time everything went “according to plan”? Certainly not on this file, with your dishwasher threatening to suck the grid dry. So more, more, they’re still not satisfied:
“it is worth remembering what scientists say: that Australia should be making a deeper cut by 2030 and setting a much more ambitious target for 2035 in the months ahead, to live up to the goals of the landmark Paris agreement.”
Again with the scientists who say. And for more misery:
“The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has announced a final rule requiring smart meters to be deployed across the National Electricity Market (NEM) by 2030. This reform aims to modernise Australia’s energy system and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. Smart meters are essential for enabling a connected, efficient energy system and achieving net zero targets.”
Yeah? Including the bit where you adjust people’s thermometers for them if they don’t do it? Is that what one of the listed benefits, “improve outage responses”, is code for?
See more here Climate Discussion
Please Donate Below To Support Our Ongoing Work To Defend The Scientific Method
PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL, legally registered in the UK as a company 
incorporated for charitable purposes. Head Office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX.
Trackback from your site.