New scientific paper: offshore wind turbines alter marine eco-system, could shift ocean currents

[Carolinian]

Regarding South Australia Election

The election returned the Malinauskas Labor government with an increased majority, meaning the same party and Premier continue to govern.There was no leadership change at the top.

Labor’s platform is described as building on South Australia’s “strong shift towards renewable energy,” with a formal goal of 100% net renewables by 2027. Their plan includes:

• Expanding large‑scale wind and solar
• Supporting big batteries and long‑duration storage
• Keeping some gas capacity for reliability during the transition
• Streamlining approvals for renewable projects

Summary: Labor is strongly pro‑renewables and frames the transition as both economic and technical policy.

Does not appear that the renewable crowd lost their majority

Nice deflection. I pointed out that South Australia was a longtime stronghold of the government party (Labor) which retained control. My point was that the former 3% party ran where the polls said it was, over 20%, and thus confirmed its poll standing. In South Australia, it ran second.

 

[emeryjre]

Oh, come on. I have posted quite a few articles where experts explain this problem. Much of it has to do with the cost of backup, and the feast and famine nature of wind and solar. The German Minister of Economy and Energy understands this even if you pretend not to.

You have never posted any articles where the term "system costs" are defined

You are trying to use your old trick of saying you already explained these costs somewhere

You have never explained them anywhere at anytime

Nice word salad for "I cannot explain them"

You have seen the words "system costs"

Thought you would throw them out and see how people would react

All of the cost of an operational plant, whether it is coal, natural gas, nuclear, fuel oil, wind farm, solar farm, etc. etc are know to the operator of the plant

If a coal plant is running below capacity and is not recovering its costs, it will shut down as quickly as it is feasibly possible

Electrical Generation facilities of any kind do not stay in business if not making money

It is why many older coal plants shut down

It is why some current plants are scrambling for rate hikes to cover the costs of being forced to stay open

I will wait patiently for you to come back and explain "system costs"

 

[emeryjre]

Yes, they have been rather unstable for years, which is what makes the election this month so significant with one party winning a landslide for a clear majority without having to build a coalition. The new government ran AGAINST the EU climate agenda and has also been critical of the outgoing coalition's recent adoption of the euro. The new prime minister had demanded a referendum of citizens on the euro, and polls showed they oppose that adoption.

The new Czech prime minster was even more strident during his campaign earlier this year against the EU climate agenda which he described repeatedly as "green madness."

Is Bulgaria a satellite state within the Russian sphere of influence??

I couldn't find Bulgaria on a map if it was not labeled

 

[emeryjre]

Nice deflection. I pointed out that South Australia was a longtime stronghold of the government party (Labor) which retained control. My point was that the former 3% party ran where the polls said it was, over 20%, and thus confirmed its poll standing. In South Australia, it ran second.

One Nation moved up in the vote, the liberals move down

But the liberals will most likely stay with Labor on voting within the assembly

One Nation is not likely to have much influence on South Australia politics

What would have a significant impact is getting the Federal Government to Start moving on Grid Projects that connect other states to South Australia

Also Grid Projects that allow for greater movement of electricity to the rural areas of South Australia

 

[Carolinian]

 

[Carolinian]

One Nation moved up in the vote, the liberals move down

What is significant is that they moved from about 2% of the vote in the last South Australia state election to 22.9% of the vote this time, the second highest total for any party. That validates the national polling which now shows them at 28%, tied with Labor for first place nationally.

The Liberals are part of the main opposition coalition nationally with the National Party, so I would not expect them to be very chummy with Labor in any state governments. In another Australian state that they just took over last year from Labor, they cancelled Labor's energy policies and instead extended the life of their coal plants, saving both the state and consumers a lot of money. I posted an article on that earlier.

 

[Carolinian]

You have never posted any articles where the term "system costs" are defined

You are trying to use your old trick of saying you already explained these costs somewhere

You have never explained them anywhere at anytime

Nice word salad for "I cannot explain them"

You have seen the words "system costs"

Thought you would throw them out and see how people would react

All of the cost of an operational plant, whether it is coal, natural gas, nuclear, fuel oil, wind farm, solar farm, etc. etc are know to the operator of the plant

If a coal plant is running below capacity and is not recovering its costs, it will shut down as quickly as it is feasibly possible

Electrical Generation facilities of any kind do not stay in business if not making money

It is why many older coal plants shut down

It is why some current plants are scrambling for rate hikes to cover the costs of being forced to stay open

I will wait patiently for you to come back and explain "system costs"

Germany's Minister of Economy and Energy certainly knows what they are as she noted in her column, even if you pretend not to, but the best explanation was offered in a video by an Australian energy expert that I posted in this thread some time ago. Unfortunately, at the moment, the site does not seem to want to allow me to access but a few pages back. When I can get access to it, I will post it again for you.

Wind and solar only stay in business because they are subsidized by government either with tax money or through money extracted from ratepayers.

 

[Brett]

.

.

.




.

 

[emeryjre]

Germany's Minister of Economy and Energy certainly knows what they are as she noted in her column, even if you pretend not to, but the best explanation was offered in a video by an Australian energy expert that I posted in this thread some time ago. Unfortunately, at the moment, the site does not seem to want to allow me to access but a few pages back. When I can get access to it, I will post it again for you.

Wind and solar only stay in business because they are subsidized by government either with tax money or through money extracted from ratepayers.

Don't bother reposting the article from German's Minister
She was challenged on her numbers by someone you called a climate activist
He was using numbers and data from a report by McKinsey
So whatever his background, I believe his numbers were credible

The Australian video was about an hour long if I remember
started out with numbers that may work in Australia
But his numbers would not be close to reality in the US

Can't you find someone in the US that can explain "system costs" for the US markets
This is where we live and pay electrical bills

 

[emeryjre]

Where is his written report
He talks about North Dakota Energy Costs
35% of the state electricity comes from Wind

In 2022
Basin Electric sold its Coal Powered Plant in Washburn because it could not produce energy cheaply enough

The Coal Plant has been bought by Rainbow energy and is now producing electricity for a Bitcoin mining operation and is slated to deliver power to a new AI server farm complex

So I would like to read his backup information to this video

 

[emeryjre]

I did not think I would be commenting on Germany again
I was drawn in by the articles about Katherina Reiche and the SPD and the current debates about Renewables

Two of German's problems are obvious
1. Shutting down their nuclear power plants
2. Attempting to create a Green Hydrogen economy to replace Natural Gas

The other problems that become obvious when reading the debates between Reiche and the SPD are these
A. Power being produced by renewables in large amount and no way to move the power to where it is needed
B. A shortage of power in other areas
C. Battery storage will not move power where it is needed
If power is stranded, batteries just strand it as stored energy

C. No agreement on how to move forward on the problem

Reiche wants new natural gas plants in areas of shortage as quickly as possible
SPD wants to stick to the plan

I am not sure what the SPD plan is
The SPD plan was laid out a while back and is not covered in the latest articles

Obviously all of the pieces to run an electrical system using renewables is not in place
A flexible, modern grid is required, (Common to all renewable electrical systems)
An efficient baseload supply (Natural Gas, Nuclear and Next Gen LDES battery storage)
Without these pieces all working together, the system will not be efficient
Germany has a problem that needs more grid work and reliable baseload


In the US, AI server farm builders are going to areas where there is stranded power and putting in the hookup to use this power themselves

Nächster Streit in Bundesregierung: Strompläne von Katherina Reiche erzürnen SPD

Die Wirtschaftsministerin legt drei Gesetzentwürfe vor, die mehr Gaskraftwerke und weniger Solarförderung vorsehen. Der Regierungspartner wittert eine Verletzung des Koalitionsvertrags. Die Netzbetreiber applaudieren.

www.faz.net

 

[Carolinian]

I did not think I would be commenting on Germany again
I was drawn in by the articles about Katherina Reiche and the SPD and the current debates about Renewables

Two of German's problems are obvious
1. Shutting down their nuclear power plants
2. Attempting to create a Green Hydrogen economy to replace Natural Gas

The other problems that become obvious when reading the debates between Reiche and the SPD are these
A. Power being produced by renewables in large amount and no way to move the power to where it is needed
B. A shortage of power in other areas
C. Battery storage will not move power where it is needed
If power is stranded, batteries just strand it as stored energy

C. No agreement on how to move forward on the problem

Reiche wants new natural gas plants in areas of shortage as quickly as possible
SPD wants to stick to the plan

I am not sure what the SPD plan is
The SPD plan was laid out a while back and is not covered in the latest articles

Obviously all of the pieces to run an electrical system using renewables is not in place
A flexible, modern grid is required, (Common to all renewable electrical systems)
An efficient baseload supply (Natural Gas, Nuclear and Next Gen LDES battery storage)
Without these pieces all working together, the system will not be efficient
Germany has a problem that needs more grid work and reliable baseload


In the US, AI server farm builders are going to areas where there is stranded power and putting in the hookup to use this power themselves

Nächster Streit in Bundesregierung: Strompläne von Katherina Reiche erzürnen SPD

Die Wirtschaftsministerin legt drei Gesetzentwürfe vor, die mehr Gaskraftwerke und weniger Solarförderung vorsehen. Der Regierungspartner wittert eine Verletzung des Koalitionsvertrags. Die Netzbetreiber applaudieren.

www.faz.net

The SPD and Reiche's CDU are supposed to be coalition partners, but with looming differences, some see a snap election coming. I was just reading an article this morning suggesting that possiblity.

One huge problem Germany has had with using weather-dependent intermittent sources of electricity is that they have had a number of weeks or months long "wind droughts" where the wind stops blowing, and they have to import lots of power from abroad, mostly nuclear power from France and coal-fired power from Poland. Of course, if it is cloudy, foggy, snowy, etc. when the wind does not blow, that just compounds the problem, which is something inherent in weather=dependent intermittent energy like wind and solar.

The endless wind drought crippling renewables | The Spectator Australia

The spectre of power failure is haunting Europe as Britain and Germany demonstrate that modern societies can’t run on wind…

www.spectator.com.au

And the problem is not just in Europe, but also the US. Here is a scientific study that shows combined droughts of both wind and sun can last up to six days here in the US:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148123014659?via%3Dihub

 

[Carolinian]

Where is his written report
He talks about North Dakota Energy Costs
35% of the state electricity comes from Wind

In 2022
Basin Electric sold its Coal Powered Plant in Washburn because it could not produce energy cheaply enough

The Coal Plant has been bought by Rainbow energy and is now producing electricity for a Bitcoin mining operation and is slated to deliver power to a new AI server farm complex

So I would like to read his backup information to this video

Maybe you could try looking up the website of the guest's organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council which produced the referenced report?

 

[emeryjre]

The SPD and Reiche's CDU are supposed to be coalition partners, but with looming differences, some see a snap election coming. I was just reading an article this morning suggesting that possiblity.

One huge problem Germany has had with using weather-dependent intermittent sources of electricity is that they have had a number of weeks or months long "wind droughts" where the wind stops blowing, and they have to import lots of power from abroad, mostly nuclear power from France and coal-fired power from Poland. Of course, if it is cloudy, foggy, snowy, etc. when the wind does not blow, that just compounds the problem, which is something inherent in weather=dependent intermittent energy like wind and solar.

The endless wind drought crippling renewables | The Spectator Australia

The spectre of power failure is haunting Europe as Britain and Germany demonstrate that modern societies can’t run on wind…

www.spectator.com.au

Germany has a major problem
No question about it
Reiche is the lead on one line of thinking in regard to solving

There is an open division in the direction the country will take

Efficient Germany has not done well in implementing a clean energy transition
Shutting down nukes was a major issue
Trying to replace Natural Gas with "Green Hydrogen" was another mistake

Many countries looked at Green Hydrogen and realized the technology is not there

A US company that touted Green Hydrogen in transportation was Nikola (NKLA) Sold it short early on

 

[Carolinian]

Germany has a major problem
No question about it
Reiche is the lead on one line of thinking in regard to solving

There is an open division in the direction the country will take

Efficient Germany has not done well in implementing a clean energy transition
Shutting down nukes was a major issue
Trying to replace Natural Gas with "Green Hydrogen" was another mistake

Many countries looked at Green Hydrogen and realized the technology is not there

A US company that touted Green Hydrogen in transportation was Nikola (NKLA) Sold it short early on

And, of course, that difference is only within the current coalition. The SPD has not done well in state elections this year in Germany. The party that leads both of them in the national polls and has made the biggest gains in this year's state elections, takes another approach entirely, which is to declare the climate alarm over and move back to conventional energy sources, taking down all the wind turbines in the country. It is not part of the government, coalition but is currently the main opposition party in the Bundestag (parliament).

And, of course, you keep ignoring Germany's problem with wind droughts, because that is a serious flaw of the whole wind energy agenda.

 

[TolmiePeak]

Aren't high energy prices a positive thing? It encourages conservation.

 

[emeryjre]

So are water shortages
Hydro electric power at the Hoover Dam could disappear soon
Another reason for nuclear power
Germany cut off all avenues
Was not a smart thing to do

 

[Carolinian]

Aren't high energy prices a positive thing? It encourages conservation.

High energy prices are big drivers of inflation. Energy is a component of about everything we buy. If you like inflation, you will love high energy prices.

 

[TolmiePeak]

High energy prices are big drivers of inflation. Energy is a component of about everything we buy. If you like inflation, you will love high energy prices.

Inflation could be zero if people refused to pay high prices.

 

[Carolinian]

Inflation could be zero if people refused to pay high prices.

When the costs of producing a product go up because inputs like energy go up, then the producer either has to raise the price to reflect his higher costs or go out of business. It is simple economics.

 

[emeryjre]

When the costs of producing a product go up because inputs like energy go up, then the producer either has to raise the price to reflect his higher costs or go out of business. It is simple economics.

Like the cost of diesel and fertilizer are going to impact the nation's farmers
Drought will impact the amount of agricultural land planted this spring
Shortages of rainfall and subsequent drought are going to impact hydropower production

The lack of rainfall has the potential to become a major inflationary driver in the US in the next 12 months

 

[TolmiePeak]

When the costs of producing a product go up because inputs like energy go up, then the producer either has to raise the price to reflect his higher costs or go out of business. It is simple economics.

And if people start driving less the price of gas will collapse.

 

[easyrider]

Gas prices adjusted for inflation aren't as high now as they were in 2008- 2009. In 2008 many people sold off their large gas guzzlers only to buy another when they got use to the new price.

Bill

 

[emeryjre]

The follow up story of how electrical rates decline as all of the components of renewable electrical energy are put into service
The "system costs" decline

Australia's giant battery fleet has killed the evening price spike​

Full story at this link

MSN

 

[Carolinian]

Where is his written report
He talks about North Dakota Energy Costs
35% of the state electricity comes from Wind

In 2022
Basin Electric sold its Coal Powered Plant in Washburn because it could not produce energy cheaply enough

The Coal Plant has been bought by Rainbow energy and is now producing electricity for a Bitcoin mining operation and is slated to deliver power to a new AI server farm complex

So I would like to read his backup information to this video

I suggested you go to the website of the organization that produced it, the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC. Apparently you could not be bothered to do so, so here it is:

Energy Affordability Report, 5th Edition - American Legislative Exchange Council

The ALEC Energy Affordability Report serves as a benchmark for policymakers by providing a consistent, state-by-state comparison of electricity prices alongside the policy frameworks that influence them. In addition to evaluating outcomes such as retail electricity prices, this report examines...

alec.org