The limitations of green energy

[Anonymous]

From Sun News Media



Whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls it "The Great Reset", or "Building Back Better" or a "Resilient Recovery" the message is the same.



It's that we can power our way out of the COVID-19 recession by investing billions of dollars in green energy.



In the real world, unless those investments are sensible, Canada's economic recovery, when it finally comes, will take longer than necessary. Here's why.



In a recession like the one caused by the pandemic, energy use and thus industrial greenhouse gas emissions drop dramatically, because people have less money to buy the goods and services that fossil fuel energy creates. That means almost everything.



In the last recession set off by the 2008 subprime mortgage derivative scandal in the U.S., Canada's emissions dropped from 742 million tonnes annually in 2007 to 680 million tonnes in 2009 — an 8.4% decrease.



Then, as the economy recovered, emissions rose to 729 million tonnes in 2018, the last year for which government figures are available — a 7.2% increase.



In order to power themselves out of a recession, modern, industrialized countries like Canada need reliable energy sources to meet increasing demands for goods and services.



Current estimates are the COVID-19 recession will reduce global emissions by about 8% in 2020, meaning a[size=150]n enormous amount of reliable energy will be needed to fuel the recovery.



But green energy sources such as wind turbines and solar panels can't provide it, one reason being they can't provide base load power to the electricity grid on demand.[/size]



That's because the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine, which is why wind and solar power have to be backed up by fossil fuel energy — typically natural gas.



To illustrate this, let's look at Ontario's electricity output at 2 p.m. Tuesday.



Of the 17,008-megawatt demand for electricity at that time, 56% was provided by nuclear power, 29.4% by hydro, 10.2% by natural gas.



Wind, solar and biomass combined accounted for 3.4%.



The good news is most of Ontario's electricity comes from clean energy sources, because of nuclear and hydro power.



By contrast, an over-reliance on inefficient green energy sources like wind and solar, won't generate the reliable power needed to recover from the recession.

[Anonymous]

It really pisses me that a country with so much oil, natural gas, and hydro electric capabilities is importing solar panels, wind turbines, and rare earth metals from China, and oil from the US, Veneuela and the Middle East.

[Anonymous]

It really pisses me that a country with so much oil, natural gas, and hydro electric capabilities is importing solar panels, wind turbines, and rare earth metals from China, and oil from the US, Veneuela and the Middle East.

Some of the things we do don't make much sense.

[Anonymous]

It really pisses me that a country with so much oil, natural gas, and hydro electric capabilities is importing solar panels, wind turbines, and rare earth metals from China, and oil from the US, Veneuela and the Middle East.

Some of the things we do don't make much sense.

It benefits a few people that don't need it, and throws million of people that do under the bus.

[Anonymous]

It really pisses me that a country with so much oil, natural gas, and hydro electric capabilities is importing solar panels, wind turbines, and rare earth metals from China, and oil from the US, Veneuela and the Middle East.

Some of the things we do don't make much sense.

It benefits a few people that don't need it, and throws million of people that do under the bus.

China is happy.

[Anonymous]

It really pisses me that a country with so much oil, natural gas, and hydro electric capabilities is importing solar panels, wind turbines, and rare earth metals from China, and oil from the US, Veneuela and the Middle East.

Some of the things we do don't make much sense.

Our environmental and industrial policies are misguided.

[Anonymous]

[media]

[Anonymous]

[media]

[Anonymous]

[media]

[Anonymous]

B.C.'s Site C hydro power boondoggle shows real cost of 'clean' energy

The current mad dash to net zero carbon emissions is filled with economic peril



If you're looking for an example of green and clean energy policy in action, let's take a walk around British Columbia's massive $10-12-billion hydro dam project. Officially described as the "Site C Clean Energy Project" by its developer, B.C. Hydro, the project on the Peace River — some 1,185 kilometres by flying crow north of downtown Vancouver — is unfortunately a little messy and unstable at the moment, so watch your footing, and your wallet.



The worst numbers in the study: the total present value of the electricity produced from Site C is estimated at $2.76 billion against an estimated total cost of $10.7 billion, implying a loss of $8 billion. That's bad. However, if the project were cancelled now, the loss would be cut in half to maybe $4.5 billion. The economists conclude that "policy makers should stop throwing money at a project that is likely to end up under water."



So here's their plan. To make Site C viable, B.C. and Alberta should adopt a stringent 100 per cent electricity de-carbonization scenario, including higher carbon taxes to squeeze coal and gas out of their electricity systems. The plan would also involve the construction of major transmission lines to move Site C power to Alberta. If this could be done, according to their "linear programming optimization model," the value of Site C "increases to $12.4-billion in present value," making the project viable based on the current $10.7-billion cost estimate.



Whether any of this really makes sense is another matter. The question is whether Site C should be allowed to continue as an $8-billion loss or made viable by somehow passing the costs on as part of a national effort to meet net-zero green and clean carbon targets.



It's hard to imagine politicians are going to kill the project at this stage, but it is also hard to see how Alberta is going to go along with paying high prices for B.C. electricity to bail out B.C. Hydro.



Whatever happens to Site C, it serves as an alarming demonstration that the current mad dash to net zero carbon emissions is filled with economic peril. Similar hydro power fiascos — each conceived as green substitutes for fossil fuels — include the $10-billion Keeyask project in Manitoba and the giant $12.7-billion Muskrat Falls money pit in Newfoundland.

https://financialpost.com/opinion/terence-corcoran-b-c-s-site-c-hydro-power-boondoggle-shows-real-cost-of-clean-energy?fbclid=IwAR3EDvyQkgoX0xxO4GSwQNP3rTj3ohqYUtrNCsS6jwVAQE1LgWOMZVNQL8k">https://financialpost.com/opinion/teren ... WOMZVNQL8k">https://financialpost.com/opinion/terence-corcoran-b-c-s-site-c-hydro-power-boondoggle-shows-real-cost-of-clean-energy?fbclid=IwAR3EDvyQkgoX0xxO4GSwQNP3rTj3ohqYUtrNCsS6jwVAQE1LgWOMZVNQL8k

[Anonymous]

Expect more power outages, if we continue with the folly of wind and solar. The video is worth watching.



Energy expert: 'Unreliable' energy push behind Texas' massive power failure



The 'real lesson of Texas'



With as much gas and oil as Texas has — and not to mention its own power grid — why in the world is Texas experiencing such bad power outages?



Center for Industrial Progress president and founder Alex Epstein joined "The Glenn Beck Radio Program" to lay out what he's found.



Alex said he believes the "fundamental" problem is "the insistence on using unreliable wind and solar energy instead of reliable energy from coal, nuclear, and natural gas." And soon, it may not be just Texas, as President Joe Biden pushes for 100% dependency on green energy nationwide. THAT is the "real lesson of Texas," he warned.

https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/texas-power-failure-wind-unreliable?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1">https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glen ... belltitem1">https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/texas-power-failure-wind-unreliable?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

[Anonymous]

Expect more power outages, if we continue with the folly of wind and solar. The video is worth watching.



Energy expert: 'Unreliable' energy push behind Texas' massive power failure



The 'real lesson of Texas'



With as much gas and oil as Texas has — and not to mention its own power grid — why in the world is Texas experiencing such bad power outages?



Center for Industrial Progress president and founder Alex Epstein joined "The Glenn Beck Radio Program" to lay out what he's found.



Alex said he believes the "fundamental" problem is "the insistence on using unreliable wind and solar energy instead of reliable energy from coal, nuclear, and natural gas." And soon, it may not be just Texas, as President Joe Biden pushes for 100% dependency on green energy nationwide. THAT is the "real lesson of Texas," he warned.

https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/texas-power-failure-wind-unreliable?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1">https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glen ... belltitem1">https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/texas-power-failure-wind-unreliable?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

I'll watch it on my lunch break.

[Oliver Clotheshoffe]

They don't work very well when they're frozen solid.





[size=150]Wind turbines are freezing in Texas amid 'unprecedented' storm[/size]



Frozen wind turbines have caused almost half of Texas's wind generation capacity to go offline in the midst of an "unprecedented storm".



The Lone Star state is under a state of emergency after freezing conditions swept the region, causing dangerously icy roads and leaving nearly 3 million people without power.



Texas wind farms typically generate a total of 25,100 megawatts of energy, the Austin-American Statesman reported. On Sunday turbines accounting for 12,000 megawatts had iced over, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the state's power grid, confirmed.



https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/frozen-wind-turbines-texas-power-outages-b1802596.html">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 02596.html">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/frozen-wind-turbines-texas-power-outages-b1802596.html

[Anonymous]

And solar panels don't work well when covered in snow.