Month: May 2019

Politicians Lack Of Understanding About Electric Cars And Electricity Grids Is Shocking

Dr. John Happs

The latest announcements from political fairyland came from Bill Shorten with his vision that 50% of all new cars will be “electric” by 2030 and that each one would only take 10 minutes to recharge.

To borrow a phrase from The Castle, somebody should: “Tell him he’s dreaming.”

Better still, tell Bill to do a little homework on so-called electric cars and he will find that they are not electric cars at all.

Well-intentioned environmentalists and a number of politicians such as Bill fail to understand that batteries don’t continually create electricity. Rather they store electricity that has to be generated elsewhere by more often than not abundant, inexpensive, high energy-density, reliable hydrocarbon fuels.

Bill also believes that so-called electric cars don’t emit any carbon dioxide. The vehicles might not emit any when running on battery alone but since that electricity has come from a hydrocarbon-fuelled power plant, the elimination of car tail-pipe emissions is entirely countered by the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions at the power station.

powered by coal
Continue reading “Politicians Lack Of Understanding About Electric Cars And Electricity Grids Is Shocking”

Back to the Medieval Green World

Greens dream of a zero-emissions world without coal, oil and natural gas. They need to think what they wish for.

First there would be no mass production of steel without coke from coking coal to remove oxygen from iron ore. People could cut trees in forests for charcoal to produce pig iron and crude steels, but forests would soon be exhausted. Coal saved the forests from this fate. Continue reading “Back to the Medieval Green World”

Flat Batteries

Batteries sound great.

But they have to be re-charged and replaced. That needs plastics, metals and electricity.

After two still nights and three cloudy days how does green South Australia power their cities and industries AND re-charge/replace their batteries on intermittent wind/solar power without coal, oil, gas, diesel, petrol or nuclear?

And after a week of cold cloudy weather?

Giant flat batteries trying to re-charge small flat batteries?

Only politicians could be so stupid.

By Viv Forbes

The Big Picture: 65 Million Years of Temperature Swings

If you wonder where today’s temperature fits in with the grand scheme of time on Earth since the dinosaurs were wiped out, here’s the history. We start with the whole 65 million years, then zoom in, and zoom in again to the last 12,000 from both ends of the world. What’s obvious is that in terms of homo sapiens history, things are warm now (because we’re not in an ice age). But, in terms of homo sapiens civilization, things are cooler than usual, and appear to be cooling.

Read More:
http://joannenova.com.au/2010/02/the-big-picture-65-million-years-of-temperature-swings/

Warming Came Before Coal

If human use of coal and oil is causing the Modern Warming, what caused the Minoan Warming, the Roman Warming and the Medieval Warming, all of which were warmer than today?

Every warm era was followed by a mini-ice age – a time of blizzards, iced rivers, starving stock, failed crops and hungry humans.

Only fools would try to kill the warmth by reducing aerial CO2 plant food.

And only idiots would destroy their reliable electricity supply in this futile crusade.

By Viv Forbes

Following Foolish Forecasts

Well-trained meteorologists with mountains of real data and massive computers cannot forecast the weather more than a few days ahead.

But make-believe academic “climatologists” using doctored data have created over 100 complicated computer models pretending to forecast global climate decades ahead.

NOT ONE model has produced a correct forecast for 25 years.

Yet we are prepared to trash our economy, inflate electricity costs and destroy heavy industry on the basis of these massaged models.

Only politicians and green dreamers could believe such nonsense.

By Viv Forbes

Hydro-carbons Beat Biofuels on all counts

Coal and oil are made from plants and animals that died millions of years ago when the atmosphere contained abundant carbon dioxide plant food. They are now very concentrated forms of energy which can be extracted from very small areas of land. Burning these natural hydro-carbons returns CO2 and fresh water to the atmosphere thus greatly assisting global plant growth. If we are lucky these extra gases in the atmosphere may also slightly delay the start of Earth’s next cooling cycle, but this looks unlikely.

Ethanol and biodiesel are made from plants growing now – sugar cane, beets, palm oil and grains. Growing these crops requires large areas of land and valuable fresh water for irrigation.
Growing bio-fuel crops extracts CO2 from the atmosphere but burning them quickly puts it back. This is a zero-sum game that does nothing positive for the environment or the climate.

Coal and oil are thus more enviro-friendly than biofuels. It is environmental desecration to lock-the-gate on coal, oil and gas while supporting policies that waste land, food crops and water for motor fuels.

Speculators should be free to make biofuels but these should not be subsidised or mandated.

By Viv Forbes

Adani Double Standards

Greens claim that the Adani coal mine in Queensland may force some desert finches to move a bit further out.

What is the Green Solution to this possible minor environmental disturbance? – ban the mine.

But every wind turbine continually chops up threatened birds and bats. A survey at one wind “farm” in Victoria found that 1,500 birds were killed in one year – wedge-tail eagles, falcons, kites, hawks and other birds as well as un-counted bats.

There are 94 wind farms in Australia, each with its own avian graveyard.

The Green Solution to this real environmental abomination? – pretend it is not happening.

By Viv Forbes