Via Maz2, Spain claws back its solar subsidy.
“It seemed so safe,” he said recently. “It was a government guarantee.”
Well, that was one of many mistakes.
Spain has good reason for wanting to take action. It is facing a growing deficit — about $40 billion now — because it has never passed on the true cost of producing energy to its consumers, a problem that has ballooned with the economic crisis. If it does not do something, that deficit will only grow, experts say.
The watermelons rejoice though.
The dramatic shift towards renewable generation coupled with a fall in overall power demand of 2.1% led to a similarly drastic reductions in emissions from the peninsular’s power sector. “The increased weight of renewable energy in the generation mix structure of 2013 compared to the previous year has reduced CO2 emissions of the electricity sector on the Spanish peninsula to 61.4 million tonnes, 23.1% lower than in 2012,” the report stated.
Except, they still don’t know how to pay for it.
The energy deficit — the accumulated shortfall between the cost of power generation in Spain and what regulated rates bring in from consumers — has reached more than 26 billion euros (about $36 billion). For 2013, the government had targeted a full-year deficit of €3.6 billion. Instead, the shortfall reached €4.5 billion for the period to October.
It’s all good. The taxpayers will just have to make up the difference. If we can find any.
Welcome to socialism 101.
Is Spain in Ontario?…
Spanish is in Ontario…Deficit is definitely a word in the provincial vocabulary. Power generation is also a tingly topic wrought with controversy and downheartedness due to the “guarantees” of OUR government.
and the Spanish for Dumbass EcoStupid is “Ontario”.
So screwed. Get out now before the losers vote in an NDP government and they double down on the great Greenie Gamble.
That reduction in boogie man gas sure is expensive!
The pain in Spain, falls mainly on the sane.
CO2 emissions dropped 21% because the economy dropped 21%. The Watermelon goal: Zero economy!
The cut in CO2 almost matches the difference in unemployment now sitting at 27%
And 56% for youth. This is the stuff of revolutions
The “youth” will be told to blame capitalists, corporations, banks and the wealthy.
This is what they will do, just like a hundred times before and they will prove their righteousness by smashing windows and burning cars.
The circus came to town and stayed.
“Spain claws back it’s solar subsidy.” Title. Reads as “Spain claws back it is solar subsidy”. Those must have been a tough four years. I’m referring to grade three. Communication anyone? I know I’m a grammar n@zi, but this is pretty bad.
[edit: Thank you, fixed. I was thinking possession.]
I guess The Guardian and its co-religionists will believe anything. What a 2.1% fall in electricity demand in one year tells me is that there have been “similarly drastic reductions” in the level of economic activity.
Which, of course, brings to mind a super-duper effective way of reducing CO2 emissions, without the hassle of all these piffling “renewable generation” investments — just shut your economy down entirely. And Spain, with her 26% unemployment rate, has been making a cracking good show of doing just that.
I’d query, though: if reducing CO2 emissions is the paramount public policy objective, why not just shut the whole economy down all at once, rather than in 2.1% annual increments? One fell swoop, throw the switch on the electricity system, lights out — and, Bob’s your uncle! No more CO2 emissions, no more subsidies, no hassle with green energy investments. Mission accomplished! The current approach does seem a bit protracted to me.
But then, again, not quite as protracted as the approach in Ontario — heck, we only managed to lose 39,000 jobs in December. A 7.9% unemployment rate is hardly compelling, at least by Spanish standards, now is it? I think Ms. Wynne and the Ontario Liberals need to get focused — forget all this, er, gay/alternative life-style stuff for a bit and double-down on the main event. Forward!
As usual the watermelons get it wrong. Spain’s GDP shrank in every single quarter of 2012 and 2013 except for a trivial increase in the 4th quarter in 2013.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/spain/gdp-growth
Prior to that, Spain’s economy shrank in 2009 and 2010. The small gains in 2011 were completely wiped out by the fall in the 1st quarter of 2012 alone.
All of these GDP losses explain fully the decline in Spanish CO2 emissions.
Besides, the Greens still have to explain how producing solar power generation in a basement with electric arc lights contributes to CO2 reduction.
Claw backs coming soon to an Ontario near you, as economic activity nosedives in similar fashion to Spain’s.
But you know, say what you want about Spain and their economy, I can still buy about five different kinds of motorcycles made in Spain. And they kick butt, too. Ossa, Montessa, Gas-Gas are top of the line bikes.
Show me a motorcycle made -in- Canada that doesn’t say “Bombardier” on it.
“You know, there’s a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say ‘we need to go green fastest… we need to start investing in solar.’”
If Spain can’t make wind power pay no one can. The entire southern part of
Andalusia is hilly with few farms – but ranching, I think – and more or less constant wind.
Wind turbines have been installed there for 20 years, although the number has
increased. Castille, especially Castille-La Mancha, also has many – it is an historic
region for wind power (think “Man of la Mancha”). Some of the old windmills can
still be seen, though they are for show only.
As for governments being crooks – they are often the biggest crooks.
Any government which allows fractional reserve banking is complicit in fraud.
If you are trusting in government, you can still purchase British war bonds from
WWI. HM Government committed itself to repaying, and the feeling is that they
probably will be redeemed sometime, but not – immediately.
In WWII HM Government didn’t think that anyone would be sucker enough to go along
with a further issue of such bonds.
Yup, most governments are made up of crooks – the honest ones are just not as
crooked as the dishonest ones.
“OPM” is like a drug.
It’s not just the fractional reserve that cripples our economy. The fiat monetary system has a design flaw – it self destructs. We need to return to the gold standard and will someday when the fiat system implodes. The Great Depression was a currency event brought on by mischieve created in the wake of the intoduction of the Federal Reserve in the USA a hundred years ago.
The last vestiges of the gold standard vanished when Nixon closed the gold window in 1971. Since then the mischieve has gone exponential. For the first time ever, every economy in the world is on a fiat monetary system. The implosion will be far more destructive than the ’30s depression.
61.4 million tons of nothing is still nothing.
The government givith
the government taketh
Oh quite so. Fiat money systems have produced one disaster after another. They are addictive to governments,
however.
My plan to deal with this type of thing is to help in no way. I view it as enabling. Buying liquor for an alcoholic is bad, not helpful. Giving a safe injection to a junky just keeps the junky a junky, it is evil.
Let Spain, and Germany, and Denmark and the UK, and Ontario, and everyone else who chose this path suffer alone. Send no food aid, accept no refugees, no medical aid, nothing. Only when the full effects of their stupidity are fully felt, will anything be learned.
Every communist plan ends with lots of death. This renewable energy thing will end the same way. Guaranteed.
You let a bunch of fraudsters take hold of your energy production and your surprised you have been ripped off..
Hanging on their worthless words while you bank account is cleaned out is normal because nobody wants to admit they are stupid enough to be taken..
More words please..
Yep, JUST like Ontario:
“If we did nothing, the only two alternatives would either be bankruptcy of the system or an increase of the price to consumers of more than 40 percent,” said José Manuel Soria, the minister for industry, energy and tourism, defending the government plans shortly after they were announced last summer.