Category: Alternative Subsidy

Y2Kyoto: State Of Anorexia Envirosa

Alternative Subsidy Climate Cult Y2Kyoto 8 Comments

The UK has more than 11,000 wind turbines.

The UK is planning for several days over the winter when cold weather may combine with gas shortages, leading to organized blackouts for industry and even households.

Under the government’s latest “reasonable worst-case scenario,” Britain could face an electricity capacity shortfall totaling about a sixth of peak demand, even after emergency coal plants have been fired up, according to people familiar with the government’s planning. Under that outlook, below-average temperatures and reduced electricity imports from Norway and France could expose four days in January when the UK may need to trigger emergency measures to conserve gas, they said.

Another nail in the coffin

Alternative Subsidy Tommy Douglas: Not Dead Enough 33 Comments

When faced with the ongoing collapse of socialized medical care, who would think it wise to double down and extend the mayhem to dentistry? Jagmeet Singh and his coalition partner, that’s who.

Though details are scarce, the sources say the temporary solution would involve giving qualifying families the money directly to fund their dental health services while the government works on a more permanent, expanded program.

 

We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars

Alternative Subsidy 64 Comments

They were promised there’d be no math.

“We systematically researched the entire industry — who buys cars, where they’re built, how much they cost, what segments they’re in and what consumers do with them,” said Patrick Anderson, the founder of Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group (AEG). “Our research shows that a lot of Americans have been given a false impression about EVs.”

In April, AEG released its annual report analyzing the real world costs of vehicle ownership, comparing EVs to gasoline-powered cars. The report concluded that traditional mid-priced 2021 cars have a cost advantage over mid-priced EVs after factoring in electricity costs, charging equipment costs, road taxes and “deadhead miles,” the distance consumers need to travel to remote charging stations.

EVs charged using residential and normal commercial charging methods cost about $0.50 more per 100 miles than comparable traditional vehicles, according to the report. EVs charged using more expensive commercial charging stations cost about $4 more per 100 miles.

“The first thing that a lot of potential electric vehicle owners need to be aware of is that they’re probably going to be paying both their home utility bills and the cost of charging at commercial chargers,” Anderson told FOX Business. “Failing to understand that a large number of miles that the typical American travels are away from home and require using a fueling station that’s not in their garage, would be a very costly mistake for a potential EV driver.”

Anderson added that AEG’s research showed 78% of electric vehicles are luxury vehicles and most EV purchasers also own traditional vehicles.

“A very large share of the electrical vehicles themselves are owned by affluent people and, often, wealthy people,” he said, arguing government subsidies for EVs mainly benefit the upper class.

We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars

Alternative Subsidy Roadkill 45 Comments

…at this point, I owe the universe an apology. A few weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal published a piece about an EV road trip gone awry. The headline says it all: “I Rented an Electric Car for a Four-Day Road Trip. I Spent More Time Charging It Than I Did Sleeping.”

As a smug EV evangelist and self-proclaimed EV expert, I rolled my eyes. “They just didn’t plan well enough,” I thought to myself, not realizing I was merely hoisting myself on my own petard. A few weeks later, it was time to drive from DC to Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes region of New York, this time in a BMW iX. And despite plenty of planning, I still spent almost as much time stationary, arguing with charging machinery, as I did actually pulling electrons into the car’s battery pack throughout the 600-mile journey.

Y2Kyoto: The Art Of Theatre

Alternative Subsidy Climate Cult Y2Kyoto 18 Comments

the EU is in serious trouble on power grids. they chased a made up green dream where over-priced and under-reliable power sources like wind and solar were subsidized and mandated into adoption while longstanding and effective nuclear was shut down (though france did mostly keep theirs). and now, as they rapidly discover their newfound dependence on geopolitical rival russia and desperately need solutions, what is the grand plan of france?

to turn off the streetlights.

Y2Kyoto: Schadenfrozen

Alternative Subsidy Climate Cult Y2Kyoto 29 Comments

The German Economy Is On The Brink

The economist Herbert Stein once wrote that if something cannot go on forever, it will stop. It seems like the German — and with it probably the European — economy is reaching that point. Most of Europe’s 100 largest companies were founded in the 1980s or before, which means that the old continent has entirely slept through the digital revolution of the 1990s and 2000s. There is no European counterpart to American corporations like Facebook, Amazon, E-Bay or China’s Alibaba or WeChat.

This became painfully clear during the Covid pandemic, when the once vaunted German bureaucracy was revealed to rely on paper, pens and fax machines in its health care system due to a complete lack of digitalisation in key areas. Not surprisingly, the German economy shows cracks elsewhere as well. Measured by market capitalisation, only one German company makes it into the top 100 worldwide, and German market capitalisation as a share of global market capitalisation has shrunk to 1.97%, an all-time low. These are devastating numbers for a country that just a few years back was seen as a model for the world with its transition to Green energy and the planned exodus from nuclear power.

In fact, to add insult to injury, one of the largest German producers of rotator blades for wind turbines has announced it will close down production in Germany and move to India. Similarly, Villeroy & Boch, a company that has produced tiles in the German city of Merzig since 1879 will retire its factory and move manufacturing to Turkey, quoting high energy and labour costs as the main reason. One could argue these are just anecdotes, but it is probably no coincidence that for the first time in 30 years Germany posted a trade deficit of over one billion euros, meaning that Germans are importing more than they are exporting.

More: Germany Is Quietly Shutting Down As Energy Crunch Paralyzes Economy

According to the FT, Germany is now rationing hot water, dimming its street lights and shutting down swimming pools as the impact of its energy crunch begins to spread like the proverbial Ice-Nine wave, from industry to offices, leisure centers and residential homes.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Fans

Alternative Subsidy 13 Comments

Texas wind power is failing.

A scorching heat wave is pushing the Texas grid to the brink. Power demand is surging as people crank up air conditioners. But meanwhile, wind speeds have fallen to extremely low levels, and that means the state’s fleet of turbines is at just 8% of their potential output. […]

Depressed wind power during heat waves isn’t a new phenomenon. Powerful high-pressure systems that cause intense heat often squelch wind production — just when more power is needed to meet higher electricity demand. The mass of air overhead stifles wind near the surface, until the mass moves elsewhere.

A “phenomenon”. Here’s another: wind doesn’t blow when it’s cold, either.

Ring Of Fire

Alternative Subsidy 34 Comments

Is there NOTHING they won’t strap a lithium firestarter to?

More than 400,000 solar-powered patio umbrellas sold at Costco have been recalled by authorities after it was announced that the product can overheat and potentially burst into flames. […]

Batteries used in the umbrella to create that sought after “ambiance” are what the agency believes to be causing trouble. They received six reports of the lithium-ion batteries overheating, with three of those reports resulting in “solar panels catching fire while charging via the AC adapter indoors” while two other incidents ended with the umbrella itself becoming ablaze when the solar panel puck overheated and caught fire while attached to the umbrella.

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation