Moe draws the line in the dirt: “We will not attempt the impossible when it comes to power production”
Trudeau says we shouldn’t burn oil, but process it. And build lots of nuclear
Trudeau speaks of supplying natural gas to #Germany, despite his government killing Energie Saguenay. And he wants to build lots of #nuclear, too. And he wants carbon capture, but his government won’t allow enhanced oil recovery incentives. We shouldn’t burn oil, but process it.
And he said all this in front of the German president, months after he told the German chancellor there was “no business case” for LNG.
Moe on Guilbeault’s ‘social cost of carbon’
Pipeline Online spoke to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s ‘social cost of carbon’. Moe is concerned it could lead to much higher carbon tax, and pave way for Clean Electricity Standard impossible for Saskatchewan to meet.
Steven Guilbeault starts talking about $247 per tonne “social cost on carbon”
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announces “social cost on carbon.” Could this mean a $247/tonne carbon tax? Could it even hit $294/tonne?
Some more details in this Canadian Press story.
This is a big deal, and a huge threat to Saskatchewan and Alberta. In this Twitter video, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault first provides the justification for why the carbon tax was originally $50, noting the government calculated the cost to be $54/tonne. Now he says they are implementing a “social cost of carbon,” and says it’s $247 per tonne. “ He calls it a “new tool the federal government is going to use on the fight against climate change.”
Is this the next threshold for the carbon tax? Sure sounds like it. Also sounds like justification for the proposed Clean Electricity Standard, to rid Canada of all coal and natural gas power generation. That’s a driving factor behind the Saskatchewan First Act. It also sounds like after the nine federal initiatives listed in the Drawing the Line White Paper, Clean Electricity Standard being No. 10, this is likely No. 11.
And have the provinces been consulted?
We’re going to build nukes, but today, Germany is shutting its last three down
France is building new nuclear reactors. So is the UK, Czechia, Finland, Canada and the U.S., to name a few. I’ve even seen an article that Poland intends on building 79 small modular reactors that are the same design SaskPower has chosen. 79! And they want to do it by 2038. But Germany? They know better. They had shut down all of their numerous reactors except three, and today, those last three are done. But hey, they just bulldozed another village to burn coal.
What do you get when you divide 6 by 3,618? The fraction of power output of Alberta wind on Thursday morning
One Alberta coal plant put out 135x what the whole wind fleet did. Not 1.35x, or 13.5x, but 135x.
Saskatchewan is going down this path. We are going to give up what we know works, for what we know absolutely does not work, on an irregular but frequent basis. SaskPower is intent on adding an additional 3,000 megawatts of wind and solar power production in this province by 2035. This will generally be done through independent power producers, with a power purchase agreement.
This low wind situation lasted from 3 a.m. until at least 2 p.m. on Thursday. And its low again right now, around 165 megawatts of 3618.
What will happen to our grid when 40% or more of it is wind and solar, everyone’s driving electric vehicles, and we have days like this? Do we not charge the ambulances? Or the grain trucks for farmers? Shut down Evraz and maybe a half dozen potash mines? Rolling blackouts?
Sure, let’s give instruction manuals to eco-terrorists. It’ll work out well
They actually made a movie called “How to Blow Up a Pipeline.” It opened April 7.
As a side note, when it comes to giving unhinged people bright ideas, the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, appear to have been closely modelled on the plot of the Tom Clancy Novel Debt of Honor, a 1994 book. The conclusion of the book saw a bereaved airline pilot fly an empty but fully-fueled Boeing 747 airliner into the United States Capitol Building during a joint session of Congress, killing the president and nearly every member of Congress as well as the Supreme Court. Seven years later, 19 Al Qaeda terrorists attempted a very similar attack, with the last plane, United Flight 93, widely believed to have been targeted at the U.S. Capitol. It was brought down by its own passengers, who fought the terrorists for control of the plane.
A whole smorgasboard from the CN Tower climber, and the feds in general
Saskatchewan is intervening this week in the “No More Pipelines Act” case. You know, the one that basically will kill any major energy project?
And if the No More Pipelines Act wasn’t enough, our good old CN Tower climber Minister of Environment and Climate Change wants to speed up emissions reductions by another 10 years. And remember, on any given day, Saskatchewan relies on up to 86 per cent of its power coming from coal and natural gas, as it did on March 15 (previously posted).
And when Guilbeault’s not doing that, he’s going to take a hard look at oilsands issues.
And on the lighter side of things, Quick Dick McDick shows us curling in a small-town, two-sheet rink with natural ice, perogies and curling for mickeys. Because nothing says Saskatchewan like curling for mickeys.
Norway or Canada – who is the climate hypocrite?
Ken From, retired former CEO of SaskEnergy, asks if Norway or Canada is the climate hypocrite?
Justin’s Just Transition
Saskatchewan’s Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre had something to say about that.
What the other side is thinking: no more fossil fuels, period
In the interest of publishing what the true believers of climate change think, Pipeline Online published this op-ed from two university professors, one from Concordia, the other from McGill. They want to shut down all fossil fuels – coal, oil, natural gas, now. Period. The article came from The Canadian Press.
If we don’t end the use of fossil fuels, all of the rest adds up to little more than branches piled on the tracks in front of a runaway train. They might slow the train temporarily, but until we get inside the engine and shut off the throttle, the train will keep accelerating.
– Eric Galbraith, H. Damon Matthews
And, in a related note: the assault on art continues, this time in Vienna, in the name of saving the planet from fossil fuels.
Saskatchewan First Act is about keeping the lights on and letting farmers keep using fertilizer
The other media simply didn’t get it, or didn’t read the full text of the Saskatchewan First Act, introduced on Nov. 1. It’s all about Saskatchewan imposing its own veto on federal initiatives that, if carried out to their fullest extent, by 2035 will literally mean cutting off up to 84 per cent of our power production on any given day. Those rules will also mean less fertilizer usage meaning less food.
This is Saskatchewan swinging for the fences, constitutionally. Here’s Pipeline Online’s take on the Saskatchewan First Act.
Thou shalt not use coal for power generation post-2030, the federal government hath said. And it’s moving to do the same with natural gas by 2035. It also wants to limit farmers’ fertilizer usage, all in the name of climate change policies.
On Nov. 1, the Province of Saskatchewan said, “To hell with that,” but in a more sophisticated, legal manner.
Saskatchewan threw down the gauntlet with the federal government on Nov. 1, introducing Bill No. 88, The Saskatchewan First Act. If implemented in its current form, the Act basically says Saskatchewan will make its own decisions and rules on environmental standards, particularly those applying to greenhouse gas emissions and power generation.
And here is Zinchuk’s column interpreting it. His daughter wonders if we’ll be reduced to kerosene lamps.
Blowout 256
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week’s lead story features the growing number of cracks in Scotland’s Hunterston reactor, which according to some requires an immediate shutdown to avoid a second Chernobyl. Then on to our usual mix of energy and energy-related stories: Low oil prices to mandate an OPEC production cut; the Turk Stream gas pipeline: coal in Germany, Hungary, Japan and China; nuclear in Poland, France, Spain and the EU; renewables in Australia and Puerto Rico; batteries in California; tidal power in France; Solheim quits; hydrogen; foldable capacitors for energy storage and how Houston’s high-rises halted Hurricane Harvey.
Note that there is some informed commentary on the gravity of the Huntertson situation. If you don’t hear from me again it will be because I’ve been vaporised 🙁
Blowout 253
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week’s lead story features Cuadrilla’s attempts to frack the Bowland Shale in UK, where its operations are routinely halted by barely detectable microseisms – “a major threat to UK fracking”, as the Guardian puts it. We follow with our usual mix of stories: OPEC either to boost or cut production; record profits for BP; natural gas in the US, Argentina and Chile; coal in the US, Australia, Germany and Spain; nuclear in Japan and China; the IPCC’s anti-nuclear bias; Germany plans more wind & solar tenders; EVs as energy storage batteries; renewables and the UK budget: Scottish Power goes 100% wind; an energy-saving cooling system, solid fuel from sewage and what climate change will do to Glasgow.
Blowout 251
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
We are told that the cost of Li-ion storage batteries is decreasing. Not so with Tesla, which has just increased the price of its 13.5 kWh Powerwall unit plus supporting hardware from $US6,600 ($489/kWh) to $7,800 ($578/kWh). The $100/kWh “holy grail” price considered necessary to support mass deployment of battery storage is obviously still some way off. To follow we have our usual mix – the latest doings of OPEC; natural gas in California; coal in the US, Germany and Finland; nuclear in Japan, Ontario, India, Belgium and Germany; hydro and pot in Canada; 100% renewables in Puerto Rico and Scotland; the Ireland-Wales Greenlink; the UK backs off EVs; car bodies made from carbon fiber batteries and what climate change is going to do to beer.
Blowout 249
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews:
This week’s feature story exposes the mess Germany’s Energiewende has become, and in the follow-up story how it’s torpedoing Europe’s carbon emissions goals. Coming after we have the Trump-OPEC war of words; Saudi Arabia abandons its $200 billion solar project; Shell’s $12 billion Canadian LNG project; the world’s “coal binge”; Australia’s Liddell coal plant to close; the Belgian reactor shutdown; UK SMR companies ask for billions in government support; the EU to cut vehicle emissions, Denmark to ban petrol and diesel vehicles; power-to-gas energy storage in UK; wind turbines cause warming; Elon Musk defies the SEC and how California Gov. Jerry Brown will make the sun shine at night.
Blowout 248
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
In this week’s Blowout we feature China, where the central government’s edict to cancel over 100 planned coal plants is being ignored by local authorities who are continuing to build them anyway (the follow-up story shows satellite photos). Elsewhere in the world: Trump and OPEC go head-to-head; Nord Stream 2 and Germany; coal and hydro in the US; a last-minute reprieve for the Vogtle nuclear plant; possible blackouts in Belgium; the Puerto Rico grid; solar in France; Australia’s emissions increase; a “major” UK gas discovery; Corbyn to resurrect Swansea Bay tidal; US SEC sues Elon Musk for fraud; zinc-air batteries; Faraday exchangers and how global warming makes pigs thin and lethargic.
Blowout 247
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
Our lead story this week features Australia, where the federal government has declared victory in meeting its 2020 renewables goal and will fix no new emissions targets after then. The mix to follow includes another oil price tweet from Trump; record oil production from Russia; the US-China trade war; natural gas and the coal phase-out in Germany; the coal crisis in South Africa; France and India to build world’s largest (9.6GW) nuclear plant; US court upholds nuclear subsidies; Ontario to scrap its Green Energy Act; the EU wants more hydrogen; the British Gas “unlimited tariff” and Gov. Jerry Brown (aka Gov. Moonbeam) sends California into space.
Earlier in the week, more madness from Jerry Brown:
Blowout 245
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
Featured in this week’s Blowout is the Paris Climate Agreement, where the big issue is no longer how to cut emissions but why the developing countries aren’t getting the $100 billion/year the developed countries promised to give them. Coming later we have global oil demand to hit 100 million bpd; oil & gas in the North Sea and Norway; the Russia-China gas pipeline; coal in North Carolina, South Africa, Poland, Queensland and the EU; Fukushima’s first radiation fatality; Austria appeals Hinkley Point verdict; melting glaciers and Swiss hydro; France names new energy minister; Alberta pulls out of Canada’s climate plan; Australia declares climate ‘single greatest’ security threat; EVs in the EU; solar companies consider leaving UK; Brexit to drive up energy bills and whether global warming caused Roger Federer to lose a tennis match.
Blowout 244
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week’s lead stories feature Australia’s new government, which has no plans to cut emissions but promises not to abandon its Paris Climate Agreement commitments. How are these two conflicting goals to be met? Coming later we have OPEC, Iraq, Iran’s oil and US sanctions; more Norwegian gas for UK; cap-and-trade in Ontario; coal in China; French environment minister Hulot resigns, France’s nuclear industry rejoices; Japanese utility to curtail solar in favor of nuclear; Tesla backs off privatization; California targets 100% renewable electricity by 2045; the UK wind and solar industries want subsidies restored; Kalashnikov’s new EV; how beavers make climate change worse and how meeting Paris Agreement targets would give us 217 million more tons of fish each year.