"Green" policies are destroying this country

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119635322#Comment_119635322

No it doesn't, renewables being viable is entirely dependent on there being an affordable and workable energy storage method, which there simply isn't. This entire and critical technology is pure hopium. It's never been done by any country with vast technical capabilities to prove any of the touted suggestions are actually workable and affordable, let alone Ireland. There is just this pervading confidence, that speculative technologies must and will arise and be proven because greens want them to. It just doesn't work like that. No amount of wanting has gotten fusion within cooee of working commercially at scale. I was reading about the promise of fusion and it likely only taking 20 or 30 years to achieve, as a kid, back in the early 70's.

Realistically it's not closer now than back then. You pretend to be a catastrophist, and I simply can't comprehend how a real catastrophist and other forms of greens can not see that there is a perfectly viable way to achieve a 96% zero CO2 grid in just 11 or 12 years and 16 years shy of the 2050 target, with no doubt that it will work and which is technically viable and at less than half the cost of the current plan to make an enormous and costly bet on offshore wind.

Greens don't actually think there is an emergency, because people and governments faced with real emergencies act very, very differently. The catastrophism and talk of emergency is just a convenient weapon for blackmail to try and force the acceptance of the stupid and unpalatable.

And catastophism and all this contrived sense of 'emergency' the Irish government have lied to the people about is just so pointless, when China, India and Russia will just go on increasing their CO2 output indefinitely. Anything they say about reducing emissions are lies and just a smoke screen to avoid criticism. What a country with 0.3% of world CO2 output to it's credit, does, or doesn't do, makes not the slightest difference when those lads aren't going to lift a finger.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119635706#Comment_119635706

High pressure systems are vast and affect not just the whole of Ireland and it's wet territories, but multiple countries in Europe simultaneously, which is why interconnectors are such a risible idea, unless some countries have a vast overcapacity of nuclear or coal generation. The notion that the wind is always blowing a gale somewhere in Europe and that every single one of the possible somewheres has so many thousands of percent overcapacity and such vast interconnector infrastrure they can power all the windless countries is just so moronic, where does one start?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638034#Comment_119638034

Well such was your strange resistance that I was motivated to root out the data myself.

Found what I needed here. Note, I have 2022 excluded as its a partial year

https://www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/seai-statistics/monthly-energy-data/electricity/

Threw it into power bi and get the following

Rolled up by category at an annual level

Broken out by category

Looking closer at oil per your comment, yep its up, coming off a virtual elimination of it from our generation.

Its looks insane, and yeah you can call it, like, 300% increase approx but for context, in terms of share as a comparison to wind, its tiny so increases of a few hundred GWh, if you present as a % look huge, when in fact its a piddly amount, even our tiny amount of hydro has it beaten.

Wind presented below for context.

Another thing to remember, is the peat generation has collapsed also, so other sources taking up the slack is not surprising

Then looking at coal, yes we saw a spike with that, again coming off a massive decrease where it was almost eliminated as a source

One interesting one to note is the glaring lack of solar and offshore in the mix of our renewables. As they start to come on stream over the next few years we'll see fossil fuel generation fall off a cliff, especially if decoupling happens as planned. They'll simply price themselves out of the market

Finally, as regards gas, what happened in 2021? Does that mess up your assertion?

To show the changing face of the grid, below shows the % makeup for 2010 (left) vs 2021 (right)

Will be interesting to see what this picture is like once solar and offshore starts to show up

One last one to show, the share over time. The overall amount generated by gas hasn't really increased as a share, while wind has grown exponentially.

Thanks, this was an illuminating exercise

The public consultation part of the Energy Security review has been launched

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/624f3-department-of-the-environment-climate-and-communications-launches-consultation-on-the-review-of-the-security-of-energy-supply-for-irelands-gas-and-electricity-systems/

The public consultation is at the link below. Includes several attachments on that page

https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/dbe14-review-of-the-security-of-energy-supply-of-irelands-electricity-and-natural-gas-systems/

C&P of the govt release below

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is carrying out a review of the energy security of Ireland's gas and electricity systems, which is focused on the period to 2030, but in the context of a sustainable transition to net zero emissions by 2050. As part of this review, the department is launching a consultation today (Monday) to seek views from interested parties.

This security of energy supply review considers potential risks to both our natural gas and electricity supplies and examines a range of measures to mitigate these risks, including the need for additional capacity to import energy, to reduce energy use, energy storage, fuel diversification and renewable gases (such as biomethane and hydrogen). This review does not seek to address the expected tight margins in electricity supply over the coming winters; these are being addressed through a programme of actions being undertaken by the CRU (Commission for Regulation of Utilities), with the support of EirGrid; the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications; and industry.

The consultation document sets out the demand and supply-side risks that can have an impact on the security of energy supply for Ireland’s electricity and gas systems, such as weather events, significant increases in demand, disruption to gas imports and geopolitical risks. A short list of mitigation options for both gas and electricity that could address potential security of supply gaps in the future are set out below. All of these mitigation options were modelled under a number of shock scenarios to understand the impact of each mitigation option and the level of security of supply that they can provide. The consultation document is accompanied by technical analysis to support the review process.

The list of mitigation options, which are subject to further analysis, are as follows:

• strategic gas storage — gas storage that would only operate during periods in which there is a material risk of demand disruptions in Ireland
• strategic floating LNG — a floating LNG facility that would only operate during periods of a material risk of demand disruption in Ireland
• gas package — a combination of strategic storage, renewable gas (biomethane injection and hydrogen) and demand side response
• additional electricity interconnection — another 700MW interconnector to France in addition to the Celtic Interconnector
• additional pumped storage — an additional 360MW of pumped storage hydroelectricity capacity
• biomass plant — a 450MW dedicated biomass plant
• secondary fuel — increased secondary fuel storage beyond the current five-day storage requirement
• hydrogen plant conversion — converting a CCGT (combined cycle gas turbine) to hydrogen
• electricity package — a combination of additional capacity of batteries and demand side response

Commenting on the launch of the consultation, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, said:

"The independent review carried out by CEPA stress tests our electricity and gas energy systems to identify risks, and to provide a range of evidence-based options to address potential security of supply gaps. The analysis is undertaken in the context of major change in the Irish energy market, including a substantial increase in electricity generated from renewable sources, the phasing out of traditional fossil fuels in energy generation and electrification of heat and transport.

"As we transition to a net-zero emissions future, we must ensure that our pathway of decarbonisation is underpinned by both affordability and, critically, security in how we access and use energy at all times, including times when there might be demand risk or disruption. It is essential that we have reliable sources of energy, including adequate gas and electricity storage, so that consumer and business confidence in our economy and in our energy infrastructure remains strong. I am asking for all interested parties to review this consultation document and technical analysis and provide us their views and evidence."

The public consultation and all relevant documents are available online. The consultation period runs until 28 October, following which the responses will be reviewed. A set of recommendations will be brought to Government for consideration once the review has been completed.

Woot, LEZ's (low-emission zones) look to be on the cards for Irish cities, Dublin at least. Hurrah for cleaner air

https://www.businesspost.ie/news/dept-of-environment-asks-ags-advice-on-low-emission-zones-for-vehicles-in-urban-centres/

The Department of the Environment is seeking the Attorney General’s advice on introducing low-emission zones for vehicles in Ireland’s main urban centres, the Business Post has learned.

As part of the 2021 Climate Action Plan, the government committed to “review and, if necessary, develop a regulatory framework for low-emission zones”. A review of primary and secondary legislation, which was completed earlier this year, recommended seeking the Attorney General’s advice on introducing new legislation to allow for the zones.

Low-emission zones are areas within cities or large towns with restrictions on certain polluting vehicles for climate and/or air quality reasons. These restrictions can amount to a complete ban on qualifying vehicles, or higher charges for those vehicles to enter the low-emission zones.

cnocbui

I thought there was a boards policy against dumping entire articles in posts and that you were supposed to link to them?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638562#Comment_119638562

Its a government press release

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638576#Comment_119638576

So what? What are you going to post next, the entire statute book? I know you get some sort of perverse pleasure out of what you think is rubbing peoples noses in things, and that you clearly think just posting a link is insufficient as people might not follow them and thus avoid the face planting, but you really should control your urges and link to things instead of posting their entire content.

xxxxxxl

lol so a congestion tax that will not be removed no matter how many EV they put on the road in Dublin.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638583#Comment_119638583

I'm not taking requests at the moment 🙃

You'll have to clarify, posting notification of a public consultation on energy security review, how exactly does that rub people nose in it?

There are many posters in this thread who will contribute to that public consultation

The govt clarifies its position as regards nuclear in terms of the Energy security review

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119637970#Comment_119637970

Did the use of coal and oil not go up last year? 🧐

The proposals for gas supply/electricity mitigation options are listed below. Note I've just pulled a snippet from the content, so if you want full details, go to the link

https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/dbe14-review-of-the-security-of-energy-supply-of-irelands-electricity-and-natural-gas-systems/

Looks like, regardless of the option chosen, nothing is a quick fix, and it will take several years

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638226#Comment_119638226

Battery storage is perfectly viable on short durations less than 4 hours, and it can also be deployed for longer durations 4-24 hours if needed

But Ammonia is the likely long term energy storage solution. With a few modifications, it can be burnt using existing infrastructure with the addition of a catalyst to prevent nox from forming.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180427100256.htm

Australia are building facilities now to use surplus Solar energy to create Ammonia. Ireland can do the same thing with surplus wind

https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/press-releases/bp-study-confirms-feasibility-of-large-scale-production-of-green-hydrogen-and-green-ammonia-using-renewable-energy-in-australia.html

Ammonia could be stored indefinitely in strategic reserves, and it's also a valuable ingredient in chemical fertilizers

xxxxxxl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638826#Comment_119638826

🤔 hmmm

Akrasia

1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638884#Comment_119638884

What's your point?

Ammonium Nitrate is not the same as NH3

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638826#Comment_119638826

I recall someone recently pointed out the apalling inefficiency of using amonia, but that seems lost on you. Industrial scale accidents involving amonia are fun. Ammonia accidents have resulted in more deaths than nuclear power, which has saved, more lives than have been lost to it. And ammonia has a low energy density problem.

Highly dangerous with pathetic tech specs.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119638651#Comment_119638651

How stupid do you or the government take the population for? Legislation is never an obstacle, it can only be presented as an excuse to try and fool the feeble minded.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639108#Comment_119639108

Does it solve the storage problem, yes or no?

Hint, the answer is yes

Nuclear is still going to be part of Ireland's energy strategy, just not directly produced here

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639139#Comment_119639139

The feeble minded are the ones who think Ireland has any chance of building a nuclear power station any time in the next decade even if the government changed the law

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639139#Comment_119639139

And yet its been ruled out as an option 🤷‍♀️

Oh well

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639172#Comment_119639172

No it doesn't.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639178#Comment_119639178

Because?

ps200306

About the World Weather Attribution report posted on here, about how Pakistan's floods were made 50% more intense by climate change ... seems they may have cherry picked one model from an ensemble that showed no climate change on aggregate.

https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/series-making-sense-of-science-in-e1c

Nabber

What is surplus wind energy? ;)

Our ability to store energy is terrible and environmentally destructive.

Pumped hydro is about the cleanest, but requires so much surface area.

Energy storage creates its own challenges. Another failure point, increased maintenance, energy inefficiencies etc.

we should have went nuclear in the 80s, wasted the 90s, 00s was worse, 10s was anti nuclear…. Now in 20s, let’s not build it cause it will take too long.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639844#Comment_119639844

We have surplus at time now, when turbines have to be curtailed.

As we build up more renewable energy sources we'll have more and more times when we have surplus energy.

As for pumped storage, the one being referred to is Silvermines, reusing an old mine.

xxxxxxl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639862#Comment_119639862

Curtailed you mean when the wind blows to strong... I highly doubt there is capacity enough at the moment to affect the grid. Were we not told we sell it to the UK or something.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119639902#Comment_119639902

This explains it all in detail.

https://windenergyireland.com/latest-news/2526-dispatch-down-and-the-fight-against-climate-change

ps200306

Something that could equally apply to our energy minister, from Pielke's Substack:

Magic beans as climate policy

I’ve noticed a recent increase in what I’ll call “magic beans” thinking as climate policy. It is exemplified by aggressive calls for the impossible, such as in the Tweet below from U.N Secretary General António Guterres demanding that the “current fossil fuel free-for-all must end now.”

https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1569746633654419456?s=20&t=Es8-yaMaEiDzcGFD5UX8kw

Presumably by “current fossil fuel free-for-all” Guterres is referring to countries that are stocking up on fossil fuels for the coming winter and taking every step possible to ensure security of supply. Energy services that make possible modern life are due in large part — more than 80% in 2021 — to the consumption of fossil fuels. Recognizing this fact doesn’t make one a fossil fuel shill or a climate denier (both of which I was called this week after pointing this out) — it makes one a card carrying member of the reality-based community.

There are long-term goals to reduce dependence on fossil fuels dramatically, even completely. These goals are worthwhile as they will reduce environmental impacts, lower energy costs and increase energy security. But they can’t happen immediately. Calls for abandonment of fossil fuels now reflects “magic beans” thinking, and not anything remotely related to realistic or pragmatic policy. We might expect such demands from passionate but uniformed campaigners, but we should expect better from the Secretary General of the U.N..

YFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119632462#Comment_119632462

Where can I read about the Earth thermodynamic equilibrium?