"Green" policies are destroying this country

drop table Users

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121557286#Comment_121557286

It’s just a reinvention of the Christian Apocalyptic end of days nonsense with indulgences (carbon taxes) and all that

Tis a bit sad actually now that we as a population finally more or less shaken off the Catholic Church for some to be falling for yet another cult that involves leaving critical thinking at the door

All we are missing now are saints and martyrs but there are a few candidates in the “movement” for that

Blut2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121554846#Comment_121554846

Even in the leafier suburbs they're not going to do well. The current projections are for them to return 0-2 seats in total, across the country.

Its quite an impressive achievement when you think about it - at a time when environmental issues are being pushed constantly by the media, and when a sizeable portion of the population considers climate change a major issue, when Green parties are polling at up to 20% across Europe, our Greens have been so incompetent that odds are they end up with 0% of seats in the next Dail.

If in power they had focused on giving easy to get/full grants to people for things like house renovations, replacing older cars with electric vehicles etc - things that actually improve people's quality of life as well as help the environment - they'd be a wildly popular party. But instead they put all their efforts into taxing us into oblivion and banning things, ie reducing everyone's quality of life.

patnor1011

All I am saying is that most of environmentalists do not have a clue what they talk about. That sadly apply for people in leadership positions too. Like talking about adding 67Gw offshore wind without thinking that even if that would be possible it would not work without spending couple hundred billions completely rewiring whole country. All these grandiose plans for hundreds of offshore rigs, hydrogen and ammonia production and storage, battery storage arrays, are just empty talk because we do have empty pockets and there is not enough money around to even attempt to start projects like that mainly while we are in a process of increasing cost of and crippling current energy production.

ps200306

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121556566#Comment_121556566

I posted the link to the document released by a government department which said the grid would be a mix. Which I repeated numerous times because it didn't click with a few people. Not sure what you think is a mistake by linking to a government document?

Amazing. Have you had numerous bangs on the head or is this some sort of self-induced amnesia? For the umpteenth time:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121484062#Comment_121484062

Clo-Clo

FYI

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121558128#Comment_121558128

A few years ago the U.K. capital cost of 1 GW offshore wind generation was £2.37 billion (€2.73). With the 40% increase in cost that would now be €3.822 billion per GW. 67 GW = €256 billion.

That is without the much more expensive offshore floating turbine platforms (where just for the 30 GW plan includes 28% of such turbines) and does not include all the hydrogen (or whatever the latest is) paraphernalia.

To put that in perspective, (the bit that greenies here will ignore) our total GDP is €465 billion. You would really need to be exceptioally clueless to believe that is a viable plan

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121558128#Comment_121558128

Back up several steps though. Before we even start talking about the upgrades needs for all this offshore wind we need to talk about the enormous upgrades required to the network as it is just to allow for EVs.

Clontarf bus depot can't use electric buses because......you guessed it, the grid supplying it isn't able to deliver the power required. That's just one tiny example of the scale of the problem ahead.

Another example is the current grid reinforcements required around Dublin metro area, which are waaaay behind schedule. The Dublin metro grid is already approaching fault levels that it was never designed for and it's only getting worse with fault levels on the rise every time the substations are reexamined roughly every 2 years.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121557574#Comment_121557574

Many of these published polls on peoples attitudes on climate change are by outlets with an agenda or just media looking for a headline grabber without giving much concern to the underlying issues.

Global Action Plan dug deeper into these polls and concluded that "This growing body of insight into how Irish people think about climate change shows that there is widespread desire for climate action, but that doubts remain about the cost involved, the efficacy of local action and the feasibility of a fair and just transition"

A fair assessment imo and what many here have been pointing out for a long time. It also goes a long way to explaining why the Irish Green Party is polling within the margin of error.

machiavellianme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121559741#Comment_121559741

To be fair, the introduction of asynchronously connected Power Park Modules is reducing fault levels. So much that the new connections are concerned that the system strength might be too low. It is a balancing act to get it high enough for protection equipment to function in any scenarios but low enough to not be a safety issue. But the green agenda doesn't care for things like safety of apparatus or users getting in the way.

machiavellianme

Oh dear....

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/plant-based-meat-substitutes-are-not-a-healthy-alternative-expert-warns/a1680288554.html

ps200306

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121560213#Comment_121560213

Not to worry, there'll be plenty of real meat when they have us eating mealworms ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hoz9l4l8LYw

prunudo

We've developed as a species eating natural foods for millennia, it takes a certain level of arrogance to think that eating overly processed and chemically modified foods wouldn't have negative consequences on us.

Jizique

I see BP and Equinor have opted not to proceed with their New York offshore wind venture, despite a change in the terms that would have allowed them to sell power for $170/MWh, a 70% increase on the original proposal - I am sure ireland's projects will be fine

PommieBast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121568254#Comment_121568254

I seriously wonder whether what they call "unprofitable" means "losing money" or "there's someone else lining up with bigger subsidies".

drop table Users

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121568254#Comment_121568254

That sure makes Hinkley C at £89.50/MWh and 90+ capacity seem cheap in comparison

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hinkley-point-c

So beside the failed wind UK auction with offshore wind at over 176GBP a MWh

https://eandt.theiet.org/2023/11/16/uk-pay-66-cent-more-offshore-wind-energy-after-failed-auction

we now have this data point from US too

Yeh that doesn’t look great for Eamons ambitions for 37GW of offshore wind in Ireland

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121569208#Comment_121569208

If we are to go by greens assertions that it is much more expensive to build anything here, (other that their own favored projects which would magically not be effected) then it looks highly unlikely.

The strike price agreed in 2022 for that B.P. Equinor New York offshore project was $107.5 (€98.14). That is 14% higher than the average strike price awarded for offshore here last year of €86.05. For it to be profitable for them B.P. and Equinor were looking for that $107.5 strike price to be increased to $177.84.(€162.35). Close to double the €86.05 strike price awarded here last year.

B.P. and Equinor are not the only offshore wind companies cancelling contracts in the U.S. either. Last year Avangrid cancelled offshore contracts for Massachusetts and Connecticut due to them being "unfinanceable" and in October Orsted, the world`s largest offshore wind farm construction comapany, ditched two contracts off the coast of New Jersey due to "macroeconomic factors that have changed dramatically over a short period of time"

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121569208#Comment_121569208

Since when has Eamo ever cared about the cost? He'd gladly double/treble energy bills for customers if he could get his shining new turbines up and running.

drop table Users

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121570166#Comment_121570166

Ordsted is teetering of bankruptcy (Siemens already had to be bailed out by German government)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-13/orsted-quits-norway-offshore-wind-venture-as-cost-crisis-deepens

Here is an opportunity for proponents of offshore wind to put their money where their mouths are and invest in them, either it be a success or they lose all in a bankruptcy

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121570379#Comment_121570379

Bach in 2022 it was pointed out here where prices were going with end of year returns showing turbine manufacturers were losing money hand over fist, with Siemens Gamesa being a particular financial basket case even back them. Yet we were told that economy of scale ... blah blah etc. would soon sort that out and offshore costs would only be coming down rather than increasing. Instead it has created it`s own inflationary bubble with anywhere between 40% - 100% increases.

Red Silurian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/14/it-was-a-plague-killarney-becomes-first-irish-town-to-ban-single-use-coffee-cups

Excellent move by Killarney. A green policy that's easy to implement and costs nothing for anybody! The green party should take note

ps200306

Anyone seen Killers of the Flower Moon yet? Very good movie about a murder spree in the 1920s targeting Oklahoman Osage Indians to get control of their oil money. Back in the 1980s the Osage were victims of Big Oil again, with their resources being directly stolen. Now it's the turn of Big Wind. Enel Green Power built a wind farm without permission on Osage lands. This time the Osage fought back successfully. A US court just ordered Enel to dismantle 84 wind turbines -- the removal is likely to cost them $300 million. But the Osage will also sue for damages which could cost Enel billions more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvhMcgoWtDk

roosterman71

There was great fanfare previously here regarding grants for septic tank repair/replacement when they were raised from 5k to 12k. Of course it is good and positive. But the map has been released showing areas eligible to receive the grant

https://housinggovie.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=17278d05d48e4495a7c47c1bb5443ef5

Not really so great now

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121583015#Comment_121583015

There does not appear to be any rhyme nor reason to that.

ginger22

Where have all the "greenies" gone. Gone very quiet here.

drop table Users

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121585571#Comment_121585571

Trying to keep their home warm in sub zero temperatures this morning with solar PV and not having a stove to throw a log into 😂

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121585571#Comment_121585571

Threadbanned. Ya'd miss them all the same. At least there was an active discussion then

drop table Users

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/losing-10000-when-solar-power-firm-went-bust-was-a-real-kick-in-the-teeth-says-eco-conscious-homeowner/a619651706.html

Caveat Emptor

roosterman71

A review of energy generation from 2023

https://www.greencollective.io/post/2024-01-08-2023-review

Few interesting things in this. 1) rollout of renewables has slowed and 2) the demand for power is growing and the demand is being met by more fossil fuels. The % of total power from renewables has fallen.

Another interesting things was this

While there has been a small increase in overall electricity demand and renewable generation from 2022 to 2023, Ireland’s carbon intensity of electricity decreased significantly, because imports replaced some domestic fossil fuels with those outside of Ireland. From a carbon accounting perspective, when the carbon intensity of electricity is calculated, only emissions from domestic generation are included, making imported electricity carbon-free under national carbon budget rules.

All imported power is carbon free. We need to import more to reduce our emissions.

machiavellianme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121586495#Comment_121586495

Ha, wait till the CBAM has its say!

Blut2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121586495#Comment_121586495

Thats absolutely bonkers, imported fuel is "carbon free"? It shows how completely disconnected from reality most green measures are. Just wipe our emissions off the balance sheet, who cares if the fuel we're then using is both more expensive and more pulluting as long as its imported...

Its exactly like the plans to reduce Irish agricultural output to reduce our emissions, which will only see it instantly replaced with production from Brazil or elsewhere which is much worse for the planet overall.