"Green" policies are destroying this country

Overheal · 21-01-2023 7:58pm

Not only is coal no longer financially viable but renewables don't billow mercury and other carcinogens up the smoke stack and across the local neighborhood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwP2mSZpe0Q

So, IDK why y'all are as focused on the 'climate change' aspect of it so much as you ought to be considering 'how much ppm mercury in air do I want in my climate?' (or ****, even 'do I want a climate or do I want the majestic strip mined landscape of west virginia?' don't drink the tapwater) - the poor tax of non renewables in excess mortality and onset healthcare costs it makes no sense to keep white knighting for these fuels folks.

Heck, Ireland would have a very different climate still if it hadn't been so heavily deforested, yes, back in the era where would was the economy's primary source of fuel? That would net meteorological changes - the US Dust Bowl evidenced this.

paddyisreal · 21-01-2023 9:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139544#Comment_120139544

Stop talking sense you xenophobe, sure it will be grand with all the modular homes coming on tap ...lmao .

JRant · 21-01-2023 10:10pm

https://twitter.com/ESBNetworks/status/1587451884113395712?s=19

it's a brave new world folks, buckle up cause it's gonna get bumpy.

LaoisWeather · 21-01-2023 11:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135815#Comment_120135815

Can the loss of insects be shown to be the fault of increasing C02?

Or, is it as I suspect, the overwhelming overload of chemical pollution that is the issue here?

I often wonder, if the same emphasis was placed on keeping water clean as there is on keeping C02 out of the air, would we see a massive rebound in wildlife and a subsequent decrease in cancers?

LaoisWeather · 21-01-2023 11:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137655#Comment_120137655

Brilliant stuff, less demand will see the prices drop for the 66% of us who appreciate a balanced diet and also enjoy a fine steak.

LaoisWeather · 21-01-2023 11:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140295#Comment_120140295

Oh, and forgot to add, as the less demand will obviously fcuk the Irish beef farmer under the proverbial bus, I hear the Brazilians are clearing the Amazon forest for beef farming at an alarming rate. The "green new deal EU" will import the Irish shortfall from there via the MercoSur deal.

The Irish green party, all for the ~~country~~ city.

ps200306 · 21-01-2023 11:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133074#Comment_120133074

I was referring to the European spot price for gas throughout 2022. To cut a long story short, I still object to the idea that wind energy "helped consumers avoid paying €2bn for gas". Electricity prices were high despite additional government subsidies. The Baringa figures are just a more complicated version of "wind is nine times cheaper than gas" which was cherrypicked from one day of a gas price spike. It's quite possible wind energy stopped consumers from having to pay even higher prices. But the fact that it needed a sky-high escalation in gas prices to be competitive is not much of a cause for celebration. Current prices are way too high and are damaging the economy.

ps200306 · 22-01-2023 12:05am

A wind farm in Germany is being dismantled to expand a lignite mine. A good example of Pielke's iron law of climate policy which says: "substantially increasing the costs of energy, which supports every aspect of modern life, is off the table as a policy option for achieving deep decarbonization."

https://balkangreenenergynews.com/wind-farm-in-germany-is-being-dismantled-to-expand-coal-mine/

Interesting that the wind farm in question has come to the end of its subsidy period. I expect that were subsidies to be withdrawn (as per the EU behind-schedule plan) a very large number of wind farms would never be repowered at end of life. Anyone who has been keeping track can see that wind energy financing was a once-off opportunity for corporate vultures using historically cheap money to take advantage of government largesse and gouge citizens.

patnor1011 · 22-01-2023 5:04am

I wonder how do the green church plan to get on with "rewilding" when they are hell bent on taking out CO2?

xxxxxxl · 22-01-2023 5:08am

So Greta went straight from Germany to Davos. Racking up the old milage again.

ginger22 · 22-01-2023 10:12am

https://www.businesspost.ie/news-focus/ireland-could-be-the-qatar-of-europe-for-eco-friendly-aviation-fuel/

Capt'n Midnight · 22-01-2023 10:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140371#Comment_120140371

Eight 20 year old turbines. Likely to be less than one modern offshore one, and they could be reused elsewhere.

The context is that Germany has gone from getting 60% of it's natural gas from Russian to getting Zero AND shutting down coal 8 years early.

Ronald Regan's Star Wars program bankrupted the Soviet Union because they couldn't keep up with the insane levels of military spending. The development of renewables will probably have a similar effect on fossil fuel exporting countries, because if they can't threaten to cut off supply they can't keep the prices high.

In 2021 renewables produced more electricity than fossil fuel on the German grid and that's with hardly any offshore wind.

BTW The German nuclear power stations will need refuelling if they are to continue past March but the fuel rods would likely have to come from Russia and that isn't going to happen.

Coolcormack1979 · 22-01-2023 10:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140740#Comment_120140740

Didn’t you know according to the sainted Greta her flying all over the shop doesn’t count because…….whatever excuse she used to Brendan O’Connor on rte radio

Capt'n Midnight · 22-01-2023 10:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140738#Comment_120140738

https://www.dw.com/en/creating-new-life-from-old-and-abandoned-mines/a-64377073

This is what actually happened.

Former East Germany was a coal mining powerhouse, but the industry collapsed after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Soon after, 25 open-pit lignite mines in the Lusatia region were transformed into recreational lakes. Spanning the states of Brandenburg and Saxony, water was fed into the former mines from several major rivers, including the Spree and Black Elster. Some 30,000 animal and plant species have since been drawn to the region, leading to an increase in biodiversity.

Lake Geierswalde and Lake Partwitz in particular have since become holiday hot spots. .... Meanwhile, grape varieties are thriving on the slopes of the former Meuro opencast mine that is now Lake Grossräschen in Brandenburg.

Pa ElGrande · 22-01-2023 10:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140898#Comment_120140898

That just screams poor energy returned on energy invested (ERoEI). Low ERoEI is expected to correlate with high cost and in the normal run of events investors should steer clear of such poor investment returns. Guess what the Greens and their acolytes will do? Shovel grants and carbon taxes their way in the name of green jobs. It will be back to the 1980s again, few will be able to fly, which is the Greens and their billionaire friends at Davos intention.

Pa ElGrande · 22-01-2023 11:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139495#Comment_120139495

The final meeting of the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity took place today. Did many others watch it live?

You didn't.

c.p.w.g.w · 22-01-2023 11:49am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131272#Comment_120131272

Means that all the local emergency departments will be on alert, as hydrogen is super leaky and super explosive when compared to natural gas

22-01-2023 11:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140898#Comment_120140898

It's sounds like they are fishing for investors to, umm, maintain the status quo by using CCS tech to offset the emissions from their fuel which will still result in co2 emissions

Like all fuels, Zero’s synthetic petrol or gasoline will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when burned. But the company claims its process, which it calls petrosynthesis, operates in a circular rather than a linear manner. This is because it envisages capturing the same amount of carbon dioxide as is released as greenhouse gas when planes are run. In this way, it is not a net remover of carbon from the atmosphere, but it is not adding any extra carbon dioxide either.

Good luck with that

c.p.w.g.w · 22-01-2023 11:56am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137655#Comment_120137655

Brilliant more for me

Pa ElGrande · 22-01-2023 12:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141105#Comment_120141105

"Hydrogen ready" is a marketing ploy to sell equipment. It's like watch salesmen flogging deep sea diving watches to their customers who can't swim. The Greens and the people they have green-washed are only concerned about "the science" (i.e. belief in CAGW), rather than any science to do with the laws of thermodynamics. The rush to push hydrogen is really an attempt to save the current net zero agenda. Hydrogen appeals to politicians faced with the task of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions while sustaining economic growth, realising this, some ambitious people have put together schemes to soak up the tax payer funds, it does not matter that these schemes will fail, from the politicians point of view appearance is what counts and you can use the EPA survey to deflect any criticism. Thats why you can away with blowing lots of money on building a hospital, it's for the children . . .

Capt'n Midnight · 22-01-2023 1:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140983#Comment_120140983

Thanks.

I was going to write up something on the plan to sequester CO2 by pointing out the release of CO2 and methane from Fossil Fuel extraction at source would never be compensated for by capturing CO2 at the other end of the line. And satellite observations have proven that the fossil fuel companies have understated their emissions.

Energy to fuel is different as the energy is cheap because you are storing the surplus electricity rather than letting go unused. You aren't competing for it at peak times. For low mileage cars it may be greener to use those sort of fuels in an existing car rather the replace the vehicle.

Pa ElGrande · 22-01-2023 2:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120139463#Comment_120139463

More green virtue signalling on behalf of billionaires. Hope you are getting your cut of the action and the selection process goes well for you.

Meanwhile the real work gets done, Guyana Is On Track To Become A Leading Global Oil Producer, and Germany's dirty Colombian coal

Where are the green jobs to replace those lost?

How Colombia plans to keep its oil and coal in the ground

As 7,000 workers – from a workforce of 7,300 – lost their jobs and contractors left town, nearly 100 restaurants, cafes, hotels and other businesses closed, the local branch of the country’s largest coal workers union says. As a result, according to the town's mayor, the municipality lost 85% of its income.

<snip>

Conversely, Colombia is among the top coal producers globally and heavily dependent economically on fossil fuels: between 40 and 50% of its exports are coal and oil. Taxes from the sector and dividends from the partially state-owned oil Ecopetrol – the largest company in the country – account for about 9% of the central government's income.

There is a lot of money sloshing around in climate lobbying, so we are experiencing a perverse incentive like the British East India company cobra problem.

A famous anecdote describes a scheme the British Colonial Government implemented in India in an attempt to control the population of venomous cobras that were plaguing the citizens of Delhi that offered a bounty to be paid for every dead cobra brought to the administration officials. The policy initially appeared successful, intrepid snake catchers claiming their bounties and fewer cobras being seen in the city. Yet, instead of tapering off over time, there was a steady increase in the number of dead cobras being presented for bounty payment each month. Nobody knew why.

Barry Brill: For billionaires, climate lobbying is hot

Big questions

While these few anecdotes have found their way into the press, the bulk of lobbying activity is inherently secretive – sunshine is too effective as a disinfectant. So, I have no doubt that the above examples are merely the tip of the iceberg. They are the well-publicised actions of white American men who are household names (cue Bill Gates, Mark Benioff,) and exclude the other 2,667 billionaires (cue Laureen Jobs) counted by Forbes magazine.

You might think that this barely-imaginable cataract of cash could buy almost anything in this money-conscious world. Can it buy scientific research grants? Access to scientific journals? Resolutions at conferences of public-sector scientists? The sympathetic ear of UN officials? Consensus at Davos?

What would happen if all this billionaire philanthropy was to be withdrawn from politicians, bureaucrats, environmental organisations, newspapers, broadcasters, etc?

An interesting factoid I picked up which genuinely surprised me, The charity industry is the second biggest sector source of employment in the UK.

22-01-2023 2:41pm

Ouch, Exxon look to be in real trouble after it emerged their own scientists accurately predicted the climate impacts of continued fossil fuel use. The company waged a misinformation campaign on the foot of that prediction, which, as can be seen by several poster on this thread, was quite successful at duping quite a few.

It looks like now their own analysis is going to get them in further trouble as its going to be used against them in several lawsuits

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/19/exxon-climate-crisis-lawsuits-documents

22-01-2023 2:46pm

What an impressive young lady, one of tomorrows future leaders no doubt

https://connachttribune.ie/11-year-old-galway-girls-petition-for-real-action-on-climate-change/

A young Galway girl who really cares about the planet’s future has lobbied her fellow primary school pupils to sign a petition – and has now sent over 760 signatures to the Taoiseach, demanding real action to help.

Beth O’Reilly is a pupil in Ballinderreen National School – and an eleven-year-old with a determination to make a difference.

JRant · 22-01-2023 2:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141567#Comment_120141567

Bit late to the party with this one. It's been discussed ad nauseam and isn't the burn you think it is.

JRant · 22-01-2023 2:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141585#Comment_120141585

Yes, let's hand over policy decisions to 11 years olds who clearly understand the micro and macro elements of removing fossil fuels completely. That's a rock solid plan alright.

Pa ElGrande · 22-01-2023 3:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141567#Comment_120141567

You are not telling is the full story are you? Here is yet more information about the background to this.

Bloomberg-Funded AGs Push Climate Cases Targeting Domestic Energy Producers

For years, the former New York mayor and one-time presidential candidate has been quietly funding private attorneys to work in public attorneys general offices in states from Minnesota to Delaware. They are always Democratic offices, and those privately-funded attorneys take environmental cases advancing Bloomberg’s green-politics agenda.

How Billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg Corrupted Climate Science

Each of Steyer, Bloomberg and Paulson contributed $500,000 to the initial project, which was focused on “making the climate threat feel real, immediate and potentially devastating to the business world.” The initial aim was to produce a series of reports, drawing on several young academics and the expertise of external consultants at the Rhodium Group and Risk Management Solutions.

The first report was published in June, 2014 and was titled “Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States.” The Risky Business approach was a smart if flawed way to place economics at the center of climate policy. The approach focused on characterizing the extreme RCP8.5 scenario as “the closest to a business-as-usual trajectory” and centered its economic analysis on that scenario: “we focus on RCP 8.5 as the pathway closest to a future without concerted action to reduce future warming.” In this way they guaranteed that the economic impacts would be eye-poppingly large. source

22-01-2023 3:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141632#Comment_120141632

When you use Roger Pielke as a source 🤦‍♂️

Seriously, do you have any sources for anything that have not been classified as misinformation / climate deniers / conspiracy theorists?

I mean, even by the law of averages, you should have accidently posted a legit source at this stage yet you somehow manage to still pull out these quacks

Its the equivalent of trotting out quotes from Gemma O'Doherty as a source for a discussion on covid lol

tayto lover · 22-01-2023 3:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137655#Comment_120137655

That's a rubbish report that cannot be substantiated. Paper never refuses ink.

charlie14 · 22-01-2023 3:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135131#Comment_120135131

But that is not how the marginal pricing policy operates.

Under the E.U. marginal pricing policy all suppliers bid into the power market with the cheapest sources coming in first, followed by the pricier sources. The wholesale electricity price is set by the last plant needed to meet overall demand i.e gas. It does not matter if the percentage of gas in the overall generation is as low as 5%, the wholesale price is still set by the gas price.

Why do you think the E.U. was mussing over decoupling gas from the marginal pricing policy ?

Even if they had it would only mean that the wholesale price would then be paid at the next most expensive fossil fuel source regardless of the percentage in the generation mix.

"Green" policies are destroying this country

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