Ontario goes coal-free: Toronto suffers a blackout within 24 hours

From the too not-funny to be as funny as it should be dept:

Ontario is now the first jurisdiction in North America to fully eliminate coal as a source of electricity generation. The Thunder Bay Generating Station, Ontario’s last remaining coal-fired facility, has burned its last supply of coal. Operated by Ontario Power Generation, Thunder Bay Generating Station was the oldest coal-fired station in the province. The plant is scheduled to be converted to burn advanced biomass, a renewable fuel source.

The province has replaced coal generation with a mix of emission-free electricity sources like nuclear, waterpower, wind and solar, along with lower-emission electricity sources like natural gas and biomass. The move to bio-mass rather than to natural gas has raised concerns in Thunder Bay. NOMA and Common Voice Northwest, and the City of Thunder Bay have all expressed concerns.
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Clegg tells Farage he’s a denier who doesn’t believe the Moon landings happened

Round two of the Farage vs Clegg EU in or out debate was high on rhetoric and entertainment from Nick Clegg. Farage did call Nick a liar at one point, but mostly kept his cool while Clegg became increasingly shrill, mentioning the EU as vital in our fight against  climate change. He even channelled Stephan Lewandowsky, calling Farage a fantasist who doesn’t believe the Moon landings happened.

“He’s one of those people who see conspiracy theories everywhere!” cried Mr Clegg, gesturing impatiently at the Ukip leader. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he tells us next that there wasn’t a Moon landing, Obama isn’t American, and Elvis isn’t dead!”

Mr Farage, furthermore, lived in “a fantasy world”, yearned to “turn the clock back to a bygone age” when “women knew their place”, and promoted views about the EU that were “a dangerous fantasy” and “a dangerous con”.

Nigel let him carry on, interjecting a sotto  “oh dear oh dear” as  Clegg ranted.

The outcome? The Guradian gave it to Farage 69 to 31. Yougov around the same. The LBC poll has Farage over 90%

The writing is on the wall for the parties which have denied the British people a voice for 40 years. Revolution is in the air. Farage’s parting words were:

Join the people’s army, let’s topple the establishment.

New report: Burning wood is worse than burning coal

From the Kentucky.com website:

Power plants that burn wood to produce electricity emit comparatively more pollution than modern coal-fired power plants, according to a group that advocates tougher rules on the growing biomass-power industry.

The issue is relevant in Kentucky because of a proposed wood-burning power plant near Hazard, called ecoPower Generation, the state’s first.

In a study released early Wednesday, the Massachusetts-based Partnership for Policy Integrity said wood-fired plants are not as clean as advocates claim, putting more carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere than coal or natural-gas plants when judged on the ratio of pollution to energy produced.

European Carbon Price Plunges to New Low: Sell Dead Dogs – Buy Fish!

Credit : Steve Bell : the Guardian

H/T to pat for this snippet from the Autralian

31 March: Australian: Staff Reporter:

EU carbon plunges ahead of emissions data
Speculation EU emissions fell further than expected last year has seen the continent’s carbon price experience its biggest one day drop in a year, with the price falling more than 20 per cent to below €4, Bloomberg reports.

According to the news service, carbon futures for December fell as much as 29 per cent after Britain posted a bigger-than-expected emissions drop last week, analysts are expecting the same when EU data is released this week.
EU carbon futures had reached a 15-month high earlier in the week, Bloomberg reports, as backloading took effect.

Andrew McKillop: Death Cross Mix for European Energy : No Future

Guest post from Andrew McKillop

Death Cross Mix for European Energy : No Future
by Andrew McKillop 29-03-2014

Play With the Toy Until it Breaks
Commentators have begun to focus on the “moving average” of always-unrealistic energy policy and programs in the European Union, easily finding that they signal a “bearish outlook” for future energy supply in Europe – but certainly not for energy prices.  In fact not only the poster child victim of the EU’s mix and mingle of often-extreme policies – electricity, but also increasingly gas and then oil – faces a supply outlook that almost inevitably has to be down. This is despite, or because of, ever-rising energy prices, led by electricity price rises! Prices are driven up by a death cross convergence of political, economic, financial, technical and even cultural “life style” factors. In the poster child country for European “energy transition”, German household electricity prices are around 25 euro cents per kiloWatthour in early 2014, pricing their power at an oil equivalent (1600 kWh per barrel) of around $540 per barrel equivalent. Can we be surprised that German electricity consumption is falling?

The playing field has a natural tilt climate modelers won’t see

Twitter climate debate warrior ‘Ima Disbelievin‘ sent me this short article which is worth a post. It’s a followup to the Tony Thomas article a week or so back which covered the story about the American Physical Society APS reworking their position statement on climate change and global warming.

In the American Physical Science’s transcript of discussions relating to their upcoming revision of their position statement on Anthropogenic Climate Change, Dr. Collins states:

So, we build climate models. We assume when we construct those models that the net energy balance of the planet was identically zero or effectively zero at the start of industrialization.

WSJ: Green policies destroy the economics of power generation

From the Wall Street Journal, via GWPF

On Thursday, the U.K. power regulator Ofgem announced it would refer the six biggest power companies to the antitrust authorities for investigation. Not that there’s any evidence of price collusion, mind you. It’s just that prices for consumers rose by about 9% last October, outpacing the increase in wholesale prices, and so politics demands that something is done.

To anyone who is economically literate the price increases come as no surprise, since Britain faces electricity shortages. A cold winter would push demand to 95% of capacity, meaning a real risk of blackouts.

Met Office tries on new tutu dress code

The UK’s weather will become both too wet and too dry – and also too cold and too hot – as climate change increases the frequency of extreme events, the Met Office has warned in a new report.

Credit

There, fixed, anything can be excused, same ploy as before.

Out of curiosity what is not too wet too dry too cold too hot?

And another thing, it seems the Met Office has selectively leaked to friends of the Met Office, BBC had it, The Guardian (quote source) had it. The Met Office web site Press Releases has nothing, the Met Office blog has nothing.

That’s too too much.

Why the BBC needs pushing off the taxpayers teat

Today, MP’s vote on whether it should cease to be a criminal offence to buy and watch a TV without paying a hefty fee for the production their propaganda, whether or not you choose to watch it. Nearly 10% of all court cases in the UK are for non-payment of this extortionate impost. Which of course is another burden on the taxpayer, who has to cover the cost of this TV tax enforcement. Most non-payers are people who don’t have enough money to cover all their costs and are claiming benefits. They need legal aid to fight their case. Triple whammy for everyone else.

If the BBC was a high quality broadcaster, we might be prepared to continue putting up with all this expense. But a string of scandals has so damaged its reputation and output that it has blown its credibility. The public has had enough of its antics, sins, omission, and bias. I won’t rehearse the list here, everybody knows. However there is one issue which has been successfully hidden by the BBC which deserves another mention. 28gate.

HS2: Duffers Heading for the Buffers