Pee Kay: Farting Against Thunder Continues

On Tuesday, March 10th, an EF-1 tornado destroyed the Dunns Bridge Solar I and II facilities owned by the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO). The facilities, located outside of Wheaton, Indiana, had 2.4 million solar panels, totaling 700 megawatts (MW) of power capacity, and reportedly cost $1 billion to construct—a little over $1,400

 per kilowatt (kW).

David Dempsey: NZ’s plan to drill for ‘supercritical’ geothermal energy holds promise and risk....

Hotter and deeper: how NZ’s plan to drill for ‘supercritical’ geothermal energy holds promise and risk

New Zealand’s North Island features a number of geothermal systems, several of which are used to generate some 1,000 MegaWatts of electricity. But deeper down there may be even more potential.

The government is now investing NZ$60 million to explore what is known as “supercritical” geothermal energy, following five years of feasibility research led by GNS Science.

Viv Forbes: First Aid for Flicker Power

Wind and solar energy have a fatal flaw – intermittency.

Solar generators won’t run on moon-beams – they fade out as the sun goes down and stop whenever clouds block the sun. This happens at least once every day. But then at mid-day on most days, millions of solar panels pour so much electricity into the grid that the price plummets and no one makes any money. And after a good hailstorm they never work again.

Viv Forbes: Battery Baloney, Hydrogen Hype and Green Fairy Tales

How low Australia has fallen - our once-great BHP now has a “Vice President for Climate”, the number of Australian students choosing physics at high school is collapsing, and our government opposes nuclear energy while pretending we can build and operate nuclear submarines. 

Our Green politicians want: “No Coal, No Gas, No Nuclear” while Our ABC, Our CSIRO and Our Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) are telling us that wind and solar energy plus a bit of standby gas, plus heaps of batteries and new power lines can power our homes, industries AND the mass electrification of our vehicle fleet. This sounds like Australia’s very own great leap backwards? 

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 28/9/23

Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a divided society

Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 18/9/23

Govt found $1m for humanitarian support after Moroccan earthquake – but what about the victims of Libyan floods?

Again, no news has been posted on the government’s official website over the past 24 hours.

Indeed, no news has been posted since Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta last Thursday announced New Zealand would be providing $1 million humanitarian support to Morocco to those affected by the magnitude 7 earthquake in central Morocco on September 8.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 7/7/23

It’s hard to tell how much will be bled from taxpayers, but midwives and Pacifika nurses are among the winners from govt news

Good governmental news has flowed for health workers over the past 24 hours – or rather, some health workers. Midwives have secured a hefty pay rise and “targeted measures” have been announced to benefit Pacific health workers.

Lushington D. Brady: Wrecking the Planet to Save It

For domestic use, solar panels are generally not a bad idea. That’s because domestic electricity consumption is generally pretty low: residential electricity consumption is about 20% of the total. And if solar output drops because of bad weather or night time, houses still have a grid connection to fall back on.

But electricity consumption is only a fraction of total energy consumption. If, as the Climate Cult demand, we electrify our entire societies, then we’re going to be in big trouble. Solar panels just aren’t going to cut it — even if we somehow cover the equivalent of the landmass of India with solar panels, as would be needed.

Point of Order: McAnulty comes clean on Three Waters....

...but Opposition MPs say his arguments for sinking our democracy just don’t wash

Not for the first time, we have had to wait a few days for a minister to acknowledge that something vital was missing from a statement posted on the Government’s official website.

In this case, Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty made no mention of “co-govern”, “co-governance” or “co-government” in the statement he issued last Thursday on a major shakeup which will see affordable water reforms led and delivered regionally.

Viv Forbes: Battery Baloney

Every day some green energy promoter or a battery salesman tells us how green energy with battery backup will supply Australia’s future electricity needs.

A battery stores energy. Energy can be stored using lead-acid, nickel/cadmium, lithium, molten salt, pumped hydro, hydrogen, flywheels, compressed air or some other smart gizmo. But NOT ONE battery produces new energy – they simply store and discharge energy produced by other means. They all deliver less energy than they consume. Moreover, to manufacture, charge, use and dispose of batteries consumes energy and resources.