If the wind and solar rent-seekers destroying our power supplies know what they’re doing, it’s criminal; if they don’t, it’s still criminal. However, the penalty is not borne by them, but by you and me.
Where the premise for part-time power is said to be a looming climate ‘catastrophe’, it’s the power supply catastrophe that wind and solar are delivering on a daily basis, that should concern us most.
A burst of calm weather across Western Europe has proved the point. John Hinderaker takes a look at the slow-motion train wreck that is so-called ‘green’ energy.
Green: A Slow-Motion Train Wreck
Power Line
John Hinderaker
10 September 2021
Around the world, “green” energy is failing with consequences that soon will be catastrophic. From the U.K.: “Ireland freezes power exports to UK as energy costs rocket tenfold.”
Shockingly, if you depend on wind energy you are in trouble when the wind stops blowing.
Ireland has been forced to freeze power exports to the UK to prevent a shortage which could have sparked blackouts as surging energy prices continue to cause chaos across Europe.
A toxic combination of low wind speeds and a severe squeeze on the supply of natural gas sent power costs jumping tenfold on the British mainland on Thursday to as much as £2,300 per megawatt-hour, a new record high.
If my arithmetic is correct, that is around 21 times the average cost of electricity in the U.S. at current exchange rates. The U.S. has the resources to offset a squeeze on natural gas supplies, but the Biden administration is opposed to domestic gas production.
Ireland’s Single Electricity Market Operator had issued an amber warning on Thursday morning, alerting the public to a “general shortfall” of electricity which could result in power cuts.
The cost of energy has been spiralling across Europe, due in part to calm weather which has drastically reduced the availability of renewable power.
***
The spiralling prices will prompt further concern among officials who were earlier this week forced to fire up coal-based plants in an effort to cope with tight supplies.
In Spain, day-ahead electricity prices hit a record €152.32 a megawatt-hour according to Bloomberg. In France, the benchmark power price for delivery next year was at a record €99.50.
This is not some kind of “green” growing pains. This is the inevitable and permanent consequence of depending on inherently unreliable, and intrinsically expensive, energy sources. Other than, perhaps, Critical Race Theory, “renewable” energy is the West’s worst self-inflicted wound. But many voters won’t realize this until the lights start to go out.
Power Line
STOP THESE THINGS 
New largest wind turbine produces 45 percent more energy than previous model.
What? 45% more power, 24 × 365? Even in dead calm weather? It’s a miracle. All our prayers are answered!
Think of unreliable energy and coal power like the story of the scorpion and the frog https://newcatallaxy.blog/2021/09/25/the-real-cost-of-unreliable-energy/
The story about what happens when a frog is dropped into hot water versus placing one in a pot of cold water and turning up the heat also springs to mind.
Like the former, we have been stewing slowly since 2001 when John Howard’s little RET took effect. Some frogs, like mineral processors are nearly done, others have a lap or two to go before they’re cooked. But the result is fatal for all.
very right！Electricity is a commodity with quality requirements. It is not a scientific judgment to evaluate whether non living bodies are green and dirty from birth.