Mega-Pumped Hydro Project Becomes Total Economic & Environmental Disaster

Touted as the saviour for subsidised wind and solar, pumped hydro turns out to be a whole lot harder in practice. The Snowy 2.0 plan (see above) never stacked up economically – see our posts here and here – and never will. One of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) critical to the project, Florence had barely struck … Continue reading Mega-Pumped Hydro Project Becomes Total Economic & Environmental Disaster

Facts Trump Feelings: Grand Wind & Solar ‘Transition’ Tale Rapidly Unravels

The only certainties attached to the wind and solar transition are being constantly whacked with crushing power bills and sitting freezing or boiling in the dark, when the sun sets and/or calm weather sets in. Whereas Europeans are crab-walking away from their mad rush towards wind and solar - with many tapping into next-generation nuclear power … Continue reading Facts Trump Feelings: Grand Wind & Solar ‘Transition’ Tale Rapidly Unravels

Doomed to Inevitable Failure: Grand Wind & Solar ‘Transition’ Built On Subsidies & Bullshit

As wind and solar capacity increases, it becomes increasingly evident they are hopelessly incapable of delivering power as and when we need it. Back in January 2021, Germany shut down 11 coal-fired power plants (with a total capacity of 4.7 GW). That shutdown lasted eight days, with most of the plants up and running by … Continue reading Doomed to Inevitable Failure: Grand Wind & Solar ‘Transition’ Built On Subsidies & Bullshit

Snowy 2.NOTHING: Giant Pumped Hydro Scheme Becomes Costly & Pointless Disaster

Along with giant batteries and ‘green’ hydrogen, pumped hydro is touted as the solution to wind and solar power’s hopeless intermittency. Five years ago, Australia’s PM, Malcolm Turnbull pitched his very own mega-pumped hydro project, tagged Snowy 2.0. The numbering was meant to be a nod to computer program upgrades and signal an improvement on … Continue reading Snowy 2.NOTHING: Giant Pumped Hydro Scheme Becomes Costly & Pointless Disaster

All Downhill: Australia’s Largest Pumped Hydro Scheme Grinds to Insanely Costly Halt

Loose talk about ‘green’ hydrogen, mega-batteries and pumped hydro is the default response from rent seekers forced to face up to wind and solar’s hopeless intermittency. None of the aforementioned generate a single watt of electricity; all of them chew up mountains of energy and resources in their creation; and all of them consume electricity … Continue reading All Downhill: Australia’s Largest Pumped Hydro Scheme Grinds to Insanely Costly Halt

New-Age Cargo Cult: Why Wind & Solar Push Continues to Deliver ‘Green’ Elephants

A new cargo cult is wedded to the notion that sunshine and breezes is all we need for peace and prosperity. When reality rattles the cult (eg sunset and calm weather), it tells us that a little mythical technology (think giant lithium-ion batteries or ‘green’ hydrogen) is all that stands between us and a veritable … Continue reading New-Age Cargo Cult: Why Wind & Solar Push Continues to Deliver ‘Green’ Elephants

Destination Destruction: Australia’s Wind & Solar Policy A National Suicide Pact

Australia’s energy policy is a self-inflicted calamity driven by an obsession with intermittent wind and solar. Only a complete collapse of the grid will cause those who pretend to govern us to get a grip. But, thankfully, a complete ‘system black’ is on the cards this coming summer. The Federal Energy Minister, Angus Taylor has … Continue reading Destination Destruction: Australia’s Wind & Solar Policy A National Suicide Pact

Massive & Endless Subsidies Destroy Claim That Wind & Solar Cheapest Of All

In the ‘pigs might fly category’ sits the claim that intermittent wind and solar are the cheapest power sources, amongst all contenders. Were there even a shred of truth to that story, then renewable energy rent seekers wouldn’t be hounding policymakers at every turn to ensure that the massive subsidies they currently enjoy be guaranteed … Continue reading Massive & Endless Subsidies Destroy Claim That Wind & Solar Cheapest Of All

Wicked Waste: Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project Australia’s Biggest Energy White Elephant

With a price tag in excess of $10 billion, Australia’s biggest pumped hydro project, Snowy 2.0, is easily its single biggest white elephant. Sure, the Feds have already squandered magnitudes more on subsidies and soft loans to wind and solar. And the purported benefit of Snowy 2.0 is to use excess wind and solar power … Continue reading Wicked Waste: Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project Australia’s Biggest Energy White Elephant

All Uphill: Australia Squanders $10Billion on Giant Pumped Hydro Power White Elephant

Australia has its former PM, Malcolm Turnbull to thank for its largest and most expensive renewable energy boondoggle, the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project. Touted by the patrician and aloof Turnbull and his hapless sidekick, Josh Frydenberg as the Nation’s mega-battery, the heavily-hyped pumped hydro scheme (shelved in the 1970s because it was uneconomic then) … Continue reading All Uphill: Australia Squanders $10Billion on Giant Pumped Hydro Power White Elephant