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

Diesel Driven: World’s First “Net-Zero” Wind Power/Pumped Hydro System A Dismal Failure

The climate/RE cult’s latest mantra “net-zero”, apparently means wind and solar connected to batteries or pumped hydro. The notion has it that wind and solar’s hopeless intermittency can be overcome by a few TWh’s worth of giant lithium-ion batteries or, where geography and hydrology permit, pumped hydro systems. The latter model involves using wind and … Continue reading Diesel Driven: World’s First “Net-Zero” Wind Power/Pumped Hydro System A Dismal Failure