As more & more counties get more solar farms...here's some truth about solar farms
By George Franklin:
I should start by telling you what bonafides I have for writing this. I am a retired aerospace engineer. A literal rocket scientist if you will. I worked on MX (Peacekeeper) Space Shuttle, Hubble, Brilliant Pebbles, PACOSS, Space Station, MMU, B2, the Sultan of Brunei's half billion dollar private 747 with crystal showers, gold sinks and 100 dollar a yard coiffed silk carpets. I designed a satphone installation on prince Jeffry's 757. I did all of the design work for the structure of Mark 1V propulsion module currently flying on at least 3 spacecraft that I know of. Some of the more exciting projects I have worked on are not shareable.
Solar panels are at best about 20% efficient. They convert almost 0% of the UV light that hits them. None of the visible spectrum and only some of the IR spectrum. At the same time as they are absorbing light they are absorbing heat from the sun. This absorbed heat is radiated into the adjacent atmosphere.
It should be obvious what happens next. When air is warmed it rises. Even small differences in ordinary land surfaces are capable of creating powerful forces of weather like thunderstorms and tornadoes. These weather phenomena are initiated and reinforced by land features as they are blown downwind. It is all too obvious to me what will happen with the heat generated by an entire solar farm. Solar farms will become thunderstorm and tornado incubators and magnets.
Solar panels are dark and and they emit energy to the space above them when they are not being radiated. This is known as black-body radiation. Satellites flying in space use this phenomenon to cool internal components. If they didn't do this they would fry themselves.
So solar farms not only produce more heat in summer than the original land that they were installed on, but they also produce more cooling in winter, thus exacerbating weather extremes.
So I conclude with this. There is nothing green about green energy except the dirty money flowing into corrupt pockets.
There is no such thing as green energy. The science doesn't exist. The technology doesn't exist. The engineering doesn't exist. We are being pushed to save the planet with solutions that are worse than the problems.
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Hertz to sell off EV fleet in shock U-turn. Will re-focus on gas-powered cars
Rental giant Hertz on Thursday said it will sell off about 20,000 electric vehicles from its fleet and buy more gas-powered cars – a stunning reversal after tapping NFL legend Tom Brady to tout its transition to EVs.
The company said the high costs to repair electric vehicles and a lack of demand among renters led to its decision to abandon those plans.
Brady starred in a series of buzzy Hertz commercials in 2021, with Hertz vowing it would order 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022 — before Thursday’s sudden U-turn.
“The company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs,” Hertz said in a regulatory filing announcing the move.
“This will position the company to eliminate a disproportionate number of lower margin rentals and reduce damage expense associated with EVs.”
The rental service expects to incur about $245 million in “incremental net depreciation expense” related to the move, according to the filing. Those costs will be reflected in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023.
The cost of maintaining a fleet of electric vehicles has been a source of concern for Hertz executives. Last October, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr told analysts that “collision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle.”
Scherr insisted at the time that Hertz was “committed” to a “long-term strategy to electrify the fleet.”
Hertz’s used car website lists more than 700 EVs on sale including BMW’s i3, Chevrolet’s Bolt and Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y SUVs.
https://nypost.com/2024/01/11/business/hertz-plans-to-sell-20000-evs-including-teslas/
************************************************New Zealand Government Will Fast-Track New Mines
The newly elected New Zealand conservative coalition government has announced it will introduce legislation to fast-track applications for new mines, signalling a complete reversal of previous policy.
In her 2017 Speech from the Throne, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Labour’s commitment to no new mines on conservation land. One-third of New Zealand’s land is classified as being in the conservation estate.
Mining industry lobby group Straterra responded that the proposal “made no sense,” claiming “not all conservation land has high conservation value.” It also pointed to the fact that it would result in the country losing jobs, overseas revenue, investment, export markets, taxes, and funding that could help manage and improve the conservation estate.
The ban, Straterra said, “[risked] destroying livelihoods in important regions and wiping out entire communities.”
Three-quarters of mining on conservation land occurs on the South Island’s West Coast, where there are few other sources of income beyond tourism.
Nationally, 7,000 people are employed in the extractives sector and the economic contribution to GDP is $2.61 billion (US$1.63 billion) annually.
Immediate Problems
The proposed legislation immediately encountered problems, including the risk that it would put the Crown in breach of its Treaty of Waitangi Settlement with the Ngāi Tahu iwi (tribe), which granted it rights to mine pounamu, or greenstone. Ninety percent of the iwi’s pounamu is sourced as a by-product of third-party mining operations.
When initially announced in 2017, the proposal was not supported by Labour’s coalition partner New Zealand First, which now forms part of the current three-party government along with National and ACT.
Progress also wasn’t helped by Labour changing conservation ministers three times in 12 months.
By February of last year—freed of New Zealand First and able to govern alone following the 2020 election—Labour finally got a Bill before the House.
But with a new government in place, boasting an ambitious programme for its first 100 days, many restrictions on business and industry are set to be removed, including allowing projects, like a large gold mine in Central Otago, to not only go ahead but to be able to do so more quickly.
However, Minister for Resources Shane Jones—a New Zealand First MP—has said that environmental protections will remain in place.
Planning Underway for a New Gold Mine
Santana Minerals, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has estimated its proposed mine at the company’s existing 272 square kilometre site could yield between 100,000 and 150,000 ounces of gold each year, which would earn a minimum of $325 million a year at current gold pricing.
The company’s chief executive Damian Spring characterised the coalition as a “pro-mining government” in a radio interview, and confirmed they had briefed Mr. Jones in December.
The minister has said he wanted to “convince investors, convince the industry, that I can deliver a level of certainty for them, so they can spend their own money and secure the consents within the statutory framework passing for resource management and mining.”
Acknowledging that mining activity could contribute adversely to climate change, Mr. Jones said, “There are always trade-offs. I’m going to ensure that those trade-offs are put in front of the people of our nation and decided upon on the basis of science, economics, and a robust understanding as to what are the cost benefits.”
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/new-zealand-government-will-fast-track-new-mines-5565075
*************************************************************EV charging company ChargePoint pulls the plug on Australia as US-owned network shuts down stations in NSW, Victoria and Queensland
Electric car charging firm ChargePoint will shut down its network of almost 50 stations in a major blow to Anthony Albanese's plan to turn Australia green.
The US-owned company confirmed in an email to company members that it would shut down its charging stations in NSW, Victoria and Queensland from February 1.
ChargePoint told its customers it will 'no longer maintain a presence in Australia' and would cease operations of its 46 charging ports.
Electric vehicle owners have until the end of January to use the charging stations - which can only be accessed with a credit or ChargePoint card - despite the brand's app no longer working.
ChargePoint installed its first EV station in Australia in 2010 and expanded across the country's east coast as popularity of electric cars rose among motorists.
However, in 2020 the brand stopped maintaining its charging ports in Australia, with its network of stations operating via remote support from the US.
ChargePoint claimed it would shut down its charging ports in May, last year, after its local and US divisions split.
However, it took an additional seven months for the company to finalise its exit from the Australian market.
The move comes after ChargePoint announced it would be firing 12 per cent of its global workforce.
The Californian-based company share price reached a peak of $US46.10 in late 2020 but is now sitting at an all-time low of $US2.
Customers who have remaining credit on their accounts after February 1 will be refunded their full amount.
It comes after Australian EV charging company Tritium closed its doors on its local factory before Christmas, leaving the jobs of up to 400 workers uncertain.
The troubled fast-charging firm announced the closure at the company's annual general meeting that it would shut Murrarie, Brisbane factory on December 22.
Tritium confirmed it would consolidate manufacturing operations at its Tennesse base in the US in a desperate bid to save money after its share price plummeted 98 per cent.
The company will keep a research and development business in Brisbane and has claimed only 75 workers will be laid off when the factory shuts, but did not disclose if there will be further rounds of redundancies.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the factory in March, last year, to publicise it as a shining example of his advanced green manufacturing ambitions.
The Prime Minister labelled the achievements of the Aussie start-up, founded in 2001, as 'extraordinary'. 'This company has grown in a very short period of time to operate in 42 different countries,' Mr Albanese said. 'This is my third visit to Tritium. Every time I come back, I hear about more revenue, more jobs being created, and more countries where Australia is exporting to. 'This is a great success story here... and the capacity that they have to grow further is just extraordinary.'
The federal government refused to step in with a rescue package for Tritium despite the importance of chargers for the increased take-up of electric vehicles.
Tritium submitted an application to the government's National Reconstruction Fund, which aims to rebuild Australia’s industrial base, but was reportedly rejected.
The $15 billion fund was created to provide loans, guarantees, and equity for projects to create secure, well-paid jobs and drive regional development.
However, Tritium failed to secure new funding to safeguard their factory's future and was forced to shut its doors.
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My other blogs. Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM )
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Jim Hansen and his twin
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