As time permits, I'm going to put the esoterica I encounter related to climate change
here rather than trying to update the various pages. So this will be in reverse chronological rather
than logically organized within the structure of the rest of this website. Please don't
rely on this as a consistent and current source for climate change information updates.
Sadly, we cannot rely on our corporate-controlled mass media for good information on this, and my time is limited.
Energy politics in SK and AB (OK, also BC and ON) continue to confuse me. After Danielle Smith falsely
accused renewables of being the problem behind power shortages last week (when they were actually the hero
of the couple of hours of generation shortfalls from Alberta's natural gas generators
going offline due to the weather), here we have SaskPower moving ahead with another tranche of
100 MW of solar panels (and no storage). Although the facility will be built on land owned by
SaskPower adjacent to its Boundary Dam generating station, SaskPower won't be building or operating the PV
facility. Instead, they're off-loading the financial risk onto an independent power producer (IPP).
The biggest risk for this project is that SaskPower may simply choose not to buy the power produced,
as the only available market or connection point for this 100 MW of capacity is the SaskPower grid.
Not inconceivable as this province could choose to keep burning coal or fossil methane if they can
just tweak the numbers to make it look like PV is more expensive.
SaskPower chooses developer for Estevan-area 100 megawatt solar project (Pipeline Online)
2024.01.18 Key fact to counter the headline hysteria: There were ZERO blackouts in Alberta during the cold snap.
Extreme weather a growing risk to Canada's electricity grid: experts (CTV)
We can approach the immediate issue in a number of ways, none mutually exclusive.
a) we could try to actually fix climate change by reducing GHG emissions and waste heat generation.
b) we could actually invest in the power grid to ensure there is energy storage online (pumped, battery ...)
c) we could provide incentives to property owners to reduce their demand for electricity at
peak times, create their own local storage, increase efficiency and conservation measures ...
As Alberta has no appetite for solving the problem in a rational way that acknowledges climate change
as an issue or shifting to lower cost generation options than fossil methane or coal, there is a
looming opportunity for BC to sell electricity to Alberta at high demand times based on transmission
capacity and storage - no additional generation capacity required. During the recent cold snap,
according to the Alberta government, they bought expensive electricity from Saskatchewan's gas and coal generators. Alberta produces surplus wind
power routinely (
driving wholesale prices to $0 as recently as December 26th, 2023), they just aren't
prepared to store it within their own borders. So, BC could just take low-cost (or free) electricity
from Alberta when it's on offer, store it in BC, and sell it back at a profit a couple of weeks later.
By the way, a more fact-based report on this situation points out that:
a) the core cause of low generation during this period was 2 gas plants being off-line
b) the things that actually prevented blackouts were voluntary load-shedding and energy
from batteries previously charged using renewable energy.
[dead link: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/premiers-pan-green-energy-plans-as-cold-weather-strains-albertas-electricity-grid/ar-AA1mYhLD]
batteries were able to supply power for the first time during a grid event
2024.01.17 A less-hysterical report on the Jan. 13th from Calgary
The deceptive politics of winter in Alberta (National Observer)
2024.01.16 So who do you think is willing to pay to slant the messaging on YouTube regarding climate change? And why is it worth it to thme?
YouTube earns millions a year from channels that promote climate denial content, says new report (CBC)
2024.01.15 The EV haters have trotted out another old myth: EVs don't work in the cold.
So, I have been driving EVs for a long time - before it was cool, before Tesla, before the GM Impact ...
So, I know from personal experience that EVs start on cold mornings when the gassers don't. I still recall
a bitterly cold morning circa 1983 where my EV and I were late getting me to work. Not because of a problem with the EV,
but because I stopped at 3 houses on my street to jump start their gas cars before starting my actual commute.
Electric vehicles fail at a lower rate than gas cars in extreme cold (electrek)
2024.01.15 Why is DFO tilting the playing field in favour of fossil fuel projects instead of carrying
out its legally mandated duties?
‘No excuse’: feds withheld key information when a Coastal GasLink site flooded (The Narwhal)
2024.01.15 Solar plus battery storage is displacing fossil fuel generation, because it is more profitable.
South Africa’s biggest solar battery now online — with more power than an old Eskom coal power station (Mybroadband)
2024.01.15 Speaking of Canadian taxpayer subsidies to the oil industry ...
Ironically here on the Ides of January, the feds hand out a few bucks to Canadians labelled
the "Climate incentive", while tagging each Canadian with another $2 billion gift to the
oil industry to keep the TMX project lurching forward, on top of the CER giving express
approval to a change in the pipeline construction route and materials, without a full
environmental assessment for the change, just so the previously much-delayed in-service
date doesn't get pushed back again. All this for a project that the oil industry itself
was not prepared to build because they knew it wasn't economically viable. (Remember Kinder Morgan?)
By my count, we're now at about $1000 per Canadian in tax money to the oil industry just for the
still not operational TMX fiasco. That's on top of the $1,250 per year each Canadian is paying
in giveaways and subsidies to the oil industry, per the IMF. (See Jan. 8th entry in this blog).
Feds approve $2B loan guarantee to help TMX over finish line (National Observer)
If Poilievre wants to axe a tax, how about starting with some big numbers like the
massive taxpayer hits feeding foreign-owned oil industry record profits?
2024.01.12 Spoiler: there are mostly losers on a net carbon basis, but all are financial losers for taxpayers.
The article does at least mention that enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is by far the biggest part of the CCUS charade
at 75% of existing CCUS capacity world-wide, and most
of these projects are funded - at least in part - by taxpayers to fatten up oil industry profits.
Not all carbon-capture projects pay off for the climate – we mapped the pros and cons of each and found clear winners and losers (The Conversation)
2024.01.11 From the 'who saw that coming?' files: Leading PR firm lied about climate change change of heart
PR giant Edelman worked with Koch network, despite climate pledges (The Guardian)
2024.01.11 Nice summary article on the Canadian Carbon Capture greenwash sham
Good thing for oil industry profits that Canadian taxpayer money is infinite,
so long as it goes to profits of foreign multinationals and not feeding or housing Canadians
Ottawa supports Big Oil’s costly climate scam (Toronto Star)
2024.01.11 UK sees record number of heat pump installations in 2023
Installation of rooftop solar panels in UK hits 12-year high in 2023 (The Guardian)
2024.01.11 More grid-scale battery storage in Australia makes room for more renewable energy production
Key milestone for Western Australia’s biggest battery, with all storage units installed (Renew Economy)
2024.01.10 Another coal-fired generating station gets shut down because a battery is cheaper and better (and cleaner)
A huge battery has replaced Hawaii’s last coal plant (Canary Media)
2024.01.10 More proof we can grow the economy and deliver better quality of life ...
BECAUSE of lowering fossil fuel burning, not in spite of it. But, there's more opportunities available.
U.S. Emissions Fell by 2 Percent in 2023, Even as Economy Grew (Scientific American)
2024.01.10 Why spend money on energy storage when we can just burn more coal? Emmm, because money?
UK could save $31bn through energy storage rollout: report (Recharge)
2024.01.09 Corporate media keeps screaming that EV sales are collapsing ... but, facts
VW sold fewer vehicles - all models including gas and diesel and electric - than Tesla in 2023 in the U.S.
Volkswagen delivered 394,000 EVs in 2023 as it falls behind Tesla (electrek)
2024.01.08 Canadian taxpayers subsidized fossil fuels $50 BILLION in 2022 alone - IMF
Let's see, that's about $5,000 for a household of 4, and at an average tax rate of 25%,
that would require the household to earn $20,000 to cover the tax cost. For one year.
Now, how much extra are you paying on that mortgage or rent because inflation went up?
The worst part, cutting your own living costs doesn't help bring these costs down.
Do you find it comforting that these subsidies are going mostly to foreign-owned oil and
gas companies currently making record profits? But the legacy of past Conservative governments
is that your taxes are paying those subsidies so they can accelerate climate change.
Canada needs to phase out tax breaks for fossil fuels (National Observer)
2024.01.07 In most of the developed world, the electric grid is ubiquitous.
Finding places EV chargers is mostly about looking for existing opportunities.
BT Group to turn old street cabinets into electric vehicle charging points (BBC)
2024.01.05 Again, facts show that the shift to electric vehicles continues, and is not slowing down.
Electric cars dominate new vehicle sales after massive law changes introduced this week (GBN)
2024.01.04 Another massive solar PV installation now fully online: 300 MW
Wisconsin’s largest solar farm is now fully online (electrek)
2024.01.04 Spain ends 2023 with another record for renewable energy production
Spain generated record 50% of power from renewables in 2023 (RTE)
2024.01.04 More coal-fired generation going offline - this time: Germany
Germany’s coal power production drops to lowest level in 60 years in 2023 after nuclear exit (Renew Economy)
2024.01.03 More wind power now supplying the U.S. grid
Two large offshore wind sites are sending power to the US grid for the first time (AP)
2024.01.03 UK in 2023 - 42% of electricity generation from renewables
UK use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957, figures show (The Guardian)
2024.01.02 The world is transitioning from fossil fuels to less expensive renewable energy.
21 Gigawatts of US Coal to Retire in Next 3 Years, 88–211 Gigawatts of Solar to Join Grid (CleanTechnica)
2024.01.02 Slow down on EV uptake? Not in Norway.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-extends-lead-norway-evs-take-record-82-market-share-2024-01-02/ (Reuters)
However, there likely are places where consumers are slower to shift to electric drive vehicles,
and this is largely shaped by the behaviour of big players like the automakers and governments. Norway
provides incentives for EVs and disincentives for GHG-belchers. By contrast, some U.S. states are taking
precisely the opposite approach, penalizing EVs and subsidizing fossil fuels. Today, I'm looking at Kentucky.
Kentucky electric cars now pay two taxes where gas cars only pay one
Given that Americans are generally allergic to paying taxes, there's no better way to kill a good idea than
slapping a couple of visible taxes on it. Still, it's the disinformation underlying the "logic" of this
move that really disturbs me. EVs don't cause nearly the wear on roads that heavy trucks do, so a
rational approach to funding road maintenance would be based on gross vehicle weight, not the fuel.
Incidentally, a big cause of road damage around here is gasoline leaking from vehicles onto asphalt,
which dissolves the asphalt. Battery EVs don't leak gasoline or diesel.
Note for Canadians: fuel taxes in Canada are not used for road maintenance. Fuel taxes are collected
by federal and provincial governments and go to general revenue. About 99% of roads in Canada are
maintained by municipal governments, which don't collect any portion of fuel taxes. Municipal roads
are paid by property taxes, even for property owners that don't own a road vehicle.
Past blog pages:
2019: May June
July August
September October
November December
2020: January February
March April
May June
July [COVID gap]
2021: [COVID gap] October-December
2022: January-February March
April May-August
September October
November-December
2023: January February
March-April May-July
August-September October-November
December
2024: January February
March April
May June
July August
September
You can find many earlier postings (going back to year 2000) related to climate change at:
Keith's List Archive and
the Sustainable Biofuel List Mail Archive.
I present a lot of information in this blog and on this website. If you need some help sorting through the
noise level and getting a forward-looking, proactive approach to climate change for your business, I can do
that work for you via my consulting business. Contact