NET ZERO
Here are some thoughts on Net Zero / energy etc.
We need information to help us make our minds up. To get balanced information, we need to go beyond the mad, mainstream narrative, because from where I'm sitting, it's not working.
At least, not for ordinary Jo.
Let's start with a post I put on Facebook a couple of days ago…..
Me: I spoke to an elderly person yesterday who told me they couldn't sleep so they got up to walk around. It was cold in their house but they were too scared to flick the heating on because it would cost too much. So they went back to bed and wrapped up in blankets.
This is one of us, too scared to turn their heating on.
As I write (8.00 AM) the wind turbines are motionless and the sun is still asleep so there's no power being generated from either of these renewables.
We have vast reserves of natural fuels available but we're told that we can't use them. All for the greater good we're told, to save the planet we're told, while our elderly and less well off freeze.
I'm in favour of renewable, clean energy. I grew up with filthy smogs so know how far we've come in 50-odd years and I support a clean environment. But by doing what we're doing, we're compromising our now. Let's get the new technology sorted out properly before we switch the rest of it off.
Our senior generations are accused of stealing the youngster's futures, but is it not the case that our seniors are having their present (and in some cases, their final days) compromised by over-zealous, unrealistic energy targets?
When an elderly person is too frightened to turn on their heating, there is something seriously wrong.
Here is someone’s reply. He has his view, which is fine. What we’re doing here is debating – both sides, or rather in this case, two opinions. Of course, other people have just as much right to an opinion as I do.
Him: I think that there are two issues here Jo. One is about not having the heating on because of reducing our carbon footprint, and the other is about not being able to afford to pay for heating.
Both issues are the responsibility and fault of the Tory government, lack of investment in renewables, and selling off utilities to private companies and other governments, especially France, who then charge us far more than if the utilities were still in government hands.
I know the guy and respect him but I don’t agree with his point of view so I posted this…..
Me: I don't agree with that. If the fault lay with the government we would have had expensive energy for years, and we haven't. This is not a political thing. In my opinion, the fault lies in two areas, the Ukraine / Russia situation and the net zero / ecolunacy driven by hugely wealthy vested interests.
A few people / corporations are defining the way governments worldwide tackle a climate crisis, the severity of which and cause of which is far from certain. Sure, we’ve been told we’re to blame. But there is increasing evidence that things have been hyped beyond all measure. Alarmist stuff, including ice melts, the barrier reef, unprecedented temperatures, rising sea levels are all spouted by MSM as gospel and we, the ordinary Joe, have to accept and believe it. And pay for it!
Once again (like covid vaccination / lock downs, both of which we were subjected to largely unnecessarily) we are only getting one side of the story despite there being science-based evidence to contra the ‘establishment line’.
This was a Facebook ‘discussion’, just an exchange of views. He hasn't replied yet. The nature of social media is that things move on very quickly, so this thread is probably already lost in the soup of Facebook history.
Interestingly, today I see a piece on the internet involving Net Zero Watch on GB News. GB News is a news outlet that offers an alternate view to the mainstream of BBC & ITV etc. In fact, just because it DOES offer something different from the mainstream, it is perceived to be ‘crank’, anti-establishment, conspiratorial, unreliable etc. etc. Thing is, we do need alternative trains of thought otherwise the ‘Big Boys’ would be able to get away with anything they like – and often do, and have done, and will contunue to do so.
It is just because the elderly person I mentioned in my initial post is frightened to turn on their central heating that we NEED organisations like Net Zero Watch. Here's a link to who they are.
Are they right? Well, I agree with their overall mission statement, but more importantly, what they do is give us more information so we can make up our own minds.
The critical question is: How are we supposed to make up our minds if we don't get all the facts? We've had only one side of the arguement for three years, all throughout Covid. Problem is, it's becoming the norm. ANY alternative view is simply being squashed and obliterated.
Anyhow, here’s that piece:
'We are on the brink of DISASTER!' – Net Zero Watch says power from wind is unreliable.
Andrew Montford has warned that wind is not the way forward.
THE COUNTRY (UK) is on the brink of disaster because power from wind is unreliable and its expanded use depends on developing storage technology that does not currently exist, the lobby group Net-Zero Watch has said.
Deputy director Andrew Montford told GB News: “Wind is absolutely not the way forward. We've known for decades that the wind doesn't blow all the time. And actually, as the Met Office reports that wind speeds have been declining for a couple of decades, as well, so it's getting less reliable.
“Politicians have said that everything will be okay, that we're going to develop ways to store electricity so we can make more when the wind is blowing, and then we'll have a reserve when it isn't. It's just not true.
“If you look at the available technologies, there are batteries, which are preposterously expensive. We're talking millions of pounds per household, I mean, ridiculous sums of money.”
Speaking to Philip Davies and Esther McVey, he said: “There's hydrogen, but again this is a pipe dream because you waste two thirds of the energy along the way. So again, it just ends up ridiculously complicated.
“What we've done is we've gone into a drive for net zero, essentially crossing our fingers and hoping that somebody will invent some way to store electricity. And at the moment, they haven't.
“Now, what's happening now, of course, is that the wind doesn't blow and we don't have any other way to make electricity. Due to the fact we have closed down all our coal-fired power stations, give or take one or two, the gas is incredibly expensive so we are on the brink of disaster, essentially.”
Asked about storing surplus energy, Mr Montford said: “The best batteries that we have for grid-scale electricity storage are very expensive and are not getting any cheaper.
“Hydrogen, again, is a mature technology. We've made hydrogen through electrolysis for a century. So again, we shouldn't have any expectation of any great breakthroughs there.
“I mean, it's possible, but you can't plan an electricity grid based on the hope that somebody's going to come up with something that is extremely important. You should be planning your system based on technologies that you have.”
I wrote my initial post before this article was published so it’s nice it know I'm not totally alone in the energy debate universe. The thing is, we all need to think about the future.
Folks of my generation need to keep warm and safe right now. Youngsters need and deserve to inherit a clean, safe world.
We won't get either by employing current panic measures. One thing is for certain, if we just let the ‘higher-ups’ steam-roller us, the only people who will end up cold and broke will be us.