Coal, Glorious Coal - Sing Along with the Chorus to Germany's New Hit Musical!

Ve haf vays of getting it Rrong!

"...For all the talk about wind and solar, Germany's Energiewender is producing one big result - a return to coal. For an entire week last December, German's 23,000 windmills stood perfectly still. Solar didn't produce much power, either. Gas is still too expensive and so, unless the Germans are planning to do without power for weeks at a time, they need something to replace their nuclear reactors. That is coal..."

For Germany, It's Coal, Coal, Coal

"...Germany's energy transition has also been a transition to coal: Despite multi-billion subsidies for renewable energy sources, power generation from brown coal (lignite) has climbed to its highest level in Germany since 1990. It is especially coal-fired power plants that are replacing the eight nuclear power plants that were shut down, while less CO2 intensive, but more expensive gas-fired power plants are currently barely competitive. Energy expert Patrick Graichen speaks of Germany's " energy transition paradox": the development of solar and wind farms, yet rising carbon dioxide-emissions..."

The Cost of Generating Electricity.

13 February 2004

The Royal Academy of Engineering commissioned PB Power to conduct a study of the comparative costs of generating electricity from a number of available technologies.

Introduction 
In order to make sensible decisions about energy policy.... policy makers need to be able to compare the costs and benefits ....on a like for like basis ....

The Royal Academy of Engineering ....has often been concerned about the lack of clarity between competing claims ....

To help improve understanding, the Academy has attempted to compare the costs of generating electricity from a number of different technologies in an even-handed and dispassionate manner....

The results of the study are contained in the Academy’s report, 

The Costs of Generating Electricity.
The Cost of Generating Electricity

The cost of generating electricity ....is expressed in pence per kWh delivered at the boundary of the ....site. 

This cost value, therefore, includes the capital cost of the generating plant and equipment; the cost of fuel burned; the cost of [O & M] .... 

.... the cost refer[s] to that of providing a dependable .... supply. For intermittent sources .... an additional amount has been included for ....standby generation. 

Conclusions  

The issues to be addressed ...include: 

security of supply,

environmental impact, 

national competitiveness

social concerns. 

....the 

mix of generation ....should not be determined solely by cost ....

understanding of .... costs will enable policy makers to understand the levels of subsidy or 

market manipulation ....to give a desired outcome.

....those market 

mechanisms and subsidies should relate directly to the particular form of generation and the 

perceived benefit rather than being smoothed across the system ....

The renewables sector already benefits from subsidies worth in the region of £485 million a

year ....and concern has been expressed that Government plans to offer further subsidies (e.g. reductions in transmission charges) ....will not lead to extra investment. .... and

could be regarded as further distortions to the market.

This examination of the costs of generating electricity is a foundation upon which discussion

about future energy policy including subsidies and market mechanisms can be based....

Climate Change Deniers - What's your Problem?

Why occupy your time and devote so much energy to battling supporters of AGW and CAGW?



Isn't the point really, that you object to the cost and ineffectual solutions proposed by disciples of the various renewable-energy technologies?



24/7 base-load, on demand electricity can only ever be supplied by either fossil fuel or nuclear powered technologies.

You need to switch your time and effort from arguing against the onset of climate change, to arguing against proponents of renewable energy technologies. Your only choice in backing up your arguments is: Do you support nuclear power or fossil fuel power?

I am unashamedly a nuclear power supporter - ambivalent about some of the predicted outcomes of the CAGW camp - but desirous of halting changes to atmospheric and oceanic chemistries - on the premiss that they can't be doing any good. Also desirous of overcoming the attitude of 'Macbre Indifference': Electricity Generated from Fossil Fuels Kills Millions - Who Cares?