Saturday, August 12, 2017

In Australia: "Zero Coal" = "Zero Heavy Manufacturing" -- August 12, 2017

Over at "The Big Stories" there is a link to "Renewables and a Dose of Reality." Today, we have another dose of reality regarding renewable energy. The overall theme: countries around the world and regions in the US that succumb to the fallacy of free energy will lose their manufacturing base. Period. Dot.

Let's start with Australia. From a reader earlier today, a link to JoanneNova, aluminum smelters cannot exist where grid electricity if based on wind/solar.
1. Aluminium smelters gobble electrons for breakfast. [The Tomago Aluminum] smelter uses 10% of the entire electricity supply of the most populous state in Australia (New South Wales).

2. If power goes out without warning for more than three hours, the smelter pot lines freeze, permanently. The company goes to the wall.

3. The largest battery in the world would keep their smelter going for all of 8 minutes. There is a good reason there are no solar or wind powered aluminium smelters anywhere in the world.

4. The government can ‘t let the market solve anything whilst it is simultaneously destroying the free market by propping up the market failures at the same time.

5. Electricity pricing has suddenly got very ugly. Their electricity bill may now be subject to price spikes where it could cost them $4 million just to keep one pot line running during that spike. It is as if suddenly gas stations only sold $400 per Litre petrol. (Which would be $1800/per gallon). What he doesn’t say, but which logically follows from that, is that heavy industry in most of Australia can no longer get reliable electricity at an affordable price, even with forward contracts. Cry, scream, run with your factory.

6. In Australia, if we achieve “zero coal” we will also achieve “zero heavy manufacturing”.

7. If we want heavy industry, we need a HELE Coal plant. There are hundreds being built around the world, and we are selling our coal to them. How crazy are we?
On another note, Boeing Corporation had an incredible month on the US stock market recently.

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Back To Australia

Down Under, Men At Work

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