THIS BLOG IS HAVING TO CLOSE

Despite making every effort to sort out the issue of links not working I have got nowhere with blogger or Google, who own them. Without being able to link to an article it defeats the purpose of this blog. I will now have to reduce my postings to occasional ones. 

ENERGY FOR AFRICA

London, 29 June: Today the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is launching its Energy Justice project, seeking to highlight how reliable energy access is central to the problems of people and businesses in the developing world, and showing how it must be central to any attempts to change things for the better. 

Energy Justice is centred around a new website, that will highlight our research into some of these areas through reports and videos. To kick off the project, GWPF has designated this "Energy for Africa" week. 

RADICAL GREEN SPOKESWOMAN CHANGES HER MIND ON NUCLEAR ENERGY

Daily Mail, 25 June 2020


Extinction Rebellion’s spokeswoman has quit the protest group to become a nuclear power campaigner.

Zion Lights, 36, has left the climate change cause, which brought London to a standstill last year, to join pro-nuke outfit Environmental Progress.

The former XR communications head said she had felt ‘duped’ after being surrounded by anti-nuclear campaigners until she read more into the radioactive fuel.

Zion Lights, pictured in mask and speaking at an event, has quit Extinction Rebellion after deciding nuclear power is the future
Mother-of-two Zion said: ‘The facts didn’t really change, but once I understood them I did change my mind.’

Zion, who was born in the West Midlands and given her unusual name as a baby, said: ‘I have a long history of campaigning on environmental issues, most recently as a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion UK.

‘Now, I have quit the organisation to take up a position as a campaigner for nuclear power.’

UNKNOWN BUT WELL RESOURCED BODIES KEEP UP THE CLIMATE PROPAGANDA

Have you heard of the IEMA ( Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment )? They are one of the dozens of organisations pushing for policies to reduce emissions of CO2 to "save the planet". Here is a link to their website:
https://www.iema.net/about-us/  They write to me regularly via email. Here is an extract from their latest email:

"As the UK experiences another heatwave, we are increasingly aware of climate change and the future challenges it will bring to our infrastructure and society."

This is the kind of subliminal message that we have become used to - suggesting that any spell of hot weather, which we would expect to have in any decent summer, must be seen as an artefact of climate change.  

 

BEWARE THE WORST CASE SCENARIO IN CLIMATE MODELING

Whenever you read a media story about how we’re heading toward catastrophe if we continue operating “business as usual” — i.e., if we don’t slash carbon emissions — the reports are almost always referring to a model simulation using RCP8.5. And you can bet that nowhere in the story will they explain that RCP8.5 is an implausible worst-case scenario that was never meant to represent a likely base case outcome, or that scientists have begun castigating its usage as a prediction of a doomed business-as-usual future.

The term RCP8.5 refers to a greenhouse gas emissions scenario often used by scientists for climate model projections. You might never have heard of RCP8.5 but you have definitely heard of forecasts based on it. Listening to the politicians who make the strongest pleas for radical climate action, it is clear that their fears for the future are driven by RCP8.5 scenarios, yet it is also clear that they have no idea what it is or what is wrong with it.

RCP stands for “Representative Concentration Pathways,” or projections of how much carbon dioxide (CO2) will accumulate in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel use over the coming century. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) generated a set of four RCP scenarios a decade ago, attaching to each a number indicating how much “radiative forcing” (a measure of global warming potential) each one generates. RCP2.6 refers to a benign, low-end emission scenario with correspondingly minimal radiative forcing. In the middle are RCP4.5 and RCP6.0, and at the top end is RCP8.5, a scorcher that predicts historically unprecedented increases in global CO2 emissions.

To appreciate how implausible RCP8.5 is, consider its coal use trajectory. From the 1920s to the year 2000, global coal consumption stayed between 15 and 20 gigajoules per capita, peaking at 20 in 1960, falling back to 15 by 2000, then rising to about 23 earlier this decade with the sudden industrialization of China and India. Groups like the International Energy Agency expect it will gradually return to the 15-20 gigajoule per capita range by 2040.

The RCP8.5 scenario offers a different outcome. Instead of a return to normal, it projects coal use will rise to about 30 gigajoules by 2040, 45 gigajoules by 2060 and 70 gigajoules by 2100. No one seriously believes this is even possible, including people who use RCP8.5 in their climate simulations.

THE INTER-CONNECTOR MERRY-GO-ROUND

On Saturday 23 May at about 8.30 pm the electricity interconnectors that link us to grids across the Channel were humming. France was supplying us with 152 MW and the Netherlands were supplying 466 MW. Meanwhile, however, the UK was supplying Belgium with 688 MW. 

The cables across the English Channel can only use direct current (DC), and the grids on both sides of the water use alternating current (AC). So the 600-odd megawatts of electricity coming from France and the Netherlands had to be converted from AC to DC and then back again.

A somewhat larger supply of power was, at the same time, sent to the Belgian interconnector, where it was converted to DC for its journey back across the water. At the other side it was converted back to AC for injection into the Belgian grid.
But each step along the way involves energy losses. 

 For electricity that does the full trip, from the Netherlands to the UK to Belgium, the conversion process is only 90% efficient. So 60 MW of electricity is simply being converted to heat and lost; at the windspeeds prevailing that weekend, this is the equivalent of the output of 150 onshore wind turbines.
And who pays for those losses? Why of course we, the electricity consumers, do.
 
Written by Mike Travers CEng, MIMechE, FIET who is a retired electrical engineer, having worked in the Royal Engineers, the hydroelectric sector, and in manufacturing industry.

COAL USE TO INCREASE IN CHINA

China’s New Coal Push As Relations With West Sour
Bloomberg, 16 June 2020

China’s embrace of coal could tighten even further if tensions with the U.S. escalate, with policymakers prioritising energy security over climate change. 

China will likely ease the pressure on local governments to shut older, inefficient coal mines as it seeks to meet rising demand of the most-polluting fuel to spur its economic recovery. 

Government officials are in the midst of preparing the country’s all-important five-year-plan, the guiding document for policy and industrial development from 2021 to 2025. Unlike the previous edition, when China made a major push to cut overcapacity to support prices and help miners struggling with mounting debt, the government isn’t likely to set any targets for mine closures, analysts forecast.

But the lack of a hard target now would underscore the continuing dependence on coal in China, which mines and burns half the world’s supply.

ENVIRONMEMT AGENCY CHIEF ACCUSED OF MAKING FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT UK WEATHER

The GWPF have today published an official press release criticising Sir James Bevan’s claims that the UK is “no longer a wet and rainy country”

A new report, The Great British Rain Paradox, has just been published, warning of potential water shortages in the UK in years to come.
It claims that the major factor for this is climate change. The foreword, written by the CEO of the Environment Agency Sir James Bevan, states:

"Climate change is causing long spells of dry weather that are putting our water resources under increased pressure. May 2020 has been the driest on record and exceptionally dry weather across the south east between 2017 and 2019 led to some of the lowest groundwater levels we have ever seen.”

These claims have no basis in fact. Official Met Office data shows that the UK has actually been getting wetter in recent decades.

May 2020 certainly was not the driest on record either – in the UK as a whole, it was only the ninth driest since records started in 1862. The driest May was in 1896.
Analysis of regional rainfall data also fails to support Sir James’ claims.
Neither does the claim of exceptionally dry weather in the South East of England stand up to scrutiny. Met Office data proves that rainfall there between 2017 and 2019 was in fact close to average.
There are undoubtedly good reasons why water shortages may occur in future, such as population growth and increased demands. Spurious claims about climate change will simply serve to draw attention away from these very real issues and the failure to expand storage and deal with water leaks.
GWPF director Dr Benny Peiser said

This is not the first time Sir James has been caught playing fast and loose with the facts to support a political agenda (3). He should apologise and issue a correction.”

Notes for editors
1) The Great British Rain Paradox is available here: https://www.savewatercleanclever.co.uk/content/dam/rbfinishposeidon/uk/report/The%20Report.pdf
2) Met Office rainfall data can be accessed here: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-and-regional-series
3) James Bevan’s speech not supported by scientific evidence – Environment Agency: https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2019/11/10/james-bevans-speech-not-supported-by-scientific-evidence-environment-agency
https://www.thegwpf.com/environment-agency-accused-of-making-false-claims-about-uk-weather/  
 

CLIMATE BILLIONS IN DOUBT AS BORIS CLOSES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

It’s All Over For The Green Blob’s Climate Billions Office Ross Clark, Daily Mail, 17 June 2020 Boris Johnson’s historic decision to abolish the standalone Department for International Development (Dfid) and roll its functions into the Foreign Office is long overdue.    Ever since David Cameron expanded Britain’s aid budget to 0.7 per cent of GDP, scandal after scandal has emerged about millions of pounds of hard-pressed UK taxpayers’ money being shovelled into dubious projects to meet this arbitrary target.    The budget for this bloated department has reached an astonishing £14.6billion this year. Incredibly, Dfid now has 3,700 employees, and cost £326m to operate last year alone.    For that, you’d expect money to be spent on vital projects truly improving the lives of desperate people in the world’s poorest countries. Sadly not.    Here are a few examples of how taxpayers’ money was frittered away by this unlamented department:   Full story     Tell your friends about us They can get our newsletter for free © 2020 The Global Warming Policy Forum, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: The Global Warming Policy Forum 55 Tufton Street London SW1P 3QL United Kingdom About this mailing list: You are receiving this email because you opted into it with your subscription to the GWPF or through CCNet. You can update your list preferences here: - Update subscription preferences - Unsubscribe from this list

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It’s All Over For The Green Blob’s Climate Billions Office Ross Clark, Daily Mail, 17 June 2020 Boris Johnson’s historic decision to abolish the standalone Department for International Development (Dfid) and roll its functions into the Foreign Office is long overdue.    Ever since David Cameron expanded Britain’s aid budget to 0.7 per cent of GDP, scandal after scandal has emerged about millions of pounds of hard-pressed UK taxpayers’ money being shovelled into dubious projects to meet this arbitrary target.    The budget for this bloated department has reached an astonishing £14.6billion this year. Incredibly, Dfid now has 3,700 employees, and cost £326m to operate last year alone.    For that, you’d expect money to be spent on vital projects truly improving the lives of desperate people in the world’s poorest countries. Sadly not.    Here are a few examples of how taxpayers’ money was frittered away by this unlamented department:   Full story     Tell your friends about us They can get our newsletter for free © 2020 The Global Warming Policy Forum, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: The Global Warming Policy Forum 55 Tufton Street London SW1P 3QL United Kingdom About this mailing list: You are receiving this email because you opted into it with your subscription to the GWPF or through CCNet. You can update your list preferences here: - Update subscription preferences - Unsubscribe from this list

It’s All Over For The Green Blob’s Climate Billions Office
Ross Clark, Daily Mail, 17 June 2020

Boris Johnson’s historic decision to abolish the standalone Department for International Development (Dfid) and roll its functions into the Foreign Office is long overdue. 




 
Ever since David Cameron expanded Britain’s aid budget to 0.7 per cent of GDP, scandal after scandal has emerged about millions of pounds of hard-pressed UK taxpayers’ money being shovelled into dubious projects to meet this arbitrary target. 

The budget for this bloated department has reached an astonishing £14.6billion this year. Incredibly, Dfid now has 3,700 employees, and cost £326m to operate last year alone. 
 
For that, you’d expect money to be spent on vital projects truly improving the lives of desperate people in the world’s poorest countries. Sadly not. 
 
Here are a few examples of how taxpayers’ money was frittered away by this unlamented department:
 
Full story