Europe is paying the price for its suicidal obsession with chaotically intermittent wind and solar. The power pricing and supply calamity that’s hit Germany and others was as perfectly predictable as it was perfectly avoidable.
Power prices are out of control and weather-driven power rationing is the new normal.
The Germans once had heroic plans to kill off all of their nuclear and coal-fired power plants, but that was before Vlad Putin stormed into Ukraine and drew focus on just how reliant Germany is on Russian oil and gas.
Plans to mothball nuclear and coal-fired plants have been quietly shelved, and reliability and security of supply is all the rage.
Because the reality doesn’t fit the narrative, the mainstream media has largely ignored Europe’s self-inflicted energy crisis.
But, as Dr Benny Peiser points out below, Europe’s experience offers an opportunity to avoid the perfectly avoidable crisis that comes with an attempt to run on nothing but sunshine and breezes.
Many Australians ‘not aware’ of ‘disastrous energy crisis’ in Europe
Sky News
Peta Credlin
28 April 2022
Global Warming Policy Foundation Director Dr Benny Peiser says most Australians are probably “not aware” of the “disastrous energy crisis” in Europe.
“Energy bills have doubled in the last 12 months and are threatening to triple – a quarter of UK households won’t be able to afford paying their bills,” he told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
Dr Peiser said Europe is facing the “worst energy crisis since World War Two” and it is “only getting worse” as the war in Ukraine intensifies.
“People in Australia should be very aware of what happens if you are not careful with your energy policy. ”
Transcript
Peta Credlin: Let’s move on to some other issues now. My next guest lives in the UK, but is here in Australia to talk all things net-zero and energy security. Dr. Benny Peiser is a climate expert and head of the British think tank, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Benny, welcome back to Credlin great to have you here in Australia. This week, Russia cut off gas to Poland and Bulgaria. The fear now is other European countries like Germany could be next. How big an impact will this have on European energy security? And why in Australia are we still obsessing about net-zero?
Benny Peiser: Well, that’s a good question. I think most Australians are not aware just what a disastrous energy crisis we are having in Europe. Energy bills have doubled in the last 12 months and are threatening to treble. A quarter of UK households won’t be able to afford paying their bills. We face the worst energy crisis since World War II. And it’s only getting worse as the war in the Ukraine intensifies. So people in Australia should be very aware of what happens if you are not careful with your energy policy.
Peta Credlin: All right, well what’s the fallout going to be Dr. Peiser in Europe, are we going to say coal, oil, perhaps gas get revitalised? I know some was announced recently, but more nuclear energy for Europe?
Benny Peiser: Yeah, well that will take time. In the meantime, the government in Britain has called on the coal companies to continue burning coal. They want to extend coal much longer than they anticipated. They are actually on the verge of approving the first new coal mine in Britain in 30 years. And other countries in Europe are going back to burning coal because gas is 10 times more expensive in Europe than it’s in the US. And about five times more expensive than in Australia. So gas is very expensive now, and there’s a coal boom, not just in Europe, but around the world, because that is the most secure and most affordable form of energy. And when push comes to shove, then energy security tops everything.
Peta Credlin: Yeah, well remind Australians we’ve sent weapons to Ukraine, but just the other day we sent 70,000 tonnes of our thermal coal for exactly that point. Now, you can’t be blind to miss that there’s an Australian election underway. One of the MPs, an LNP Senator, former energy minister, Matt Canavan, he’s come under fire, Benny Peiser from all quarters, including his own party, because he said net-zero is dead. But surely what you’ve just spoken about, the energy crisis in Europe bears his comments are. So what lessons do we need to know? What do voters need to know between now and when they cast their ballot on the 21st of May?
Benny Peiser: Well, I think if I understood your MP correctly, what he was saying is, if you look around the world, net-zero is dead. You just need to look at what Joe Biden does in the US. He’s begging oil and gas companies to drill more, to get more oil and gas out of the ground. His approval ratings are very low because energy prices are rising. I think that is what the MP was trying to tell the Australians, that around the world, energy cost, energy affordability, and reliability is now the top priority for most countries.
Peta Credlin: All right. And what about this week in Australia, the Federal Government Prime Minister gave one of our billionaires $45 million of their money for green hydrogen. Is that a good use of our money? Is it energy security or not?
Benny Peiser: Well, I’m afraid governments around the world are wasting a lot of money on pet projects. We’ve seen it for the last 20/ 30 years. I think at some point governments will have to focus on what is actually helping consumers, families, households more directly. All of these additional costs are costing bill payers. So around the world, I’m pretty sure the war in Ukraine is essentially changing 20/30 years of utopian green wishful thinking.
Sky News
via STOP THESE THINGS
May 8, 2022, by stopthesethings
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