Posted on 02/12/2011 9:00:13 PM PST by george76
Times of international turmoil are great moments for domestic governments to make important announcements they don’t want to be noticed. Especially if the announcement involves a sudden reversal in policy that could seriously embarrass the government.
So Friday afternoon was an ideal time for Ontario’s Liberal government to take a big chunk of its alternative energy program and chuck it overboard. ..
After years of touting wind projects as a critical piece of the alternative energy puzzle, the government let slip — very quietly — that offshore wind projects are no longer part of the game plan. Turns out there just isn’t enough scientific evidence that offshore wind projects do a lick of good...
Gee, now wouldn’t you think the government would have checked out the science before insisting wind power was the way of the future? Evidently not. The McGuinty people have been pushing ahead vigorously on the wind front ever since they concluded they could squeeze more votes from trendy enviro-enthusiasts, who are in favour of anything that sounds remotely Greenish, whether it makes sense or not.
They’ve been running into a spot of bother, though, as rural residents grow increasingly agitated at the monster wind towers being slapped up wherever the government sees fit to put them. Turns out the government may have been a bit rash in dismissing complaints that the low-level noise from the turbines can cause health problems...
Added to McGuinty’s problems with wind are similar signs of trouble on the solar front.
(Excerpt) Read more at fullcomment.nationalpost.com ...
Canada is a net exporter of oil, natural gas, coal, and electricity. It is one of the most important sources for U.S. energy imports.
Canada has considerable natural resources and is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of energy. In 2006, Canada produced 19.3 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) of total energy, the fifth-largest amount in the world.
Almost all of Canada's energy exports go to the United States, making it the largest source of U.S. energy imports.
Canada is consistently among the top sources for U.S. oil imports, and it is the largest source of U.S. natural gas and electricity imports.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/Canada/Background.html
Our "elite" leaders should be looking north to see the right way to produce energy.
Can I get an AMEN!
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Ontario nearing bankruptcy under Dalton McGuinty
Ontario is in the worst financial shape in its history, and thanks to Dalton McGuinty there is no simple way out of this hole. Since taking office in 2003, Ontario’s spending has nearly doubled under McGuinty’s watch, climbing from $70-billion to over $120-billion today.
“If the Ontario government had to behave like a real business it would have declared bankruptcy by now,” says Peter Coleman President and CEO of the National Citizens Coalition. “There is no excuse for such reckless spending - eventually, someone has to pay the bills.”
It is Ontario’s taxpayers who are paying for this folly. With the provincial debt now past $220-billion, and with record setting year-over-year deficits the new norm, it is hard to see a silver lining for Ontario. “Major states in Europe and the rest of the world have declared bankruptcy this year and accepted financial bailout packages - Ontario needs to act now if we hope to avoid the same,” continues Coleman.
With Ontario now officially a ‘have-not’ province in Canada, we cannot rely on a robust economy and thriving manufacturing sector to drive growth and underwrite foolish spending. Ontario needs more than simple band-aid solutions, or nominal spending freezes - we need to reduce government spending immediately.
“The horse is already out of the barn,” comments Stephen Taylor, Director of the National Citizens Coalition. “This is not a potential problem, on the distant horizon - this is an urgent matter that needs attention now.”
Many Ontarians are wondering where all of this out-of-control spending has been directed, as services have not improved in the province. “After nearly doubling provincial spending in less than eight years, Ontarians’ lives have not improved, our economic situation has not improved and our access to services has flatlined. Where has this money gone?” asks Coleman.
It is time for Ontario to return to the fundamentals of economic management instead of looking for new ‘pet projects’ or ‘green’ initiatives to invest in.
When you give today’s scientists enough money, they’ll declare that sand is food. Just goes to prove that liberals can be bought because they have no principles.
I think the difference between wind and solar is that solar has a clear path to efficency ratios that will make it an extremely viable energy player, even if it’s 10 or 20 years out from now.
Canada does not get much sunshine. It has very few deserts, just a couple of very small thingys.
“I think the difference between wind and solar is that solar has a clear path to efficency ratios that will make it an extremely viable energy player, even if it’s 10 or 20 years out from now.”
I remain highly skeptical about your assertion.Solar power is not economically viable today except in some offgrid locations. I see little possibility beyond fundamental scientific and engineering breakthroughs that it will be viable in 10 or 20 years.
So if you need a big buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere to provide the catastrophic damage you require to push your green agenda like no more drilling for our own oil and lots of expensive windmills built by you friend General Electric, you come up with the parameter that CO2 remains in the atmosphere for fifty to one hundred years - that would provide a nice buildup, and how can anybody disprove something predicted to take fifty years at a minimum won't happen. Except some very smart people did. Using controlled methods of measurement and observation, they actually tracked CO2 release and dissipation, and now have over thirty studies showing that it remains around to maybe do us harm for only from five to seven years - hardly providing the concentrations needed to bring the destruction the warmists are hoping for. Time is running out for them - they tried to get away with gutter science, and real scientists are putting an end to their scams.....
My assertion includes scientific breakthroughs in the next 10-20 years. It’s clear that efficency has improved and continues to improve. The fact is that oil will continue to a major role in society for a long time to come, however, solar seems to have a bright spot in all of our futures.
Except that Sunshine does penetrate clouds.
I only see marginal improvements. Solar has major drawbacks that efficiency improvements cannot address. Solar does not provide baseload power although solar thermal can spread power usage over longer periods at a cost. Solar requires expensive transmission capacity and backup capacity. Solar output declines substantially in the winter. Solar power generates only small amounts of peak power as solar output declines in the late afternoon during peak power requirements.
Industrial solar power is boutique energy generation, built because of political influence on the utility industry. Large scale deployment of solar power is the road to an energy meltdown.
Some of the photocells they have been looking at can pull in multiple spectrums and double the efficency of current solar cells. Backup storage would be a way of holding onto energy harnessed during the day. Besides at some point no matter the energy source it’s going to make sense when Oil hits 500 a barrel.
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