{"id":2427,"date":"2023-03-31T15:26:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T20:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=2427"},"modified":"2023-03-31T15:26:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T20:26:54","slug":"in-oz-another-green-scheme-perishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=2427","title":{"rendered":"In Oz, Another Green Scheme Perishes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-2428\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-770x513.png 770w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-1536x1024.png 1536w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-2048x1365.png 2048w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-1155x770.png 1155w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-370x247.png 370w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-293x195.png 293w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-1400x933.png 1400w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-120x80.png 120w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-240x160.png 240w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-390x260.png 390w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another staggeringly expensive green scheme is in its death throes in&nbsp;<em>the land of drought and flooding rains<\/em>. Snowy 2.0 is an Australian (government owned) pumped hydro&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snowyhydro.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/SH1764_Updated-fact-sheets_Snowy-2.0_website.pdf\">project<\/a>&nbsp;designed to fill in when the wind isn\u2019t blowing and the sun isn\u2019t shining. Politics began it; reality will end it. Ostensibly, it\u2019s meant to deliver 2GW of power for up to 175 hours. Even if that were true, which it\u2019s not, it hardly stacks up against the imminent closure (end of April) of the Liddell coal power station. That station can produce 2GW of power continuously all year round. But, even on its own terms, Snowy 2.0 is seriously over-hyped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, the lower reservoir (\u201cTalbingo\u201d) from which the water is pumped is only two-thirds the size of the upper reservoir (\u201cTantangara\u201d). Once the upper reservoir is drained it can only be filled two-thirds its capacity, and thus can deliver only two-thirds of the power claimed. Duh! An obvious point about which those in charge are obtusely oblivious. For other technical reasons, as an engineer&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au\/prweb\/PRRestService\/mp\/01\/getContent?AttachRef=EXH-2536%2120191108T002841.497%20GMT\">explains<\/a>, the actual deliverable power will be far less than that; apparently, down at times to as little as 40GWh.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/GettyImages-1199763153-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/GettyImages-1199763153-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it was politically divined in 2017 by former, self-proclaimed, \u201cnation-building\u201d prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, it was to be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/snowy-2-0-the-making-of-one-of-australias-most-spectacular-infrastructure-debacles\/\">completed<\/a>\u00a0by 2021 at a cost of two billion Australian dollars. Some optimists now say it will be finished in 2027 at a cost of $10 billion. Some realists say much later and $20 billion. It\u2019s academic. As sure as eggs is eggs, it\u2019ll never be finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turnbull: as evanescent as a selfie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Longstanding CEO Paul Broad&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-08-26\/snowy-hydro-boss-paul-broad-quits-project-delays\/101376896\">quit<\/a>&nbsp;last August. One of its major construction contractors went bankrupt. The three boring machines on site are making glacial&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/disastrous-tunnelling-delays-underline-complete-folly-of-snowy-2-0-pumped-hydro-scheme\/\">progress<\/a>. One, which should by now be 9 kilometres into its the 17 kilometre journey, is bogged down after just 200 metres. At this rate it will take 70 years to finish the job. Hapless Chris Bowen, federal minister for Climate Change and Energy, says that the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/not-happy-bowen-says-snowy-2-0-is-problematic-but-wont-be-canned\/\">project<\/a>&nbsp;\u201cwon\u2019t be canned.\u201d A kiss of death, if ever there is one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, if all that isn\u2019t trouble enough, environmentalists don\u2019t like swathes of parkland being cleared for new transmission lines to connect it up. To boot, the National Parks Association of NSW is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/npansw.org.au\/2020\/02\/20\/snowy-2-0-to-spread-noxious-fish-and-disease-throughout-kosciuszko-national-park-and-downstream-rivers\/\">worried<\/a>&nbsp;about noxious pests being spread throughout the local river system:Save the trout!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:18px\">Scientific experts have warned that if the massive Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro development goes ahead it will spread noxious pests, weeds and diseases throughout the alpine river system\u2026 causing catastrophic damage to aquatic environments, commercial fish farms and recreational fishing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, workers on site are being fed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/esdnews.com.au\/snowy-hydro-workers-threaten-walk-off-over-maggot-meals\/#:~:text=The%20Australian%20Workers'%20Union%20is,grub%20beside%20vegetables%20and%20mince.\">steak au maggot<\/a>, which neither they nor their union are savouring. Evidently, and unaccountably, insect eating has not yet caught on outside of Hollywood.&nbsp;Advice to Mr. Bowen. Take a leaf out of the playbook of Trump-blaming Dems. Act quickly to can the project while Turnbull can still be blamed with a straight face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A twofold takeaway. Subsidized into being via an ideological-cum-political agenda based on shonky science, green-energy projects are perforce unhinged from commercial realities. Second, throwing money at something doesn\u2019t necessarily get it done. It\u2019s a species of money illusion (mistaking money for physical assets and goods) to think it will. Just maybe geology won\u2019t lend itself to successful tunnelling for Snowy 2.0; at least within our lifetimes. Many a political promise and grand scheme succumb to money illusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the promises of the incoming government in Australia was that a registered nurse would be present 24&#215;7 in every aged-care home. Real life intervenes. No amount of money conjures up nurses overnight. Another quixotic political promise bites the dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a career in economics, banking and payment-systems management, Peter Smith now blogs on the topics of the day. He writes for Quadrant, Australia\u2019s leading conservative online site and magazine. He has written Bad Economics, of which, he notes, there is much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Article tags:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/tag\/australia\/\">Australia<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/tag\/green-energy\/\">green energy<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/tag\/malcolm-turnbull\/\">Malcolm Turnbull<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/tag\/snowy-2-0\/\">Snowy 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Original Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/in-oz-another-green-scheme-perishes\/\">https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/in-oz-another-green-scheme-perishes\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/the-pipeline.org\/author\/peter-smith\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another staggeringly expensive green scheme is in its death throes in&nbsp;the land of drought and flooding rains. Snowy 2.0 is an Australian (government owned) pumped hydro&nbsp;project&nbsp;designed to fill in when the wind isn\u2019t blowing and the sun isn\u2019t shining. Politics began it; reality will end it. Ostensibly, it\u2019s meant to deliver 2GW of power for up to 175 hours. Even if that were true, which it\u2019s not, it hardly stacks up against the imminent closure (end of April) of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-propaganda"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2429,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions\/2429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}