Climate Change…..Again?

More like weather change, I guess.

I am putting together here things I have recently read in a couple of places, because it seems to have led to something interesting. Our story starts in Germany, but trust me….it will end up back in good old Ontario.

First, from a story I read today in Watts Up With That, which I have mentioned before.

You can read it too, free, here.

The jist – in two recent periods, Germany faced a problem supplying itself with energy. To quote the article:

“From November 2 to November 8 and from December 10 to December 13, Germany’s electricity supply from renewable energies collapsed as a typical winter weather situation with a lull in the wind and minimal solar irradiation led to supply shortages, high electricity imports and skyrocketing electricity prices.

At times, over 20,000 MW, more than a quarter of Germany’s electricity requirements, had to be imported. Electricity prices rose tenfold (93.6 €ct/kWh).”

Germany has been the most aggressive European country in pursuing ‘green’ energy, the article noting that it shut down 19 nuclear power plants, and that 15 coal-fired power plants were taken off the grid on April 1, 2023 alone.

The claim is that during the periods mentioned some 25+% of Germany’s electricity demand had to be supplied by importing from neighboring countries during this period, and they are not entirely happy about this, as it drives up electricity prices in their own countries. Quoting again from the article….

“Norway’s energy minister in the center-left government, Terja Aasland, wants to cut the power cable to Denmark and renegotiate the electricity contracts with Germany. He is thus responding to the demands of the right-wing Progress Party, which has been calling for this for a long time and will probably win the next elections. According to the Progress Party, the price infection from the south must be stopped.

Swedish Energy Minister Ebba Busch was even clearer: “It is difficult for an industrial economy to rely on the benevolence of the weather gods for its prosperity.” And directly to Habeck’s green policy: “No political will is strong enough to override the laws of physics – not even Mr. Habeck’s.”

(Robert Habeck has been serving as Vice Chancellor of Germany, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. That government recently collapsed, and Scholz has said he will call a confidence vote on January 15, which will presumably result in an election if it fails. )

That sounds bad, right? Germany has pushed hard on green energy, and this has led to periods in which the weather (ironically, one might say) has led to their being unable to supply their citizens and companies with sufficient electricity. It appears this is pissing off their neighbors, but a second-level thought comes to me immediately – what would have happened if Germany’s neighbouring countries had all gone as gung-ho on green energy as Germany?

However, after reading this I kept internet-meandering, as I do, and came upon another site, called Climate Etc where the second article posted was titled ‘The climate case of the century’.

The opening paragraph of this article is:

“On the 12th of November, the Hague Court of Appeal ruled in the “climate case of the century” that Milieudefensie (“FoE”) filed against Shell in 2019. FoE demands that Shell reduce emissions throughout the entire chain by at least 45% by 2030. The foundation “Man & Environment” (M&E) joined the case to represent the interests of Dutch citizens.”

It gets long and complicated at that point, as does anything involving lawyers, but the article suggests that although the plaintiff was largely shut down by the Hague Court of Appeals, that court bought into the claim that there is indeed a ‘climate emergency’. Here’s just one excerpt from the article:

“A case in point, the Court arrives at the alarmist conclusion that “the climate problem is the biggest problem of our time” and that the danger of climate change is great and even “life-threatening”. Based on the non-factual findings of fact and obligatory references to the Paris climate agreement, the Urgenda judgment and the Klimaseniorinnen ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, the Court confirmed a right to protection against “dangerous climate change.”

“Protection against dangerous climate change,” the Court says, “is a human right,” without any caveats or qualifications.”

The Ontario connection. A commenter on this second article notes that there is currently a similar case winding its way through the Ontario court system, a suit brought by a group of minors (one expects said minors have had some help from….majors). The defendant in the case is the Government of Ontario, accused of setting a target for decarbonization that is too low.

The commenter claims that the trial court, which denied the claim on constitutional grounds but then had it sent back by an Appeal court, was ‘impressed by the arguments in the Hague case’.

I am thus led to wonder – what happens if the Ontario courts system, with all its deference to scientists determining what is ‘right’ for us, finds in favour of the plaintiffs?

Dougie Ford better play nice with those electricity producers in New York and elsewhere, eh?

Addendum: The Watts Up post that got me started on this also makes another interesting point. Namely, that wind turbines that have no wind use electricity. To quote:

“This is because all technical components (oil pumps, fans, control systems, etc.) must remain in operation even when they are still. Vestas specifies an electricity consumption of 55,000 kWh per year for a 4.2 MW turbine at standstill. During production times, the turbine supplies itself with electricity. But it is virtually idle 120 days a year.”

I have no idea if this is true, but it seems plausible, and if it is….talk about Catch-22.

The Universe is a strange and wonderful place, no?