By Paul Homewood
Roger Harrabin has been having a nice all expenses paid jaunt to Madeira, in order to pimp for EVs. Why he actually had to fly out there, instead of simply using film footage is a mystery!
Talk about an absurd solution to a non-existent problem!
Porto Santo, which is just a few miles off the Madeira coast, has a population of around 5000, a number which can triple during summer months.
A study in 2009 described the current power set up. (I assume little has changed since):
In short, Porto Santo has a perfectly viable and efficient system. Indeed, the sort you would design if you were building it from scratch.
Diesel generators can easily meet demand for power, even at peak levels. Generation can also be easily ramped up and down to deal with fluctuating demand.
The only drawback is those two windfarms, which are totally superfluous to requirements, and simply act to disrupt baseload.
So, step forward this new plan to turn Porto Santo into the first fossil free island in the world. The plan has actually been on an 18-month trial for a year now, so Harrabin has been rather late to the party! (Details here).
Instead of the perfectly workable current arrangements, the new plan demands that:
1) Existing diesel generators are scrapped, and replaced by a number of wind turbines/solar panels at huge cost.
2) Thousands of car charging points are installed. (The trial has 40 charging points in place, for use by the 20 EVs being used as guinea pigs). Given a population of 5000, I would guess there could be 1000 cars on the island.
3) Half of Porto Santo’s cars need to be EVs, for the system to work.
4) Add yet more renewable capacity to charge up all of these new EVs.
Drivers meanwhile will be expected to leave their cars during the day for charging (when the grid decides its appropriate). It is not clear what these drivers are supposed to do when they need them. (Intriguingly the car featured by Harrabin was a police car. Stop thief, can you just wait an hour while my car charges up!)
Harrabin does not tell us who is going to pay for all of this green flummery, but it certainly won’t come cheap.
He does tell us that drivers of EVs can make a profit, by charging up during the day when solar power is in surplus and selling back at night when electricity is dearer. That may be so, but unfortunately somebody has to pay the bill for that.
At the moment, electricity is readily available when needed, and consequently scarcity pricing does not exist. Any “profits” for EV owners will simply be added onto electricity bills.
Harrabin reckons this could become a global trend.
The BBC is currently in the dog house for withdrawing free licences from pensioners. I have a better suggestion – sack Harrabin and his hangers on. It will not only save money, but also help to make their news reporting slightly less of a bad joke.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
June 12, 2019 at 01:21PM
Iowa Climate Science Education 