Thoughts On A Sunday

The sub-zero temperatures have departed, making today’s temps in the 20’s and 30’s feel absolutely balmy. My neighbors had issues with their heating system during this bout of arctic temps which made for a couple of interesting days of trying to keep their pipes from freezing.

For the most part it was business as usual for most folks. Some ski areas closed their lifts because of the high wind chills (-40ºF to -50ºF). Firefighters had to battle frozen hydrants, frostbite, and hypothermia.

I could hear the furnace here at The Gulch running almost continuously once the outside temps fell below -15ºF. I saw dollar signs in the form of water vapor exiting from the furnace flues here and at my neighbor’s homes.

At least the trusty RAM 1500 had no issues dealing with the cold. However, some friends found their vehicle batteries weren’t up to the task of starting the engine under such cold conditions. (This happens every time we experience sub-zero temps.)

==+++==

This isn’t something that surprises me in the least.

Wind power isn’t what was promised...but not necessarily for the reasons you think.

While wind power sounds like a great idea, the reality is that it hasn’t come close to meeting the promises made. Those who went all in one wind are finding wind cannot meet their needs, particularly when they need the power they generate the most. There were a lot of things ignored by proponents, or worse, were not informed or mis-informed about.

However, there’s a different problem affecting wind power: Wind turbine manufacturers are having problems while others have shut down.

Now the entire industry is hitting headwinds they hadn’t counted on and it could spell disaster.

The European wind industry has warned of continued difficulties in 2023 as high materials costs and slow approvals for new wind power projects drag back profitability, despite rising demand for renewable energy.

…The effects of the Russian war on Ukraine drove up prices for energy and important raw materials such as steel last year, creating a perfect storm for the European wind sector.

Despite escalating demand from governments and customers for renewable energy as a result of the energy crisis, the slow EU and UK approval processes have created a backlog of projects and delayed new turbine orders.

And then there are quality issues to deal with, with two companies, Vestas and Siemens, having a problem with quality which has eaten into earnings, turning profits into losses.

Don’t you find it odd that they are having demonstrably terrible problems with faulty products and hardly a peep about any of it in the mainstream cheering for wind? There seems to be a concerted effort to hide the reliability of these products from the get-go in the hype and renewable raptures.

You (say, Siemens, for example) get a reputation for overpriced junk – no matter how subsidized it is, your order sheets will start reflecting your reputation.

It isn’t just overseas manufacturers having problems.

Here in the U.S., General Electric was humming along in its financials except…*sad trombone*…when it got to their turbine business. Ooo, they took a hit, too. Really fugly numbers.

…The company’s renewable energy business has been facing challenges due to inflation and supply chain pressures. The unit reported a loss of $2.2 billion in 2022. GE is reducing global headcount at the onshore wind unit by about 20% as part of a plan to restructure and resize the business.

How is GE and Vestas and Siemens planning to deal with their problems?

Subsidies funded by taxpayers.

Any industry that is supposedly so beneficial and popular with ‘everyone’ shouldn’t require taxpayer money to survive. That should be telling us something right there.

==+++==

Biden finally ordered the Pentagon to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon. I’d say he waited too long.

That it carried such a huge instrumentation package - the size of three buses - makes me think it had nothing to do with studying weather. The package was large enough to carry high-resolution multi-spectral imaging systems, ELINT systems, and more.

If the Chinese had talked about these ‘research’ balloons well in advance, talked about the mission and the instrumentation being used for weather research, I would have been more inclined to believe them. But the fact that they hadn’t and was dismissive of questions about them after they were spotted makes the paranoid side of me doubt their explanation.

Having been involved in the defense industry for over 20 years, understanding reconnaissance systems and their requirements, the Chinese using high altitude balloons (60,000+ feet) for intelligence gathering makes sense. Satellites are expensive to build and launch, even to low earth orbit (62 miles minimum altitude). Balloons are cheap and the instrumentation packages can be much larger, heavier and carry more equipment than satellites. The also move a lot slower than satellites (1-200mph versus 17,500 mph) which can allow for much higher resolution imaging.

Weather research balloon versus ‘spy’ balloon? Of the two, I believe the one shot down was the latter.

==+++==

Karens can ruin just about anything. It’s even worse when NPR gets involved and backs the busybody Karens.

What are this batch of ‘woke’ Karens complaining about?

The Kansas City Chiefs.

Kansas City has been on an adrenaline high since the Chiefs won the AFC Championship last Sunday. Go anywhere in the metro and you’ll see Chiefs gear everywhere. Next stop: the Super Bowl in Arizona.

But of course there are the party poopers, the Debbie Downers, the Karens, who want to take the city’s pride down a notch or two. You can find them at KCUR, the National Public Radio affiliate in KC.

--snip--

On Friday morning, as the victory high in KC was beginning to taper off, the KCUR website published a story with this title:

“As Kansas City Chiefs head to the Super Bowl, their violent traditions alienate even some local fans”

It goes downhill from there...like it always does with these ignorant, intolerant, narcissistic wokerati.

==+++==

And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee where the lake still isn’t frozen over, the temps have returned to somewhat normal levels, and winter rolls on.