Chinese Military,Political and Social Superthread

[ytz]

And the world's biggest hydro project - in Tibet... note they don't tend to have the same issues with indigenous consultations as we do

They have less obstacles. But we also have less ambition than they do. And then talk ourselves into believing it's a fad.

The closest thing I have seen in Canada that comes to even having this ambition is Nova Scotia's Wind West plan that could produce as much as a quarter of Canada's current output. Kinda like what the UK did. But even when there's no indigenous objections at sea we'll get somebody objecting about something. Heck, I've seen objections about private capital going to develop these.

 

[FJAG]

They have less obstacles. But we also have less ambition than they do. And then talk ourselves into believing it's a fad.

The closest thing I have seen in Canada that comes to even having this ambition is Nova Scotia's Wind West plan that could produce as much as a quarter of Canada's current output. Kinda like what the UK did. But even when there's no indigenous objections at sea we'll get somebody objecting about something. Heck, I've seen objections about private capital going to develop these.

Living in SW Ontario for the last 17 years we're no strangers to wind farms . . . nor the opposition to them. Personally I don't mind them but consider the concept of "renewable" resource questionable having seen abandoned wind farms in Hawaii. These things have a service live. Their dreadfully resource heavy to build and replacing/refurbishing them is going to create some major ecological waste issues, IMHO.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Living in SW Ontario for the last 17 years we're no strangers to wind farms . . . nor the opposition to them. Personally I don't mind them but consider the concept of "renewable" resource questionable having seen abandoned wind farms in Hawaii. These things have a service live. Their dreadfully resource heavy to build and replacing/refurbishing them is going to create some major ecological waste issues, IMHO.

FWIW - wind energy in NA is in a tricky spot right now...

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/global-wind-power-trump-woodmac/809719/

 

[dapaterson]

They have less obstacles. But we also have less ambition than they do. And then talk ourselves into believing it's a fad.

The closest thing I have seen in Canada that comes to even having this ambition is Nova Scotia's Wind West plan that could produce as much as a quarter of Canada's current output. Kinda like what the UK did. But even when there's no indigenous objections at sea we'll get somebody objecting about something. Heck, I've seen objections about private capital going to develop these.

At a micro level, there's an old low rise light industrial building in my neighborhood being torn down and turned into a 6 story apartment building.

A local resident, a senior manager in the public service (who I know), complained at a public consultation that the owner would be making a profit, as if that was somehow disqualifying.

 

[YZT580]

This argument is getting tired. China is an "all of the above" builder. Yes, they build coal plants. Most of that is recapitalizing what they have. And the utilization rate is dropping as that capacity increasingly becomes a seasonal resource. Their actual capacity growth? Solar, wind, nuclear

Solar. They have the ability to manufacture 1 TW of panels per year. For reference the entire US grid is 1.25 TW. They installed over 300GW last year. The EU installed 65 GW. The US installed 31 GW.

Wind. China installed 119 GW last year. EU installed 14.5 GW. The US added 8.1 GW.

Nuclear. China has 32 GW under construction right now with over 30 reactors. I don't think the US has any reactors under construction. With less than 2 GW being recapitalized. Same for the EU.

Ideology and talking points aren't going to win the strategic competition. While ideologues are focused on winning Internet arguments, China laps everybody else with actual deployment every single year.

you missed the point entirely. Sure they are doing the solar and windmill additions but they have made sure that their conventional sources are increasing in capacity at the same time whilst taking advantage of our stupidity to over take our manufacturing in every way that counts. We are left buying finished aluminum electric cars, batteries and windmills and the raw materials that they don't have locally are shipped in the raw state so our only jobs are transportation and mining.

 

[YZT580]

They have less obstacles. But we also have less ambition than they do. And then talk ourselves into believing it's a fad.

The closest thing I have seen in Canada that comes to even having this ambition is Nova Scotia's Wind West plan that could produce as much as a quarter of Canada's current output. Kinda like what the UK did. But even when there's no indigenous objections at sea we'll get somebody objecting about something. Heck, I've seen objections about private capital going to develop these.

the UK really benefited from that didn't they.

 

[ytz]

Living in SW Ontario for the last 17 years we're no strangers to wind farms . . . nor the opposition to them. Personally I don't mind them but consider the concept of "renewable" resource questionable having seen abandoned wind farms in Hawaii. These things have a service live. Their dreadfully resource heavy to build and replacing/refurbishing them is going to create some major ecological waste issues, IMHO.

Offshore is a whole different beast. They are bigger and have much higher utilization. And no real concerns from NIMBYs. Except maybe Trump in Scotland. The UK is a great example of what can be done. Nearly a fifth of their power is now wind.