100% renewable energy claims are almost always trumped up and this is no exception. For ~5 hrs on Oct 7, Greece’s IPTO said that renewables accounted for 100% of electricity generation. This is NOT the same as 100% of energy, and Greece is nowhere close to being powered solely by renewables.
▪️IPTO’s snapshot of Greece’s electricity production over the last 10 days shows natural gas and lignite (coal) play a large role in powering Greece (photo posted in comments). Often the wind doesn’t blow and/or the sun doesn’t shine, so reliable sources need to pick up the slack.
https://www.admie.gr/en
▪️For example, on Oct 9, renewables produced almost nothing, and fossil fuels produced the large bulk of Greece’s electricity. Greece is lucky to have ~10% of hydropower (the only reliable renewable) but they don’t have nuclear, so gas & coal must be ready at all times to power their grid.
▪️The most recent monthly report is from August, which showed fossil fuels accounted for 58.7% of Greece’s electricity, while hydro produced 8.6% and other renewables 32.6%. (Chart posted in comments)
https://www.admie.gr/sites/default/files/attached-files/type-file/2022/10/Energy_Report_202208_v1_1_en.pdf
▪️YTD, fossil fuels produced 48.5%, hydro 8.6% and other renewables 37.5%. To pretend Greece is 100% powered by renewables because of one 5 hr period is laughable. A modern nation needs power 100% of the time, on demand, not sporadically.
▪️Remember, energy encompasses far more than electricity. Most homes are heated by gas, and most cars, agriculture and industrial production are powered by fossil fuels. Europe is quickly learning this importance as winter comes and gas supplies are interrupted.
▪️This meme also ignores that Greece’s electricity prices have skyrocketed recently, and 45% of Greek households are already in arrears, unable to pay the increased prices.
https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2022/08/21/electricity-up-to-65-as-greeces-suppliers-announce-sept-tariffs/
▪️In response, the Greek government is spending billions it doesn’t have to massively subsidize electricity bills for its citizens who can’t afford their electricity.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/greece-extends-energy-bill-subsidies-ahead-winter-battle-2022-09-21/
▪️Other countries who’ve tried to switch to renewables have seen similar spikes in electricity prices and issues with their grids. Like Germany, which is actually now turning back to coal in order to keep the lights on.
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1124448463/germany-coal-energy-crisis#:~:text=Press-,Germany%20goes%20back%20to%20burning%20coal%20as%20its%20energy%20crisis,Germany%20is%20turning%20to%20coal
▪️Propaganda about running on 100% renewables ignores the fact that the country/city is often totally reliant on reliable sources (usually fossil fuels) and that any attempts to seriously switch to a renewable grid results in skyrocketing prices, fragility, and ironically an increased reliance on gas.
It’s bizarre to see them seesaw back and forth that Trump is totally clueless and aloof, just golfing all day, then all of a sudden he’s a dangerous king/dictator who’s diligently plotting to seize absolute power.
▪️This one is frustrating because, while it’s nice to see the vigor and speed that DOGE is acting with, they’re also sloppy with some of their findings. This is not some bombshell, millions of dead people’s SS numbers aren’t being paid out to fraudsters.
▪️This problem has been known for some time, you can read an inspector general’s report from 2015 about millions of names on the SS “numident” not being correctly annotated for deaths, even though they were older than 112 (the oldest known American at the time).
https://oig-files.ssa.gov/audits/full/A-06-14-34030_0.pdf
▪️There are innocent explanations for some of these. Expatriates that died outside the country, for example. Or immigrants given temporary work permit who returned to their country, people issued new numbers for various reasons, etc. However, most are simply due to the govt not diligently keeping track of deaths.
▪️It’s embarrassing that the govt has millions of numbers on the numident that are ...
