A correspondent shared a glowing article about the massive 1,000 MW hybrid solar powerplant recently turned on in the Gobi Desert by the People’s Republic of (Red) China:
One commenter wrote: Many still look at China as a somewhat backward nation, and with respect to culture and treatment of the individual, it is. But they are increasingly announcing scientific and knowledge developments that seem to be ahead of ours, unless we are suppressing information of our own developments as well. Instead of fighting endless wars with ghost enemies, would we not be way ahead if we focused on doing something good instead?
The article does indeed seem to indicate that China is “ahead of” the States. And no doubt, various groups and power-brokers are suppressing information. But the article starts out with the lies from the git-go: Molten salt does not “generate” a single watt of electrical power: it functions as a giagantic (and freaky, even dangerous) battery for electrical power. Solar electrical power, which as always, is only produced when the sun is up at the location, and in places like the Gobi and similar American and European locations, there are no clouds (such as dust clouds generated by the wind) and conditions are just right.
But are we Yankees really so backward compared to the estimable technocrats and brave, bold, and wise vanguard of the proletariat ruling wisely from Bejing?
Americans built something like this near Ivanpah, California. It was smaller, 392 MW versus this claimed 1,000 MW: so only about 40%, but was supposed to be expanded. It wasn’t. The California plant was approved in 2009 and constructed between 2010 and 2013 and began operating on a limited basis then, and fully connected to the grid in 2014.
We understand it has been pretty much a total disaster, costing much more than it was supposed to and with operating costs between 5-8 times what they were supposed to be (according to various sources). It was supposed to have an indefinite lifetime but its owner/operators (who have a huge number of creditors, including the FedGov) have never achieved any of the production, it has a very low capacity factor, and its environmental impact is far, far worse than initially reported. Starting in 2025, the owners/operators tried to shut it down (and among other things, stop hemorraging money). But the State of California has forced it to remain open, despite all of the problems and costs.
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The Price of Liberty 
The data center controversy
In the past few months, the internet, local media, and many jurisdictions have been swamped with articles, opinion pieces, alarmist postings, and multiple claims about how “data centers” are being built all over the place, and bring incredible problems (and evils!) with them.
It joins the constant refrain in social media, the mainsteam media, and all the little activists that are bored with Black Lives Matter, LandBack, and whatever The Donald said that they don’t like so immediately claim to be a lie. And they get all the do-gooders out to tramp along the streets and the sidewalks, put out more false information, and declare that the world is coming to an end.
For example, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, last week: (Courtesy Cowboy State Daily), Wyoming Residents Join National Day Of Protest Against Data Centers A few dozen Wyoming residents gathered at the State Capitol on Saturday as part of a national day of protest against data centers. Organizer Taylor Haynes called data centers “digital prisons” and said the need for artificial intelligence has taken away Americans’ freedom.
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