Richard Sutcliffe / Entrance to the SEC Centre, home of the COP26 Climate Conference 2020

More Embarrassment: COP26 Luxury EVs to be Recharged Using Diesel Generators

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

A shortage of coal powered EV charging points has allegedly forced COP26 organisers to deploy diesel generators, though they plan to fuel the generators using recycled chip fat.

Shock, horror! COP26 has an electric car problem

22 October 2021, 7:35pm

If absurdity were a source of renewable energy, the COP26 climate change summit might achieve its aim of saving the planet. Yesterday Mr S brought news that local lawyers are set to join rail engineers, transport operators, catering staff and refuse collectors in timing industrial action to coincide with next week’s eco-jamboree. Now Steerpike learns of a fresh crisis afflicting the UN conference: there’s not enough places to power the luxury electric cars needed to ferry delegates around the city.

Some 240 Jaguar Land Rover vehicles including its I-PACE SUVs will be laid on by the UK government to move the 120 visiting heads of state and their entourages between their hotels and the SEC venue. Unfortunately a lack of charging points means the fleet now has to be re-charged by cooking oil-powered generators. A COP26 spokesperson has confirmed that the substitute generators may have to run on hydrogenated vegetable oil – recycled cooking oil – derived from waste products. 

Compounding the problem is the lack of hotel capacity in the city which means longer energy-zapping journeys to get to the conference centre. The numbers of temporary generators provided and their locations have yet to be finalised, but there is speculation sites could include the Gleneagles Hotel, 47 miles from Glasgow.

Read more: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/electric-cars-shortage-shock-at-cop26

I only visited Glasgow once, when I missed the turnoff on the way to Edinburgh, so sadly I don’t have any detailed anecdotes about the wonders of Glasgow.

Maybe I should have given Glasgow a chance, but a Glaswegian work colleague used to tell lots of colourful and rather scary stories of doing beer deliveries to Glaswegian pubs where the tables and chairs were concreted to the floor, so patrons couldn’t pick them up and throw them at each other, or how everyone took a hatchet to the cinema, so they could wave it about while screaming abuse at the movie screen, while watching reruns of “Braveheart“, so I was a little nervous about hanging around.

No doubt a vast smoke cloud from burning chip fat recharging all the eco-friendly EVs will add to the interesting experiences which await delegates.

Note: My former Glaswegian work colleague also told me some good stories about Glasgow. Like the time some English racist thugs decided to go on an Asian stomping tour up North. The tour ended abruptly in Glasgow, when they attacked a couple of Asian looking people in the pub, and everyone else piled in and defended the Asians. What the racists didn’t realise was if you were born in Glasgow you’re a local, doesn’t matter what your skin colour is.

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Bruce Cobb
October 24, 2021 12:04 pm

As with most recycling schemes, recycling cooking oil makes zero sense financially, and about the only thing going for it is the feel-good, virtue-signaling aspect. It is the ultimate stupidity, and laughably hypocritical to use it to charge luxury EVs though. You really can’t make this stuff up.

October 24, 2021 12:08 pm

As Jamie Oliver swears the very best fish and chips are done in beef tallow fat. I agree.
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/the-perfect-chips/
Not known how the diesel generators handle such?

Rory Forbes
Reply to  bonbon
October 24, 2021 1:09 pm

A diesel can burn crude oil, when properly set up.

Richard Page
Reply to  bonbon
October 24, 2021 2:36 pm

No, they’ll have made sure that these are only vegetarian diesel generators – vegetable oil only, I’m afraid!

October 24, 2021 12:19 pm

Those buffoons are THE actual threat for the humanity. There is nothing left but to put them all ASAP out of the way.

John Hultquist
October 24, 2021 12:30 pm

 Instead of Council of the Parties (COP),
it ought to be
Parties of the Conferees (POC)

October 24, 2021 12:30 pm

How much more CO2 and particulate carbon are produced by burning cooking oil to generate electricity than burning gas in a regular suv?

Richard Page
Reply to  Fred Haynie
October 24, 2021 12:59 pm

Not sure. But I did just find out that half of the used cooking oil we use in fuels in the UK (thats about 224M tonnes) is imported from China, so already has a huge carbon footprint before it gets burnt. However, I did see one post by some learned gentlebeing that informed everyone that reused cooking oil was obviously carbon neutral as the ‘carbon’ had only recently been sequestered in the plants that made the oil, not laid down aeons ago in the fossil oils that made diesel. Priceless!

Rory Forbes
Reply to  Fred Haynie
October 24, 2021 1:11 pm

Ah … but the warmunists rationalize that cooking oil is natural, not pumped from the ground. Therefore it doesn’t “add” sequestered CO2.

kzb
Reply to  Fred Haynie
October 24, 2021 2:41 pm

Pretty certain it would be more efficient to use the modified cooking oil in the SUV diesel engine directly.

Richard Page
Reply to  kzb
October 25, 2021 6:37 am

With highly sensible thoughts like that, it’s clear that you will never amount to anything in this modern, postintelligence society!

October 24, 2021 12:51 pm

Takes energy from fossil fuels to produce the “bio-waste fuel.” Took energy from fossil fuels to produce the oils in the first place. Then,of course, fossil fuels to transport the generators and fuel to where it is needed.

Those, of course, are minor. The MAIN “pollution” is coming from the production of the “green” SUVs and the production and operation of the luxury airplanes.

Richard Page
Reply to  writing observer
October 25, 2021 6:39 am

Also took quite a lot of fossil fuels to transport half of it all the way from China. It’s pure virtue signalling, not an ounce of sense in the lot of ’em.

2hotel9
October 24, 2021 12:54 pm

Totally off topic for the weather watchers here. Check AccuWeather’s national snow,ice,rain radar and tell me if I am the only person seeing a 60 odd mile wide rotating circle of clouds/rain. I checked nullschool Earth winds running image and see it there, too.

2hotel9
Reply to  2hotel9
October 24, 2021 12:56 pm

nd a partial one around Amarillo, too.

Rhs
October 24, 2021 1:07 pm

Think any of the Senator’s participating in this will take their dis information to the conference:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-oil-attend-u-house-142857225.html
Too bad it’s likely a witch hunt with a predetermined conclusion.

GRANT
October 24, 2021 1:22 pm

If there’s anything that COVID 19 has taught me, it’s that we are generally governed by idiots and self serving grifters. Tell me how I’m wrong.

Reply to  GRANT
October 24, 2021 3:13 pm

If there’s anything that COVID 19 has taught me, it’s that we are generally governed by idiots and self serving grifters.
As requested.

Auto

Reply to  auto
October 25, 2021 10:17 pm

How can you tell them apart from the truly malevolent?

Abolition Man
October 24, 2021 1:30 pm

Eric,
We can only hope that there are lots of climate realists in the area filming this comedy of errors! It sounds like it might make for a modern Keystone Kops series; unlike the pipeline cancellation, which was a straight tragedy!

Rhs
Reply to  Abolition Man
October 24, 2021 3:27 pm

How about a Benny Hill special?

October 24, 2021 1:34 pm

How many will be flying in on private jets? (or any jet for that matter)
How many EV limos are there in the world?

Here in the US, I seem to remember that Solydra wasn’t the only company that scammed the US taxpayer under Obama. There were also “bio-diesel” execs that walked away taxpayer dollars in their pockets when their companies went belly-up.

Robber
October 24, 2021 1:42 pm

Of course all the VIP jets will be fueled by recycled fat. And once there, the delegates will generate enough hot air that Glasgow will experience localised warming, and that will create wind shifts to power the Whitelee Windmills on Eaglesham Moor, just 15km from Glasgow, to provide power for the entire population, sometimes.

October 24, 2021 3:18 pm

Glasgow is actually a much more interesting city than Edinburgh thanks to the work of the architects like Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Alexander (Greek) Thomson, splendid Victorian Architecture, and a wide range of interesting museums. It is a great shame to see the noble city associated with such a debased political exercise as COP26.

October 24, 2021 3:22 pm

There were a bunch of propane heaters hanging around that “Big White Tent” about a week ago … surely they’re not using <<<gas>>> to heat the event?

William Haas
October 24, 2021 3:23 pm

If they were really concerned about CO2 emissions then they would all stay home in strict climate lockdown and have their meeting over the Internet. The technology to do that has been available for decades.

Dave Andrews
Reply to  William Haas
October 25, 2021 8:20 am

Yes but then only the 4000 or so actual negotiators could take part and what would the other 25,000 hangers on do spoilsport?

michael hart
October 24, 2021 3:30 pm

As a wholly impartial Sassenach, I think that the fact that there is a dearth of hotel accommodation in Glasgow in October/November should tell you a lot about the general demand for such things: i.e. Not much.

On the other hand, I was once told by an educated Glaswegian that Edinburgh (the Capitol of Scotland) was sometimes described as a city that ought to be in England, but doesn’t deserve to be.

October 24, 2021 6:16 pm

C’mon Man! Gimme a break.
They just need to admit that Climate Change policy impacts are for us Little People.

Dennis
October 24, 2021 9:13 pm

Sometimes at world events leaders are given shirts for group photograph sessions.

What about Jimmy Hats for Glasgow?

And don’t explain it’s known as “taking the piss”.

October 24, 2021 11:01 pm

The only time I tried to walk into a Glasgow pub, I was stopped by a bouncer who asked if I had any knives, guns, bottles, screwdrivers or anything else that could be used as a weapon to maim or injure

When I said no, he said, “You better take this then, it’s a bit rough in there” whilst handed me a cosh

griff
October 25, 2021 12:31 am

This is an urban legend, isn’t it?

I see different makes of EV alleged to be involved, not corresponding to actual vehicles to be used… plus most delegates will be moved on a fleet of electric buses.

I can find no hard evidence of this.

alarmism and rumour mongering, as is all too common on Watts these days.

Reply to  griff
October 25, 2021 3:05 am

Oh Griff, sweetie, even the CAGW zealot “fact checkers” admit it’s true:
https://fullfact.org/online/COP26-Tesla-cars/

Screenshot 2021-10-25 11.04.02 AM.png
Reply to  griff
October 25, 2021 5:12 am

Griff mate,

It’s really easy to check these things, you know. All you have to do is follow the link provided

If you don’t believe the link, post something that shows it is false, don’t just claim it’s a myth

As for alarmism on WUWT, most of the alarmism here comes from you

Richard Page
Reply to  griff
October 25, 2021 6:51 am

Well Griffy – all I had to do was input the search terms into Google and I got pages of links; the scotsman, daily mail, 5 or 6 other news sites and 2-3 fact check sites. All of which had the same information and confirmed the source material. If you can’t even find that then what the hell are you doing on here – the absolute minimum requirement is that you can check your sources as well as others. Not only are you deeply delusional and mentally ill, you’re completely and utterly incompetent as well. Go away you pathetic excuse.

ResourceGuy
Reply to  griff
October 25, 2021 8:54 am
Tony C
October 25, 2021 12:39 am

The bit about the shortage of electricity points I can agree with but the other made up stories….wow what a load of bullshit……. Thugs touring Northern England who end up in Glasgow, you obviously know nothing and like made up racist tosh….

October 25, 2021 2:25 am

Moored on the Clyde.

Rusty
October 25, 2021 2:46 am

Glasgow is much tamer than it used to be and the reputation wasn’t warranted even when I lived there as a student in the early 90s. Lots of very rough places in the suburbs, but a lot of cities have that. Some are probably desired locations now (especially the waterfront).

Found the people to be friendly enough. Plenty of banter. Odd having off-licences with metal bars/grill between you and the merchandise mind you.

It’s changed massively since that time. Huge amounts of building and improvements. Unfortunately devolution happened soon after and now Glasgow is run by Labour/SNP who are as incompetent and corrupt as it gets.

People get what they vote for.

One thing I noted when I lived there was the odd black building – a reminder of the huge amount of soot that used to coat the place (and every other city).

ResourceGuy
October 25, 2021 8:52 am

It is the smell of other people’s money that binds them.

Developed nations to deliver climate fund 3 years late, hope to rebuild trust (yahoo.com)

David Stone CEng
October 25, 2021 9:47 am

I wonder if generators running on veg oil meet the Euro6 emissions standard? Of course it may even be degraded used oil from the Chip shops in Glasgow, famous for deep fried battered Mars Bars!

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