The myth that wind and solar are meaningful power sources was busted long ago. Quite apparently incapable of operating on their own, what purports to be the future of electricity generation turns out to be a pair of complete duds.

[Note to Ed: is this the part where we point out tricky facts such as sunset, cloudy days, breathless nights and the vagaries of the weather, more generally?]

As any good propagandist knows, selling a monstrous myth takes a solid dose of audacity and a superior command (some might say active abuse) of language.

The latest wheeze is “firming”; being a reference to reliable, dispatchable and controllable electricity generation sources.

[Note to Ed: do you mean like the system we’ve had in place for a century – ie coal, gas, stored hydro and, in those clever countries that have it, nuclear?].

When the term ‘firming’ first popped up in an…