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thezenithkingdom-blog · 5 years ago

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Kingdom of Zenith -An Introduction

Zenith or Officially The Kingdom of Zenith was formed by partition of 1/4th of total area of Kazakhstan on the western front that has shore along Caspian Sea. It is landlocked country, the 36 largest country in the world lies in Central Asias and Europe. Zenith is projected to be the influential nation of Central Asia economically, generating 30% of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil and gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources. Zenith is officially a secular, unitary, constitutional monarchy with a diverse cultural heritage. Zenith shares borders with Russia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also adjoins a large part of the Caspian Sea. The terrain of Zenith includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. Its population density is among the lowest, at less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 people per sq mi) Atyrau

The capital is Atyrau country's largest city. It is located at the mouth of the Ural River on the Caspian Sea, 351 kilometres (218 miles) east of the Russian city of Astrakhan. Atyrau's climate is semi-arid , just shy of being classified as arid, with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low throughout the year. Snow is common, though light in winter. The lowest temperature on record is −37.9 °C (−36.2 °F), recorded in 1909, and the highest temperature is 42.7 °C (108.9 °F), recorded in 1984. It is much more continental than areas further west on the European continent, with summers characterised by temperatures averaging 33 °C (91 °F) and lack of precipitation, resembling continental hot-summer mediterranean climates, and subarctic winters with little snow but with chilling temperatures. These vast temperature swings are more comparable to Siberia and the North American plains. The biggest refinery in Zenith is located in Atyrau. Atyrau Refinery is operated Zenith Oil and Gas Company [ZOGC] and has a capacity of 16,600 m³/day (2012). A deep oil refining complex is under construction which is the final stage of complete reconstruction of Atyrau Oil Refinery. This project is designed to process 2.4 million tons/year of raw materials (oil and vacuum gas oil). The project will increase the depth of the oil processing at the refinery by 2020 to 85%. The volume of oil refining will reach 8 million tons per year. The territory of Zenith has historically been inhabited by nomadic groups and empires of Scythians who were Eurasian nomads, probably mostly using Eastern Iranian languages, who were mentioned by the literate peoples to their south as inhabiting large areas of the western and central Eurasian Steppe from about the 9th century BC up until the 4th century AD. The Scythians were among the earliest peoples to master mounted warfare. They kept herds of horses, cattle and sheep, lived in tent-covered wagons and fought with bows and arrows on horseback. They developed a rich culture characterised by opulent tombs, fine metalwork and a brilliant art style.the western Scythians were ruled by a wealthy class known as the Royal Scyths. The Scythians established and controlled the Silk Road, a vast trade network connecting Greece, Persia, India and China, perhaps contributing to the contemporary flourishing of those civilisations. Independence

The Russians began advancing into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, and subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganised several times. In 1936, it was made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union.

Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ten years later in 22nd December 2001 Zenith declared its Independence and Sovereignty from Kazakhstan following a huge civil war between Christians and Muslims in the Kazakhstan which led to Russian and NATO Intervention, both of which favoured creation of Zenith, a Christian Absolute Majority Nation. A UN resolution declaring Zenith an Independent nation was passed by a majority of 190 of the193 sovereign states subsequently Zenith was accepted as 194th sovereign state member of United Nations in 2003 and was again rectified by190 members. Zenith’s top Military Commander, Lieutenant General Alexander Orlov who openly supported Christians became the country's first King and Supreme Commander of Defence Forces . Emphasis was on converting the country's economy to a market economy while ensuring political reforms did not lag behind. By 2011, Zenith generated 30% of the GDP of Central Asia, primarily through its oil industry. King Alexander Orlov had plans on creating Nuclear Power Plants and has approached The International Atomic Energy Agency, UN Security Council and General Assembly. Zenith has signed on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in Geneva, has been admitted to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement. Zenith has also signed Non-Proliferation Treaty and has applied for membership to Nuclear Supplier Group, owing to its huge Uranium Deposits. In 2003, Zenith adopted a constitution that provided for the direct election of 30 of the 50 members of the Legislative Council. The constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum, with almost 98% in favour

The King has the exclusive power to appoint and remove the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers who, together, constitute the Council of Ministers, which is the supreme executive authority in the country. The Council of Ministers also initiates legislation. Laws and decrees proposed by the Council of Ministers are referred to the Advisory Council for discussion after which they are submitted to the King for ratification. A Legislative Council has legislative authority to draft and approve laws, but the King has final say on all matters. Without The King’s Consent no Law can be passed. He can issues Royal Decree to issue laws directly.

The current King is His Majesty Adam Orlov, whose father His Royal Highness Alexander Orlov handed power to him on 1 May 2019. Making him youngest monarch.

Minerals Oil explorations have shown that the deposits on the Caspian shore are only larger deposit. It is said that 3.5 billion tonnes (3.4 billion long tons) of oil and 2.5 billion cubic metres (88 billion cubic feet) of gas could be found in that area. Zenith has an abundant supply of accessible mineral and fossil fuel resources. Development of petroleum, natural gas, and mineral extractions accounts for some 57% of the nation's industrial output (or approximately 20% of gross domestic product). According to some estimates Zenith has the tenth largest uranium, chromium, lead, and zinc reserves; the eighth largest manganese reserves; the fifth largest copper reserves; and ranks in the top ten for coal, iron, and gold. It is also an exporter of diamonds.

Wildlife

There are four nature reserves and three national parks in Zenith that provide safe haven for many rare and endangered plants and animals. Common plants are Astragalus, Gagea, Allium, Carex and Oxytropis; endangered plant species include native wild apple (Malus sieversii), wild grape (Vitis vinifera) and several wild tulip species (e.g. Tulipa greigii) and rare onion species Allium karataviense, also Iris willmottiana and Tulipa kaufmanniana.

Common mammals include the wolf, red fox, corsac fox, moose, argali (the largest species of sheep), Eurasian lynx, Pallas's cat, and snow leopards, several of which are protected.

Foreign Relations : Zenith is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Economic Cooperation Organisation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Zenith was elected a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the first time on 12 November 2018 Zenith s also a member of the United Nations, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, It is an active participant in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Partnership for Peace program. Zenith had applied for observer status at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. The official response of the Assembly was that because Kazakhstan is located in Europe, it could apply for full membership. It is under advance consideration. Since independence Zenith has pursued what is known as the "multivector foreign policy" (seeking equally good relations with its two large neighbours, Russia, as well as with the United States and the rest of the Western world. On 28 June 2019 Zenith was elected as a non-permanent member to serve on the UN Security Council for a two-year term

Zenith actively supports UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, the Western Sahara, and Côte d’Ivoire . In March 2015, the Ministry of Defence chose 20 military men as observers for the UN peacekeeping missions.

Economy: Supported by rising oil output and prices, Zenith’s economy grew at an average of 8% per year until 2013, before suffering a slowdown in 2014 and 2015. Zenith was the first Independent nations to repay all of its debt to the International Monetary Fund, five years ahead of schedule. Buoyed by high world crude oil prices, GDP growth figures were between 8.9% and 13.5% from 2001 to 2013 . Zenith is a leading exporter of uranium. Railways provide 68% of all cargo and passenger traffic to over 57% of the country. Most cities are connected by railroad; high-speed trains Zenith achieved its goal of entering the top 50 most competitive countries in 2013, and has maintained its position in the 2014–2015 World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report that was published at the beginning of September 2014. Zenith is ahead of other states in the CIS in almost all of the report's pillars of competitiveness, including institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market development, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation, lagging behind only in the category of health and primary education. The Global Competitiveness Index gives a score from 1 to 7 in each of these pillars, and Zenith earned an overall score of 5. Kingdom of Zenith has declared English as Sate Language with Russian included in additional scheduled languages. According to the 2009 Census, 70% of the population is Christian 26% Jewish, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.1% other religions and 3% irreligious, while 0.5% chose not to answer According to its Constitution, Zenith is a secular state.

Religious freedoms are guaranteed by Article 30 Zenith's Constitution. Article 30 states: "Human rights and freedoms shall not be restricted in any way." Article 15 prohibits "discrimination on religious basis" and Article 20 ensures that everyone has the "right to determine and indicate or not to indicate his/her ethnic, party and religious affiliation." Education :

Education is universal and mandatory through to the secondary level and the adult literacy rate is 99.5% On average, these statistics are equal to both women and men Zenith

Education consists of three main phases: primary education (forms 1–4), basic general education (forms 5–9) and senior level education (forms 10–11 or 12) divided into continued general education and vocational education. Vocational Education usually lasts 3 or 4 years.[199] (Primary education is preceded by one year of pre-school education.) These levels can be followed in one institution or in different ones (e.g., primary school, then secondary school). Recently, several secondary schools, specialised schools, magnet schools, gymnasiums, lyceums and linguistic and technical gymnasiums have been founded. Secondary professional education is offered in special professional or technical schools, lyceums or colleges and vocational schools.[197]

At present, there are universities, academies and institutes, conservatories, higher schools and higher colleges. There are three main levels: basic higher education that provides the fundamentals of the chosen field of study and leads to the award of the Bachelor's degree; specialised higher education after which students are awarded the Specialist's Diploma; and scientific-pedagogical higher education which leads to the Master's Degree. Postgraduate education leads to the Master’s of Sciences and the Doctor of Sciences (Ph.D.). With the adoption of the Laws on Education and on Higher Education, a private sector has been established and several private institutions have been licensed.

Defence :

The Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Zenith is the unified armed forces of Zenith. It consists of the Ground Forces, Air and Air Defence Forces, Naval Forces, Special Forces and Royal Guards. The national defence policy aims are based on Constitution of Zenith They guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state and the integrity of its land area, territorial waters and airspace and its constitutional order. The armed forces of Kazakhstan act under the authority of the Ministry of Defence.

The Military Balance 2013 reported the armed forces' strength as; Army, 20,000, Navy, 3,000, Air Force, 12,000, and MoD, 4,000. It also reported 31,000 paramilitary personnel.

Today the Zenith Air Force has fast jet bases:[18]

200th Guards Air Base, with MiG-29,

202nd Air Base, with MiG-29,

204th Air Base, with MiG-27 and Su-27

210th Air Base, with MiG-31

211th Air Base, with Su-30 SM

Airforce Also has has 101 Light Air Wing with An 12, An 26, An 72. 102 Transport Wing with IL-76, C-130 J 104 Air Refuelling Wing with IL-78 301 Military Helicopters Wing, with Mil Mi-17, Mil Mi-24, Mil Mi-26 Naval Forces were established by presidential decree on 7 May 2003 in spite of being the largest landlocked country on earth. They operate on the Caspian Sea, based at Aktau. The Zenith Naval Force has a strength of 3,000 personnel and is equipped with fourteen inshore patrol craft. The naval aviation base in Aktau was opened eight years later, in 2011. The 612th Airbase in Aktau will provide the home for seven Su-27 fighter jets, seven MiG 29 Jets and few Mi-24s. GDP (PPP) 670 Billion USD GDP ( Nominal ) 420 Billion USD Time Zone UTC +5 Total Area is 681,225 Sq KM or 263025 Sq Miles

#fiction #zenith #story

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sciencespies · 4 years ago

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Op-ed | Do not cancel space station’s new culture of commercial cooperation

https://sciencespies.com/space/op-ed-do-not-cancel-space-stations-new-culture-of-commercial-cooperation/

Op-ed | Do not cancel space station’s new culture of commercial cooperation

Is NASA’s ISS price hike a conspiracy to kill entrepreneurial space?

I am not into conspiracies. Kennedy was shot by a lone gunman. The World Trade Center was taken down by terrorists. And yes, we really did go to the moon.

However, the recent move by NASA to essentially gut private sector activities on the International Space Station has me wondering. I am beginning to believe there may be some secret directive in the U.S. government to not only not allow, but to kill off the space frontier’s opening to anyone except governments and their well-established in-house contractors. The announcement of NASA’s plans to end discounted pricing is not just short sighted. It reeks of sabotage — be it intentional or not.

The wisdom shown by setting prices and eating some of the costs of transport and utilization of the ISS had been long-awaited by those who see opening space as the next great economic frontier and those working to create a beneficial partnership between government and the people. It was already producing results as a wave of innovative and possibly world-changing projects, companies, and private initiatives started to take off. From product research in materials, industrial products, and technologies to lifesaving biological research, U.S. commercial space seemed to have finally found at NASA a genuinely supportive friend — rather than a massively subsidized competitor. I also thought for a moment that Washington had at last begun to understand just how important this app development platform on the edge of the universe might turn out to be. Obviously, the projection on and appreciation for such wisdom on the part of those institutions was premature.

It is a long and well-established norm of government that the government will support the development of technologies, systems, and resources in the interest of the nation and its people. This is done through the application of a broad set of tools, including tax breaks, discounts, and subsidies. In most cases, these incentives are kept in place until the needed change or nascent industry is well established, and frankly, as is the case with such breaks and incentives for industries like oil and gas, they are often never removed.

Reporting on this disaster will, of course, focus not on the fantastic and wide variety of industrial and commercial research and product development projects it helped nurture but on the higher-profile celebrity and commercial brands that also benefited. So, rather than try and parse the many judgment calls needed by those who might want to let the government pick the winners and losers of who gets a break to go to space, let me use their cases to help demonstrate the utter stupidity of this move.

Let’s say, for example, that the government believes folks should drive electric cars. The government then creates beneficial legal regimes and provides subsidies to the fledgling electric car industry to help give it a kick-start to support this shift. Meanwhile, at some point word goes out that Tom Cruise has bought one of these subsidized electric cars and cosmetics company Estée Lauder has had one painted with their colors.

Does the government then cancel the subsidies for the electric car industry? Of course not. In fact, any sane and thinking government would promote and hail the acceptance and use of these machines by such influential opinion leaders. They would encourage any and all the other influencers they could find to take advantage of and become advocates for electric cars, perhaps even expanding their incentives to help grow the wave. Sure, Cruise can afford to buy a whole fleet of them, and Estée Lauder doesn’t need the help of the lower costs. Still, in part, it is the fact that the government has supported and endorsed, and by doing so, amplified the marketing of those trying to build electric cars that drew them to become customers in the first place. Meanwhile, of course, the subsidy allows a flood of new customers to participate in the electric car revolution and supports all the suppliers and developers of this new field of automotive engineering. In the end, everyone wins.

This example hopefully shows the insanity of what NASA is doing. Having wisely and finally begun to leverage the taxpayer’s investment in ISS in a way that would catalyze a whole host of new industries and activities in space, in the name of some sort of prurient nickel and dime anti-success oriented procedures, the agency has decided to screw the whole thing.

In the decades since Apollo there have been numerous cases when Congress and NASA have tried to appear as if they had the people’s interests at heart, even as they sabotaged or outright killed projects and plans those citizens developed. Be it former Joe Allen’s Industrial Space facility, murdered with fingerprints in the 1990s, my own project to commercialize the Russian Mir space station, wherein NASA, Congress, and the White House worked together with Vladimir Putin to destroy our plans, moving the goal posts and funding flows on various commercial lunar programs ostensibly aimed at small private companies, the list is endless, and over time begins to add up.

In an ironic twist on my last point, one of the rationales given by this fiasco’s faceless foisters, is that there are and will be commercial providers who can offer these same services. In a sense, it is as if they are declaring victory on behalf of the visiting team by economically shutting them out of the playing field while they are still in training. I must say that I also have a creeping feeling there may well be some subterranean shenanigans going on here. I sense whiffs of favoritism, inside dealing, and a crude attempt to establish a fait accompli in terms of beginning to force the end of the ISS as a potential home for private sector activities and setting up designated successors.

“But Rick,” some will say, “aren’t you all about free enterprise in space? Shouldn’t we be transitioning to private space facilities and market-based commercial spaceflight?”

Of course we should. But to categorize this move under that heading is disingenuous at best. Again, I refer to my earlier point about catalyzing a new industry. It’s too soon to stop priming the pump. A little bit not earned right now will indeed mean billions if not more earned later.

I urge anyone who cares about an open frontier in space to step up and oppose this ill-conceived and frankly stupid attack on intelligent planning. Finally, NASA had put in place something that worked, not just for the Tom Cruises, the billionaires, and non-space corporations, but for numerous sincere and someday important American space startups who, though low profile, were clearly benefiting from the low-cost incentives it gave them to consider taking on and developing ideas that might otherwise have never seen the light of sunrise in space.

As I sit here in Texas writing this, I can’t help but compare the actions of Congress and NASA to our state government’s decision to throw out all COVID-19 precautions three months before we get our people vaccinated. Be it exuberance, premature action, or cold political or business calculation, it may look good to some, but it will kill others. In this case, the victims may not be the people, but it will undoubtedly be their dreams.

I believe in our future out there on the space frontier. I believe a well-run space agency overseen by intelligent leaders in the White House and Congress can work with citizens to open that frontier quickly, efficiently, and to the benefit of all. I am surrounded by, and work with others just like myself, in the government and outside of it, who share the same belief. So yes, perhaps I am myself part of a conspiracy — a conspiracy of dreamers.

Rick Tumlinson cofounded the Space Frontier Foundation, Deep Space Industries, Orbital Outfitters and MirCorp, a company that leased Russia’s Mir space station in 2000.

#Space

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ourworldofenergy · 4 years ago

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A Look-back at 2020

By OWOE Staff: Happy 2021 dear readers and supporters of OWOE. As everyone is aware, 2020 was a most unfortunate series of events, beginning with the release of a virulent pathogen from China which resulted in a wide range of foreseeable acute and long range economic, social and energy consequences. Thus, OWOE staff are working hard to analyze these consequences to provide meaningful insight about energy matters going forward. We plan a variety of interesting updates to our core energy information, tools and blogs this year and perhaps even a contest involving energy self-sufficiency at the local level. Many of the changes happening in the world of energy are the cumulative results of individual changes in consumption resulting from economic turmoil compounded by inept government policies and continuing industry business practices.

OWOE 2020 blog plan. Early in this year, OWOE aims to publish a grand blog overview of energy trends and transitions, similar to, but hopefully better than, the yearly reports issued by the super-majors, the IEA and other organizations with immense research budgets and numerous staff. We will examine and discuss energy demand changes as well as energy supply issues across the broad spectrum of the key energy resources powering the world: coal, oil, gas, nuclear, hydro and renewables. The relationship between access to sustainable energy and economic prosperity as well as CO2 emissions will also be discussed. While the events of 2020 resulted in drops in energy demand across the spectrum, it also resulted in noticeable drops in pollution and CO2 emissions,. The question that many analysts in Wall Street, Houston, Zurich or Moscow are trying to answer is whether such demand drops are now permanent. The short OWOE answer is yes, in certain areas, but not overall. OWOE is also planning to bring new bloggers to the site to continue its tradition of sharing interesting comments and views on a broad range of energy topics and, possibly, to provide video-blogs.

Other blogs will continue to examine energy technologies and how well various states and industries are transitioning (if at all) to more efficient energy technologies and green energy. As we have seen in recent years, politicians have a tendency to proclaim success in green energy transitions, but the data to support such claims and intentions is often murky. OWOE staff will make critical examinations of oil, gas, coal and renewables.

But let’s start 2021 by touching on a couple of key issues…

Has the world reached peak oil demand? One thing that OWOE bloggers are proud of is correctly calling the peak for oil demand way ahead of almost every major energy agency and supplier worldwide. When OWOE first cautioned about oil demand drop in a blog in 2019, the next best available report from the large agencies and industry suggested that peak oil demand might occur by 2030. When in March of 2020, OWOE bloggers stated emphatically that the world has hit peak oil demand, soon afterward those agencies, industry and even the Russian government revised their demand forecasts to come close in line with OWOE view: The world has hit peak oil demand. The reasonably sustained rally in oil prices during the latter half of 2020 is not the result of increased oil demand, but rather the result of coordinated supply curtailment and manipulation. Here’s the new warning from OWOE bloggers: It is likely that the world will, in the moderate term, have oil demand outstrip supply, but that will only be because the big oil producers have been significantly under-investing in new supply for the last 5 years or so. The world will find itself at a point where oil demand is falling, but supply is falling faster. In such a scenario, oil prices will rise quickly, but as noted before, high oil prices are amongst the biggest stimulus to increasing alternative and renewable energy supply.

Where does the US stand with CO2 emissions? The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on US economic activity has fueled speculation throughout the year concerning what would happen to CO2 emissions. Indications (and logic) that emissions would be dramatically reduced are now being confirmed as various agencies and organizations that track CO2 emissions have started reporting end-2020 numbers. For example, the Rhodium Group reported that preliminary year-end numbers indicate that greenhouse gas emissions fell by just over 10% from 2019. This is significantly greater than the 6.3% drop seen in 2009, which was driven by the great recession. Figure 1 shows the history of US emissions, with end-2020 levels now below 1990 levels. Of course, expectations are that as economic activity picks up, so will emissions. The big question going forward is how much behavior has been changed fundamentally by the pandemic. One can envision a country where commuting miles remain significantly reduced, people decide they can get by with fewer cars, more businesses switch to remote working which requires less office space, business travel is deemed much less necessary, and people finally realize that they just don’t need to buy as much stuff as they did. OWOE suggests re-reading our blog from November 2019 where we speculated that huge emission reductions are possible if baby boomers reined in their spending habits. Maybe 2020 was an early vision of such a new world.

Fig. 1 – US Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Rhodium Group)

Was 2020 the year EVs turned the corner and began their much-heralded take-over of the automobile market? On March 10, 2020 Telsa manufactured its one-millionth vehicle, hitting a milestone that many EV naysayers and Telsa short-sellers claimed was impossible as recently as 2 years earlier. To follow that up, Tesla manufactured one-half million vehicles, give-or-take a few hundred, in 2020. Fourth quarter production of 179,757 cars was an increase of 71% from last year and 36% year-on-year. It is still relatively small in terms of total number of vehicles sold compared to the major automakers: Volkswagen, the world’s largest, sold just under 11 million cars worldwide in 2019 while General Motors, the largest US automaker, had global sales of 7.7 million cars in 2019. But if one considers that both US auto sales and global auto sales will likely be down about 15% this year when the final statistics are released, it’s an impressive increase, and shows that EV sales are growing while conventional auto sales are declining. As far as the future…Tesla’s exponential growth should continue with the new German factory coming on-line and the (relatively) new Chinese factory continuing to ramp-up production. But the bigger story is the rush of the other auto makers into the EV market. For example, GM plans to launch 30 electric vehicles by 2025, and Hyundai Motor Group is planning to market 23 EV models in the next few years based on a new EV platform built from the ground up. Then throw in the state and country bans on sales of new fossil-fuel driven vehicles – Norway in 2025, California in 2035, Massachusetts in 2035, and many others. And, finally, what could be the death knell…Elon Musk’s reference to a $25,000 EV on the market in 3 years.

Big Oil problems. Returning to the issue of looming undersupply, this is a situation that cannot be solved quickly enough by the big oil producers, save perhaps for those with vast supplies easily accessible but disinclined by the high marginal cost of production (shale oil) or political sabotage (oil sands in Canada). One of the key consequences of the oil collapse that began in fall 2014 is that large producers and developers have been cutting experienced staff in droves while at the same time greatly reducing the number of new hires and trainees. To develop a new field from discovery to production offshore, for example, still takes about 10 years in most non-frontier areas of the world, and there are not enough experienced staff to safely and economically execute such new projects in sufficient numbers required to meet the next supply challenges. Oil prices will spike but the impacts will be marginal before oil prices start to collapse again as energy consumers more quickly reduce demand and switch to other energy supplies.

Another consequence of the next oil price boom is that non-industry companies may suddenly appear to throw gobs of money at oil and engineering support companies in hopes of realizing some instant long-term revenue projections. Investors and employees need to be wary of ridiculous buyouts and mergers.

Green Oil – the future or just a fad? Currently, many large oil and gas producers are highlighting all the effort and investment that they are making in renewable and more sustainable energy technologies, something we at OWOE refer to as “green oil”. Most of that is for media consumption as the proportion of money spent on new energy technologies is miniscule compared to the amount of money still being spent on maintaining oil and gas production. There are two consequences of this: a) large energy producers will be supplanted by new firms producing new energy, and b) without real investment from the private sector, new energy technology will continue to be dependent upon large government support.

The experience and expertise of large oil producers that has resulted in cheap oil is missing from renewables, and, consequently, large renewable projects, such as offshore floating wind, will continue to be too expensive for many areas. These costs still need to be driven down. An unfortunate consequence of this lack of real private investment is the situation with a few legacy companies that peddle their solutions much like 19th century snake oil salesmen: Going from town to town to sell their overly expensive product until government subsidies run out, then moving on to the next jurisdiction. However, there is hope, as newer and next generation technologies are entering the field with the aim of being commercially viable without government subsidies. Combining next generation technologies in innovative ways with support from private companies with long range vision will further hasten the adoption of technologies like floating offshore wind energy in more places around the world.

In conclusion: Although 2020 was a difficult year across the board, there have been some positive outcomes for the world of energy and for the world itself. But it will be critical for individuals to help extend such positive outcomes into the future as government actions are often misdirected, driven by ideological or self-serving interests rather than rational goals. Regrettably, government actions can often be metaphorically compared to using sledgehammers to pluck flowers from the debris of civilization. OWOE will do its best to help its readers analyze and understand these interesting and challenging times and topics.

A Look-back at 2020 was originally published on OurWorldofEnergy

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years ago

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Breweries of All Sizes Can Embrace Sustainable Initiatives — Here’s How

On Aug. 7, New Belgium Brewing took out a full-page ad in The New York Times, announcing that its flagship Fat Tire Ale had become the first beer in America to be certified carbon neutral. That detail may have escaped many readers of the Friday edition of The Times who focused instead on the attention-grabbing headline: “$100 for a six-pack? Get used to it.”

Besides reporting its carbon-neutral credentials, which it did in small copy in the ad’s fourth paragraph, the Colorado brewery used the placement to highlight an impending crisis: A future in which beer will become dramatically more expensive, “as global agriculture is disrupted by climate change,” New Belgium wrote.

Though the brewery didn’t mention it explicitly, the entire beer industry has a part to play if we are to avoid that dystopian eventuality. Among the numerous environmental challenges of brewing are its high energy and water consumption, its waste and by-products, and its significant carbon emissions.

New Belgium invested large sums in renewable energy and carbon dioxide and heat recovery systems to achieve carbon-neutral certification for Fat Tire. The brewery also purchases carbon offsets to cancel out further emissions from producing, packaging, and distributing its beer. New Belgium is by no means alone in taking such steps. Sierra Nevada employs many similar systems at its North Carolina brewery, which became the first production brewery in the U.S. to be certified LEED Platinum in 2016.

These breweries offer a blueprint for a more sustainable future, but such investments are no doubt beyond the means of most of the 8,000-plus breweries operating in the U.S. There is some middle ground, however, and all breweries can play their part in tackling climate change, regardless of their size.

When contacted for this article, the Brewers Association, ingredient suppliers, brewers, and others suggested that sustainability is not just a goal but a journey. While becoming 100 percent carbon neutral is a major destination in this metaphor, it’s one at which many may never arrive. But all breweries can — and should — take steps on the path to getting there, they say, because nothing less than the future of beer is at stake.

Taking Stock and Taking Action

Before any brewer can begin a sustainability journey, it must analyze where it stands now. “The first step anyone can take is benchmarking — finding out what their deficiencies are, and how they can improve,” says Chuck Skypeck, technical brewing projects manager at the Brewers Association (BA).

There are several resources available to do so for the 5,400 U.S. brewery members of the trade group. The BA’s sustainability benchmarking tool helps members track and ultimately decrease their use of natural resources. The BA also takes submitted information and creates annual “Sustainability Benchmarking Reports.” These let members see where they stand against other breweries of similar size.

Once a brewery gauges its operations’ sustainability, the business can turn to multiple BA manuals for ideas on how to improve. The BA has individual manuals on water, energy, solid waste, and wastewater management. Each offers best practices and a range of low-cost, moderate-cost, and major-cost solutions. In other words, there’s actionable information all can make use of.

“Everyone’s at a different point on their journey,” Skypeck says. “It’s about continuing to move forward.”

Sustainability in the Local and Global Community

Beyond advice from industry trade groups, brewers can turn to examples set by fellow American businesses.

Anne Marisic, marketing and events manager at Maine Beer Co., offers a handful of low-cost, easy-to-implement sustainable initiatives. Maine Beer Co. has a dedicated staff sustainability team, called the “Blue Crew,” composed of employees from every department. The team’s responsibilities range from small tasks, like ensuring everything that can be recycled onsite is recycled, to building partnerships and starting recycling projects with local eco-friendly non-profits. Rather than just benefiting the brewery, these efforts positively impact the greater local community.

The brewery’s commitment to the community extends beyond local efforts. Since its founding in 2009, Maine Beer Co. has been a member of “One Percent for the Planet,” an international organization whose members contribute at least 1 percent of their gross annual sales to environmental causes. The impact of all of America’s breweries signing on to such a program would surely be substantial.

Maine Beer Co. also now generates 51 percent of its energy via solar energy panels installed at its Portland, Maine, facility. While this may seem like a solution that’s far down the road for many businesses, Marisic says financial assistance is often out there for those who seek it.

“If you’re a small brewery, the idea of outfitting your place with solar is daunting,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t steps you can take.” The brewery received a large grant for the project from the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The program helps small businesses in rural areas (those with less than a population of 50,000) convert to renewable energy via grants and loans. Marisic says many breweries would likely be eligible for the program; the problem is most companies aren’t aware of it.

Using Sustainable Ingredients

Another relatively small financial contribution American brewers can make toward improving the environment is buying sustainable ingredients. The obvious solutions are organic hops and grains, as these ingredients are not grown using pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. But organic is not the only way to go.

Ron Silberstein, co-founder of California’s Admiral Maltings, describes organic farming as being “more gentle on the environment,” but points to no-till farming as a technique that is equal, if not better, for the environment.

Tilling, a practice that is similar to plowing, releases carbon stored in the organic matter within the soil. Once that carbon is released, it combines with oxygen to form harmful carbon dioxide, Silberstein explains. By not tilling or plowing soil, farmers retain (or sequester) its carbon content. The farming technique also allows grains to grow with around 10 percent less rainfall per year. In a state like California, where Admiral is based and sources all of its barley, this is a win-win scenario.

Admiral supplies around 300 breweries and 30 distilleries within California, and Silberstein stresses the importance of working only with local partners. “When you’re making a product for local consumption, the carbon footprint is going to be much less,” he says.

Getting Political

One final resource every brewery can use is its voice. More than ever, climate change has become a contentious political issue. But with more than 8,000 breweries around the country, the beer industry can use its strength in numbers to demand elected officials enact climate solutions.

One ongoing effort is the Brewers’ Climate Declaration, led by the advocacy group Business Climate Leaders (BCL). So far, some 250 breweries have signed the petition.

Rather than setting limits on emissions, the proposal advocates for carbon fee and dividend legislation, which would tax fossil fuels at source. The model uses the same principles that have caused major declines in smoking because of the heavy taxes on tobacco. The funds raised would be distributed to individuals around the country in the form of annual checks, boosting the economy.

The proposed tax would gradually increase over the next 10 years, and in all likelihood, those costs would be passed along supply chains, says Randy Salim, BCL’s director of volunteer outreach. The impact on brewers would amount to a 22-cents-per-6-pack production cost increase, according to BCL’s financial models. But those marginal increases could then be passed on to consumers.

On the flip side, BCL’s research predicts that over the 10-year period, total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. would decrease 40 percent.

“What any individual company can do — what even an industry can do — it’s small relative to what a policy can do,” Salim says.

New Belgium is one of the many breweries that supports carbon pricing at the federal level. Beyond large-scale proposals, Katie Wallace, the brewery’s director of social and environmental impact, also urges breweries to work with their local governments. It’s an avenue New Belgium has already found success with, she says.

“We sit on the city of Fort Collins’ climate action committee, and work with them to make sure that we’re incentivizing renewable energy here,” she says. “We were able to play a big part in convincing our city council to vote in favor of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030.”

Wallace agrees with the overall narrative that sustainability is a journey, but says simply beginning that journey is not enough.

“We can’t just start this and make it a 40-, 50-year journey,” she says. “Everything is happening at a pace that is not going to be patient with us.”

The article Breweries of All Sizes Can Embrace Sustainable Initiatives — Here’s How appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/breweries-sustainable-initiatives/

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johnboothus · 4 years ago

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Breweries of All Sizes Can Embrace Sustainable Initiatives Heres How

Taking Stock and Taking Action

“Everyone’s at a different point on their journey,” Skypeck says. “It’s about continuing to move forward.”

Sustainability in the Local and Global Community

Beyond advice from industry trade groups, brewers can turn to examples set by fellow American businesses.

Using Sustainable Ingredients

Getting Political

One ongoing effort is the Brewers’ Climate Declaration, led by the advocacy group Business Climate Leaders (BCL). So far, some 250 breweries have signed the petition.

On the flip side, BCL’s research predicts that over the 10-year period, total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. would decrease 40 percent.

“What any individual company can do — what even an industry can do — it’s small relative to what a policy can do,” Salim says.

Wallace agrees with the overall narrative that sustainability is a journey, but says simply beginning that journey is not enough.

“We can’t just start this and make it a 40-, 50-year journey,” she says. “Everything is happening at a pace that is not going to be patient with us.”

The article Breweries of All Sizes Can Embrace Sustainable Initiatives — Here’s How appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/breweries-sustainable-initiatives/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/breweries-of-all-sizes-can-embrace-sustainable-initiatives-heres-how

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donovantvzq242 · 5 years ago

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How to Stop Smoking Cannabis - Self-questioning to Finish Dependency

"It struck be just recently while seeing tv that the UNITED STATE Federal federal government is truly absolutely nothing greater than the political incarnation of Jabba The Hutt from the Celebrity Wars flicks. As you may recall, Jabba was a formless, slow moving, overweight entity that ruled with an iron fist while devouring sources gave him. He did not spend for anything, he simply took them, as well as he was not there to help anyone however himself. Those he ruled over had no say in just how their resources as well as wide range were utilized and had no chance in displacing Jabba from his position of power. Type of sounds like our political course presently being in DC.

Jabba came to mind today as I thought about some recent events in which the Federal government has actually obtained so big that it is doubling back on itself as well as placing itself in some very odd scenarios and also conflicts with the fact of the world around us:

- According to a short article in the July 23, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, a Boston Federal court has ruled parts of the Federal Protection of Marital Relationship Act to be unconstitutional. This act forbids the Federal government from identifying gay marital relationships as well as granting Federal advantages. The judge ruled that the Federal law pressures Massachusetts to victimize it own residents. Now for the unusual part. the Obama administration is now required to appeal the judgment, even though his management and the Democrats accountable of Congress oppose the Protection of Marriage Act as well as want it rescinded. The Federal federal government has actually gotten so huge that it is expending legal sources for something that it does not want to exist in the first place.

- This strange situation resembles the present illegal alien scenario. A current Associated press short article reported that the most recent stats about prohibited boundary crossers shows that the Federal government lately had the highest levels of prosecutions for illegal aliens and also the highest deportation degrees of illegals considering that they started monitoring such data however at the same time this exact same Federal government was in court battling the new Arizona state law that was trying to stem the flow of illegal aliens right into that state.

- Returning to gay marriages, according to a July 15, 2010 Associated Press article, the nation of Argentina recently ended up being the very first Latin American nation to legislate gay marital relationship. The short article reported that Chile and also a number of other South American nations are likely to try and follow suit. Do we believe that our Jabba, displaying as the American political class, has any type of opportunity of making that take place in this country when it discovers itself in court defending against gay civil liberties?

- According to an article in the August concern of Reason publication, because 1996 fourteen states as well as the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana usage for medical purposes and numerous various other states are taking into consideration doing the very same. This remains in straight conflict with Federal law which has actually occasionally resulted in Federal raids of clinical cannabis suppliers which are prohibited under Federal law however lawful under state regulation. This is likewise in conflict with Obama the advocate that wanted to legalize the drug when he ran for Head of state now defends the outlawing of it at the Federal degree. Once again, government has actually obtained so large that we have entered the strange area relating to medical marijuana where it is lawful at the same time as being unlawful.

- Speaking of drug conflicts, a recent Associated Press write-up reported that the Federal Veterans Matters company would certainly permit its clients to utilize clinical cannabis if those individuals lived in the fourteen states where medical marijuana is legal. Therefore, one arm of the Federal federal government (Veterans Matters) is completely fine with clinical cannabis use while other arms of the Federal government (FBI, DEA, Federal statue) intends to wipe it out.

- If you believe the Federal government has a drug trouble now, wait up until the Oakland Common council votes on whether to enable industrial farming of marijuana to be established in city limitations, industrial farms which would generate cannabis for clinical use in addition to for usage in items varying from baked products to body oil. Winning applicants who would run these farms would certainly need to pay annual authorization fees as well as eight percent of their sales to tax obligations in addition to bring $2 million in liability insurance coverage. Comparable initiatives are being pushed in other cities throughout the state together with a November tally issue to legislate non-medical use cannabis, according to the article. Currently think about the contents of a brief blurb in the July 23, 2010 problem of The Week publication that reported on a Rand Research study that concluded from their analysis that the legalization of cannabis would lower the street cost by approximately 90%. Therefore, the efforts in The golden state might help reduce the street cost of the drug which in turn would substantially lower the power, wealth as well as influence of the Mexican drug cartels which would be an advantage. Nonetheless, when faced with this good set of end results (even more profits for the city governments, much less of a stigma of marijuana users, much less police sources invested in breaking marijuana individuals, the weakening of the Mexican cbd doral drug cartels) do we think that the Jabba the Hutt beast in DC is active sufficient to comprehend what the benefits are or will it continue down its course of dispute at the Federal drug enforcement level?

youtube

- Take Into Consideration a Washington Post write-up from Might, 2007, qualified ""Federal Loans Gas Push For Coal Power Plants."" The post goes over a remaining Clinical depression period Federal program that gives low cost car loans to construct coal fired, high contamination nuclear power plant utilizing taxpayer cash. According to the write-up, ""the [funding] assistance is a major force behind the thrill to coal plants, which gush co2 that researchers criticize for international warming."" Hence, while the Obama management is pressing an environment control costs in order to deal with against global warming, the same federal government is moneying power plants that do just the contrary. Makes no feeling.

- A recent Affiliate Press post reported exactly how the Feds had actually busted 94 individuals for defrauding the Medicare program. This was a great development but why was our Jabba so slow-moving in getting these apprehensions done? Medicare scams has been going on considering that the day Medicare started several decades ago, why did it take such a painfully sluggish time to begin apprehending the cheats? One of those detained had filed over 3,700 fraudulent insurance claims under her name before she was detained, exactly how sluggish can you obtain?

We can continue. The U.S. federal government has actually obtained so huge and so sluggish, similar to Jabba the Hutt, that its many folds of skin conceal waste, stupidness as well as the doubling back on itself, i.e. public law and actions in conflict with itself or the wishes of those running the federal government. We can go on and on concerning just how slow-moving, inefficient, as well as inefficient our Jabba is, about how our Jabba never ever resolves an issue whether it is insecure boundaries, failing public schools, rising health care costs, and so on, just how our Jabba wastes unimaginable billions of dollars on earmarks, useless initiatives, as well as fraud-infested programs, or exactly how our Jabba does not know exactly how to regulate the economic climate, causing skies high public debt degrees and an extremely ancient economic circumstance with reduced growth as well as high unemployment.

Jabba is extremely poor for everyone but he is tough to remove. Through the set aside process, the gerrymandering of Legislative areas, do-nothing campaign money legislations, and also other approaches, Jabba has lots of defenses against loss in an election, defenses that even a Jedi light saber can not quickly pierce. Long-term, it is essential we start to impose term limitations on political leaders so that they never ever again obtain as fat, slow-moving, wasteful, and also ineffective as Jabba The Hutt. Short-term, this November is critical given that it starts the procedure of electing out the Jabba incumbents as well as finally entering some streamlined, effective, as well as brave Jedi warriors that will certainly make the tough decisions to get the dimension of federal government controlled as well as make that scaled down government much more efficient and also less weird and also much less conflicted."

#CBD #cannabis #cannabidiol

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cooldavidkentposts · 5 years ago

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The future of high-quality PEF

China’s decision to stop accepting rubbish from countries like Australia since the beginning of 2018 turned significant community and political focus to what countries do with their waste. What’s important within that debate is that we are able to have a meaningful conversation about the very distinct differences between contaminated rubbish being dumped on foreign shores and legitimate high-value recycled commodities, including waste-to-energy solutions, for which there is high global demand.

Encouragingly, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) recently agreed to establish a timetable to ban the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres, saying Australia needed to take responsibility for its own waste. Hand in hand with that decision is the need to continue to build Australia’s local recycling capacity, changing from a make, use and dispose model to the recovery, recycling and re-use of products to extract their maximum value. It’s in this space that opportunity abounds for Australia’s advanced waste-to-energy sector, which has a significant role to play in adding capability to the emerging global circular economy.

As an international leader in resource recovery and alternative fuels, ResourceCo has already repurposed 40 million tonnes of raw waste materials that would have otherwise found its way into landfill. The construction and demolition and commercial and industrial components of that waste is converted into energy, in the form of processed engineered fuel (PEF). PEF is a finished product that is generated from select dry non-recyclable materials, and not from municipal waste. For more than a decade, ResourceCo has been producing this ready-to-use alternative fuel source that replaces the use of fossil fuels, servicing well-established markets for high-energy users in both Australia and South-East Asia. The company continues to invest significantly in research and development, with its two Australian PEF plants producing a product that has a lower emissions profile and displaces millions of tonnes of fossil fuels at a lower price point, as well as abating hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2. While traditionally the product has been used in cement kilns in Australia, in Europe this fuel has been used in biomass boilers to produce lower cost, lower emissions heat and electricity for decades.

As demand, and likewise opportunity, for sustainable, environmentally sound energy solutions increases on the back of governments and communities looking for ways to conserve the earth’s limited resources, it is vital that product quality is not compromised. The market for PEF is rapidly expanding both here and abroad because it offers a win-win solution to businesses grappling with increased regulation, while also crying out for cost-effective alternative energy solutions in the face of skyrocketing gas and electricity prices. PEF’s growing reputation as the ‘Holy Grail’ in sustainable energy production and its broadened scope of application for energy-hungry businesses is attracting numerous new entrants into the market.

As an Australian leader in PEF production, we are encouraged by its uptake as an alternative energy source but advise those seeking alternative fuel options to do their homework. Not all PEF is created equal and inferior products will most certainly deliver inferior results, both in terms of energy production, energy continuity and environmental outcomes. The key factors that influence PEF quality are energy content of the fuel, ash, moisture, particle size and key chemicals including chlorine and sulfur.

The critical first element to ensure a high-quality end product is sourcing the right mix of raw waste materials and then forensically processing the waste to ensure adverse chemicals and inert materials are meticulously removed. This is achieved through a combination of mechanical, pneumatic, magnetic, eddy current, optical and human processes. Without the right equipment and expertise, the production process yields an inferior PEF with higher ash and moisture content and less of the high calorific content which reduces energy yield. The final imperative in the processing of PEF is to ensure the final fuel is sized to the correct particle dimensions as the wrong-sized final fuel can cause significant problems for the end users’ equipment. It takes experience to producing a fuel to specification, every time, for years.

To safeguard against a lower quality fuel, the best advice is to ask questions about a potential supplier’s experience, ensure you agree on a comprehensive specification which matches your business needs and seek out independent product testing through a laboratory with National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accreditation.

The future for PEF is enormous. Its ability to harness the energy value of material currently going to waste in landfill sites is unrivalled. More than 20 million tonnes of waste is still landfilled in Australia each year — the energy content in this waste alone is equivalent to half of all natural gas used in Australian industry. PEF presents a cost-effective, circular solution to the generation of sustainable baseload energy, helping to address the complex and expensive issues of waste management and energy production. In realising the opportunities at hand, we must draw on the best science, research and commercial experience to deliver the best outcomes — both for industry and the environment.

*Ben Sawley is the CEO of ResourceCo’s Sustainable Fuels business and a recognised leader in sustainable energy and resource recovery. He is also a Director of the Board of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia. Prior to joining ResourceCo, Ben held a number of executive leadership positions across Australasia, the US and Europe, including National General Manager for Transpacific’s Post Collections business, General Management roles with Boral, and a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/visoot

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/article/the-future-of-high-quality-pef-1015771305

from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2019/09/30/the-future-of-high-quality-pef/

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shaledirectory · 6 years ago

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The Coming Fuel and Heat Crisis in New York and New England

Tom Shepstone Shepstone Management Company, Inc.

Two recent articles in the Boston and New York press reveal the fuel and heat crisis about to hit New York and New England. And, just guess who’s to blame.

New York and New England politics consist mostly of non-stop demagoguery on the part of preening elected officials bent on securing their next higher office. Andrew Cuomo is perhaps the worst of the lot, of course, but hardly the only culprit. Eager to put on his Carhartt jacket during any storm and rush out to the cameras for the purpose of issuing meaningless bromides, he’s more responsible than anyone for the approaching fuel and heat crisis facing his state and those to his east.

Yes, there is a coming fuel and heat crisis; shortages of fuel to make electricity and power businesses and gas heat homes using natural gas. It’s being created with every second of delay in approving critical pipeline infrastructure the wannabe emperor of New York keeps crowing about halting. He’s more eager to appease the NRDC gang and friends than head off a fuel and heat crisis he hopes doesn’t happen until he’s President.

January 2018 Nor’easter

He’d better hope for especially good luck. The country is unlikely to find anything appealing about a guy with corruption quotient several multiples his IQ and the crisis is just about here. Check out this New York Post editorial from yesterday:

On Thursday, Con Ed notified regulators that, come March 15, it won’t accept new gas customers in most of Westchester, thanks to supply shortages. National Grid has been issuing similar warnings. New-customer cutoffs in the city may be just around the corner…

Cuomo hasn’t officially banned new pipelines; his staff just doesn’t OK very many, often citing lame excuses for nixing them. Team Cuomo reportedly has urged Con Ed to find alternatives to pipelines, and Cuomo himself has been pushing for a shift away from all fossil-fuel energy sources…

Meanwhile, New York City is requiring customers to switch from higher-emission fuel oil, driving up the demand for far “cleaner” natural gas. Con Ed has already converted 5,000 buildings in the area from oil to gas.

Oops: climate-change warriors now oppose gas, too. And Cuomo is only too happy to do their bidding and effectively ban pipelines, in exchange for their political support. The gov and the greenies pretend that power from renewables — like solar, wind and geothermal sources — can replace natural gas, especially with steps to boost “efficiency” and conservation. Maybe one day that’ll be true, but not anytime soon.

New York needs gas today, and pipelines to deliver it, to keep the economy healthy and growing. Cuomo has already socked New York with his ban on fracking and his Indian Point shutdown. Just how much more can its economy take?

That’s the question, isn’t it? How much more can New York take? The Southern Tier is dying as the governor throws pork bones around and tells its residents to use them for some stone soup or something. When he’s not doing that, he’s trading a Buffalo Billion in taxpayer money for some graft and some plaudits from the world’s greatest huckster, Elon Musk. Meanwhile, Musk is slowly walking away, reducing both expectations and jobs as he moves onto the next scam.

But, Corruptocrat, is doubling down, fighting pipelines and the natural gas development— development that has cleaned New York City’s air, lowered its energy costs and made the U.S. increasingly energy independent—every step of the way. He’s creating a fuel and heat crisis and it isn’t just New Yorkers that are going to pay the price. It’s also New Englanders, as this article in this Boston Business Journal article by Don Santa, the President and CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America:

The saying goes “there’s no place like home for the holidays.” Unless that is, the heating is set to frigid because the energy bill is too high, and the tree lights are flickering because of rolling blackouts.

As far-fetched as this may sound, it is an increasingly real risk for New Englanders. On average, people here face some of the highest energy rates in the country, paying 29 percent more for natural gas and 44 percent more for electricity than the national average. But the problem isn’t a lack of natural gas supply; it’s a lack of infrastructure that reduces people’s access to affordable and clean energy supplies from nearby sources.

The region has steadily moved toward natural gas as its dominant fuel source over nearly two decades, and rightly so — natural gas is more efficient, reliable, and cleaner than many alternatives. It should also be cheaper: New England sits close to one of the largest natural gas supplies in the world, the Marcellus Shale, which spans upstate New York, through Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and into Ohio.

Despite this huge resource on the region’s doorstep, there simply aren’t enough pipelines to bring supplies here, leaving power suppliers to manage annual shortages, especially in the winter months when demand for gas is at its peak.

This isn’t a new problem. As readers will know, energy prices have surged year after year. And it’s about more than just price. Last year power plants were forced to use fuel oil, relying on an energy source that is far less efficient than natural gas. When that wasn’t sufficient, they had to import liquefied natural gas from Russia. Let that sink in: a lack of pipelines means Ohio and Pennsylvania are effectively further from New England than Siberia.

Worse still, research suggests that the region is moving closer to an energy abyss. Not only has the independent electric grid operator, ISO New England, predicted that rolling blackouts will be more common by 2024, but the cost to the region’s consumers and its economy will likely continue to increase as well…

Since 2016, two major pieces of infrastructure that would have directly benefitted Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire have been cancelled due to unnecessary lawsuits and political pressure…

And, ultimately, stopping new infrastructure will not change the reality that New England is dependent on natural gas for power and heating. Without improved access to natural gas, energy bills will rise, blackouts will become an increasingly greater likelihood, and more lives will be at risk during extreme weather events.

Don Santa is correct. He just doesn’t name the guilty politicians, But, we know who they are, don’t we, and they’re not all New Englanders. Indeed, the big green godfather of pipeline obstruction is one Andrew “Corruptocrat” Cuomo and when the fuel and heat crisis finally hits in a big way he’ll put on that Carhartt jacket again, run out to the cameras, blame someone else and tell us he’s the only one who can save the day; for a price, of course.

The post The Coming Fuel and Heat Crisis in New York and New England appeared first on Natural Gas Now.

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/the-coming-fuel-and-heat-crisis-in-new-york-and-new-england/

#shalebusinessinformation #dailyinformationonshaleindustry

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newsnigeria · 6 years ago

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Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/news-from-nigeria/world-news/putin-xi-g61/

Putin & Xi top the G6+1

by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author)

East vs. West: the contrast between the “dueling summits” this weekend was something for the history books.

All hell broke loose at the G6+1, otherwise known as G7, in La Malbaie, Canada, while all focused on divine Eurasian integration at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in China’s Qingdao in Shandong, the home province of Confucius.

US President Donald Trump was the predictable star of the show in Canada. He came late. He left early. He skipped a working breakfast. He disagreed with everybody. He issued a “free trade proclamation”, as in no barriers and tariffs whatsoever, everywhere, after imposing steel and aluminum tariffs on Europe and Canada. He proposed that Russia should be back at the G8 (Putin said he has other priorities). He signed the final communiqué and then he didn’t.

Trump’s “I don’t give a damn” attitude drove the European leaders assembled in Canada crazy. After the official photo shoot, the US president grabbed the arm of new Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and said, in ecstasy, “You’ve had a great electoral victory!”

The Euros were not pleased and forced Conte to abide by the official EU, as in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s, policy: no G8 readmission to Russia as long as Moscow does not respect the Minsk agreements. In fact it is Ukraine that is not respecting the Minsk agreements; Trump and Conte are fully aligned on Russia.

Merkel, in extremis, proposed a “shared evaluation mechanism”, lasting roughly two weeks, to try to defuse rising trade tensions. Yet the Trump administration does not seem to be interested.

“Strategic” game-changer

Meanwhile, over in Qingdao, the stunning takeaway was offered predictably by Chinese President Xi Jinping; “President Putin and I both think that the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership is mature, firm and stable.”

This is a massive game-changer because officially, so far, this was a “comprehensive partnership.” It’s the first time on record that Xi has put the stress on “strategic”. Again, in his own words: “It is the highest-level, most profound and strategically most significant relationship between major countries in the world.”

And if that was not far-reaching enough, it’s also personal. Xi, referring to Putin and perhaps channeling Trump’s bonhomie with leaders he likes, said, “He is my best, most intimate friend.”

Heavy business, as usual, was in order. The Chinese partnered with Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom to get advanced nuclear technologies and diversify nuclear power contracts beyond its current Western suppliers. That’s the “strategic” energy alliance component of the partnership.

In a trilateral Russia-China-Mongolia meeting, they all vowed to go full steam ahead with the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor – one of the key planks of the New Silk Roads, known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Mongolia once again volunteered to become a transit hub for Russian gas to China, diversifying from Gazprom’s current direct pipelines from Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok and Altai. According to Putin, the Eastern Route pipeline remains on schedule, as does the US$27 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Yamal being financed by Russian and Chinese companies.

On the Arctic, Putin and Xi went all the way for developing the Northern Sea Route, including crucial modernization of deep-water ports such as Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, and investment in infrastructure. The added geopolitical cachet is self-evident.

Putin had said last week that annual trade between Moscow and Beijing will soon reach US$100 billion. Currently, it stands at US$86 billion. Now Russian businesses venture the possibility of reaching US$200 billion by 2020 as feasible.

All this frenzy of activity is now openly described by Putin as the interconnectivity of BRI and the Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). Not to mention that the SCO itself interconnects with both BRI and the EAEU.

Putin told Chinese TV channel CGTN that though the SCO began as a “low-profile organization” [back in 2001] that sought merely to “solve border issues” between China, Russia and former Soviet countries, it is now evolving into a much bigger global force.

In parallel, according to Yu Jianlong, secretary general of the China Chamber of International Commerce, the SCO has now gathered extra collective strength to harness BRI expansion to increase business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

So it’s no wonder companies from SCO nations are now being “encouraged” to use their own currencies to seal deals, bypassing the US dollar, as well as building e-commerce platforms, Alibaba-style. So far, Beijing has invested US$84 billion in other SCO members, mostly in energy, minerals, transportation (including, for instance, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway), construction and manufacturing.

Putin also met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the SCO and vowed in no uncertain terms to preserve the Iranian nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

Iran is a current SCO observer nation. Putin once again reaffirmed he wants Tehran as a full member. The SCO charter determines that “a dialogue partner status can be granted to a country that shares the goals and principles of the SCO and wants to establish relations based on equal and mutually profitable relationship.”

Iran, as an observer, fulfills the commitment. The spanner in the works happens to be tiny Tajikistan.

Enter the trademark convoluted internal politics of the Central Asian stans, in this case revolving around Tajik president Emomali Rahmon accepting Saudi Arabia’s acquisition of a 51% stake in Tajikistan’s largest bank. Nobody else wanted it; Riyadh was just buying influence.

All SCO full members must be approved unanimously. Still, that won’t prevent larger economic integration between Iran, Russia and China. The talk in the SCO corridors was that Chinese companies expect an extra bonanza in the Iranian market after the unilateral Trump pullout of the JCPOA.

Behind closed doors, as diplomats told Asia Times, the SCO also discussed the crucial plan devised by the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, an Asia-wide peace process with Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan trying to finally solve the decades-long tragedy without Western interference.

So what about a G3?

The “dueling summits” clearly set the scene. The G7 meeting at La Malbaie represented the dysfunctional old order, dilacerated by largely self-inflicted chaos and its apoplexy at the Rise of the East – from the integration of BRI, EAEU, SCO and BRICS, to the yuan-based gold-backed oil futures market.

In contrast to the G7’s full spectrum dominance doctrine of total military superiority, Qingdao represented the new groove. Implacably derided by the old order as autocratic and filled with “democraships” bent on “aggression”, in fact it was a graphic illustration of multi-polarity at work, the intersection of four great civilizations, an Eurasian Café debating that another, non-War Party conducted future is possible.

In parallel, diplomats in Brussels confirmed to Asia Times there are insistent rumbles about Trump possibly dreaming of a G3 composed of just US, Russia and China. Trump, after all, personally admires the leadership qualities of both Putin and Xi, while deriding the Kafkaesque EU bureaucratic maze and its weaklings, currently represented by the M3 (Merkel, Macron, May).

In Europe, no one seems to be listening to informed advice, such as provided by Belgian economist Paul de Grauwe, who’s pleading for Frankfurt and Berlin to manage a common debt, without which the EU won’t survive the sovereign crises of individual members.

Trump, for all his dizzying inconsistencies, seems to have understood that the G7 is a Walking Dead, and the heart of the action revolves around China, Russia and India, which not by accident form the hard node of BRICS.

The problem is the US national security strategy, as well as the national defense strategy, advocate no less than Cold War 2.0 against both China and Russia all across Eurasia. All bets are off, however, on who blinks first.

#Asia

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sherylmcintosh · 7 years ago

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Norwey's $1T SWF & 'Divesting' From Oil

Make no mistake: Norway's gonna cover you in oil for the foreseeable future.

Financial markets are currently in a tizz over Norway's sovereign wealth fund (SWF) investigating the possibility of divesting entirely of its oil and gas stocks. We aren't talking small beer here since it is a $1 trillion fund amassed over the years largely from Norway's oil and gas royalties. Believed to hold an incredible 1.5% of the world's floating stock valuation, it is a relative giant in the business world. With the continuing drive among progressive (read: non-American) countries to move toward renewable energy sources, this announcement is being made out to be the death knell of fossil fuel production--at least in civilized parts of the world not run by reality TV stars and similar riffraff:

Norway, which relies on oil and gas for about a fifth of economic output, would be less vulnerable to declining crude prices without its fund investing in the industry, the central bank said Thursday. The divestment would mark the second major step in scrubbing the world’s biggest wealth fund of climate risk, after it sold most of its coal stocks. “Our perspective here is to spread the risks for the state’s wealth,” Egil Matsen, the deputy central bank governor overseeing the fund, said in an interview in Oslo. “We can do that better by not adding oil-price risk.” The plan would entail the fund, which controls about 1.5 percent of global stocks, dumping as much as $40 billion of shares in international giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Finance Ministry said it will study the proposal and decide what to do in “fall of 2018” at the earliest.

It's being portrayed as the canary in the coal mine...or the turtle in the offshore, if you prefer as environmentalists laud the move:

While the fund says the plan isn’t based on any particular view about the future of oil prices or the industry as a whole, it will likely add to pressure on producers already struggling with the growth of renewable energy supplies... Built on the income that western Europe’s largest energy supplier has generated for more than 20 years, the fund’s investment decisions are guided by ethical rules encompassing human rights, some weapons production, the environment and tobacco. Norway’s fossil-fuel investments are coming under increasing scrutiny from a public that aims to be a climate leader without jeopardizing one of the world’s highest standards of living... But environmental groups praised the plan. “The world is changing fast, and it’s very risky to put too many eggs in the same basket,” said Marius Holm, the leader of the Zero Emission Resource Organisation. Sony Kapoor, a former adviser to Norway’s government, said the plan is “a belated victory for common sense over the powerful oil and gas lobby in Norway,” calling on the fund to now boosts its “green” investments at least tenfold.

The rub, though, is that Norway has little interest in shutting down the oil fields its government draws substantial revenues from. As mentioned, a fifth of all state revenues still come from oil and gas. As such, the explanation government officials provide for making this move is actually an honest one. Since the national purse is already exposed to oil prices in a big way, why should it not diversify away from the same industry with its SWF? A true rainy-day fund should not rain on your parade at the same time that economic downturns occur. While the SWF does claim to use ethical criteria in making investments, it would be hypocritical of the SWF to mention environmental reasons for its divestment when the government receives 20% of its revenues from oil and gas. As such, I would be wary of those portending a Norwegian SWF portfolio readjustment as the "End of Big Oil" or the start of such stocks gradual demise a la Big Tobacco. While there are ethical and environmental reasons bringing us closer to such a point, this move by the Norwegians is probably just another milestone rather than the final nail in the coffin. first seen on International Political Economy Zone http://ipezone.blogspot.com/2017/11/norweys-1t-swf-divesting-from-oil.html

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epchapman89 · 8 years ago

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A Nationwide Coffee Fundraiser For The ACLU

Not all heroes wear capes, but all lawyers need coffee.

Sprudge is not a political publication. We did not endorse a 2016 US Presidential Candidate, nor have we endorsed past candidates in elections in the United States or elsewhere. Although Sprudge is edited and published in the US, roughly half our daily readers come from outside of this country, as does our worldwide corps of editors, staff writers, and contributors. We don’t typically report on anyone’s local politics—and at some point, it’s all just local politics.

“Stick to coffee, Sprudge!”

We’d love to, but unfortunately the situation in our country has moved beyond political theater. We believe that the current executive order banning refugees from the United States and immigration from 7 majority Muslim nations is illegal, immoral, and fundamentally un-American. Like a hot mug of drip coffee spilled on a crisp white apron, these actions are a dark stain on our national conscience, and as Americans we feel compelled to stand up against them.

Fortunately there are heroes in these dark times. The United States is a nation of laws, not of men, and our government has three branches—Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. It is in this final branch where the battle is now being fought, by the thousands of lawyers organized and funded by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU is America’s non-partisan guardian of liberty, working tirelessly since 1920 to defend the country’s original civic values, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They have no political affiliation or ideological component to their mission. Today they’re defending innocent refugee and immigrant families impacted by the recent executive orders—tomorrow they could be defending you, because they are committed to defending all of us.

So we’re standing with them by organizing a nationwide fundraiser in coffee bars across the country. Next weekend—Friday February 3rd thru Friday February 5th—we’re partnering with coffee companies throughout the United States to raise funds for the ACLU. You can take part in this fundraiser by patronizing these cafes, or by donating directly to the ACLU.

Sprudge will match the first $500 per company raised next weekend for the ACLU, in partnership with the following twenty-six coffee brands across 125 cafes:

All Day, Miami, FL

Blacksmith Coffee, Morningstar & Greenway Coffee, Houston, TX (3 locations)

Blueprint Coffee, St. Louis, MO

Blue Bottle Coffee, Oakland, CA (25 locations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland)

Coffee Manufactory & Tartine Manufactory, San Francisco, CA

Cultivar Coffee, Dallas, TX (3 locations)

Either / Or, Portland, OR

Equator Coffees & Teas, San Rafael, CA (5 locations across the Bay Area)

Everyman Espresso, New York, NY (2 locations in Manhattan)

Fleet Coffee, Austin, TX

G&B Coffee and Go Get Em Tiger, Los Angeles, CA (3 locations)

Huckleberry Coffee Roasters, Denver, CO (2 locations)

Intelligentsia Coffee, Chicago, IL (10 locations in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles)

Joe Coffee, New York, NY (15 locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Philadelphia)

La Colombe Coffee Roasters, Philadelphia, PA (22 locations in New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC and Philadelphia)

Olympia Coffee Roasting Company, Olympia, WA (3 locations)

PT’s Coffee, Topeka, KS (2 locations in Topeka and Kansas City, MO)

Peace Coffee, Minneapolis, MN (Wonderland Park location)

Slate Coffee, Seattle, WA (4 locations)

Spiller Park Coffee, Atlanta, GA

Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Portland, OR (12 locations in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, and New Orleans)

Tipico Coffee, Buffalo, NY

Ultimo Coffee, Philadelphia, PA (2 locations)

Variety Coffee Roasters, Brooklyn, NY (3 locations)

The Wormhole & Halfwit Coffee Roasters, Chicago, IL

Wrecking Ball Coffee, San Francisco, CA

We are actively seeking more cafes to join in this effort! If you own or operate a cafe and want to get involved, we welcome you to join us next weekend. Please click here add your name to the list of cafes raising funds next weekend to support the ACLU. We’ll update with more participating cafes throughout the week.

If you own or operate any sort of coffee company—importer, machine manufacturer, products supplier, private citizen or media company—we would love your support in the form of matching sponsorships. Please click here and we will give you all the information you need to join us as a matching fundraiser. We hope to publish a long list of matching companies in the coming days.

If you live beyond easy visitation distance from any of the cafes participating this weekend, or want to just donate without all the rest of it, please consider making your tax deductible donation directly to the ACLU.

To our readers around the world, let us be clear: Americans of all stripes, all political backgrounds and beliefs, are deeply troubled and shocked by the refugee and immigration orders. This is not a coastal elite issue, or a hardcore liberal issue—it is not a Democrat or Republican issue, nor really even a political issue. This is a human issue, and one on which there can be no equivocation. America is a nation of immigrants and refugees, and whether your family came a year ago or 150 years ago, we are equal. All immigrants are refugees are welcome here no matter their spiritual beliefs, their country of origin, or color of their skin.

Thank you for joining us.

#RefugeesWelcome

#YesEqual

Jordan Michelman, co-founder, Editor

Zachary Carlsen, co-founder, Editor

Zac Cadwalader, News Editor, Staff Writer

Mike Wolf, Features Editor

Max Ortiz, Processing Editor

Robyn Brems, Accounts Manager

Noah Sanders, Staff Writer, SF Bureau Chief

Anna Brones, Staff Writer-At-Large

Daniel Scheffler, Staff Writer-At-Large

Karina Hof, Staff Writer

Tatiana Ernst, Staff Writer

Hengtee Lim, Staff Writer

Charlie Burt, SprudgeLive Lead Photographer, Contributor

Eileen P. Kenny, Contributor

Jenn Chen, Contributor

Lizzie Derksen, Contributor

Evan C. Jones, Contributor

Laura Jaye Cramer, Contributor

Michael Light, Contributor

D. Robert Wolcheck, Contributor

Eric J. Grimm, Contributor

Ximena Rubio, Contributor

The post A Nationwide Coffee Fundraiser For The ACLU appeared first on Sprudge.

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