#how to get off the electricity grid in south africa

[reasonsforhope]

African poverty is partly a consequence of energy poverty. In every other continent the vast majority of people have access to electricity. In Africa 600m people, 43% of the total, cannot readily light their homes or charge their phones. And those who nominally have grid electricity find it as reliable as a Scottish summer. More than three-quarters of African firms experience outages; two-fifths say electricity is the main constraint on their business.

If other sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed power as reliable as South Africa’s from 1995 to 2007, then the continent’s rate of real GDP growth per person would have been two percentage points higher, more than doubling the actual rate, according to one academic paper. Since then South Africa has also had erratic electricity. So-called “load-shedding” is probably the main reason why the economy has shrunk in four of the past eight quarters.

Solar power is increasingly seen as the solution. Last year Africa installed a record amount of photovoltaic (PV) capacity (though this still made up just 1% of the total added worldwide), notes the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA), a trade group. Globally most solar PV is built by utilities, but in Africa 65% of new capacity over the past two years has come from large firms contracting directly with developers. These deals are part of a decentralised revolution that could be of huge benefit to African economies.

Ground zero for the revolution is South Africa. Last year saw a record number of blackouts imposed by Eskom, the state-run utility, whose dysfunctional coal-fired power stations regularly break down or operate at far below capacity. Fortunately, as load-shedding was peaking, the costs of solar systems were plummeting.

Between 2019 and 2023 the cost of panels fell by 15%, having already declined by almost 90% in the 2010s. Meanwhile battery storage systems now cost about half as much as five years ago. Industrial users pay 20-40% less per unit when buying electricity from private project developers than on the cheapest Eskom tariff.

In the past two calendar years the amount of solar capacity in South Africa rose from 2.8GW to 7.8GW, notes AFSIA, excluding that installed on the roofs of suburban homes. All together South Africa’s solar capacity could now be almost a fifth of that of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations (albeit those still have a higher “capacity factor”, or ability to produce electricity around the clock). The growth of solar is a key reason why there has been less load-shedding in 2024...

Over the past decade the number of startups providing “distributed renewable energy” (DRE) has grown at a clip. Industry estimates suggest that more than 400m Africans get electricity from solar home systems and that more than ten times as many “mini-grids”, most of which use solar, were built in 2016-20 than in the preceding five years. In Kenya DRE firms employ more than six times as many people as the largest utility. In Nigeria they have created almost as many jobs as the oil and gas industry.

“The future is an extremely distributed system to an extent that people haven’t fully grasped,” argues Matthew Tilleard of CrossBoundary Group, a firm whose customers range from large businesses to hitherto unconnected consumers. “It’s going to happen here in Africa first and most consequentially.”

Ignite, which operates in nine African countries, has products that include a basic panel that powers three light bulbs and a phone charger, as well as solar-powered irrigation pumps, stoves and internet routers, and industrial systems. Customers use mobile money to “unlock” a pay-as-you-go meter.

Yariv Cohen, Ignite’s CEO, reckons that the typical $3 per month spent by consumers is less than what they previously paid for kerosene and at phone-charging kiosks. He describes how farmers are more productive because they do not have to get home before dark and children are getting better test scores because they study under bulbs. One family in Rwanda used to keep their two cows in their house because they feared rustlers might come in the dark; now the cattle snooze al fresco under an outside lamp and the family gets more sleep.

...That is one eye-catching aspect of Africa’s solar revolution. But most of the continent is undergoing a more subtle—and significant—experiment in decentralised, commercially driven solar power. It is a trend that could both transform African economies and offer lessons to the rest of the world."

-via The Economist, June 18, 2024. Paragraph breaks added.

[hippolotamus]

For the intimacy prompt

tracing fingers down your partner's chest

Ok, ummm, all I can say is Thank You for this. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did 💙🖤

In all the years of artfully sneaking around for missions, Patrick Brewer never thought his expertise would lead him here. At least, not as many times as it has.

The hotel ballroom must have close to 800 people, but he’s already seen the one he’s after. Patrick knows he’s been spotted, too. They’ve been chasing each other around the globe - from Mexico to Monaco, South Africa to Saskatchewan, and everywhere between - for years now. This dance is familiar and they’re intimately acquainted with how the steps go. 

Patrick sips his sparkling champagne, peering over the rim, and meeting familiar dark eyes standing on the upper balcony. One delicate hand, with olive skin and silver rings, lifts a champagne flute from the railing in a silent toast across the sea of otherwise ignorant partygoers. Patrick’s target raises a single dark eyebrow, then tilts the glass to his lips, draining it in one go. He replaces the vessel and smirks in Patrick’s direction before turning to walk away. Patrick recognizes it for the signal it is, sitting his now empty glass on a passing server’s tray. 

As if by intuition alone, his feet carry him up the staircase, past eclectic older dealers arguing whether a Van Gogh or a Cézzane will fetch more, young heiresses flirting shamelessly, and the occasional solo chap watching them. The stream of people thins the further Patrick walks, the lights becoming more spread out, leaving shadowy patches between. The electric glow of an Exit sign catches his eye, and he’s just about to turn back when he finds himself tugged into a dark alcove, pinned to the wall. 

Patrick smirks, noting the warm, spicy scent now surrounding him. It should make him wary, but that sensation stopped long ago, replaced by want and lust. “Rose, we meet again.”

“So we do, Mr. Brewer,” a voice purrs in response. “I hope you’ve been well since Denmark.” 

Patrick traces a finger over the curves he’s become so accustomed to, feeling the sleek mother-of-pearl buttons under his skin until he hooks onto the V of the single-breasted tuxedo jacket. “Never better. Should we exchange the usual my country wants you dead pleasantries first or is foreplay off the menu tonight?” 

A singular growl precedes firm hands pinning Patrick’s wrists above his head, warm lips and tongue meeting his own. No matter how many times they’ve done this, it always makes him dizzy. It shouldn’t be this way, he should be capturing David Rose and hand delivering him to the Canadian government. Instead, he always finds himself in total disbelief at how right, and fucking life affirming, it feels to be under David’s control. 

Sometimes, dangerously, he thinks he wants it forever. It only took Patrick mentioning once that he doesn’t sleep with anyone else between their trysts. David went off the grid for over a year before they came crashing back together in a blissful rendezvous where the only sounds were gasps and skin on skin. Patrick fell asleep with David slung across his body, head on his chest, and he thought they turned a corner. But when he woke in the morning, David was nowhere to be found. They didn’t see each other for three months until their paths crossed in Moscow. 

“David,” Patrick pants, too close for comfort to losing his composure like a teenage boy as David grinds their hips together. And he’s not going to do that in a suit that had a comma on the price tag. He’s not. “Please.”

“Want me to stop?” David’s teeth drag over Patrick’s earlobe before scraping along the line of his jaw.

“No?”

David chuckles softly, the vibrations humming against Patrick’s neck. “Are you sure, Mr. Brewer?”

Patrick can only hiss in response when David’s hips thrust forward, holding him in place. 

“Well, I’m not getting on my knees for you in a hallway, in this suit,” David’s breath ghosts against the shell of Patrick’s ear. “I know you don’t always follow orders, but be good and meet me in the penthouse. I’ll make it worth your while.”

David presses a searing kiss against his mouth, pulling Patrick’s bottom lip between his teeth, before he retreats into the darkness. Patrick feels adrift without the weight of David to anchor him, even knowing they’ll be tangled together soon. He stands tall, straightening his jacket and adjusting his bowtie. He reaches into his pocket for his phone so he can at least check his hair in the camera. Patrick smiles to himself when his fingers brush over the keycard David slipped in next to it. He taps the card, deciding to abandon checking his reflection, hoping he won’t encounter anyone else important along the way. 

After all, there’s no time to waste when he has a foreign agent to catch.

send me a physical intimacy prompt!

[fanfic-collection]

Loki x Reader: Apocalypse ch 1

A mysterious winter has fallen on Earth, Odin is back on his A+ parenting, you and Loki knew each other from the time Loki was recovering after his restored death in Endgame, your cousin Tony Stark isn't exactly thrilled. I'm bad at summaries but you and Loki and there was only one bed and you're going to have to travel with one tent in the snow

-

You looked out your third story apartment window, holding a cup of hot cocoa and shivered. Snow battered against the windows, frosting up the panes and sending an eerie fog along the once bustling city. Despite extra layers of clothes and socks, gloves and a coat, you shivered.

This was the third day of the snow.

In July.

The grey overcast sky showed no signs of letting up and the city’s infrastructure was barely handling it.

Citizens were encouraged to head to makeshift storm shelters that were being assembled, particularly those who couldn’t fend for themselves or keep enough heat or supplies.

You watched a red streak shoot across the sky and smiled.

Your second cousin Tony Stark. He was doing everything he could to keep his home city from falling into disarray. Your smile faded, not every city had a Tony Stark though.

Flipping on the weather channel and bundling up under a blanket, you watched the country’s news. People in the south were freezing in droves, ill equipped to handle such cold weather. Those further to the north were better equipped but even still, people were suffering. The military was assembled, distributing supplies to everyone, but supplies would run out eventually. The freeze had killed farms. The Avengers were scrambling to assist in any way they could, publicly urging people to assist their neighbors in any way they could.

The weather channel went global, and you saw that though the freeze had started in the states, it had spread quickly to the rest of the world. You watched the cold weather graph spread across the globe, temperatures dropping lower and lower. Snow beginning to fall more and more. Soon even Africa was in sub-freezing temperatures.

The reclusive Wakandans promised aid, but they would not admit how hard they had been hit either. Strong rumors suggested they were not immune to this calamity either.

Your cellphone buzzed.

Luckily cellphone service had not gone down yet. Tony Stark was working extra hard to keep communications up and running. Without communications, humanity would fall into darkness.

“Hey Tony.” You said, biting back shivers.

“Hey kiddo. Where are you, have you gone to one of the shelters?”

You sighed, “No, I stayed home.”

There was an angry pause, “Why?” You could hear Tony’s grit teeth.

“I didn’t want to take up someone’s place at the shelter, someone who needed it more than me. I can fend for myself. I know I can make it there and back if I need to, to get supplies and I have you if things really get bad.”

Tony grumbled, “Yea, you and everyone else rely on me.”

“You know you like playing savior.” You could practically feel him rolling his eyes over the phone.

“Look, just, stay safe alright.” Tony sighed, “I gotta get going.”

“Wait, Tony, I used to hang out with you and your buddies every day. Even after the blip for a little while.”

“Yea, I know.”

“Be honest with me, what’s going on?”

Another long pause.

“Tony?”

“I… I don’t know. Strange doesn’t know either. He doesn’t like it. He’s the Sorcerer Supreme he says, supposed to know all this crap, all the outside threats that threaten the Earth. Nothing. And without his eye of whatsit that we used the second time to bring everyone back, yours truly included.” Tony trailed off.

“Which we’re all eternally grateful for.” You smiled, choking up a bit.

“Yea.” Tony was quiet for a moment, “Listen, I gotta move some more supplies and check on the power grid. The tower is putting out a lot of energy for the city and I don’t know if it can keep up with how cold everything is.”

“Sure. Sure. Take care out there, ok?”

“You too. I’ll try and drop in sometime, maybe we can have dinner. I’ll see if I can get some of the others to check on you from time to time also.”

“You don’t have to, Tony.”

“You’re my niece.”

“Like, second cousin or something, how are we even related?”

“Cousin’s, aunt’s niece?”

“Something like that. Take care of yourself, stay warm.” You hung up and looked sadly at the phone as your apartment went quiet once more.

Your television had clicked off as unnecessary power was cut to your house at certain hours. The city had an ordinance ban on certain electricity. Only heat could stay on constantly. You had to make special exceptions to keep anything else running to keep the electric load on the city light, given how frigid it was.

Closing all the doors in your apartment, you dragged everything into the main room and the kitchen. Putting the bed out by the TV and using spare blankets to block the window for any drafts. You tried to insulate the place as best you could, limiting yourself to one room, and closing off the heat to the other room of your apartment. If you had less rooms to heat, you might stay warmer and use less electricity and perhaps be rewarded. And with all your movement, you ended up warming up a bit.

By the end you grew tired and crawled into your bed and curled up to sleep. That’s what people seemed to mostly do these days. Stay warm and hope the cold would go away. If they were called upon to do something productive, they did it. If not, they huddled with their families and prayed to whatever deity they believed in and hoped this possible ice age might pass.

[villainousshakespeare]

Putting It Back Together Chapter 1

Adam/OFC

Rated M (will probably change to E) - Grief, angst, eventual smut, mention of characters dead before the start of the story

Summary: Since the death of his beloved Eve, Adam had been barely living, only alive due to a promise he made to her. Then one night he meets his new neighbor, a woman dealing with grief of her own. Will they help each other heal or drive each other crazy?

@yespolkadotkitty @just-the-hiddles @hopelessromanticspoonie @wine-and-whines @arch-venus25 @caffiend-queen @devilish–doll @enchantedbyhiddles @hiddlesholic @i-do-not-fangirl-i-fanwoman @kellatron55 @ladyoftheteaandblood @latent-thoughts @gorgeous1974 @maryxglz @myoxisbroken @nuggsmum @nildespirandum @pedeka @redfoxwritesstuff @sinfully-lustful-darling @vodka-and-some-sass @wrathkitty @kingtwhiddleston @wolfsmom1​ @poetic-fiasco​ @shiningloki​ @dangertoozmanykids101​ @bookworm-christina​ @thecutestlittlebunbunfairy​ @amwolowicz​ @delightfulheartdream​ @frostbitten-written​ @what-a-flammable-heart​ @tom-hlover​ @nonsensicalobsessions​

So I decided to take a crack at Adam. The plan is to have this be around 10 chapters, but that is just a guess at the moment. It starts a little angsty, but will lighten up as it goes along. Hope you enjoy!

If you would like on or off the tag list, please let me know!

It was more of a mist than a drizzle adding chill to the late autumn air as he walk through the dark streets. Even this time of night there were noises of fellow wanders, zombies he was sure, but he managed to keep from the streets where they roamed. The last thing he needed was to be confronted with the mindlessness of what passed for humanity in these times.

That was the trade off of life in the city. The need to constantly dodge others was barely offset by the convenience of shops open late and services not bound by the constraints of daylight. Not that Adam needed many services of others. He was in most ways self sufficient. He had worked for centuries to make it so. With but two exceptions - sustenance and music - he had only ever needed one soul besides his own.  

She was gone now, his Eve. Eleven years had passed since she had taken a glass of tainted blood in Tangier. It seemed like yesterday, it seemed like a lifetime. He wished it were his lifetime. Only a promise dragged out of him at her death bead had kept him from following her into oblivion. She had used every trick she possessed, every weakness she knew in him, to get him to agree to her demand, and now he was trapped, bound by a promise to another century on this blighted earth. Eighty-nine more revolutions until he could use the wooden bullet that lay heavy in breast pocket and end his grief.

He had wandered after she left him. Angry and bitter, he had left Africa and roved across the globe. Everywhere he went, though, there were memories. He saw her everywhere in Europe. The Middle East was littered with memories. Even South America echoed a life spent together.

Finally he had come back to America. She had not spent as much time in the States. It was easier here. He had considered Seattle, New Orleans, Memphis, the various musical centers of the country, but in the end New York had drawn him in. Strange, he had never spent much time here. Too many zombies too close together. And yet, he could not deny it had definite advantages, and for the most part no one paid any attention to what anyone else did.

He arrived at last at the brownstone in the East Village where he lived his weary life. He was excited, or at least as excited as he was capable of these days, to test out the Rickenbacker bass guitar that he had stumbled upon in a pawn shop. The owner had no idea how rare the model was, and had not known how to react to the large roll of cash that Adam had thrust at him for the  instrument.

Quickly shucking his black leather jacket, Adam took out he new prize and lovingly stroked the light grained wood. He could feel the decades of music that it had produced still reverberating through the body. He flicked a series of toggles and buttons to power up his sound system and plugged the Rickenbacker in. Closing his eyes he placed his fingers firmly on the frets and plucked out a rapid series of low notes, loving the reverberation and full tones it produced. Just as he began to segue into an actual song, however, a loud bang sounded and the lights, sound, and all other electronic power went dead.

"Shit!" he spit out, mood collapsing back in on itself as quickly as it had risen.

Setting the bass gently back in its case despite his irritation, Adam fumbled through his belongings until he located his tool box. After attaching his head torch and grabbing a second flash light just in case, he made his way down the hall to the ladder that lead up through a hatch onto the roof where a small shed held the electric box for his home.

"Just what I fucking need," he muttered, pulling himself onto the tarred surface.

He was just picking his tools back up when a loud creaking noise drew his attention. Just a few feet away, a second hatch door had opened, and a shape was pulling itself up and onto the roof with some difficulty, judging by the swearing. Adam watched in dismay as the shape unfolded itself to reveal a woman silhouetted against the half moon. She had a large, over bright flashlight in her hands that waved back and forth as she made her way to the shed that was his own destination.

"Who are you?" he asked, intercepting her before she could reach the structure.

"Ohmyfuckinggod!" she cried out, jumping almost a foot as he appeared in front of her.

Adam crossed his arms and waited silently for her to calm down, mouth drawn down into a habitual scowl.

"You scared me half to death!" she told him needlessly when she had regained some of her composure.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Oh, you know, just signaling Batman that evil is afoot," she said dryly, waving her oversized lamp back and forth.

Adam continued to stare at her, unamused, until she sighed and gave him a real answer.

"I'm checking out the fuse box. Are you from 89? You must be, I guess. So your lights are out too? It doesn't look like it's the whole block, just our two buildings. Hopefully flipping the switch will bring them back on."

"There's no need for you to trouble yourself," he told her when she finally stopped talking. "I have things well in hand. The power should be on shortly."

"Great," she said with a forced smile.

She didn't move. Why was she still standing there? Adam glowered at her, hoping to scare her off, but the brainless girl just stood there.

"Did you need something else?" he asked reluctantly.

"No, just the one thing," she replied, blinking at him. "Shall we get to it?"

"This will hardly take two," he ground out. "And I know how the system works."

He should! He had redone the entire wiring himself. The convoluted system of shorting wires and faulty circuits had been a travesty when he moved in. It had taken him almost a month to tear it out and build a more streamlined, efficient energy grid. The only problem now was when he forgot himself and pulled too much power for the subpar wiring in the wall to take. He had considered redoing that as well, but it would take time and draw attention, which he was keen on avoiding.

"Wonderful, then you can show me," she chirped at him. "After all, you may not be here the next time it goes off, and then I won't know how it works."

She was not going to let this go, he could tell from the deceptively stubborn set of her shoulders. With a roll of his eyes that he doubted her human eyes could catch in the darkness, he turned on his heel and walked over to the shed. Let her look at it, he decided. It was not like she would understand what he had done anyway.

"Woah," the nattering woman whistled as he opened the door. "That is not what I was expecting at all! It looks like some form of microhydraulics, but there's no way you could have a water source up here. What are you using?"

Adam turned and stared at her, really looking at her for the first time. She was short, even for a woman, not even coming up to his chin. Her hair was haphazardly tied into a bunch on the top of her head and looked like it would be bigger than she was if she were to let it down. The eyes she turned up towards him were inquisitive and sharp. She was pretty, he thought, for a zombie.

"How do you know about that?" he asked.

"I tinker," she said with a shrug. "When I'm anxious. Which is a lot of the time lately, to be honest. Too much energy. Sometimes it helps to take things apart an put them back together again."

Adam opened his mouth to respond, but realized he had no idea what he planned on saying. He closed it again and turned back to his contraption.

"Well, don't get any ideas about taking this apart," he grumbled, resetting the mechanism.

"No, I wouldn't," she assured him. "I only mess with my own things until I'm sure I can get them back the way they started. I learned that the hard way. This is really amazing. You are pulling in a boat load of energy. I just hope you don't burn the buildings down when it runs into the wiring. You're a musician, right? I've heard you practicing through the walls. I was so relieved you were good!"

Did this woman never stop talking? Despite his lack of response she seemed perfectly content to stand behind him, shining her flood light on the shed as he worked to get things running again.

"Oh! I see what you did there!" she commented brightly as the low hum of electricity started back up. "That should fix it. And I'm pretty sure I will be able to do that myself next time too!"

"Don't," he ordered, shutting the door with a loud clang. "If there is any problem with the power, I will fix it. I don't need someone else ruining my work."

"But if you're not here?" she repeated doggedly.

"Look, this has never been an issue before, why are you suddenly on my case about it now?"

"I didn't live here before," she answered. "I just moved in last week. This... this was my Grandmother's home. She died. Last week. I'm trying to sort it all now but..."

The light from his headtorch clearly lit up the tears that sprang to her eyes. As Adam stood there in horror, the girl's chin began to wobble and silent sobs hiccupped through her body. A moment later she had burst out crying. Adam, unable to think of anything else to do, slowly and gingerly put one arm around her shaking shoulders and patted her lamely on the back, wishing he could be anywhere else in the world.

***

Lilly woke up completely horrified. It had been a dream, she told herself. It had to have been a dream. That was the only way she was going to survive the events of the night before.

The soreness in her eyes and the streaks of mascara on the backs of her hands, unfortunately, told her the sad truth. It had been real. She had met her dark, handsome, mysterious neighbor, the one who played dark, mysterious music at all hours of the night, on a dark, mysterious rooftop. (Well, okay, maybe the rooftop hadn't been that mysterious, but still!) And what had she done? She had wept all over him like pathetic child.

This, she sighed to herself, was one of the many many reasons why she was single. Any normal girl would have played the damsel in distress, fluttered their eyes and let him be their hero. He certainly had the looks of a brooding hero, even if he seemed to lack the inclination. Of course, it might just be that he lacked the inclination because she had yammered on about anxiety and tinkering, and her grandmother's death and the cried all over him.

Groaning, she rolled over and looked at her clock, only to be greeted by blinking numbers. Of course. She had been too upset when he had finally managed to steer her back to her roof hatch and rid himself of her, lost in a combination of grief and humiliation, to reset it. Great. That meant that the alarm had never gone off. It could be any time now. A quick glance at her phone confirmed her fear. 4:00 in the afternoon. It had happened. She had become completely nocturnal.

Slowly dragging herself up, Lilly staggered to the bathroom and tried to let the hot water wash away her misery. She was tired of feeling miserable. By nature she was not a gloomy person. Anxious, yes, but not gloomy. It was just being here, in the house that once was her happy place but now held too many memories. All she could see where ever she looked was her beloved grandmother. Playing the piano, reading in the window nook, cooking in the large, renovated kitchen. Grandma Lillian was everywhere.

Growing up, Lilly had been an awkward child; small of body but big of personality Gran had said. She was always moving, either her hands or her mouth, having a hard time with stillness. It drove many people to distraction. Grandma Lillian, however, had stated quite matter of factly that she simply had a lot to do and more to say, and therefore needed to do it quickly.

Lilly had spent all of her summers and school vacations here, escaping into the city. Here, she could be herself. With all of the characters in New York City, she was far from the oddest. Grandma Lillian let her patter away happily, always taking her words seriously. She had also found all sorts of mechanical things for Lilly to tinker with, focusing her energy in a more productive direction. It was nonsense, she had opined, that girls were not encouraged more to go into the technical fields. Obviously that was the reason why nothing in this world ran properly.

She had hidden her illness from the family, from Lilly, until the very end. Lilly cursed herself that she had not seen through the excuses for the cancelled visits. A seniors cruise with her girlfriends! She could not imagine the opinionated woman stuck on a boat without someone going overboard. It wasn't until the very end, when she was had been taken to Hospice, that she had phoned Lillian to let her know that it was time to come and visit.

That was eight days ago. Lillian had held her hand at the end, singing in her tear choked voice the torch songs that her Grandmother had once made her living crooning in the night clubs of the city. It had not taken long. Less than a day and Lilly was alone, the owner of a house in the East Village and more money than she had ever imagined possessing, but much the poorer regardless.

The ensuing week was spent puttering around the brownstone, listlessly going through desks and dressers, boxes and cupboards. The memorabilia of a lifetime squirreled away into any available space. She had no need to work at the moment, which was good since she had no employment. Slowly but surely her own night owl tendencies had taken over and she was staying up until the sun streaked the horizon in the morning, only to bed down for the majority of the day. Her parents had always fretted and said it was a sign of depression. Gran had shrugged and agreed that the most exciting things happened at night.

The only excitement Lillian had experienced thus far had been the discovery that a new owner was in residence next door. For as long as she could remember there had been a constant stream of college and conservatory students renting out rooms in the building, turning over each year to the newest crop. Now though, there was one lodger only and he owned the building.

She had caught sight of him out the front window as he was leaving her second night there. Long, wild black hair that looked in want of brushing, black leather jacket, and black jeans that might have been painted on. He was tall, lean, and somehow dangerous looking. It was the way he walked, she decided. There was something almost feral in the swagger as he took off down the street. The next night she had heard him playing music.

At first she thought there were multiple musicians, but after hours spent guiltlessly eavesdropping she became convinced that it was only him. Interspersed with guitars, drums, bass, and other instruments that she couldn't name had come his voice, a distinctive low growl that cut through her sorrow to go straight to her core. She could feel the vibrations of his voice as surely as she heard the bass thumping through the walls.

She began haunting the window overlooking their stoops, hoping for sight of him. She caught glimpses a time or two, always late at night, well after dark. Rather he was coming in or going out, he seemed to eschew the daylight even more than she did. Lilly felt drawn to him, and by more than just his untamed beauty. She supposed she could write it off as one of her hyper-fixations, but intuitively she sensed it was more. She longed for an excuse to meet him.

And then she had. At night, on a roof, under a bright moon.

It would have been perfectly romantic, were she not dressed in a ratty sweatshirt and yoga pants, her hair flopped up any old way on her head. If her first words to him were not gasped out in a shriek, followed by thoughtless prattle. And the, the coup de gras, her sobbing breakdown. The look of unmixed horror on his face as he made his feeble attempt to calm her was burned into Lilly's brain.

She had to get rid of it. There might only be one chance to make a first impression, but maybe, just maybe, a second impression could in time supersede it. Never one to sit on a thought, Lilly squared her shoulders. It was six o'clock, he was bound to still be in. She would pay him a visit and apologize for her horrid behavior.

Yes, that was the plan. After all, what was the worst that could happen? It was bound to go better than last time.

[andmaybegayer]

[Warning: this post is mostly me talking to myself in text form for journaling purposes, and as a result is boring and sucks. I told you so.]

I've been listening to The Anthropocene Reviewed for the past couple months, slowly working through the episodes. A couple weeks ago I listened to the one on "Tetris, and, The Seed Potatoes of Leningrad."

You've probably heard about the seed potatoes of Leningrad, there was a post from the @tilthat bot going around. TL;DR, during the siege of Leningrad, scientists at the seed bank in Leningrad protected the enormous cache of food crop samples in storage there (many unique) and didn't eat any of it, while the scientists and people around them starved to death, cut off from supplies by the siege.

There are of course, two ways to look at this. Those scientists were brainwashed idiots, who protects mere crops while human lives are ending, how cold and heartless can you be. Those scientists are stoic heroes, they understood that the value of a seedbank far exceeded the value of the individuals around them, a fact they knew truly and objectively as professionals in their field.

Lots of problems people face look like this. Do you do something that helps you and the people immediate to you in the short term, likely leading to long term benefit for your group, or do you do something that is suboptimal for you and yours but helps many more people who may not help you in turn or even know you exist.

This post takes a turn now, and we’ll talk about Brain Drain.

Brain Drain (more formally "Human Capital Flight") is when people trained by one nation emigrate to another, usually because of actual or perceived improvement to quality of life in the second place, carrying their skills with them. The classic example is Jewish scientists fleeing the Nazis, or for a more controversial example, Soviet professionals defecting to the USA.

Now those are highly politically charged situations, so let’s look at the one I’m dealing with: South Africa is kind of a lame place to live compared to some other places.

South Africa is a rich and functional country by African standards but it’s still not a First World Country. Our currency is weak. Our Gini index is a joke. Education is poor the moment you step outside of urban centers, and even then, there are problems. The electrical supply is mostly reliable but regularly suffers from rolling blackouts. Violent crime rates have fallen dramatically over the years but are still higher than in many other parts of the world. Cities are unnavigable sprawls with little public transport. Internet is expensive. We get lower quality produce because the best stuff gets exported to richer countries who can pay more for it. The political system is deeply corrupt in ways that make even normal corrupt politicans go “well that’s a bit much.”

But I also grew up here. I got my immunizations from government clinics and government nurses. I attended a government school, and my university education was heavily subsidized because I am a citizen. I drive on public roads, My house is lit with electricity from a nationalized electrical grid. I was part of a team that had government funding to compete in a high-profile supercomputing competition, which included a completely free 10 day long training course for 80 undergraduate students. At some level, the investments of the government (and by extension, taxpayers) function and provide a return, if by return you mean training individuals within the population who can produce value in the standing economic system, workers with high school certificates and medical doctorates and welding qualifications.

Lots of South African professionals seek to leave the country. It is all at once a sufficiently modern and unequal country that if you grow up and become University Educated, you will likely identify more with other countries than with South Africa at large. I have lost count of how many people I know who have moved to Australia or the Netherlands or the UK or the USA. Many of them went through the same school and university system I did, and benefited from the same subsidies.

People frequently encourage me to leave the country, both for the primary reason (you can make more money as an engineer in the West) or for other reasons (you should see the world/you should experience other people) and I always feel torn between those. I have long been on the side of those Soviet scientists protecting their seed bank. I like to believe that I would choose the mass benefit over short term personal gain, that is the Socialist™ way after all. I feel (at some level) an obligation to live here, work here, to work to (at least) give value to people around me and (at best) to directly improve the systems around me.

But there is a thin line between obligation and nationalism. This is a nationalist tendency, at some level. Not quite “this country is good because it is mine,” but “this country has a claim to me, and I to it, and so I should stand by it,” which is, worrying, at times. How do you tell the difference. Should you even contribute to a system that you think creates a great deal of pain, suffering, and violence, and which sustains many harmful cycles. Can the good cop improve a bad system. Or should you just take what you can get and run as far as you can, because nothing you can do will help.

(Incidentally, I believe that a lot of things tied to the fascist aesthetic are not implicitly bad, but rather things that combine poorly with other traits. Nationalism is theoretically a powerful attribute to cultivate, if, of course, you are a truly virtuous nation which can vouch for the aims of its people en masse. Not that those nations exist anywhere.)

A deep part of me also /wants/ to flee. The work to improve a country (even when you are in a good position to do so) is slow, frequently hopeless, and does not often bear fruit in your lifetime. I have ADHD, so that’s a rough proposition. I can barely wait for things that I know will bear fruit in the next three days. I have been to New York City twice, and since the first time my heart has ached for dense public transport, the alien experience of white people walking in the street by choice, and the strange sense of certainty New York has of its place in the world. I love central Johannesburg, I like walking and being there when I get the chance, it is a place that is full of people and occurrences, but I am always reminded of a line by Neal Stephenson.

The only ones left in the city are street people, feeding off debris; immigrants, thrown out like shrapnel from the destruction of the Asian powers (and) young smart people... who take the risk of living in the city because they like stimulation and they know they can handle it.

Many people despise central Johannesburg, because it is a dangerous kind of stimulating which does not allow much room to relax if you, like me, are an outsider to the place. This isn’t the USA where every seventh person has an iPhone, it is easy to be a mark. Hell, several of my friends have been robbed in the suburbs, the city is a whole other animal.

That was fairly off topic. This is also my post, so I don’t care.

I have mostly been on the side of staying. The potential benefits of moving away are often just ideas of greener grass on the other side. There is no reasonable proof that I would be happier with public transport in the long term, merely more mobile. There is no reason to believe that living in the country that produced the media I am inundated with will somehow make that more meaningful to me, just physically closer. There is no reason why people from elsewhere could make better friends in person than the ones I already have here. These are mostly thoughts that are appealing to think because they cannot be proven, and so benefit from being hypothetical.

[breslik00-blog]

How We Tested the Echo PB-770t Backpack Leaf Blower

The Best Backpack Leaf Blower is rated as one of the most powerful household appliances for a multitude of reasons. It is a very useful device for anyone who has a garden that requires constant attention. However, you can only appreciate its potential if you've tried using it. In this article we're testing more than a dozen of today's top, best backpack leaf blower models.

After testing more than a dozen backpacks over a number of days, we've discovered the best lightweight leaf blower is from Greenworks. With a design that makes use of the most efficient motor design available, the 1.5 hours lifetime of use offered by the best lightweight models from Greenworks is nearly unbelievable. The other high points we noted about the Greenworks models include their quiet operation, super lightweight construction, long cord rungs, and large floor space. All of these facets make the perfect solution for anyone who has limited space in a small apartment or dorm room.

Another great feature we found with the best backpack leaf blower models from Greenworks is that all of their models include super-fast airflow. Just like the Best Backpack Leaf Blower above, all Greenworks leaf blower models feature a super-fast air velour fan. This allows for quick airflow through any size space because air is always circulating at a very high velocity. In a matter of seconds you can get an enormous amount of cool air into any size space. In fact, we had one of our testers pack a cooler to go with his backpack during a camping trip to the mountains!

One of our testers was particularly impressed with the Best Backpack Leaf Blower's fuel efficiency, which is an area where many blowers struggle. One of the best things about the making blower fuel efficient design is that it uses makita fuels which are environmentally friendly. The making company is based in South Africa and works closely with local farmers. All the fuel used in the making blower is recycled using heat exchangers. It is also made from renewable resources including copper, zinc, and tin. It is estimated that the makita fuel has a life expectancy of up to ten years!

One feature that we found very useful and that the Best Backpack Leaf Blower models definitely have is the adjustable throttles. When in use, the throttle quickly and easily adjusts itself depending on how you are using the machine. This is great for people who may be using the machine for multiple applications. The second most important feature we found with the best backpack leaf blower was that the throttle has safety sensors built right into it. In the event that the throttle accidentally got pressed down while in use, the device would immediately shut down until it could be manually released.

We also liked the adjustable speed that the Best Backpack Leaf Blower offers. We are all looking for lightweight, compact devices that are going to work efficiently. To ensure that the Best Backpack Leaf Blower meets these standards, the company manufactures its devices with a new vane system that allows for more precise adjustments no matter what the application. The maximum speed for the device is eleven miles per hour. For those who need the fastest speed possible, a new version of the Best Backpack Leaf Blower with an eleven-mile per hour maximum speed is available.

The other feature that we really liked about the Best Backpack Leaf Blower was that the device had an automatic shut off system. When we are out and about, there are times when we need to get rid of the device without being at risk of getting in trouble. For this reason, the automatic shut off makes it convenient to quickly put the device away without having to worry about a fidgeting toddler. We also really liked the fact that it has an automatic connection to the power grid. In a situation where you are out camping or hiking and you need to connect the backpack leaf blower to an outlet, you won't have to waste time unhooking the wire from the electricity source. Breslik

The Best Backpack Leaf Blower isn't the only Echo PB-770t backpack leaf blower on the market. We tested several other models and found that they were all much smaller, lighter, and less expensive than the Echo. However, if you need something compact that can work quickly and powerfully, the Best Backpack Leaf Blower is one of the best lightweight backpack blowers we tested. If you are interested in finding out more information about the Echo Pb 770t backpack leaf blower, be sure to check out our website for in depth reviews.

[thosewhoharvest]

Self-Sufficiency in the Time of Pandemic

With the current path that we as a planet are on, the facts are becoming increasingly obvious: times are going to get tough, in many ways. Climate Change warning flags, such as rising temperatures, more numerous and intense natural disasters and struggling ecosystems; and problems particular to the human population, such as resource depletion and the current COVID-19 outbreak we are currently facing; make it pretty clear that from here on out, humankind needs to be resourceful in order to survive.

We are busy going through something unprecedented in human history – there have been pandemics and widespread outbreaks before, but never has the world seen such a huge human population, nevermind one which is so interlinked across the globe. When you think about it, getting anxious during these times is only a natural and somewhat necessary response. But once one’s head begins to clear and the reality of the global situation sets in, the important questions begin to emerge: How am I going to look after myself and those I care about?

The measures we should all be taking to “flatten the curve” and slow the spread of the virus in time for healthcare systems to cope – physical distancing, washing our hands, and isolation, are all symptomatic responses to the current crisis. Don’t get me wrong, they are extremely important to how the pandemic unfolds, but I believe we should also be looking further down the line into the future. The world as we know it is changing before our very eyes, at a pace which is frighteningly tangible, and this pandemic is showing us a few key points, which can now no longer be denied:

We live in a global society – whether we like it, or not. This means that we ultimately need to work together, and respect our place in the collective human species, taking the rights of others to heart.

We are painfully dependent on ageing systems which are designed with profit as the key component, not necessarily human or planet welfare. Capitalism has engulfed all spheres of our society, to the point where the very things we need in order to survive – food, water, shelter and medicine, are turned into mechanisms through which we, as “consumers” can be drained for financial gain.

Our international leadership is largely inadequate and, whether on purpose or due to bureaucratic red tape, slow to act and respond in our time of need. Many countries have seen their governments refuse to react to the pandemic sufficiently, meaning that it wasn’t contained when it should and could have been, and as a result things have gotten much worse.

There are good (as in, really really good) everyday people out there who are willing to put their lives at risk to help others. Cashiers, paramedics, janitors, farmers, teachers, doctors, nurses, and many other overlooked professions are in fact the real heroes in this situation – and not the CEOs, directors or owners of companies. Without those who keep our society running through the day-to-day necessities, things would begin to crumble real fast.

Pandemics can affect everyone, regardless of their demographic. whether directly or indirectly, when something like this happens, it affects you – regardless of who you are. Stock markets and currencies are beginning to crash, companies are closing down, borders have been shut, and lockdowns are taking place. Things like these have far-reaching effects, which can be felt everywhere.

That being said, the planet can feel them too – just a few weeks of decreased human activity can lead to huge environmental improvements such as less pollution, returning wildlife and cleaner waters. This is just a little “sneak peak” at what is possible if we change our ways and try to live more harmoniously with nature.

Once this particular chapter of history subsides, how do we protect ourselves – personally, and on communal and global levels from similar things in the future? Ultimately, they are unavoidable and bound to happen again, be it in a different way or form. Once we accept that there are elements we cannot control, we can begin to look at what can be done to minimise our own suffering, and that of those in the same boat as us, at the hands of such disasters.

Look After Yourself: Strengthen That Immune System

This virus might subside, but chances are that it will be back, or another will take its place soon enough. So you need to fortify your body’s natural defences in order to give them the best chance of fending off such things. This boils down to one thing: keep healthy. Organic fruit and vegetables bring none of the poisons or chemicals that conventional produce carry with them, and often contain more vitamins and antioxidants. In particular, things like garlic, chillies, ginger, broccoli and citrus fruit are great turbo-chargers of the immune system. The fresher your food, the more nutrients it contains, and the better it is for you – so avoid canned or prepackaged produce where possible.

Local is Lekker

In South Africa, we have a saying that “Local is Lekker” – it essentially means that what comes from nearby is great; and it couldn’t be more on point or relevant than right now. By choosing things from local suppliers, businesses, farms, and organisations, you are not only decreasing reliance on the transportation system, but also “voting” with your coin against multinational corporations. Of course, the more local you can get, the better – ultimately, you should aim to be growing as much of your own food as possible. For some, this may mean growing a basil plant on their balcony, for others, perhaps a bed of tomatoes and garlic in their garden. Do what you can, with what you have. We recently began offering food garden design, consultation and establishing services, so if you are interested, please do contact us. Otherwise, support your local farmer and get to know where your food is coming from – it is a great step in not only learning how it’s grown, but also in becoming aware of what you are eating and how it reaches you. We deliver weekly boxes of our fresh organic produce to people nearby every week. Read more about or boxes, or order here.

Water is Life

Without water, we’re in trouble – just ask any Capetonian about the struggle. Having narrowly missed day zero, we can all attest to the importance of this liquid in our lives. Ensuring that you have a good supply or reserve of clean, drinkable water is of utmost importance. Setting up rainwater and dew harvesting can be done extremely easily and fairly cheaply – whether using small tanks to catch rainwater from gutters, catching your bathing water to water your garden.

Take Shelter

If you are among the lucky who have a good roof over their heads, take a moment to appreciate it, and consider how you can improve your dwelling. If there were to be a nearby disaster such as a flood or fire, how would it hold up, or perhaps instead, what is the contingency plan? If you are looking to set up a home somewhere, how can you construct it in such a way that it requires as little new resources as possible, and makes use of what is around? Small changes, such as using natural building materials, simple designs or even just taking note of the prevailing wind can have rather big impacts on a home, and are often overlooked.

Avoid Blackout

Technology plays a huge role in our lives – beyond communication and business, we rely on it to keep our food cold, light up our homes, drive our vehicles and make our stuff. All it takes is a little “Stage 2 Load-shedding” from your friendly neighbourhood power supplier to remind you how dependent we are on it. Although going entirely off-grid is becoming cheaper at a rapid rate, it is still largely out of the financial question for most people. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t take certain smaller measures in order to reduce your reliance on the grid. Depending on your financial position, you can take various steps – install a solar geyser to get electricity-free hot water on tap, buy or make simple solar lamps to light up your house (it’s really easy – look it up), sell your fridge and replace it with a gas alternative, or even just put together a little solar oven (we made one out of an old window and some planks – it cooks brownies like a charm!).

Wash Your Hands

Keeping things clean is a must. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that stockpiling toilet paper and hand sanitiser is necessary. Firstly, that just creates a shortage (do you see the self-fulfilling prophecy here?) and secondly, if worst came to worst and all the toilet paper in the world were to run out, you could use water like the entire continent of Asia is still largely doing after centuries). What is important is finding a way to maintain good hygiene and prevent illnesses from coming into your home and body. The good news is that soap, hand sanitiser, shampoo, and even general house cleaners are really easy to make with very simple, cheap and biodegradable ingredients. Good friends of ours, Guerrilla House, hold frequent soap-making workshops in Cape Town, and there is a plethora of online resources which can teach you how it’s done.

All these steps, however small they may be, add up and create a ripple effect, which although may seem immeasurable, can grow into a huge wave, given the right tide. So my advice is this: prepare yourself. Don’t freak out about the toilet paper, and don’t panic in general. But take time to think about how you can reduce not only your financial and environmental footprints, but also your reliance and dependence on the systems that surround you. And when you do need to depend on them, do it consciously and with full understanding and awareness of the implications it has. Be selective about how you “vote” with your spending – support those near to you, both geographically and socially speaking, and in so doing help build the network of interdependence we all need in order to survive. Because if the governments of the world aren’t going to look after all of us, then we will do it ourselves.

– Nevau, one of those who harvest

[phroyd]

Every year, I look for important themes in sustainability that will have lasting impact on society, from glaring evidence of global megatrends to inspiring stories of corporate action. The year 2018 brought extreme change — in weather and environmental ecosystems, in political winds and power, and in the expectations of business. It also brought incredible clarity about the scale of our challenges and opportunities.

So let’s start with the big picture before moving to some corporate success stories.

The world’s scientists sound a final alarm on climate

We have about 12 years left. That’s the clear message from a monumental studyfrom the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). To avoid some of the most devastating impacts of climate change, the world must slash carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, and completely decarbonize by 2050 (while, in the meantime, emissions are still rising).

The IPCC looked at the difference between the world “only” warming two degrees Celsius (3.8°F) — the agreed upon goal at global climate summits in Copenhagen and Paris — or holding warming to just 1.5 degrees. Even the latter, they say, will require a monumental effort “unprecedented in terms of scale.” We face serious problems either way, but every half degree matters a great deal in human, planetary, and economic losses.

It wasn’t just the IPCC that told a stark story. Thirteen U.S. government agencies issued the U.S. National Climate Assessment, which concluded that climate change could knock at least 10% off of GDP. Other studies tell us that sea level rise is going to be worse than we thought, Antarctica is melting three times faster than a decade ago, and Greenland is losing ice quickly as well. If both those ice sheets go, sea level rise could reach 200-plus feet, resulting in utter devastation, including the loss of the entire Atlantic seaboard (Boston, New York, D.C., etc.), all of Florida, London, Stockholm, Denmark, Uruguay and Paraguay, and land now inhabited by more than 1 billion Asians.

All of this suggests that business must dramatically change how it operates: companies will need to push well past their comfort zones from areas like politics and policy to engaging consumers to how they make investment decisions.

Entire towns are wiped off the map by extreme weather

This year the weather devastation around the world got, in the words of one colleague, “biblical.” The town of Paradise, California, was effectively eliminated by wildfires (that, yes, are made worse by climate change), killing at least 85 people. Most houses in Mexico Beach, Florida, were destroyed by Hurricane Michael. Unprecedented rains and damage from Hurricane Florence slammed North Carolina and temporarily turned a major highway into a river. Typhoon Mangkhut ravagedthe Philippines and parts of China, killing dozens of people. Incredible heat blanketed four continents this summer, with records falling across Europe and Asia. Venezuela’s last glacier is disappearing. Finally, Capetown, South Africa, is essentially out of water due in part to drought — the city nearly shut off all the taps this year, but has held off “Day Zero” through ongoing restrictions and aggressive citizen action.

The consequences of these extremes are not theoretical. What is the economic cost to an area with no water, or one that’s under water, or burned to the ground? In the U.S. alone, it was $306 billion in 2017, shattering records.

Coral is dying, insects are disappearing, and the fate of major ecosystems looks dim

The world’s top coral expert confirms that at 2 degrees of warming, all coral will die. This will destroy a critical part of an ocean system that provides protein to hundreds of millions of people, helps blunt coastal storm surges, and supports the livelihoods of people working in fishing and tourism.

And it’s not just coral: there’s the death of pacific kelp forests, radical declines in insect populations, and continuing population drops in all mammals and bees.

How does this all connect to business? For some sectors, it’s obvious: the food and agriculture industry will have trouble feeding us without pollinators, and tourism takes a big hit without coral and other wildlife. But more broadly, society will not thrive in a world where entire pillars of planetary support are collapsing. And if society can’t thrive, neither can business.

The U.S. environmental protection system continues being dismantled … from within

The EPA and Department of Interior are reversing years of protections for air, water, and land. In 2018, the Trump administration has opened up offshore waters and rolled back safety rules for drilling, greatly weakened the voice of science in policy, reduced focus on children’s health, and moved to make it easier to build dirty coal plants.

The big question now is whether businesses will push back and go down a cleaner path on their own. It’s easy to see why multinationals might as they face pressure from sub-national regions — California Gov. Jerry Brown held a Global Climate Action Summit which produced many aggressive climate goals from cities and state, for example. Gov. Brown also signed aggressive new laws committing to carbon-free electricity statewide by 2045 and requiring solar on all new homes. So even if U.S. action sputters, governors and mayors who influence local and regional business conditions will be pushing the clean economy and pro-climate agendas.

In pointed contrast to the U.S., the EU backed a proposal to strike no new trade deals with countries not in the Paris climate accord (i.e., only the U.S.), France will shut coal plants by 2021, India just cancelled plans for big coal plants, and China banned 500 inefficient models of cars.

A prominent leader retires, but new leaders step up

For nearly a decade, no business leader has done more to bring sustainability into the business mainstream than Paul Polman, Unilever’s outgoing CEO (Full disclosure: I’ve worked with Unilever). His depth of understanding of our biggest global, social, and environmental challenges, and his commitment to use business as a way to tackle them, has been unparalleled. But it wasn’t just talk. The company also grew throughout Polman’s tenure and the stock outperformed peers and the FTSE index. Luckily, there are other corporate leaders who are stepping up, including Danone’s Emmanuel Faber (see below for more).

But climate isn’t the only area where we’re seeing bold stances. Societal issues more broadly made headlines, too. The New York Times declared 2018 year that “CEO activism has become the new normal,” with prominent voices like Salesforce’s Marc Benioff leading the way. Other notable moments include Nike making Colin Kaepernick — the man who led NFL player protests about police violence against African Americans — the face of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign (sales rose quickly). Under pressure from survivors of school mass shootings, Dick’s Sporting Goods stopped selling assault weapons, and other companies cut ties to the powerful National Rifle Association. Kroger celebrated a year of its “End Hunger” initiative. Unilever threatened to pull its substantial ad dollars from Facebook and Google if they didn’t police “fake news and toxic content.” One hundred U.S. CEOs urged action on controversial immigration issues. And more than 100 U.S. companies gave employees time off to vote.

Danone North America becomes the world’s largest B Corporation

A “B Corp” certification requires answering an intensive set of questions on environmental, social, and governance issues. But most importantly, it commits a company to create value for all stakeholders (customers, employees, communities, and so on), not just shareholders.

French consumer products giant Danone has now put 30% of its brands and businesses through the certification process and says that “companies are fundamentally challenged as to whose interests they really serve.” Becoming a B Corp is arguably is a direct statement about whose interests it values most, and it’s and fascinating frontal attack on the dominance of shareholder capitalism.

More investors are viewing climate and sustainability as core value issues

Something is shifting in finance. Vanguard wants CEOs to be a force for good. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, said that “70% of [UK] banks, who normally have a shorter horizon, are viewing climate as a financial risk—not a CSR one.” Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset owner, encouraged longer-term thinking about environmental, social, and governance issues in a strongly-worded letter to large-company CEOs.

Anecdotally, I’ve talked to leaders at big banks who are now thinking differently about purpose and systemic risk. And in a quieter move, a major real estate investor in Miami began pulling money out of coastal assets to avoid risk of sea level rise. Watch this space.

The clean technology explosion continues and accelerates

Three big clean tech themes wowed me this year.

1) Renewables keep getting cheaper. According to Lazard’s annual analysis of the cost of building new power plants, renewables are now the cheapest. And another global analysis showed that new wind and solar are cheaper than one-third of the coal already on the grid — and will be cheaper than 96% of existing plants by 2030.

2) Corporate buying of clean energy keeps rising. By the end of just the first half of 2018, businesses bought more clean energy than they did in 2017. Companies like Owens Corning (disclosure: a client of mine) are buying enough green energy to pitch their products as cleanly manufactured (which they started doing in late 2017).

3) Electric vehicle sales are exploding, and it’s not just small vehicles: even container ships are going electric. UPS bought its first EV delivery vehicles at price parity to combustion engines, and China is adding nearly 10,000 electric buses to the roads — equal to the size of London’s entire bus fleet – every five weeks.

China rejects the world’s trash

For years, the U.S. had a great deal: When container ships arrived from China with goods, we sent them back filled with our recyclable paper and glass. But starting January 1, 2018, China stopped accepting our trash. The ripples of this move are unpredictable and still moving through the system, but in some regions, materials piled up and prices for recycled content plummeted. In a business world trying to go “circular” (i.e., find a use for everything and eliminate waste), it was a wake-up call about how much waste we still produce.

The battle against single-use plastic heats up, starting (somewhat oddly) with straws

Sometimes weird things hit a tipping point. For a combination of reasons, including a viral video showing a turtle with a straw stuck in its nose, companies waged war on straws this year. Marriott, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, and the city of Seattle, among others, all banned or are phasing out straws. It was a very small part of a larger conversation about “single-use plastics,” most notably plastic bags, which IKEA and Taiwan are banning as well.

Raising the bar for suppliers

The greening of the supply chain is a perennial story, but there are some noteworthy recent actions. Apple created a $300 million fund to help suppliers in China build more solar, and also partnered with Alcoa and Rio Tinto to develop a better smelting process to make carbon-free aluminum. On the labor side of the supply chain equation, PepsiCo and Nestle cut ties with a palm oil supplier over human rights abuses and Coca-Cola said it would work with the U.S. State Department to use blockchain to fight forced labor.

Meatless options grow plentiful

Given the way most cattle is currently raised, one of the most effective things an individual can do to reduce her carbon footprint is eat less meat. The options to do so are growing, and the rise of products made from non-animal proteins has been remarkable. The Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat, and other brands have made believers out of skeptics (they taste great) and are, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “overrunning grocery meat cases.” In another fascinating move, tech company WeWork went meat-free in its offices and even stopped reimbursing employees on business trips for meat meals.

What comes next…

I’m sure I missed many stories, especially globally (my view is from the U.S.). Predictions are hard, but I’m safe in assuming 2019 will be a bumpy ride again. Ultimately, today’s global political situation is, at best, unpredictable. Brazil now has a strongman-style leader who talks about cutting down the Amazon, but the U.S. just swung its House of Representatives back the other way, giving power to Democrats who want more focus on climate change, inequality, and other sustainability agenda items. No matter what happens politically, it seems clear that companies will continue to feel pressure, internally and externally, to do more on social and environmental issues. While the problems face we are extremely serious, I remain optimistic that companies will be doing more in 2019 than ever before.

[theeuniversesays]

Are you tired of load shedding? 10 most affordable solar panel solutions for load shedding in South Africa.

The lights go out again. You heave a sigh “EISH!” and try to get comfortable in the darkness. It's become a regular occurrence in recent months - load shedding. It's a term that's become all too familiar in South Africa, and it's not likely to go away anytime soon.

What is Load Shedding

Load shedding is when power utilities deliberately turn off electricity in certain areas to avoid overloading the system. It's a last-resort measure that's often undertaken during times of high demand or when there are problems with the power grid. While load shedding can be a nuisance, it's important to remember that it's done for our safety. An overloaded power grid can lead to blackouts, which can be dangerous. Load shedding usually happens in stages. Stage 1 means that 1 000 MW of power will be shed from the national grid. This can increase to Stage 4, which involves shedding 4 000 MW, and then there are the other stages which we South Africans know a thing or two about.

Load shedding in South Africa is a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon and more and more South Africans are seeking solutions and alternatives for the seemingly unavoidable blackouts that hit the country daily. At the top of the list of alternatives for load-shedding are solar panels which are also good for the environment and along with alleviating the stress of load shedding, they can also go a long way in reducing your electricity bill. The only problem is that to most South Africans solar panels seem too expensive but it doesn’t have to be that way.

What does a solar panel system consist of?

There are four main compartments required for a fully functioning solar panel system

The Solar Panel

The Battery

A charge controller

A power inverter

The solar panel converts sunlight into electrical energy through photovoltaic (PV) panels that concentrate solar radiation and then generate electricity.

The main weakness of the solar panel is that the sun goes down at night or even during the day, the weather plays a part in how efficient your solar panel is.

That’s where the battery comes in; the battery stores the energy to be used at times when the sun is not providing any energy or enough energy. This allows you to still power your devices and appliances when the solar panels are not generating electricity.

Then we have the charge controller which is necessary to make sure the battery charges efficiently and doesn’t overcharge or undercharge, which can negatively affect the battery.

Lastly, we have the power inverter which is where the magic happens, this is the device that allows you to plug in your home appliances and use the electricity that is being generated from the sun by your solar panel.

Now that you have an idea for a solar panel system we can look into the options available and find a solution for you and your budget.

How much does a solar panel system/kit cost in South Africa?

The answer to that question depends on what you would like to do with your solar system, the more you want to do with the solar system the more you will have to pay.

We would all like to have a solar system in our homes that powers all our home appliances, the lights, geysers and everything else so that we can go completely off-grid and never have to pay Eskom a cent, but that requires a large investment which unfortunately most South Africans can’t afford.

That is why we have found 10 solar system solutions that are more affordable to the masses and will go a long way in reducing the stress of load shedding by powering essential devices like your TV, Wi-Fi router, computer, and more during those 2-3 hours of load shedding that hit our country daily and don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

Here is a list of 10 affordable solar panel packages for load shedding:

Load Shedding Kit 1

•20W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•7AH 12V BATTERY

•300W INVERTER

•10A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• lights

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• Small TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Printers

• Fan

And more.

Price: R 1 999.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 2

•30W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•23AH 12V BATTERY

•300W INVERTER

•10A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• lights

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• Small TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Printers

• Fan

• Power tools

And more.

Price: R 2 499.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 3

•50W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•29AH 12V BATTERY

•300W INVERTER

•10A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• lights

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• Small to Medium size TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Printers

• Mini Fridge

• Air Cooler

• electric shavers,

• Hair Curling Iron

• Fan

• Sewing Machine

And more.

Price: R 2 999.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 4

•80W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•39AH 12V BATTERY

•300W INVERTER

•10A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• CFL, LED Lights, Incandescent, and other lights,

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Printers

• Mini Fridge

• Air Cooler,

• electric shavers,

• Hair Curling Iron

• Fan

• Sewing Machine

And more.

Price: R 3 999.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 5

•100W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•50AH 12V BATTERY

•300W INVERTER

•10A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• CFL, LED Lights, Incandescent, and other lights

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Printers

• Mini Fridge

• Air Cooler,

• electric shavers

• Hair Curling Iron

• Fan

• Electric Blanket

• Sewing Machine

And more.

Price:R 4 999.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 6

•150W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•100AH 12V BATTERY

•500W INVERTER

•20A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• CFL, LED Lights, Incandescent, and other lights,

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Desktop Computer

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Projector

• Game Console

• Printers

• Small Fridge

• Air Cooler,

• Food Blender

• electric shavers,

• Hair Curling Iron

• Heated Hair Rollers

• Fan

• Electric Blanket

• Sewing Machine

And more.

Price:R 6 999.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 7

•200W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•200AH 12V BATTERY

•900W INVERTER

•20A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• CFL, LED Lights, Incandescent, and other lights,

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Desktop Computer

• Projector

• Game Console

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Fridge

• printers

• Air Cooler,

• Food Blender

• Pressure Cooker

• electric shavers,

• Hair Curling Iron

• Heated Hair Rollers

• Fan

• Electric Blanket

• Sewing Machine

• Small Washing Machine

And more.

Price:R 9 999.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 8

•300W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•200AH 12V BATTERY

•1500W INVERTER

•30A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• CFL, LED Lights, Incandescent, and other lights,

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Desktop Computer

• Projector

• Game Console

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Fridge

• printers

• Air Cooler,

• Food Blender

• Pressure Cooker

• electric shavers,

• Hair Curling Iron

• Heated Hair Rollers

• Fan

• Electric Blanket

• Electric Drill

• Sewing Machine

• Vacuum Cleaner

• Small Washing Machine

And more.

Price: R 11 999.99

 BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 9

•360W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•300AH 12V BATTERY

•2000W INVERTER

•30A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• CFL, LED Lights, Incandescent, and other lights,

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Desktop Computer

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Projector

• Home Sound System

• Game Console

• Printers

• Fridge

• Air Cooler,

• Food Blender

• Pressure Cooker

• electric shavers,

• Hair Curling Iron

• Heated Hair Rollers

• Fan

• Electric Blanket

• Microwave

• Steam Iron

• Heater

• Kettle

• Electric Iron

• Coffee Maker

• Air Fryer

• Electric Drill

• Sewing Machine

• Vacuum Cleaner

• Medium sized Washing Machine

And more.

Price: R 14 999.99

BUY NOW

Load Shedding Kit 10

•545W 12V SOLAR PANEL

•400AH 12V BATTERY

•3000W INVERTER

•50A 12V CHARGE CONTROLLER

What can you run during load shedding with this package?

• CFL, LED Lights, Incandescent, and other lights

• Charge Phones & Tablets

• TV

• Decoder & DVD Player

• Laptop,

• Desktop Computer

• Wi-Fi router

• Radio

• Home Sound System

• Printers

• Game Console

• Projector

• Fridge

• Air Cooler,

• Food Blender

• Pressure Cooker

• electric shavers,

• Hair Curling Iron

• Hair Blow Dryer

• Heated Hair Rollers

• Fan

• Electric Blanket

• Microwave

• Steam Iron

• Heater

• Kettle

• Electric Iron

• Coffee Maker

• Air Fryer

• Electric Drill

• Corded Electric Handheld Leaf Blower

• Sewing Machine

• Steam Iron

• Vacuum Cleaner

• Washing Machine

And more.

Price: R 19 999.99

BUY NOW

Conclusion

Load shedding does not have to be such a big problem for you, there is a solution and a better way to live. Now you know that Solar Panel systems don’t have to break the bank and cost tens of thousands, you can get yourself an affordable kit from www.solarpanelsa.co.za and be able to stay connected during load shedding. Your house can be one of those houses whose lights are on during load shedding while every other house on your street remains in the dark. These solutions won’t enable you to go completely off-grid and never have to pay for electricity, but they will take away the stress of blackouts and stressing about load-shedding schedules and even reduce your electricity bill.

To find out more about Load shedding kits click here

Feel free to give us a shout if you have any questions on solar panel solutions, and we will shed light on your darkness.

[rdagade]

Solar Energy Market Scope, Trend, Driver, Share, Size, Opportunity, Forecast up to 2027

Solar Energy Market Overview:

The Solar Energy Market's drivers, limitations, specialized progressions, product advancements, market astounding open doors, limitations, development techniques, and market possibilities, as well as the forecast period, are momentarily canvassed in the Solar Energy Market research report. The worldwide Solar Energy statistical surveying report offers an inside and out take a glimpse at the business, including key figures like market size, piece of the pie, income development, and CAGR for the forecast period (2021 to 2027).

Market Scope:

The analysis by Stellar Market Research centers on the main territorial portion of the overall industry information. At the same time, it features the main parts of each local market's development propensities. The exploration additionally incorporates a full geological investigation of the business, featuring industry development potential and market obstacles in every one of the world's key areas.

The examination additionally gives basic data on significant factors, for example, piece of the pie, size, and development rate, in light of the top to bottom study. Different region of the financial forecast, for example, speculation achievability, request and supply, import and product status, inventory network the board, and development expectations, uncover a ton about the economy's possibilities somewhere in the range of 2020 and 2027.

Request for free sample: https://www.stellarmr.com/report/req_sample/Solar-Energy-Market/412

Solar Energy Market Segmentation:

The Solar Energy Market is divided into Photovoltaic Systems and Concentrated Solar Power Systems based on technology. In 2020, the Photovoltaic Systems category commanded 71.6 percent of the market. Based on technology, the solar energy market size from photovoltaic (PV) systems is predicted to expand significantly due to rising demand for off-grid installations. As a technique of converting solar energy to electricity, solar photovoltaics is becoming more common. The increasing demand for storage grid networks, as well as the growing popularity of lithium ion-powered batteries, has highlighted the need to replace older traditional sources. In addition, the category is growing due to an increase in the number of PV installations around the world.

Get more Report Details: https://www.stellarmr.com/report/Solar-Energy-Market/412

Vital participants:

First Solar Inc. (US) Trina Solar Limited (China) Sharp Corporation (Japan) Yingli Solar (China) RGS Energy (US) JA Solar (China) ReneSola (US) Hanwha Q Cells (South Korea) Motech Industries Inc. (Taiwan) Waaree Grou12 (India) Canadian Solar Inc. (Canada) Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd. (India) eSolar Inc. (US) SunPower Corporation (U.S.) Urja Global Limited (India) Azure Power (India)

The Solar Energy market research  report contains an itemized local vital participant examination of the Solar Energy business, with an accentuation on business learning experiences and market obstacles in every one of the globe's significant districts.

Provincial Analysis:

The Solar Energy Market's development pattern is analyzed top to bottom all through this report. It shows how the most major territorial partitions, like North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa, have worldwide predominance.

Coronavirus Impact Analysis on Solar Energy Market:

The report has given the current vulnerability brought about by COVID-19, this is more basic than any other time. The report considers counsels to defeat past disturbances and predicts expected ones to further develop availability. Organizations can involve the structures to plan their essential arrangements to recuperate from such troublesome patterns. SMR examiner help peruses in bringing down a complicated situation and carrying versatility to a circumstance which is questionable.

The report considers meetings to defeat past interruptions and predicts expected ones to further develop planning. Organizations can involve the structures to plan their essential arrangements to recuperate from such problematic patterns. Augment Market Research experts can likewise help peruses in separating a mind boggling situation and carrying strength to a circumstance that is questionable.

Key Questions responded to in the Solar Energy Market Report are:

What is the deals esteem, creation esteem, utilization worth, import and product of Solar Energy around the world (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East, and Africa)?

Who are the central parts in the Solar Energy Industry on an overall scale? What is the condition of their business (limit, creation, deals, estimating, cost, gross, and income)?

What are the market prospects and risks for Solar Energy suppliers in the worldwide Solar Energy industry?

Which application, end-client, or item classification may be searching for new learning experiences? What is each sort's and application's piece of the pie?

About Us:

Established in 2018, Stellar Market Research is India Based consulting and advisory firm focused on helping clients to reach their business transformation objectives with advisory services and strategic business. The company’s vision is to be an integral part of the client’s business as a strategic knowledge partner. Stellar Market Research provides end-to-end solutions that go beyond key research technologies to help executives in any organization achieve their mission-critical goals.  

Contact Us:

Address S.NO.8, H.NO. 4-8 PL.7/4, KOTHRUD, PINNAC MEMORIES FL. NO. 3, KOTHRUD, PUNE, Pune, Maharashtra, 411029

Email sales@stellarmr.com

[marketresearchandsurvey]

Microgrid Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth 2030

According to the latest report of Allied Market Research, titled “Microgrid Market by Connectivity (Grid Connected and Off-grid Connected), Type (AC Microgrids, DC Microgrids, and Hybrid) and End User (Commercial & Industrial, Government, Healthcare, Remote, Utility, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020–2030”.

The report includes dynamic growth factors, constraints, and opportunities. In addition, it offers a thorough analysis of the key market players and their recent Microgrid Market strategies to help new business entrants, stakeholders, and shareholders to formulate lucrative profitable market strategies. The report provides an in-depth analysis of several strategies adopted by top market players which help them maintain their market position.

The Microgrid Market report covers an overview of the market and SWOT analysis of the key market players coupled with financial analysis, business overview, and portfolio analysis of services and products. In addition, the report offers the latest market happenings including major partnerships, market expansion, product launches, and joint ventures for the sake of stakeholders to help them better understand the long-term profitability of the market.

The Microgrid Market report offers a detailed study of drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities in the market. The study regarding drivers and opportunities aids to understand the rapidly changing dynamics and how they can impact the growth of the market. Furthermore, information about challenges and restraints offered in the report is vital for making profitable market investments. The rapid technological advancements and rise in demand have created new opportunities for the market players.

Download Sample Report (Get Full Insights in PDF - 250+ Pages) @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/542

Major segmentation:

The report involves segmentation of the Microgrid Market based on type, application, and geography. The study includes a detailed analysis of each segment that makes it beneficial to market players and stakeholders to gain a competitive advantage. The study covers a detailed analysis of sales, revenue, growth rate, and market shares of every segment during the historic period and forecast period in both charts and tabular format.

Regional Scope Analysis:

The market is studied on the basis of geographical penetration coupled with analysis of market performance in every region such as North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa).

Major market players

The report covers a comprehensive study of the major market players that are currently operating in the Microgrid Market. These market players are ABB, General Electric, Siemens, Eaton Corporation, Honeywell, Schneider Electric, S&C Electric, Spirae Inc., Exelon Corporation, and Pareto Energy.

The competitive analysis of these organizations includes a thorough business overview, portfolio analysis of services and products. The companies have adopted several strategies including joint ventures, partnerships, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, and collaboration to continue their dominant position in the market.

Covid-19 scenario:

The Microgrid Market has been significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the restrictions and guidelines issued by World Health Organization (WHO), several manufacturing facilities were temporarily suspended. This hampered the market tremendously. In addition, the prolonged lockdown across the globe led to disruption of the supply chain and raised the raw material prices.

Questions Answered in the Microgrid Market Research Report

Which are the leading players active in the Microgrid Market size?

What are the detailed impacts of COVID-19 on the market?

What current trends will influence the market in the next few years?

What are the driving factors, restraints, and opportunities in the market?

What future projections would help in taking further strategic steps?

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of Market Research Reports and Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

Pawan Kumar, the CEO of AMR, is leading the organization toward providing high-quality data and insights. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact us-

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[marketrevenueba]

LTCC & HTCC Market Sales,Size, Share, Top Key Players, Growth, Trend and Forecast Till 2027

The Global LTCC & HTCC Market size is estimated to reach USD 3.67 billion from USD 3.06 billion in 2019, exhibiting a CAGR of 2.2% through 2027, according to a new report by Reports and Data. The market growth is driven by the growing demand for LTCC and HTCC for data communication, automotive, microwave packaging, aerospace & defense, medical end-use, power electronics, and consumer electronics application. LTCC and HTCC offer a three-dimensional structure. They are suitable for integration in electrical circuits, in optical-based sensory solutions, and to build up fluidic or mechanical solutions.

The introduction of innovative solutions and material systems combined with the benefits of thick film technologies and multilayer ceramic in order to meet the increasing demand for electronics functioning in extreme temperatures will boost LTCC & HTCC market growth.

The materials used in HTCC are quite cheaper than LTCC, and HTCC has a higher firing temperature that enables only the refractory metals to be used, such as tungsten and molybdenum. The LTCC is designed for much lower firing temperature that allows noble metals such as silver, gold, copper, palladium, and others to be used.

These multilayer substrates are used for various components, including electronic control units, sensors, and LED packages. These products find extensive usage in the automotive sector. The ongoing research for self-driving vehicles may further supplement LTCC and HTCC market share over the forecast period.

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Top Companies:

KYOCERA Corporation, Nikko Company, KOA Corporation, Micro System Technologies, Ltd., DowDuPont Inc., The NGK Spark Plug Co., Maruwa Co. Ltd., Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Yokowa Co. Ltd., and Hitachi Metals Ltd., among others.

Market Insights:

The energy sector or industry comprises players involved in production and exploration of oil or gas reserves, oil and gas drilling, and refining. The energy industry also covers integrated power utility companies such as renewable energy and coal. Companies in the energy industry are classified based on how the energy is sourced such as non-renewables or fossil fuels and renewables such as solar.

The energy sector is an important driver of industrial growth, providing fuel to power the rest of the economy. The demand for energy will increase significantly in the coming years, driven by economic growth, urbanisation, rising incomes and industrial activity. Increasing emphasis of governments across the globe increasing emphasis on renewable energy, including grid-connected and off-grid systems is expected to stimulate market growth during the forecast period.

Regional Outlook:

North America and Europe are largely focusing on researches to maximize the solar potential. Also, Middle East and Africa have also gained traction owing to increase in applications of solar energy for power generation, agriculture, and architecture. These factors are expected offer lucrative ground for the expansion of power and energy market in the forecast period.

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The initial phase/stage of research includes the formulation of a preliminary hypothesis, which was considered from the primary as well as secondary approaches. The subsequent stages involved the triangulation of the data gathered from these two approaches. To determine the market trends and opportunities, the global LTCC & HTCC market report has been segmented on the basis of types, technology, application, End-user and regions.

Regions covered by the report:

North America (U.S.A., Canada, Mexico)

Europe (U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Rest of Europe)

Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Rest of APAC)

Latin America (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., South Africa, Rest of MEA)

LTCC & HTCC Market Segmentation:

Process Type Outlook

LTCC (Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic)

HTCC (High-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic)

Material Type Outlook

Glass-ceramic

Ceramic

End-Use Verticals Outlook

Automotive

Telecommunications

Aerospace & Defense

Consumer Electronics

Others

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Thank you for reading our report. To know more about the customization or any query about the report contents, please connect with us and our team. We ensure the report will be tailored to meet your requirements.

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Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target, and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries, and help clients to make smarter business decisions. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across multiple industries, including Healthcare, Touch Points, Chemicals, Products, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware of the latest trends existent in the market. Reports and Data has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise. Our industry experience and ability to develop a concrete solution to any research problems provides our clients with the ability to secure an edge over their respective competitors.

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[gridconnectedsolar]

How much subsidy does a solar plant give?

Most of these solar power panels generate electrical power that may be then, typically, specifically fed in to the nationwide grid or saved in batteries. Nonetheless, the night time desire is quite high as well as the complementary role to PV technology in these nations—especially in the Arab Emirates—is evident. Climate modify mitigation measures could force for an previously substitution in the fuel backup soon after daytime. Kamworks Dutch solar engineers, born in a country that partly lies beneath sea level, Have a very Distinctive affinity using this software of solar Vitality. Kamworks is dealing with the worlds’ leading suppliers to supply floating solar installations in Cambodia. The distribution company delivers different incentives for your Power exported to the grid. These incentives differ from condition to state. Grid Tied solar methods brings together the very best solar units for all those secure grid connected spots. These units can make the additional solar power electrical energy to Grid Enterprise for investment decision. Also could utilize the solar power electrical energy throughout the day ligh, and use the grid organization power in the evening.

Whilst electrical energy charges may well fluctuate from time to time, aid plans like the kinds aforementioned permit available for sale costs to remain competitive and stable. As for The prices, the funds prices related to solar power plants make up the dominant Expense. Running and routine maintenance charges are considered In terms of expenditures affiliated with this type of power generation. The smartest thing about this sort of solar power plants is that you don’t will need any approval from any governing administration Division because you are certainly not exporting any surplus power towards the grid. Certainly one of the largest motorists for expansion in renewable power’s Electrical power share over the past decade continues to be flat or declining electrical energy desire. Incorporating wind and solar able to supplying 5% of a country’s grid power can travel a pointy reduction in emissions if output continues to be continuous or falls. In lots of conditions, not just the power input but also the waste warmth disposal process exhibit cyclic or stochastic conduct Internet meter is needed to estimate simply how much power is exported and simply how much is imported. A On-grid solar power plant can perform with out Net meter. The South Africa cone, like Namibia and Botswana, are Primarily privileged concerning DNI stages and CSP should really Perform an important job in the long term. The penetration of CSP in RSA will largely count on the decarbonization policies as coal is surely an considerable useful resource. Yet another critical barrier is definitely the transmission infrastructure, which should be strengthened. This article has taken an in depth check out two vital grid-related PV methods in Botswana and in the following, I will likely be talking about the a great deal more various off-grid units that are scattered throughout the nation. CSP is usually complemented by coal, petroleum, or all-natural gasoline inside of a mixed-gasoline power plant constructed In accordance with situation in areas using an ample solar resource and coal get more info or petroleum sources. America (South West) and Northern Component of Mexico are Probably the parts where the put in ability of CSP plants may be the greatest by 2050. DNI amounts over 2500 kWh/m2/yr, rather quick web-site progress as well as substantial electrical power desire could area this area as number one in the position if In general greenhouse fuel reduction procedures are accelerated

[mandennews]

Global Energy Storage System Market (2021-2026) With Top Growing Companies : GE Renewable Energy, ABB, Panasonic, Exide Industries, LG Chem

The global report entitled Energy Storage System Market 2021 by Syndicate Market Research provides a precious tool to evaluate the most recent Energy Storage System market insights and market situation. The analysis report introduces the techniques and research strategies followed to make clear the Energy Storage System business viewpoints. This report examinations the vital factors of the market based on current industry circumstances and also focuses on future possibilities of the Energy Storage System market for the duration of 2016-2026.

This study report tremendously investigates each and every selecting part of the industry on the basis of present financial conditions, Patterns, Trends & Demands, Capacity, methods encapsulated by market competitors and their improvement structure.

>>> To know How COVID-19 Pandemic Will Impact This Market/Industry | Request a Free sample copy of the Energy Storage System Market report, Click Here: https://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/sample/energy-storage-system-market

The investigation mostly concentrates on the existing business size of the Global Energy Storage System market and its development proportion in view of the latest five years data with company profile of Key Players and Makers. The major regions which expand the development of industry mostly cover such as the market in North and South America, Europe, The Middle East & Africa, and the Top Asian countries.

• Driving Players and Producers Analysis in Energy Storage System Market:

GE Renewable Energy, ABB, Panasonic, Exide Industries, LG Chem, AES Corporation, Amara Raja Batteries Limited, Sunverge, Acta S.p.a., Schneider Electric Solar, Imergy Power Systems Incorporation

Geographically, Energy Storage System research report divided into the global top countries like The United States, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, India, Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan.

>>> Make an Inquiry before buying this report @ https://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/inquiry/energy-storage-system-market

This Energy Storage System Market report separates into the; 1. Key manufacturers 2. Product Type (On-Grid Energy Storage Systems, Off-Grid Energy Storage Systems) 3. Application/ end users (Residential, Communal Facilities, Commercial)

In the primary segment, The Energy Storage System studies report supplies business profiling, necessities, contact information and product image of key manufacturers of the Worldwide Energy Storage System market. This analysis report equally renders the existing, past and futurist business strategies, company measure, growth, share, and forecast analysis having a place with the anticipated conditions. Moreover, the possible results and the hazard to the improvement of the Energy Storage System market extensively shrouded in this report.

In the next segment, the Energy Storage System manufacturing analysis of the most crucial business players based on their company profiles, sales volume, market value, profit margin, yearly income, supply and demand is also studied in this report, which may encourage various market competitors in driving business bits of learning.

Key Highlights of the Energy Storage System Market:

• Inside and out an investigation of the standard Energy Storage System market makers will urge the entire market to overview the modernized plans and propelling thoughts. • Targeted summary of the market depends upon expansion, propel proscribing components and limit of the hypothesis will presume the market development. • The investigation of rising Energy Storage System market portions and the prevailing market areas will control the perusers to plan the business strategies. • The fundamental evaluation associated with the industry like the value, kind of applications, definition of the product, supply and demand points is mentioned in this study report.

Global Energy Storage System study report scrutinizes largely covers underneath chapters to completely show the market:

Chapter 1 - Energy Storage System market document portrays industry outline, market segment(Upstream, Downstream), cost analysis, market utilizing power. Chapter 2 - Energy Storage System market trade environment(Policy, Financial aspects, Sociology, Innovation). Chapter 3 - Market with the help of Type. Chapter 4 - Major Organizations List - market report examines the leading manufacturers of Energy Storage System, enterprise profile, and sales information of Energy Storage System. Chapter 5 - Market Competition(Company Competition, Regional Market by Company), Global Energy Storage System trade record observe the key regions. Chapter 6 - Market Demand(Regional Demand Correlation, Demand Scenario, Demand Forecast). Chapter 7 - Energy Storage System Market record also depicts Region Operation (Regional Output, Local and Regional Market, By utilizing Region, Regional Forecast). Chapter 8 - This record moreover explains sales channels, wholesalers, buyers, sellers, market appendix, research findings and conclusion and facts supply.

In conclusion, the Global Energy Storage System Market report 2021 illustrates business improvement designs, deals channel, wholesalers, purchasers, merchants, research findings, reference segment, statistics sources and moreover.

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High Cost Of Zimbabwe’s Cheap Solar Gear

Spread This NewsChina Dialogue Agnes Mandishora, 35, was excited about the Chinese solar equipment she’d bought in a Harare shop. She even joked about uprooting her home’s conventional electricity cables and relying entirely on solar-powered lights. But to her dismay she soon found the lamps and batteries to be “defective and impossible to return”. As with many Zimbabweans, Mandishora was persuaded to buy solar gear partly by the terrible drought of 2019. The majority of Zimbabwe’s energy is provided by hydropower, so drought can lead to blackouts. “Electricity would be off for over 12 hours each day,” Mandishora said. “At month-end, our power bills were US$60 for essentially staying in dark.” Households relied on candlelight and factories worked at night when the electricity was switched back on for a few hours. Water levels feeding Zimbabwe’s largest hydropower plant on Lake Kariba were so low that the country could generate just 50% of its peak demand. Ageing coal power plants kept breaking down, adding to the misery. But solar equipment sellers saw opportunity. They launched sales drives on WhatsApp, street shows and radio slots, promising a magical 23 hours of daily power derived from solar photovoltaic panels that could charge batteries in just four hours. Zimbabwe’s power shortages are not only the product of drought. They follow years of inadequate investment in the electricity grid, further aggravated by debts to South African power supplier Eskom, and a growing urban population. In September 2019, the central government approved 39 solar power projects with a total generating capacity of 1,151 MW. Then, in May 2020, Zimbabwe’s state power corporation invited bids for an additional 500 MW. The government also tried to encourage independent power producers to feed their solar power into the national grid. But the country continues to suffer from chronic power undersupply. Figures for 2020 and 2021 are not yet available, but in 2019, the average annual electricity supply was about 1 400MW to meet a peak demand of 1,700MW, according to the Ministry of Energy and Power Development. Access to electricity in rural areas is as low as 21%, with 63.5% of all households in Zimbabwe dependent on wood for cooking. Given the amount of sunshine Zimbabwe receives, it should be able to provide its people with the electricity they need. Sunshine galore Zimbabwe is a sunshine-rich country, enjoying a remarkable 7.5 hours of sunlight a day. Solar radiation varies from an average of about 16 MJ/m2/day in winter to about 22 MJ/m2/day in midsummer. Out of a total area of 390,750 km2, the country has 250,000 km2 that is suitable for concentrating solar power plants. Government policy is already shifting towards solar energy with a ban, announced in November 2019, on electric water heaters in new domestic and commercial buildings, and the mandatory use of solar water heaters. This is likely to stimulate a huge market for “solar geysers”, as they are known locally. Ordinary people have also been seeking alternatives themselves, in the face of long waits to receive electricity in rural and newer townships. By the end of 2019, more than 100,000 homes across the country had solar power systems installed, according to the country’s energy ministry. Many more homes were powered by solar but not recorded as such. Faulty solar gadgets Solar equipment made in China, including batteries, photovoltaic panels, cables and inverters, have become popular in Zimbabwe due to their relatively low price. Such equipment, entering either lawfully or via smugglers, makes up the majority of Zimbabwe’s energy equipment retail market, according to Tawanda Chitiyo, the founder of renewable energy start-up Tawanda Energy. However, the equipment is often substandard and promoted by false claims. And much of it ends up in unregulated urban dumps. Zimbabwe receives so many faulty foreign gadgets because most consumers can’t afford the new stuff, said Gift Mawache, a geographer in the city of Mutare. Wages in Zimbabwe vary widely. The economy is largely informal, so there is no agreed average figure. But, as a guide, in 2020 the government set the minimum wage for the private sector at US$85 a month. Skanyi Jongwe, a disgruntled buyer, said: “I forked US$180 for LED solar lamps, cables and a battery. The lamps’ light was faint, barely shined beyond four hours, or became too hot to the risk of exploding. The warranty said 10 years. The reality – just five months.” “All manufactured electrical solar implements from any country degrade over time. But the rate of failure of Chinese solar panels is now a great concern,” said Tawanda Energy’s Chitiyo. Nigeria, India and Indonesia are also sources of low-quality solar equipment entering Zimbabwe, but much of the equipment is originally manufactured in China. Redress for disappointed buyers is difficult, explained Chitiyo. “Defects are not immediately apparent to most of the customers. Also, the warranty they offer is very difficult to honour. How can a foreign company in Guangzhou get a return solar shipment from Harare, Zimbabwe?” It is not only Chinese merchants living in Zimbabwe who stand accused of selling defective solar gadgets. Lots of native Zimbabwe merchants also hawk poor products. As Chitiyo said: “ most of the solar cells are sold in shops owned by Zimbabwean traders and not by the Chinese.” Smuggling in the mix Zimbabwe shares porous borders with South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana, all avenues for substandard solar devices to enter Zimbabwe, said Dennis Juru, president of the International Cross Border Traders Association in Musina, South Africa, on the border with Zimbabwe. “Prestigious stuff like Rolls batteries exist in a few trendy shops in Zimbabwe, retailing for something like US$1,300… You can buy batteries in China for half what they sell the same battery for in South Africa. At the end of it all, some merchants sometimes smuggle to Zimbabwe to make more,” Juru said. At the height of Zimbabwe’s 2019 blackouts, South Africa immigration police would detain buses headed to Zimbabwe carrying hidden solar panels, inverters or mobile phone tower batteries. An e-waste mountain looms Smuggling substandard equipment ultimately contributes to Zimbabwe’s waste problem. According to Chitiyo: “Defective solar lanterns and panels are not being properly disposed of in these communities. Most solar panels will end up as toys for the kids to play with.” “Solar panels are sealed off with glass, most likely the glass will break or get damaged, exposing children and the environment to harmful substances,” he added. Toxic chemicals released from panels may include copper indium selenide, lead and polyvinyl fluoride. Chitiyo points to Gimboki, a sprawling, informal settlement on the southern outskirts of Mutare. “Very few if any of the solar lanterns in this community are still functional. How will they be disposed of? It’s anyone’s guess where the panels will end up… I think we already have an environmental and health problem that will grow in the future,” he said. Future of solar Zimbabwe is trying to get a grip on solar power generation. In November 2019, the state agency Zimbabwe Energy Regulating Authority (ZERA) announced plans to establish the country’s first solar testing laboratory as a way of checking the solar panels, inverters, batteries or LED lamps coming into the domestic market. ZERA also said it would maintain an online list of genuine solar traders as a guide for consumers. The solar testing lab has so far not started operating, due to funding problems, a public servant in the energy ministry told China Dialogue on condition of anonymity. In June last year, Zimbabwe abolished the unpopular custom duty tax on imports of solar gear, leaving in place only the 15% domestic sales tax. Chitiyo said the tax change was likely to do away with smuggling: “There is now no justifiable need for traders to smuggle equipment into Zimbabwe because it is cheap to import solar energy gadgets into the country.” Importers of solar equipment are very happy about the removal of import taxes. Kuda Moyo, an entrepreneur importing from China, said: “An 8V solar battery and cabling required US$60 upfront. When we used to add tax, the selling price ballooned to $298. We hurt our Zimbabwe customers who are supportive but don’t earn so much.” Some Chinese sellers are doing things by the book. “Our PV panels, batteries and cables get verified before they ship from China. We insist on manufacturers producing certain quality certificates for us to be able to buy their products and bring them to South Africa and Zimbabwe,” said Selma Gaba, manager for Jinbei Electric, a Chinese solar dealer with shops in downtown Johannesburg and in Zimbabwe. “Substandard gear harms consumers’ trust.” Zimbabwe’s own solar manufacturing industry is still nascent. Tawanda Energy is taking steps, collaborating with Infinity PV, a Danish corporation, towards producing cheaper “organic photovoltaics” (OPV) locally. OPV systems use carbon-based materials rather than silicon to absorb different wavelengths of light. They are easier to manufacture than PV systems but have the drawback of a shorter lifespan. Chitiyo plans to send his team to Denmark to be trained to produce these solar cells in Zimbabwe. This may be a suitable model for other developing countries with more sunshine than money or specialist knowledge. Read the full article

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Monday, February 22, 2021

Global vaccine inequality and intellectual property rights (Washington Post) As the coronavirus pandemic rages, World Trade Organization representatives have periodically gathered around a virtual table and clashed over how to more equitably increase global access to vaccines. On one side are the United States and other mainly wealthy Western democracies, where the major pharmaceutical companies developing key vaccines and related medical technologies are based. They want to maintain the status quo, in which the trade secrets of their vaccines—i.e. intellectual property—remain in their hands to preserve profits and the incentive for future development. On the other side are South Africa and India, leading the charge on behalf of the vast number of countries without any—or a limited supply of—vaccine doses and other equipment for fighting the virus. They argue that the rest of the world cannot keep waiting for the lifesaving shots, which Western countries have monopolized by buying up existing supplies and pre-purchasing future rounds. Given the gravity of the global public health crisis, the latter camp wants to resort to an emergency waiver mechanism, whereby the intellectual property rights for making vaccines and related medical supplies would be temporarily suspended, which would lead to production and distribution ramping up more equitably in factories worldwide.

The Boredom Economy (NYT) Mark Hawkins is an expert on being bored. When he was getting his counseling degree, he was fascinated by articles on the therapeutic benefits of boredom. He has written a book whose title is “The Power of Boredom.” In his spare time, he likes to sit on his couch and stare out the window. Yet during the pandemic, even Mr. Hawkins, 42, who lives in British Columbia with his wife, has at times gotten bored of being bored. There are many readily available ways to assess how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the economy. The pandemic has decimated the labor market, driving the unemployment rate to 6.3 percent in January, nearly twice what it was a year earlier. Restrictions on activities led Americans to spend less money, pushing the savings rate to extraordinary heights. As people have fled to places with more space and fewer people, home prices have surged. Another way the pandemic has had an impact on the economy is by making people bored. By limiting social engagements, leisure activities and travel, the pandemic has forced many people to live a more muted life, without the normal deviations from daily monotony. The result is a collective sense of ennui—one that is shaping what we do and what we buy, and even how productive we are. “Because we’re spending so much time in the home, we’re investing more in the home,” said Marshal Cohen, the chief retail analyst at the NPD Group, a market research company. “And the things that we’re investing in are things to keep ourselves busy.”

Parts fall from sky in plane scare (AP) David Delucia was settling back into his airplane seat and starting to relax on his way to a long-awaited vacation when a huge explosion and flash of light interrupted an in-flight announcement and put him in survival mode. The Boeing 777-200, headed from Denver to Honolulu on Saturday with 231 passengers and 10 crew aboard, suffered a catastrophic failure in its right engine and flames erupted under the wing as the plane began to lose altitude. As Delucia and his wife prepared for the worst, people in this Denver suburb reacted in horror as huge pieces of the engine casing and chunks of fiberglass rained down on a sports fields and on streets and lawns, just missing one home and crushing a truck. The explosion, visible from the ground, left a trail of black smoke in the sky, and tiny pieces of insulation filled the air like ash. The plane landed safely at Denver International Airport, and no one on board or on the ground was hurt, authorities said. But both those in the air and on the ground were deeply shaken.

Why a predictable cold snap crippled the Texas power grid (Reuters) As Texans cranked up their heaters early Monday to combat plunging temperatures, a record surge of electricity demand set off a disastrous chain reaction in the state’s power grid. Wind turbines in the state’s northern Panhandle locked up. Natural gas plants shut down when frozen pipes and components shut off fuel flow. A South Texas nuclear reactor went dark after a five-foot section of uninsulated pipe seized up. Power outages quickly spread statewide—leaving millions shivering in their homes for days, with deadly consequences. It could have been far worse: Before dawn on Monday, the state’s grid operator was “seconds and minutes” away from an uncontrolled blackout for its 26 million customers, its CEO has said. Such a collapse occurs when operators lose the ability to manage the crisis through rolling blackouts; in such cases, it can take weeks or months to fully restore power to customers. Monday was one of the state’s coldest days in more than a century—but the unprecedented power crisis was hardly unpredictable after Texas had experienced a similar, though less severe, disruption during a 2011 cold snap. Still, Texas power producers failed to adequately winter-proof their systems. And the state’s grid operator underestimated its need for reserve power capacity before the crisis, then moved too slowly to tell utilities to institute rolling blackouts to protect against a grid meltdown, energy analysts, traders and economists said. Texas is the only state in the continental United States with an independent and isolated grid. That allows the state to avoid federal regulation—but also severely limits its ability to draw emergency power from other grids.

Trump Ally Violated Libya Arms Embargo, U.N. Report Says (NYT) Erik Prince, the former head of the security contractor Blackwater Worldwide and a prominent supporter of former President Donald J. Trump, violated a United Nations arms embargo on Libya by sending weapons to a militia commander who was attempting to overthrow the internationally backed government, according to U.N. investigators. A confidential U.N. report obtained by The New York Times and delivered by investigators to the Security Council on Thursday reveals how Mr. Prince deployed a force of foreign mercenaries, armed with attack aircraft, gunboats and cyberwarfare capabilities, to eastern Libya at the height of a major battle in 2019. As part of the operation, which the report said cost $80 million, the mercenaries also planned to form a hit squad that could track down and kill selected Libyan commanders. Mr. Prince, a former Navy SEAL and the brother of Betsy DeVos, Mr. Trump’s education secretary, became a symbol of the excesses of privatized American military force when his Blackwater contractors killed 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007. In the past decade he has relaunched himself as an executive who strikes deals—sometimes for minerals, other times involving military force—in war-addled but resource-rich countries, mostly in Africa.

Violence flares as protests over jailing of Spanish rapper extend into fifth night (AP) Protesters threw bottles at police, set fire to containers and smashed up shops in Barcelona on Saturday in a fifth night of clashes after a rapper was jailed for glorifying terrorism and insulting royalty in his songs. The nine-month sentence of Pablo Hasel, known for his virulently anti-establishment raps, has sparked a debate over freedom of expression in Spain as well as protests which have at times turned violent. Protesters attacked shops on Barcelona’s most prestigious shopping street, Passeig de Gracia, while newspaper El Pais reported that others had smashed windows in the emblematic Palau de la Musica concert hall. Demonstrators hurled projectiles and flares at police, who fired foam bullets to disperse the crowd.

With heavy hearts, Italians mark year of COVID-19 outbreak (AP) With wreath-laying ceremonies, tree plantings and church services, Italians on Sunday marked one year since their country experienced its first known COVID-19 death. Towns in Italy’s north were the first to be hard-hit by the pandemic and put under lockdown, and residents paid tribute to the dead. Italy, with some 95,500 confirmed virus dead, has Europe’s second-highest pandemic toll after Britain. Experts say the virus also killed many others who were never tested. The number of new coronavirus infections has remained stubbornly high despite a raft of restrictions on travel between regions, and in some cases between towns. In addition, gyms, cinemas and theaters have been closed and restaurants and bars must shut early in the evening. Nationwide there’s a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.

Protesting Indian farmers vow to amass more supporters outside capital Delhi (Reuters) More than 100,000 farmers and farm workers gathered in India’s northern Punjab state on Sunday in a show of strength against new farm laws, where union leaders called on supporters to amass outside the capital New Delhi on Feb. 27. Tens of thousands of Indian growers have already been camped outside Delhi for nearly three months, demanding the repeal of the three reform laws that they say will hurt them and benefit large corporations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which introduced the laws last September, has offered to defer the laws but refused to abandon them. Both sides have met for several rounds of negotiations but failed to make any headway, and farmers’ unions have vowed to carry on the protests until the laws are rolled back.

North Korea’s economy is ravaged by sanctions and pandemic isolation (Washington Post) Kim Jong Un is angry, and he’s lashing out. North Korea’s last economic plan failed “tremendously,” he complained. And his inner circle lacked an “innovative viewpoint and clear tactics” in drawing up a new one, Kim told the ruling Workers’ Party last month, yelling and finger-pointing at frightened-looking delegates. His economy minister, appointed in January, has already been fired. It’s not altogether surprising. North Korea is suffering its worst slump in more than two decades, experts say. It’s a combination of international sanctions and especially a self-imposed blockade on international trade in attempts to keep the coronavirus pandemic out. A shortage of spare parts usually supplied from China has caused factories to close, including one of the country’s largest fertilizer plants, and crippled output from the country’s aging power plants, according to news reports. Electricity shortages, long a chronic problem, have become so acute, production has even halted at some coal mines and other mines, Kim himself admitted in mid-February. “Without imported materials, raw materials and components, many enterprises stopped, and people, accordingly, lost their jobs,” Alexander Matsegora, the Russian ambassador to North Korea, told the Interfax news agency.

Myanmar protesters gather, undeterred by worst day of violence (Reuters) Huge crowds marched in Myanmar on Sunday to denounce a Feb. 1 military coup in a show of defiance after the bloodiest episode of the campaign for democracy the previous day, when security forces fired on protesters, killing two. The military has been unable to quell the demonstrations and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes against the coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others, even with a promise of new elections and stern warnings against dissent. Tens of thousands of people massed peacefully in the second city of Mandalay, where Saturday’s killings took place, witnesses said.

Israel to issue badges as proof of vaccination (AP) Israel unveiled a plan on Saturday to allow people who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend cultural events, fly abroad and go to health clubs and restaurants. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the plan at a news conference on Saturday night, saying those who have been vaccinated will be able to download the “green badge” in the coming days. Netanyahu said the government could not keep unvaccinated residents from places like medical clinics, pharmacies and supermarkets. But he said other services would be allowed only for those who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.