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Post by Blitz on Jan 17, 2023 18:34:38 GMT -5
How could anyone be so irresponsible... indeed Joe. Maybe Harris planted them…
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Post by Blitz on Jan 18, 2023 11:10:32 GMT -5
Well, he is a Vietnam vet and did got Yale, but didn't finsish, but then Stone graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film in 1971. This all so confusing. How can he not be all-in on the ESG bandwagon... all said sarcastically. And now this... Filmmaker Oliver Stone slams environmental movement over ‘destructive’ actions on nuclear PUBLISHED WED, JAN 18 2023 - Anmar Frangoul www.cnbc.com/2023/01/18/oliver-stone-slams-environmental-movement-over-actions-on-nuclear.htmlKEY POINTS - “It’s going to be a miserable existence if we have worse and worse hurricanes, fires, droughts. It’s frightening,” Oliver Stone tells CNBC. - “We had the solution [nuclear power] … and the environmental movement, to be honest, just derailed it,” he says. - Stone’s documentary, “Nuclear Now,” adds to the ongoing debate and discussion about nuclear power and its role in the years ahead. WEF Davos: Can nuclear energy play a role in combatting the climate crisis? WATCH NOW VIDEO32:23 The environmental movement’s stance on nuclear power was “wrong” and derailed the sector’s development, according to the filmmaker Oliver Stone. During an interview with CNBC’s Tania Bryer at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Stone — who’s made a new documentary called “Nuclear Now” — was asked where his passion to tackle the climate crisis came from. “Passion comes from the fact that … it’s my children, hopefully grandchildren soon,” Stone, who was speaking to CNBC on Tuesday afternoon, replied. “But what are they going to do? It’s going to be a miserable existence if we have worse and worse hurricanes, fires, droughts. It’s frightening.” “We had the solution [nuclear power] … and the environmental movement, to be honest, just derailed it. I think the environmental movement did a lot of good, a lot of good ... [I’m] not knocking it, but in this one major matter, it was wrong. It was wrong.” “And what they did was so destructive, because by now we would have 10,000 nuclear reactors built around the world and we would have set an example like France set for us, but no one … followed France, or Sweden for that matter.” Read more about energy from CNBC Pro Analysts expect this under-the-radar global carbon capture stock to soar by up to 65% How the U.S. will generate power in 2050 and the stocks that will benefit, according to Wells Fargo This global lithium stock is up 15% since its IPO — and one bank says it could jump 600% France has been a major player in nuclear power for decades, while nuclear power accounts for roughly 30% of Sweden’s power supply, according to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority. Stone’s documentary is based on “A Bright Future,” a book by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist. The Academy Award winner, who has made statements deemed by many to be extremely controversial, is best known for films such as “Platoon”, “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Wall Street.” His film on nuclear adds to the ongoing debate and discussion about nuclear power and its role in the years ahead. The International Energy Agency states that “nuclear power has historically been one of the largest contributors of carbon-free electricity globally.” It adds that “while it faces significant challenges in some countries, it has significant potential to contribute to power sector decarbonisation.” Elsewhere, environmental organizations such as Greenpeace are critical. “Nuclear power is touted as a solution to our energy problems, but in reality it’s complex and hugely expensive to build,” its website states. “It also creates huge amounts of hazardous waste,” Greenpeace says. “Renewable energy is cheaper and can be installed quickly. Together with battery storage, it can generate the power we need and slash our emissions.”
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Post by Blitz on Jan 20, 2023 9:13:53 GMT -5
And now this moron... Colombia’s choice to halt new oil and gas exploration contracts “absolutely urgent” Patricia Laya, Bloomberg January 19, 2023 www.worldoil.com/news/2023/1/19/colombia-s-choice-to-halt-new-oil-and-gas-exploration-contracts-absolutely-urgent/(Bloomberg) — Colombia’s Energy and Mines Minister Irene Velez said that the government’s decision not to award new oil and gas exploration contracts was “absolutely urgent” and needs “immediate action.” Irene Velez Torres, Colombia's Minister of Energy and Mines Speaking in a panel on energy transition from the World Economic Forum at Davos, Velez doubled down on President Gustavo Petro’s campaign promise to transition the country away from fossil fuels. Her remarks signal a stark difference to comments by Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, who has said Colombia is open to the possibility of new oil and gas exploration contracts given its high fiscal revenue dependence on fossil fuels. “We have decided not to award new oil and gas exploration contracts, and while that has been very controversial, it’s a clear sign of our commitment in the fight against climate change,” Velez said in a panel alongside the CEOs of Repsol and Honeywell International. “This decision is absolutely urgent and needs immediate action.” Velez said the administration’s decision to halt new exploration required investment in other sectors, such as agriculture and tourism, to “leave behind coal and hydrocarbons while surviving as a nation.” While new exploration won’t be allowed, Petro has said oil, gas and coal producers with existing contracts could “carry on normally.” Still, the government, which owns 88.5% of state oil company Ecopetrol SA, has spooked investors with its plans to transition toward renewables. Also in Davos, Petro said the world needs to have an agreement to move away from fossil fuels amid the climate crisis in what he called “decarbonized capitalism.” That would mean a climate agreement that seeks “to reduce the consumption of coal, oil and gas to zero in the short term,” he said.
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Post by Blitz on Jan 20, 2023 11:54:50 GMT -5
I know... let's make the West less competitive via extra costs for everything so that China can burn more coal because of high oil & gas prices. That only triples the global warming and pollution that the woke ESG crowd is trying end while totally disregarding how the sun and the earth's gyroscopic precession and wobble cause more of the sun's energy to strike the planet in a 20,000-year cycle. And that the earth has had no ice-covered North Pole for most of the earth's history.
And now this...
China To Accelerate The Construction Of Coal-Fired Power Plants By Michael Kern - Jan 20, 2023, 8:30 AM CST
China expects to add 70 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power generation this year, up from 40 GW of capacity from coal installed in 2022, a report from the power sector’s group, China Electricity Council, showed.
The coal additions, however, will not be the biggest capacity increases in China in 2023, per the report quoted by Bloomberg.
Solar and wind will see massive growth in capacity additions this year, too, with solar power expected to add a huge 100 GW of capacity and wind—another 65 GW, China Electricity Council said.
China’s electricity generation capacity from renewable sources is expected to jump above 50% for the first time this year. According to the power sector’s lobbying group, low-carbon electricity sources will account for over 52% of total power capacity in China by the end of 2023, up from 49.6% at the end of last year.
After the end of the ‘zero Covid’ policy, China’s power demand is expected to jump by 6% in 2023, up from the 3.6% growth seen last year, according to the China Electricity Council.
Although renewable energy installations are set to jump, coal-fired capacity additions in China will also surge this year as Beijing has put more emphasis on energy security since the autumn of 2021 when power shortages crippled its industry.
In 2022, China said it would continue to maximize the use of coal in the coming years as it caters to its energy security, despite pledges to contribute to global efforts to reduce emissions.
In recent months, China has significantly boosted its coal production, following government orders.
China produced a record amount of coal last year, although output ended the year with a decline amid the latest surge in Covid infections. Total Chinese coal output for the year reached 4.496 billion tons, which was a 9-percent increase compared to 2021, according to official statistics data.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Jan 26, 2023 8:34:31 GMT -5
Somebody forgot to tell India about ESG. Good thing the ESG crowd demonized fossil fuels and stiffled investment in E&P for cleaner burning NatGas and oil. Then pitched EVs and lithium batteries that combined to cause even more global air poluution and other serious pollution due to mining practices and water pollution. And now this... India Plans To Double Domestic Coking Coal Output By 2030 By Ag Metal Miner - Jan 25, 2023, 2:00 PM CST oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/India-Plans-To-Double-Domestic-Coking-Coal-Output-By-2030.html- India looks to double domestic production of coking coal before 2030. - Australian coke imports dropped over 18% from April to November to 23.6 million tons. - India is the world’s second-largest producer of crude steel. Via AG Metal Miner For now, trade relations between Australia and China are sketchy at best. Therefore, Australia has started looking for other markets to ship commodities like ore and coking coke, one such market being India. However, over the past few months, the world has learned that many Indian steel mills have replaced “costlier” Australian coking coal with alternatives. Data from the Indian Trade Ministry shows that the country had imported a huge bulk of its coke from countries like Indonesia, Russia, and the US. According to a Hindu BusinessLine report, the bulk of imports still come from Australia. That said, there are now more viable, cheaper options. Altogether, Australian coke imports dropped over 18% from April to November to 23.6 million tons (MT). Year over year, this represents a drop of 5.3 MT. In the same period, imports to India from Indonesia, Russia, and the US increased by 187%, 138%, and 163%, respectively. India Plans to Cut Reliance on Foreign Coking Coal Coking coal is used to produce coke, which is a porous, solid carbon material. The finished coke is used as a fuel and a reducing agent in the production of iron and steel. High-quality coking coal has a low impurity content and a high carbon content, making it ideal for metallurgy. India is the world’s second-largest producer of crude steel. Therefore, it needs a steady supply of coking coal. Currently, India imports about 90% of its coal requirement. However, several initiatives are underway to increase local production of raw coking coal to 140 MT by 2030. In fact, the GoI has already identified four coking coal blocks in a bid to step up production. Indonesia supplied 1.84 MT in the April–November period. Russia also sent 1.67 MT, while imports from the US stood at 5.50 MT. In fact, reports indicate that supplies from Canada were up 26%, while Mozambique saw a 36% increase in orders. Indian steel mills began looking at alternatives after the price of hit a high of US $620 per ton in March of last year. According to estimates, the annual average price for 2022 clocked in at $390 per ton against $260 per ton in 2021. One of the many reasons for this uptick was supply disruptions due to heavy rains in Australia. Then Russia invaded Ukraine, leading to the West imposing sanctions on Russia. This soon forced Europe to start getting its coking coal from Australia. India is also banking on the state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) which has planned to increase raw coking coal production from existing mines by up to 26 MT. The company has identified nine new mines with a Peak Rate Capacity of about 22 MT. It hopes to step up capacity by financial year 2024-25. By Sohrab Darabshaw
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Post by Blitz on Jan 26, 2023 8:35:53 GMT -5
Coal Is Staging A Major Comeback By Felicity Bradstock - Sep 15, 2022, 4:00 PM CDT oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Coal-Is-Staging-A-Major-Comeback.html- Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has forced the West to sanction Russian energy. - Europe has been scrambling to meet soaring energy demands while reducing its dependence on Russian oil and gas. - Coal has staged a major comeback, even in Europe. Despite big promises to move rapidly away from coal, the “dirtiest fossil fuel”, many countries around the world continue to rely heavily on coal production and imports for their energy needs. This is not surprising from the likes of China and Australia, who make no secret of their reliance on coal, but is more worrying when coming from European states that just last year announced aims of weaning themselves off coal by the middle of the decade. An increase in coal production, import and export figures this summer suggests that the world is far from over its coal addiction. China’s coal imports climbed this summer as it opted to purchase discounted Russian supplies following Europe and the U.S. move away from Russian energy. In July, China imported 15 percent more coal from Russia than the previous year, an estimated 7.42 million tonnes, making it the highest import level in five years. Many expect China to continue increasing its import of cheap Russian coal as it stockpiles supplies for the winter months. The country’s demand for coal already rose this summer as China faced a record heatwave. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to the U.S. and E.U. imposing sanctions on Russian energy, Putin introduced significant discounts on its oil, gas, and coal to appeal to alternative markets. Russian thermal coal traded at $150 a tonne in late July, dramatically lower than supplies from Australia’s Newcastle port, which cost around $210 a tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. Not only have China’s coal imports from Russia risen in recent months but so have the country’s production levels. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China mined 2.19 billion tonnes of coal from January to June, an increase of 11 percent year on year. While many worry that this reliance on coal will negatively impact China’s decarbonisation goals, experts in the sector believe that China is still on target to stop market expansion within the next few years, with China’s president, Xi Jinping, announcing strict controls on coal for the 14th Five Year Plan period (2021–2025). Related: Goldman Warns EU Energy Price Freeze Could Backfire As well as China, Australia has also seen growth in its coal market. Australian coal stocks have gone up by around 150 percent, to reach $5.47, since the start of the war on Ukraine. Australian coal producer Whitehaven has seen its shares increase by 200 percent since January. Although analysts worry that the stock is highly speculative. One Australian stock analyst Under, Peter Chilton, explained: “It’s a good company but there’s been a great deal of share price exuberance, which is not sustainable.” Despite its distance, many European powers are now turning to Australia to fill the gap caused by sanctions on Russian coal. In addition, Australia continues to provide several Asian countries with their coal supplies. Other major Australian coal producers New Hope, Terracom, and Yancoal, have all also seen an increase in their share prices in recent months. This has shocked many analysts who were expecting coal shares to drop following an increase in the number of climate pledges made by governments worldwide after the COP26 climate summit last November. But it’s not only traditional coal-producing states that are relying on coal, as many European powers seem to be going back on their climate promises by welcoming coal once again in the face of scarcity and rising prices. In a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), published last month, the organisation warned that global coal demand could once again hit an all-time high, with E.U. consumption rising by an estimated 7 percent, adding to a 14 percent increase in 2021. Many European countries are now expecting to continue using high levels of coal until at least 2023, as they face gas shortages and rising energy costs. In Germany, the financial officer of energy firm RWE, Michael Muller, said that the company will continue to burn more coal in the short-term to meet the country’s energy demand as it faces severe gas shortages. Germany has already recommissioned some of its coal-fired power plants, and RWE is expected to boost production further. Muller stated, “RWE is actively supporting the German government, or European governments, in managing the energy crisis.” He added, “so we’re also bringing back additional coal capacity to manage that situation.” Meanwhile, in the U.K., which pledged to close the doors of all its coal plants a year earlier than anticipated by 2024, energy firms are now being asked to ramp up their coal production to help the country avoid blackouts in the winter months. The closure of a coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire will now be delayed and several other plants will be on standby to provide the National Grid with more power if required. At present, the delays are not threatening the U.K.’s 2024 goal, but if Europe sees energy shortages and high prices continue into the next year this could soon change. As traditional coal-producing countries continue to rely heavily on the fossil fuel, several European countries are also increasing their coal usage in the face of energy shortages. The war in Ukraine and severe weather conditions across Europe this summer have seen state powers that previously pledged to rapidly move away from coal coming to rely on coal-fired power plants once again. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Feb 10, 2023 7:29:10 GMT -5
U.S. ESG Funds Suffer Disastrous Fourth Quarter In 2022 By Irina Slav - Feb 10, 2023, 3:01 AM CST oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-ESG-Funds-Suffer-Disastrous-Fourth-Quarter-In-2022.htmlSustainable investment funds and ETFs booked outflows of $6.2 billion in the last quarter of 2022, reducing the net inflows for the year to $3 billion, a report by Morningstar has found. The final net result was made possible by massive inflows of some $10.2 billion made during the first quarter of the year, the Financial Times reported. The report also found that all U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded funds booked net outflows last year—for the first time since Morningstar began tracking fund capital movements, which was in 1993. According to the authors of the report, the outflows from sustainable funds were prompted by market volatility, the escalation of talk about greenwashing, and some states’ strike back against ESG investing. Kentucky and Texas were among these states. Both threatened to pull out investments from pension funds and other government agencies from asset managers that participate in the ESG movement, alleging they were effectively boycotting the oil and gas industry. Earlier this year, Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball sent warnings to about a dozen banks and asset managers, among them JP Morgan, Citi, and BlackRock, saying the state would pull its funds out of these institutions if they continued boycotting the oil and gas industry. Texas targeted the financial services industry last year with a pretty similar threat. In an August statement, the state’s Comptroller Glenn Hegar said that “The environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) movement has produced an opaque and perverse system in which some financial companies no longer make decisions in the best interest of their shareholders or their clients, but instead use their financial clout to push a social and political agenda shrouded in secrecy.” The agency also issued a list of banks and financial service providers that Texas agencies were prohibited from investing in because of their boycotting of the oil and gas industry. The list featured names such as BlackRock, BNP Paribas, UBS, and Credit Suisse. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Feb 15, 2023 9:12:08 GMT -5
There's strong evidence that climate models are not accurate and skewed in favor of ESG fairly tales as they seem to have left out volcano emissions data. And now this... Even While Dormant, Volcanoes Release More Gases into The Atmosphere Than Previously Thought By: Nidhi Goyal | February 14th, 2023 www.industrytap.com/even-while-dormant-volcanoes-release-more-gases-into-the-atmosphere-than-previously-thought/65603We know Volcanoes emit toxic gases and fine particles when they erupt. However, a new study revealed that non-erupting volcanoes also leak a surprisingly high amount of sulfur-containing gases. In this study, researchers were analyzing ice core layers for calculating the levels of sulfate aerosols between the years 1200 and 1850. They wanted to explore the sulfur emitted by marine phytoplankton, which was considered to be the biggest source of atmospheric sulfate. However, while analyzing a Greenland ice core, researchers discovered volcanoes silently release much more climate-changing gases than they thought. They estimated that sleeping volcanoes are releasing at least three times more sulfur into the Artic atmosphere than previously estimated by current climate models. “We found that on longer timescales the amount of sulfate aerosols released during passive degassing is much higher than during eruptions,” said first author Ursula Jongebloed, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences. “Passive degassing releases at least 10 times more sulfur into the atmosphere, on decadal timescales, than eruptions, and it could be as much as 30 times more.” “We were planning to calculate the amount of sulfate coming out of volcanoes, subtract it and move on to study marine phytoplankton,” Jongebloed said. “But when I first calculated the amount from volcanoes, we decided that we needed to stop and address that.” Volcanic aerosol emissions can strongly impact the world’s climate
Considering the fact that Sulfur emissions cool the planet, there is a need to recalibrate climate and air quality models.
The research has been published in Geophysical Research Letters: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL102061
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Post by Blitz on Feb 20, 2023 18:58:44 GMT -5
India Invokes Maximum Energy Output Law from Coal Plants By Charles Kennedy - Feb 20, 2023 oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/India-Invokes-Maximum-Energy-Output-Law-from-Coal-Plants.html- India invoked a law that will demand maximum output from power plants running on imported coal. - Beginning on March 16 and ending on June 15, all power plants will have to be running at maximum capacity and selling to buyers on exchanges. - India is expecting a record power usage this summer, with peak demand in April of 229 gigawatts. With India gearing up for massive power usage in the second quarter, the government will utilize an emergency law that will demand maximum output from power plants running on imported coal, Reuters reports, citing the Indian power ministry. The emergency law reflects a situation in which power plants running on more expensive imported coal are having a difficult time competing cost-effectively with plants that can operate on cheaper domestic coal. Beginning on March 16 and ending on June 15, all power plants will have to be running at maximum capacity and selling to buyers on exchanges, regardless of their coal sources or coal prices, Reuters cited an internal ministry memo as saying. India is expecting a record power usage this summer, with peak demand in April of 229 gigawatts. India still relies on coal for some 70% of its electricity generation. Those power plants that import more expensive coal have been hit by even higher prices since the EU banned Russian coal imports last August, causing coal prices to surge globally. India’s government expects coal-fired power plants to use 8% more coal in the next financial year between March 2023 and March 2024, as demand is set to continue rising thanks to growing economic activity and unpredictable weather. Late last year, India’s coal minister said that the country had no intention of ditching coal from its energy mix any time soon with Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi projecting that the fossil fuel would continue to play an important role in India until at least 2040. The invocation of the emergency law comes at a tough time for Adani Group, the massive Indian conglomerate controlling coal mines, ports and other industry sectors in India, which has seen its stocks plummet in the wake of a short-seller report alleging fraud and manipulation. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Feb 22, 2023 9:51:14 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Feb 27, 2023 7:54:35 GMT -5
Yay, team ESG. Enjoy the consequences of demonizing fossil fuels. Enjoy more coal...
China’s Coal Plant Approvals Surged To A 7-Year High In 2022
By Charles Kennedy - Feb 27, 2023 oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Chinas-Coal-Plant-Approvals-Surged-To-A-7-Year-High-In-2022.html
China approved the construction of some 106 GW of new coal generation capacity last year, which was the highest level of new coal approvals since 2015.
Citing the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor, Reuters also reported that China had begun construction of 50 GW of coal generation capacity in 2022, driven by energy security concerns.
"The speed at which projects progressed through permitting to construction in 2022 was extraordinary, with many projects sprouting up, gaining permits, obtaining financing and breaking ground apparently in a matter of months," the report cited a Global Energy Monitor analyst as saying.
The rush may well be motivated by the blackouts that China suffered in 2021 because of a coal shortage and a drought that reduced the output of hydropower plants.
For this year, China plans to add another 70 GW of new coal generation capacity, data from Beijing showed earlier this year. It also plans to add a lot more in solar and wind: 100 GW in new solar power capacity and 65 GW in new wind power capacity.
China’s electricity generation capacity from renewable sources is expected to jump above 50 percent for the first time this year. According to the China Electricity Council—the power sector’s lobby group—low-carbon electricity sources will account for over 52 percent of total power capacity in China by the end of 2023, up from 49.6 percent at the end of last year.
Last year, new solar power additions in China hit 84.7 GW and the country plans to add another 95 to 120 GW this year, which would be a 23% increase over 2022. This is despite authorities in some areas requiring mandatory storage additions and limiting the availability of land, land which solar is now competing with the farming industry for.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Mar 2, 2023 8:33:08 GMT -5
Interesting spin regarding coal... Energy-Related CO2 Emissions Hit Record High In 2022 By Tsvetana Paraskova - Mar 02, 2023, 4:10 AM CST oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Energy-Related-CO2-Emissions-Hit-Record-High-In-2022.htmlGlobal energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increased by 0.9% to reach a new record high in 2022, although the pace of growth was lower than feared, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new report on Thursday. Despite the coal-to-gas switching amid the energy crisis and soaring natural gas prices, the increase in CO2 emissions was lower than initially feared, thanks to the rise in deployment of clean energy technologies and industrial production curtailment, particularly in China and Europe, the IEA said in the CO2 Emissions in 2022 report. “The rise in emissions was significantly slower than global economic growth of 3.2%, signalling a return to a decade-long trend that was interrupted in 2021 by the rapid and emissions-intensive economic rebound from the Covid crisis,” the IEA said. Last month, the IEA said that an expected surge in renewables electricity generation over the next few years signals that the world is close to the tipping point of emissions in the power sector. In 2022, “The impacts of the energy crisis didn’t result in the major increase in global emissions that was initially feared – and this is thanks to the outstanding growth of renewables, EVs, heat pumps and energy efficient technologies. Without clean energy, the growth in CO2 emissions would have been nearly three times as high,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said, commenting on today’s report. China’s emissions were flat last year, dropping by 0.2% from 2021, due to weaker economic growth and the Covid-related restrictions. Europe saw a 2.5% decline in CO2 emissions, due to mild winter weather that resulted in lower emissions from the buildings sector, the IEA said. Conversely, the buildings sector, due to extreme temperatures, drove a 0.8% growth in U.S. emissions, the agency added. The IEA called on fossil fuel companies “to take their share of responsibility” to lower emissions. “While rising emissions from fossil fuels undermine efforts to meet the world’s climate goals, many fossil fuel companies made record profits in 2022,” the IEA’s Birol said. “Given their public pledges, it’s vital that they review their strategies to ensure they’re aligned with real emissions reductions.” By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Mar 3, 2023 12:45:48 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Mar 7, 2023 10:08:04 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Mar 11, 2023 9:11:40 GMT -5
Another major oil CEO sounds the alarm regarding running out of reliable energy. And now this... Shell chief executive rings alarm bell on energy transition and security Wael Sawan said industry needs to continue scaling up renewables, energy storage and LNG in Europe 10 March 2023 - By Naomi Klinge in Houston www.upstreamonline.com/energy-transition/shell-chief-executive-rings-alarm-bell-on-energy-transition-and-security/2-1-1417087Shell’s new chief executive Wael Sawan says the industry is “way behind” in energy-transition and energy-security challenges. Asia gas demand on path to recovery, eyeing North American LNG supply - Read more Next week, Shell is expected to roll out its latest energy-transition strategy update, which some have speculated could indicate an easing of energy-transition efforts. When asked about this, Sawan said there is no slowing down, as the company is committed to its 2050 net-zero target. “There’s a lot to be excited about if one looks at the last few years and the progress that has been made in decarbonising and reducing emissions. At the same time, we are way, way behind where we need to be,” Sawan said at CERAWeek by S&P Global. He said that the energy industry needs to dramatically scale up low-carbon energy solutions, while meeting current energy needs with fossil fuels abated by carbon capture and storage. The US Energy Information Administration has forecast that energy consumption is going to increase by 50% over the next 30 years. “Simply starving the world of that supply, of that production, is going to result in the massive volatility and spikes in prices that we saw in 2021 that are going to exacerbate the issues we see right now with cost of living around the world,” Sawan said. Natural gas turmoil He touched on the issue of high gas prices in Europe as much of Russian supply, making up about 2.5% of the global market, has been removed. Sawan said the market is very tightly balanced, but the increased availability of liquefied natural gas to Europe was a saving grace. “If there is one thing that saved us in Europe this winter, it was the availability of LNG. “LNG imports went up 60% last year,” Sawan said. However, this LNG was destined for Asia, Sawan noted. As energy demand recovers and grows in Asia and the region secures long-term contracts with upcoming LNG facilities, Europe will need to lock into domestic energy supply, Sawan said. “The concern I have is there isn’t a huge amount of new supply coming to the market in the next couple of years,” he said. Sawan added that if demand is strong by some of the long-term LNG offtakers, then those cargoes will be shipped to those regions instead of Europe. Although Europe has so far survived the northern hemisphere winter and has held off a potential recession, Sawan is concerned about the next few winters, since he said the region has not structurally resolved its energy-security issues. “We need more storage, we need more renewables in Europe, we need to be able to make sure that we have LNG — ideally term LNG rather than being susceptible to the spot market,” he said.
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Post by Blitz on Mar 14, 2023 6:29:15 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Mar 14, 2023 8:02:01 GMT -5
Exploding SUV Market Is Another Big Boost For Oil Demand By Alex Kimani - Mar 09, 2023, 11:00 AM CST oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Exploding-SUV-Market-Is-Another-Big-Boost-For-Oil-Demand.html- BNEF: EVs displaced 1.5 million barrels per day in oil demand in 2021. - IEA: global CO2 emissions from SUVs in 2022 hit nearly 1.1 billion tons, overshadowing increased EV sales. - SUV-related oil consumption rose by 500,000 barrels per day between 2021 and 2022. The global electrification drive has been hailed as the world’s best shot at preventing a catastrophic and irreversible climate meltdown wrought by uncontrolled emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses. Last year, Bloomberg New Finance (BNEF) reported that EVs displaced 1.5 million barrels per day in oil demand in 2021, potentially preventing the emission of nearly 65 million tons of CO2 in a single year. Unfortunately, robust SUV demand negates those gains and makes it real hard for EVs to make a dent on the planet’s CO2 footprint. A new IEA analysis has revealed that global CO2 emissions from SUVs in 2022 hit nearly 1.1 billion tons, overshadowing increased EV sales. While it’s bad for climate goals, it’s certainly good for oil demand. The report says that SUV-related oil consumption rose by 500,000 barrels per day between 2021 and 2022, accounting for one-third of the total growth in oil demand at a time when oil use in conventional cars, excluding SUVs, stayed roughly the same. The report comes after a similar report published in 2019 revealed that SUVs were the second-largest contributor to a CO2 increase in the 2010s. While better than their gas-guzzling predecessors, the added weight and poorer aerodynamics of modern SUVs compared to sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons are still detrimental to efficiency and contribute to higher emissions. The agency says that switching to electric SUVs is hardly the ideal solution, noting that larger electric SUVs generally require larger battery packs, which translates to increased need for raw materials. IEA advises "...downsizing of the average car size; increasing battery swapping; and investing in innovative battery technologies. Those strategies would keep in check the investment requirements for developing the cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel resources needed to satisfy the increasing uptake of EVs." Related: Is India Drifting Away From The U.S.? Alternatively, buying SUV models such as Lucid Gravity and the Nio EC7 from companies that emphasize efficiency as a priority can help mitigate the problem. Regulatory changes are also required to make SUVs less attractive, with the federal government continuing to incentivize automakers to produce more SUVs. Or we can just wait for EVs to kill off SUVs, as Citroën CEO Vincent Cobée believes will happen in the future. But it won’t be soon. According to the EIA, “electric SUVs are growing in popularity, but not quickly enough to offset the increasing oil consumption and emissions of the wider fleet.”That means continued oil demand growth from this segment. Robust EV Growth, Nonetheless Ultimately, high EV penetration is likely to be the long-term antidote to growing emissions by SUVs and other fossil fuel vehicles considering that the transportation sector is responsible for more than half of global oil demand. The EV revolution is likely to get heated in the United States despite signs of slowing EV demand: last year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) included a $7,500 tax credit for purchasing an electric vehicle, with the Biden administration targeting half of US vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has cut prices on some of its top models by up to 20% after rising interest rates and inflation deterred potential customers. Meanwhile, falling lithium prices are a positive development for the EV industry. After hitting an all-time high of CNY 595,000 per tonne ($86,170 per tonne) in November 2022, lithium carbonate prices in China have sunk to a 13-month low of CNY 362,500 per tonne ($52,500 per tonne) in March 2023, good for a nearly 40% correction as a confluence of negative catalysts conspired to end lithium’s biggest rally ever thanks in large part to increased supply. Goldman Sachs has forecast that lithium carbonate supply will grow at a brisk 33% annual clip, outpacing demand which will only grow at 25% p.a. The mismatch between the two market forces will depress lithium carbonate prices even further with prices expected to sink to $34,000 a tonne in the next 12 months, from around $53,000 per tonne currently, good for another 36% decline. Battery costs are the most expensive component in an EV, and lower lithium carbonate prices are likely to ease major cost pressure on automakers like Tesla. Last year, E Source estimated that battery cell prices will surge 22% from 2023 through 2026, peaking at $138 per kilowatt-hour thus reversing a multi-year trend whereby battery pack and EV costs have fallen consistently each year. Various analysts have estimated that EVs will achieve cost parity with ICE vehicles when battery costs fall to ~$100 per kilowatt-hour, which could happen in just a few years and mark a major win for the global clean energy revolution. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Mar 21, 2023 6:45:13 GMT -5
A poster child for Leftist failures... in which Socialism breeds dictators, kills the middle class and gives birth to a two class system. The haves and have nots; the rich and the poor... lots more poor than rich. And now this... Ferraris and Hungry Children: Venezuela’s Socialist Vision in Shambles March 21, 2023 dnyuz.com/2023/03/21/ferraris-and-hungry-children-venezuelas-socialist-vision-in-shambles/CARACAS, Venezuela — In the capital, a store sells Prada purses and a 110-inch television for $115,000. Not far away, a Ferrari dealership has opened, while a new restaurant allows well-off diners to enjoy a meal seated atop a giant crane overlooking the city. “When was the last time you did something for the first time?” the restaurant’s host boomed over a microphone to excited customers as they sang along to a Coldplay song. This is not Dubai or Tokyo, but Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, where a socialist revolution once promised equality and an end to the bourgeoisie. Venezuela’s economy imploded nearly a decade ago, prompting a huge outflow of migrants in one of worst crises in modern Latin American history. Now there are signs the country is settling into a new, disorienting normality, with everyday products easily available, poverty starting to lessen — and surprising pockets of wealth arising. That has left the socialist government of the authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro presiding over an improving economy as the opposition is struggling to unite and as the United States has scaled back oil sanctions that helped decimate the country’s finances. Conditions remain dire for a huge portion of the population, and while the hyperinflation that crippled the economy has moderated, prices still triple annually, among the worst rates in the world. But with the government’s ease of restrictions on the use of U.S. dollars to address Venezuela’s economic collapse, business activity is returning to what was once the region’s wealthiest nation. As a result, Venezuela is increasingly a country of haves and have-nots, and one of the world’s most unequal societies, according to Encovi, a respected national poll by the Institute of Economic and Social Research of the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas. Mr. Maduro has boasted that the economy grew by 15 percent last year over the previous year and that tax collections and exports also rose — though some economists stress that the economy’s growth is misleading because it followed years of huge declines. For the first time in seven years, poverty is decreasing: Half of the nation lives in poverty, down from 65 percent in 2021, according to the Encovi poll. But the survey also found that the wealthiest Venezuelans were 70 times richer than the poorest, putting the country on par with some countries in Africa that have the highest rates of inequality in the world. And access to U.S. dollars is often limited to people with ties to the government or those involved in illicit businesses. A study last year by Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog, found that illegal businesses such as food, diesel, human and gas smuggling represented more than 20 percent of the Venezuelan economy. Though parts of Caracas bustle with residents who can afford a growing array of imported goods, one in three children across Venezuela was suffering from malnutrition as of May 2022, according to the National Academy of Medicine. Up to seven million Venezuelans have simply given up and abandoned their homeland since 2015, according to the United Nations. And despite the Maduro administration’s new slogan — “Venezuela is fixed” — many scrape by on the equivalent of only a few dollars a day, while public-sector employees have taken to the streets to protest low salaries. "I have to do back flips,” said María Rodríguez, 34, a medical lab analyst in Cumaná, a small city 250 miles east of the capital, explaining that, to pay for food and her daughter’s school tuition, she relied on two jobs, a side business selling beauty products and money from her relatives. Yrelys Jiménez, a preschool teacher in San Diego de los Altos, a half-hour drive south of Caracas, joked that her $10 monthly salary meant “food for today and hunger for tomorrow.” (The restaurant that allows diners to eat 150 feet above the ground charges $140 a meal.) Despite such hardship, Mr. Maduro, whose administration did not respond to requests for comment, has focused on promoting the country’s rising economic indicators. “It seems that the sick person recovers, stops, walks and runs,” he said in a recent speech, comparing Venezuela with a suddenly cured hospital patient. The United States’ shifting strategy toward Venezuela has in part benefited his administration. In November, after the Maduro administration agreed to restart talks with the opposition, the Biden administration issued Chevron an extendable six-month license to pump oil in Venezuela. The deal stipulates that the profits be used to pay off debts owed to Chevron by the Venezuelan government. And while the United States still bans purchases from the state oil company, the country has increased black-market oil sales to China through Iran, energy experts said. Mr. Maduro is also emerging from isolation in Latin America as a regional shift to the left has led to a thaw in relations. Colombia and Brazil, both led by recently elected leftist leaders, have restored diplomatic relations. Colombia’s new president, Gustavo Petro, has been particularly warm to Mr. Maduro, meeting with him repeatedly and agreeing to a deal to import Venezuelan gas. With presidential elections planned next year and the opposition’s parallel government having recently disbanded, Mr. Maduro seems increasingly confident about his political future. Last year’s inflation rate of 234 percent ranks Venezuela second in the world, behind Sudan, but it pales in comparison to the hyperinflation seen in 2019, when the rate ballooned to 300,000 percent, according to the World Bank. With production and prices up, Venezuela has also started to see an increase in revenues from oil, its key export. The country’s production of nearly 700,000 barrels a day is higher than last year’s, though it was twice as high in 2018 and four times as high in 2013, said Francisco J. Monaldi, a Latin America energy policy fellow at Rice University. The Venezuelan government’s loosening of restrictions on dollars has made it easier for some people to use money sent from abroad. In many cases, no cash is actually exchanged. Venezuelans with means increasingly use digital apps like Zelle to use dollars in accounts outside the country to pay for goods and services. Still, U.S. officials call Venezuela’s economic picture somewhat illusory. “They were able to adjust to a lot of their problems after sanctions were implemented through dollarization,” according to Mark A. Wells, a deputy assistant secretary of state, “and so it starts to look over time that they are able to reach a status that basically helps the elites there, but the poor are still very, very poor.’’ “So, it’s not that everything is more stable and better there,” Mr. Wells added. Mr. Maduro took office nearly 10 years ago and was last elected in 2018 in a vote that was widely considered a sham and was disavowed by much of the international community. The widespread belief that Mr. Maduro won fraudulently led the National Assembly to deem the presidency vacant and use a provision in the Constitution to name a new leader, Juan Guaidó, a former student leader. He was recognized by dozens of countries, including the United States, as Venezuela’s legitimate ruler. But as the figurehead of a parallel government that had oversight over frozen international financial accounts, he had no power within the country. In December, the National Assembly ousted Mr. Guaidó and scrapped the interim government, a move some observers considered a boost to Mr. Maduro. A number of opposition figures have announced that they will run in a primary scheduled for October, even though many political analysts are skeptical that Mr. Maduro will allow a credible vote. “What Maduro does have today is an opposition that is disjointed and dispersed,” Mr. Guaidó said in an interview. “He also has a majority of the people against him. He continues being a dictator without popular support, a destroyed economy, which was his own fault, with professors, nurses, older people and workers protesting right now as we speak.” Even people like Eugenia Monsalves, who owns a medical supply company in Caracas and sends her two daughters to private schools, is frustrated with the country’s direction. Though she is upper middle class, she said she still had to watch how she spends her money. She goes out to eat occasionally and has visited some of the city’s new luxury stores, but without buying anything. “The vast majority of Venezuelans live in a complicated situation, very complicated,” she said. Ms. Monsalves believes the Maduro administration needs to go, but she worries that the best candidates were forced into exile or disqualified. The opposition, she said, has not coalesced around what it most needs: a leader who can energize the electorate. “That’s what I most want, like many other Venezuelans,” she said. “But the truth is that without a clear vision from the opposition, a clear platform from a single candidate, I think it’s going to be hard.” The post Ferraris and Hungry Children: Venezuela’s Socialist Vision in Shambles appeared first on New York Times.
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Post by Blitz on Mar 21, 2023 11:03:09 GMT -5
Scratched EV battery? Your insurer may have to junk the whole car Reuters - March 20, 2023, 1:32 PM By Nick Carey, Paul Lienert and Sarah McFarlane www.aol.com/finance/scratched-ev-battery-insurer-may-173226761.htmlLONDON/DETROIT (Reuters) -For many electric vehicles, there is no way to repair or assess even slightly damaged battery packs after accidents, forcing insurance companies to write off cars with few miles - leading to higher premiums and undercutting gains from going electric. And now those battery packs are piling up in scrapyards in some countries, a previously unreported and expensive gap in what was supposed to be a "circular economy." "We're buying electric cars for sustainability reasons," said Matthew Avery, research director at automotive risk intelligence company Thatcham Research. "But an EV isn't very sustainable if you've got to throw the battery away after a minor collision." Battery packs can cost tens of thousands of dollars and represent up to 50% of an EV's price tag, often making it uneconomical to replace them. While some automakers like Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co said they have made battery packs easier to repair, Tesla Inc has taken the opposite tack with its Texas-built Model Y, whose new structural battery pack has been described by experts as having "zero repairability." Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. A Reuters search of EV salvage sales in the U.S. and Europe shows a large portion of low-mileage Teslas, but also models from Nissan Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co, Stellantis, BMW, Renault and others. EVs constitute only a fraction of vehicles on the road, making industry-wide data hard to come by, but the trend of low-mileage zero-emission cars being written off with minor damage is growing. Tesla's decision to make battery packs "structural" - part of the car's body - has allowed it to cut production costs but risks pushing those costs back to consumers and insurers. Tesla has not referred to any problems with insurers writing off its vehicles. But in January CEO Elon Musk said premiums from third-party insurance companies "in some cases were unreasonably high." Unless Tesla and other carmakers produce more easily repairable battery packs and provide third-party access to battery cell data, already-high insurance premiums will keep rising as EV sales grow and more low-mileage cars get scrapped after collisions, insurers and industry experts said. "The number of cases is going to increase, so the handling of batteries is a crucial point," said Christoph Lauterwasser, managing director of the Allianz Center for Technology, a research institute owned by Allianz. Lauterwasser noted EV battery production emits far more CO2 than fossil-fuel models, meaning EVs must be driven for thousands of miles before they offset those extra emissions. "If you throw away the vehicle at an early stage, you've lost pretty much all advantage in terms of CO2 emissions," he said. Most carmakers said their battery packs are repairable, though few seem willing to share access to battery data. Insurers, leasing companies and car repair shops are already fighting with carmakers in the EU over access to lucrative connected-car data. Lauterwasser said access to EV battery data is part of that fight. Allianz has seen scratched battery packs where the cells inside are likely undamaged, but without diagnostic data it has to write off those vehicles. Ford and GM tout their newer, more repairable packs. But the new, large 4680 cells in the Model Y made at Tesla's Austin, Texas, plant, are glued into a pack that forms part of the car's structure and cannot be easily removed or replaced, experts said. In January, Tesla's Musk said the carmaker has been making design and software changes to its vehicles to lower repair costs and insurance premiums. The company also offers its own insurance product in a dozen U.S. states to Tesla owners at lower rates. Insurers and industry experts also note that EVs, because they are loaded with all the latest safety features, so far have had fewer accidents than traditional cars. 'STRAIGHT TO THE GRINDER' Sandy Munro, head of Michigan-based Munro & Associates, which tears down vehicles and advises automakers on how to improve them, said the Model Y battery pack has "zero repairability." "A Tesla structural battery pack is going straight to the grinder," Munro said. EV battery problems also expose a hole in the green "circular economy" touted by carmakers. At Synetiq, the UK's largest salvage company, head of operations Michael Hill said over the last 12 months the number of EVs in the isolation bay – where they must be checked to avoid fire risk - at the firm's Doncaster yard has soared, from perhaps a dozen every three days to up to 20 per day. "We've seen a really big shift and it's across all manufacturers," Hill said. The UK currently has no EV battery recycling facilities, so Synetiq has to remove the batteries from written-off cars and store them in containers. Hill estimated at least 95% of the cells in the hundreds of EV battery packs - and thousands of hybrid battery packs - Synetiq has stored at Doncaster are undamaged and should be reused. It already costs more to insure most EVs than traditional cars. According to online brokerage Policygenius, the average U.S. monthly EV insurance payment in 2023 is $206, 27% more than for a combustion-engine model. According to Bankrate, an online publisher of financial content, U.S. insurers know that "if even a minor accident results in damage to the battery pack ... the cost to replace this key component may exceed $15,000." A replacement battery for a Tesla Model 3 can cost up to $20,000, for a vehicle that retails at around $43,000 but depreciates quickly over time. Andy Keane, UK commercial motor product manager at French insurer AXA, said expensive replacement batteries "may sometimes make replacing a battery unfeasible." There are a growing number of repair shops specializing in repairing EVs and replacing batteries. In Phoenix, Arizona, Gruber Motor Co has mostly focused on replacing batteries in older Tesla models. But insurers cannot access Tesla's battery data, so they have taken a cautious approach, owner Peter Gruber said. "An insurance company is not going to take that risk because they're facing a lawsuit later on if something happens with that vehicle and they did not total it," he said. 'PAIN POINTS' The British government is funding research into EV insurance "pain points" led by Thatcham, Synetiq and insurer LV=. Recently adopted EU battery regulations do not specifically address battery repairs, but they did ask the European Commission to encourage standards to "facilitate maintenance, repair and repurposing," a commission source said. Insurers said they know how to fix the problem - make batteries in smaller sections, or modules, that are simpler to fix, and open diagnostics data to third parties to determine battery cell health. Individual U.S. insurers declined to comment. But Tony Cotto, director of auto and underwriting policy at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said "consumer access to vehicle-generated data will further enhance driver safety and policyholders' satisfaction ... by facilitating the entire repair process." Lack of access to critical diagnostic data was raised in mid-March in a class action filed against Tesla in U.S. District Court in California. Insurers said failure to act will cost consumers. EV battery damage makes up just a few percent of Allianz's motor insurance claims, but 8% of claims costs in Germany, Lauterwasser said. Germany's insurers pool data on vehicle claims data and adjust premium rates annually. "If the cost for a certain model gets higher it will raise premium levels because the rating goes up," Lauterwasser said. (Reporting by Nick Carey and Sarah McFarlane in London, Paul Lienert in Detroit, Gilles Guillaume in Paris and Giulio Piovaccari in MilanAdditional reporting by Victoria Waldersee in BerlinEditing by Ben Klayman and Matthew Lewis)
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Post by Blitz on Mar 23, 2023 5:25:46 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Mar 24, 2023 6:52:48 GMT -5
More voodoo and conjecture rather than facts from looney left... Opinion: It's time to set the record straight on seismic surveys in South Africa and end the energy crisis NJ Ayuk, African Energy Chamber March 23, 2023 www.worldoil.com/news/2023/3/23/opinion-it-s-time-to-set-the-record-straight-on-seismic-surveys-in-south-africa-and-end-the-energy-crisis/Climate activists are making more than noise about 3D seismic studies being used to delineate oil and gas reserves offshore Africa. They’ve proceeded with legal action that may force Shell Plc to pull the plug permanently on its search for hydrocarbons along South Africa’s Wild Coast, the country’s poorest province. Seismic surveys use sound waves to help oil and gas companies build an image of hydrocarbon deposits buried deep underground. They are considered a fast and efficient way to map out new reserves, which is essential given that the world’s oil and gas supplies are dwindling even as energy demand is soaring, and renewables aren’t ready to do the heavy lifting of keeping the lights on around the globe. At issue is Shell’s plan to do a targeted seismic survey of a sub-seabed area in an exploration block the company acquired in 2014. Included in the acquisition were the former owner’s permits to proceed with exploration activities, permits that were renewed in 2017 and 2021. According to the new African Energy Chamber (AEC) report, “The State of South African Energy,” in 2022 anti-fossil fuel campaigners, including Greenpeace, brought a case against the government’s granting of exploration rights to Shell, including permission to perform seismic studies. The group argued that seismic surveys — or “blasting,” as they characterize it — endanger the Wild Coast’s marine environment. As evidence, they cited the beaching of a beaked whale and dead fish washing up ashore during the month-long seismic study Shell conducted before legal action shut it down. The group’s lawyers contended that Shell’s exploration activities “amounted to unjust administrative action” because the original approval process has since been updated and stronger environmental protections are now in place. In December 2022, the High Court in Makhanda ruled it illegal for Shell to continue its surveys. The energy giant is awaiting the outcome of its appeal. South Africa is a nation that needs much more domestic energy to end the crisis of rolling blackouts — never mind expanding economically and reduce its reliance on energy imports — but if the ruling stands it could have a chilling effect on vital oil and gas development there. (And it’s not the only obstacle. See the report for a discussion of the challenges around exploration and production.) In the absence of an established renewables infrastructure, this decision is likely to plunge even more citizens into darkness. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, fossil fuels are what South Africa has to depend on to meet its growing energy needs. Why limit the chance to become energy secure when the solution lies just off the nation’s shores? The truth. But even if South Africa weren’t facing an energy shortage, even if it had enough reliable electricity to keep homes, businesses, and other institutions humming, what’s also concerning about the decision is that it pits science against conjecture. It’s time to tell the truth about seismic surveys. The people who filed suit fear that energy exploration could “disrupt sea mammals’ habitat and damage the ecologically diverse and sensitive environment of the Wild Coast.” Scientists say they are concerned that the noise from the surveys will upset migratory patterns, stress the animals, and interfere with their ability to communicate with others and find food. They suggest that various marine species, including dolphins and sharks, “could be negatively affected by seismic surveys through behavioral changes to get away from the noise.” Reread those statements. People, and even scientists, say they “fear” or “are concerned” about the possible effects of seismic studies. They’re worried about what could happen but haven’t conducted any research to prove their points. Energy companies, including Shell, have the same fears and concerns — no one wants to disturb whale pods or think their actions have starved dolphins to death — and have responded proactively. All told, they have poured millions of dollars into understanding how seismic surveys affect both the physical health and behavioral patterns of sea life. For one thing, the global oil and gas industry has developed procedures for managing the impact of seismic activities — Shell timed its studies around whale migration patterns, deliberately mitigating the risk of disruption. Seismic vessels use soft-start or ramping-up procedures as a matter of course. This involves activating small sections of the sound arrays over time, giving the marine animal a chance to swim away before the acoustic source moves to full strength. In addition, research into how sound generated by exploration and production affects the marine environment is ongoing. For example, since it was established in 2006, the E&P Sound & Marine Life Joint Industry Program (JIP), has spent more than $31 million on research programs aimed at “providing better science, helping governments make regulatory decisions and industry develop effective mitigation strategies.” That includes understanding how sound travels in the ocean as well as the physical and behavioral effects of sound exposure over the course of a marine mammal’s life. Monitoring and mitigation are also JIP priorities. The Marine Mammal Observer Association (MMOA) says that when passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is used alongside visual observation it greatly improves the possibility of marine mammal species being detected, especially during low visibility and nighttime conditions. And, as in so many things in life, early detection improves outcomes. JIP has developed PAMGuard, a software system for detecting the presence of marine mammals near seismic operations. The system, in use worldwide, allows operators to shut down seismic activity if the software or an observer indicates a marine animal has entered what is known as the exclusion zone once seismic operations have begun. A bubble, not a bang. When green groups talk about seismic activity in the oceans, they use words like “explosions” and “gun blasts” — language intended to generate a visceral, negative response. But energy companies aren’t throwing bombs into the ocean when they do a seismic study, hoping for some unpredictable ripple effect that will point them in the direction of oil or gas. Seismic technology is highly refined, well understood, and has been proven over nearly 50 years to be a safe practice. The compressed air sources used today do not produce ultrasonic shock waves. The fact is, modern seismic technology is more like the ultrasounds used for imaging the human body than it is to anything more percussive. The impulses produced during a seismic study by an array of compressed air sources are nothing like an explosion. Instead, they are more accurately described as a “collapsing air bubble that emits a low-frequency sound that travels through the earth’s crust,” meaning they are comparable to many naturally occurring ocean sound sources. Most of all, the sounds are temporary, transitory, and they generally occur at frequencies below the hearing range of many marine species. It’s important to note that no one conducts a seismic survey without performing environmental impact studies first; these are often done in addition to host countries’ requirements to identify marine species and other environmental sensitivities. Incidentally, the oil and gas industry isn’t the only one to conduct seismic surveys. Even the renewables sector uses them to select sites for offshore wind, tidal, and wave energy installations, although those studies have not been meant with any resistance. Seismic studies are also used for harbor and ship channel engineering, tsunami preparedness, siting of buried cables, and even to support economic zone claims. The fact that the effort to shut down Shell’s plans is because they involve fossil fuels has never been more transparent. Continuous improvement. So, the million-dollar question is this: Do seismic studies cause the kind of harm activists say (or perhaps even hope) they do? The answer is a resounding no. None of the considerable research into the impact of seismic surveys on marine life, including fish and marine mammals, has indicated any direct physical injury or biologically significant negative impacts, although they have found temporary behavioral changes as far as a few kilometers out. That’s after more than 300 seismic studies have been completed around the world. During the legal proceedings involving Shell, the company said that during the last decade there had been 35 seismic surveys conducted offshore South Africa, each one of them lasting about three months. Energy companies aren’t resting on their laurels, however. The industry is actively working to further minimize any possibility that their search for oil and gas can harm ocean life. As former Navy research scientist and compliance officer Robert Gisiner, now the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC) director of marine environmental science and biology, points out, oil and gas exploration and production companies are looking at what he called “novel sources” to replace current compressed air technology. And advances in computer technology have improved the already outstanding safety record of seismic surveys. Gisiner wrote in Acoustics Today, those improvements have encouraged “the collection of larger 3-D data sets that cover more area with less acoustic output.” As the AEC has said before, South Africa needs energy. That’s the bottom line. Africa deserves the opportunity to capitalize on its own oil and gas resources, and we must be able to exploit these resources in order to benefit from our continent’s full potential. The arguments from the climate activists who put Shell’s seismic plans on pause may be full of sound and fury, but science suggests they signify nothing.
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Post by Blitz on Mar 27, 2023 7:05:26 GMT -5
US crude oil production will hit record high of 13.3 million b/d in Q1, 2024 – WoodMac By OilNOW - March 22, 2023 oilnow.gy/featured/us-crude-oil-production-will-hit-record-high-of-13-3-million-b-d-in-q1-2024-woodmac/Wood Mackenzie forecasts United States crude oil production will reach a new record high of 13.3 million barrels per day (b/d) by the first quarter of 2024. This represents an upward climb since Joe Biden assumed the presidency. In a recent analysis, WoodMac’s Americas Vice-Chair, Ed Crooks, reminded that when Biden took office in the first quarter of 2021, oil production averaged 10.8 million b/d, moving up to average 12.4 million b/d in the first quarter of 2023. Crooks said while there was speculation that Biden’s inauguration meant the country’s oil and gas production would take a hit, as he promised a shift away from fossil fuels, that has not materialised so far. While the growth was not due to actions taken by the administration, Crooks reminded that the Department of the Interior took a decision to approve a development plan for ConocoPhillips’ Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. This project will add 180,000 b/d to US crude oil production. Seemingly in response to critics of the project, the Department explained that it substantially reduced the scope of the project. But according to Wood Mackenzie, while the number of pads and wells at Willow has been reduced, the wells will be longer and bigger. So, production and reserves are not really affected, even though the above ground impact is reduced. In late 2022, the White House said that it would encourage firms to invest in production to improve US energy security and bring down energy prices. WoodMac said that even before the administration declared its support for oil production, the number of approvals for permits to drill on federal lands in the lower 48 states were rising sharply as far back as June 2021. WoodMac said it did not look like the behaviour of an administration determined to use every tool at its disposal to choke off US oil output. Wood Mackenzie said environmental campaigners are leveling a charge of hypocrisy at the feet of President Biden, who has set goals to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2030, and to net zero by 2050. But beyond that, developing countries like Guyana and Suriname, now looking to tap their hydrocarbon resources, may also see hypocrisy in the US government’s approval of the Willow project. When the approval was announced, energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg, Javier Blas Tweeted: “Now, go and tell developing countries that they should not develop their own fossil fuel resources.” But since the war in Ukraine, there seems to be a general understanding that circumstances have changed. The developing world and developed countries like the US appear to now understand the pressing need to reduce pressure on consumers by prioritising energy security. Guyana’s President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and the Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, have repeatedly criticised calls by the Global North for developing countries to leave their oil in the ground, aven as the developed world ramps up production to meet their own energy needs. Guyana has touted a balancing act of rapid oil development while still remaining carbon neutral due to its tremendous forest endowment. The country reports as a carbon sink, and according to Vice President Jagdeo, it intends to stay at that level. Guyana has said that it has a right to develop its petroleum resources and that it intends to be one of the last producers of oil as the world transitions to net zero.
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Post by Blitz on Apr 6, 2023 6:50:32 GMT -5
China’s Coal Boom Is Undermining Global Phase-Out Efforts By Irina Slav - Apr 06, 2023, 3:20 AM CDT oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Chinas-Coal-Boom-Is-Undermining-Global-Phase-Out-Efforts.html- New coal capacity under development in China increased by 38% in 2022, with 366 GW of new coal generation capacity planned. - While China’s planned coal capacity climbed, the rest of the world saw its coal capacity decrease by 20% to 172 GW. - While China is bringing on significantly more coal capacity than any other country, there are increases across other countries such as India, Turkey, and Indonesia. China is building or planning to build some 366 GW in new coal generation capacity, accounting for some 68% of global planned new coal capacity as of 2022. This is according to a new report by climate think tank Global Energy Monitor, which also found that China accounted for more than half of the new global coal generation capacity that came online last year. Outside China, coal generation capacity is shrinking, with 2.2 GW getting retired in Europe last year and 13.5 GW of capacity retired in the United States—the highest rate of coal power plant retirement globally. Total new coal power plant additions last year amounted to 45.5 GW but with closures, the net additions came in at 19.5 GW. Source: Global Energy Monitor "The more new projects come online, the steeper the cuts and commitments need to be in the future. At this rate, the transition away from existing and new coal isn’t happening fast enough to avoid climate chaos," said the lead author of the report, Flora Champenois. Chances are that the transition will continue not to happen fast enough because China and other countries, most notably India, Turkey, and Indonesia, plan to bring significant new coal capacity online. According to Global Energy Monitor, this will throw the transition off course because “the global pace of retirements needs to move four and half times faster in order to put the world on track to phasing out coal power by 2040, as required to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement.” Keeping the transition on track, in accordance with Paris Agreement decarbonization targets, all existing coal power generation capacity in the developed world would need to be retired by 2030 and all other coal capacity in the rest of the world would need to go by 2040. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com /////////////////////// Ole Joe's handler's response to an unrealistic timeline to make unreliable energy reliable... BIDEN OFFERS $450M FOR CLEAN ENERGY PROJECTS AT COAL MINES - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2023 - 1 DAY AGO NO COMMENTS 666 VIEWS macaudailytimes.com.mo/biden-offers-450m-for-clean-energy-projects-at-coal-mines.htmlPresident Joe Biden speaks about climate change and clean energy at Brayton Power Station, July 20, 2022, in Somerset, Mass. President Joe Biden’s administration is making $450 million available for solar farms and other clean energy projects across the country at the site of current or former coal mines, part of his ongoing efforts to combat climate change. As many as five projects nationwide will be funded through the 2021 infrastructure law, with at least two projects set aside for solar farms, the White House said Tuesday. The White House also said it will allow developers of clean energy projects to take advantage of billions of dollars in new bonuses being offered in addition to investment and production tax credits available through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The bonuses will “incentivize more clean energy investment in energy communities, particularly coal communities,’’ that have been hurt by a decade-plus decline in U.S. coal production, the White House said. The actions are among steps the Biden administration is taking as the Democratic president moves to convert the U.S. economy to renewable energy such as wind and solar power, while turning away from coal and other fossil fuels that produce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The projects are modeled on a site Biden visited last summer, where a former coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts is shifting to offshore wind power. Biden highlighted the former Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts, calling it the embodiment of the transition to clean energy that he is seeking but has struggled to realize in the first two years of his presidency. “It’s very clear that … the workers who powered the last century of industry and innovation can power the next one,’’ said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, whose agency will oversee the new grant program. Former mining areas in Appalachia and other parts of the country have long had the infrastructure, workforce, expertise and “can-do attitude” to produce energy, Granholm told reporters on Monday. “And now, thanks to President Biden’s investments in America, we have the resources that can help them bring this new energy economy to life.’’ Up to five clean energy projects will be funded at current and former mines, Granholm said. The demonstration projects are expected to be examples for future development, “providing knowledge and experience that catalyze the next generation of clean energy on mine land projects,’’ the Energy Department said. Applications are due by the end of August, with grant decisions expected by early next year. In a related development, the Energy Department said it is awarding $16 million from the infrastructure law to West Virginia University and the University of North Dakota to study ways to extract critical minerals such as lithium, copper and nickel from coal mine waste streams. Rare earth elements and other minerals are key parts of batteries for electric vehicles, cellphones and other technology. Biden has made boosting domestic mining a priority as the U.S. seeks to decrease its reliance on China, which has long dominated the battery supply chain. One of the two universities that will receive funding is in the home state of one of Biden’s loudest critics, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a fellow Democrat who has decried what he calls Biden’s anti-coal agenda. Manchin complained on Friday about new Treasury Department guidelines for EV tax credits that he said ignore the intent of last year’s climate and health care law. The new rules are aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on China and other countries for EV battery supply chains, but Manchin said they don’t move fast enough to “bring manufacturing back to America and ensure we have reliable and secure supply chains.” Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, also slammed Biden last year after the president vowed to shutter coal-fired power plants and rely more heavily on wind and solar energy. The powerful coal state lawmaker called Biden’s comments last November “divorced from reality,” adding that they “ignore the severe economic pain” caused by higher energy prices as a result of declining domestic production of coal and other fossil fuels. The White House said Biden’s words in a Nov. 4 speech in California had been “twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended” and that the president regretted any offense caused. “No one is building new coal plants because they can’t rely on it, even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of their existence of the plant. So it’s going to become a wind generation,” Biden said in the speech in Carlsbad, California. “We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar.’’ Biden has set a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and achieve a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said Monday that Biden believes U.S. leaders “need to be bold” in combating climate change “and that includes helping revitalize the economies of coal, oil and gas and power-plant communities.’’ MATTHEW DALY, WASHINGTON, MDT/AP
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Post by Blitz on Apr 7, 2023 19:26:00 GMT -5
Reliable energy is what's needed, not ESG fairy tales and made up deadlines to integrate unreliable energy into the grids. And now this... Texas Senate Votes To Add More Natural Gas Capacity To Fix Grid Issues By Charles Kennedy - Apr 07, 2023, 8:30 AM CDT oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Texas-Senate-Votes-To-Add-More-Natural-Gas-Capacity-To-Fix-Grid-Issues.htmlThe Texas Senate voted this week to add more natural gas-fired capacity to the state grid to add more reliable power to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and make it ready to meet demand in any circumstances. Since Winter Storm Uri crippled the Texas grid in February 2021, leaving millions of Texans without power for days in freezing temperatures, the legislature in the Lone Star State has been working to ensure that such an event will not happen again. While the Texas power grid managed to avoid catastrophic failures during Winter Storm Elliott just before Christmas in 2022, ERCOT had underestimated power demand. “ERCOT is keeping up with demand, but it looks like ERCOT way underestimated how much power Texans would use in the freeze. They were off by about 10,000 megawatts tonight - enough electricity to power 2 million homes,” Houston Chronicle’s Shelby Webb said on December 23. Now the passing of Senate Bill 6, part of the grid reform package, establishes the so-called Texas Energy Insurance Program, outside of the competitive market, to operate 10,000 megawatts (MW) of natural gas or similar sources to ensure sufficient power is available at all times. Senate Bill 6 also creates a low-interest loan program to maintain older dispatchable generation plants, similar to the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) for water infrastructure, according to a statement from the office of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. “This is not a tax on ratepayers. This is a smart usage of our multi-billion dollar budget surplus that will save ratepayers money over time by reducing interest rates from 6-7% to 0% for the financing of new generation plants,” the statement says. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick noted, “Since Winter Storm Uri, I have been abundantly clear that we must bring new dispatchable generation (primarily new natural gas plants) online as soon as possible to make sure that Texans have reliable power under any circumstance. The Senate’s grid reform package levels the playing field between dispatchable and renewable energy sources by elevating dispatchable energy sources to put ratepayers first.” By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Apr 21, 2023 7:22:02 GMT -5
This sure pokes the ESG crowd right between the eyes as it illustrates the world cannot support their vision and time table for turning unreliable energy into reliable energy to power the grid. It also points out that oil, gas, and coal are going to be around a lot longer than the Left's predictions. That said, I am all for a transition to greener energy but only as it becomes reliable. And now this... Coal Use Set To Rise With Growing EV Demand By Michael Kern - Apr 20, 2023, 9:30 AM CDT oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Chinas-Coal-Use-Set-To-Rise-With-Growing-EV-Demand.htmlConcerns about power shortages could force China to rely more on coal to keep grids stable amid the growing demand for electricity, including from the rising electric vehicles (EV) fleet, analysts at ANZ Group say. The rise in EV sales in the world’s largest EV market, China, is set to increase pressure on the grids, which have struggled recently amid low hydropower output and rising power demand from industry and households. In these circumstances, the “only real option in the short term” for China to boost its electricity grid stability is to increase coal-fired power production, ANZ Group analysts Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari said in a report on Thursday, as carried by Bloomberg. “Power shortages are likely to reemerge as the acceleration in the energy transition continues to put pressure on electricity networks,” the analysts added. As China’s electricity demand is set to increase, some areas of the country could face renewed power shortages at peak demand times this summer, Chinese officials said last week. The maximum power load could hit 1,360 gigawatts (GW) in the summer, which could lead to shortages in some regions, Liang Changxin, a spokesman for the National Energy Administration (NEA), said at a news conference today, as carried by Bloomberg. The expected maximum power load would be higher than the 1,290 GW seen last year. In 2022, a heatwave depleted hydropower reservoirs, and power cuts were enacted in some parts of southwestern China. Back then, the outages led to factory shutdowns and declines in manufacturing production in August, which further weighed on the weak economic growth in China last year. Throughout August last year, China had to extend orders for industries to shut down production as heatwaves and extreme drought in its southwestern regions boosted electricity demand while reducing hydropower production in the largest hydropower-generating province. By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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