Category Archives: Energy

Who Did Blow Up the Nord Stream Pipeline? By Ted Snider

Posted on March 13, 2023 | 1 comment

Regardless of whether Seymour Hersh’s account or the far less believable New York Times’ account of the Nordstream pipeline sabotage is correct, the implications for Europe, Ukraine, and the U.S. are dire. From Ted Snider at antiwar.com:

In September 2022, the Nord Stream gas pipelines exploded in one of the most spectacular political and environmental acts of terrorism in history.

In the days immediately following the attack, which cut Germany and Europe off from its gas supply and released enormous amounts of methane gas into the atmosphere, the West immediately pronounced judgement against Russia. “No one on the European side of the ocean is thinking this is anything other than Russian sabotage,” said a senior European environmental official. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm immediately said that it “seems” Russia is to blame.

But investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany, countries close to the explosion site, were slow to report and unable to arrive at conclusions. Then, on December 21, 2022, The Washington Post reported that, after months of investigation, there is nothing to suggest that Russia was responsible. The Post article interviewed “23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine countries” who said that “[t]here is no evidence at this point that Russia was behind the sabotage.” It reports that “even those with inside knowledge of the forensic details don’t conclusively tie Russia to the attack.” The Wall Street Journal reports that there is a “growing sense among investigators in the U.S. and Europe that neither Russian-government nor pro-Russian operatives were behind the sabotage.”

But if Russia didn’t do it, then one of us did.

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Weight Matters, by Eric Peters

Posted on March 12, 2023 | 1 comment

Six pounds of gas or 1000 pounds of battery will take a small car 40 miles down the road. We’re being told the latter is more efficient and therefore better for the environment. From Eric Peters at ericpetersautso.com:

The saying goes that size matters – but weight matters more. If you want to go far. This is why EVs don’t. Even the really little ones – like Chevy’s Bolt, which is even smaller than a subcompact car like the Hyundai Accent – only go about half as far as their size-equivalents. Viz, 259 miles for the 3,589 lb. Bolt vs. 487 (on the highway) for the 2,679 lb. Accent.

That’s because a gallon of gas weighs about six pounds, which means a full tank of gas (12 gallons) in the Accent weighs 72 pounds. A great deal of energy is stored in those 72 gallons of gasoline – or even just six pounds. One gallon will power a car like the Accent some 40 miles down the highway and part of the reason for that is that as you burn it, there is less of it – and so, less weight to keep moving. After a car like the Accent has used up half a tank – about six gallons – it is carrying around half the fuel weight it began the trip with.

It takes a great deal more weight – that is never shed – to power an EV the same distance. A small EV like the Bolt is weighed down by the gas tank equivalent of about 1,000 pounds of battery pack – and in fact, it’s not equivalent, because the Bolt would probably need another several hundred pounds of battery pack to be capable of powering its electric motor for nearly 500 highway miles.

But for the sake of this discussion, let’s assume an equivalence.

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India Takes A Leading Role In De-Dollarization, by Andrew Korybko

Posted on March 11, 2023 | Leave a comment

India is in an enviable position. Its population and economy are too large for either the West or the Eurasian alliance to ignore it. The country is basically free to pursue its own national interest. From Andrew Korybko at theautomaticearth.com:

Reuters reported on Wednesday that “India’s Oil Deals With Russia Dent Decades-Old Dollar Dominance”, which informed their audience that the growing trend of those two using national or third-party currencies like the UAE’s is something significant for everyone to pay attention to. To that outlet’s credit, it also reminded readers that IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath foresaw in the month after Russia’s special operation began that the West’s sanctions “could erode the dollar’s dominance”.

Lo and behold, that’s precisely what happened, with India of all countries accelerating de-dollarization through its non-dollar-denominated energy deals with Russia. About them, Russia has since become India’s largest supplier over the past year and now provides a whopping 35% of that country’s needs, which is also the world’s third-largest oil importer and fifth-largest economy. Their new energy ties, and particularly the growing de-dollarization dimension of their deals, are thus globally important.

None of what was just described is driven by any anti-American animus on India’s part since everything is purely motivated by the pursuit of that country’s objective national interests. Delhi had no choice but to gradually diversify away from dollar-denominated energy deals with Moscow due to Washington’s illegal sanctions. Its multipolar leadership wasn’t going to let the world’s most populous country slip into an economic crisis just to please the US by eschewing the import of discounted oil from Russia.

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Posted in Currencies, Energy, Geopolitics, Governments

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The Weakening Electric Grid: Less Reliable, More Fragile, by Milton Exrati

Posted on March 11, 2023 | Leave a comment

Here’s a winning strategy. Increase the load on the electric grid with electric cars while plugging the infrastructure into intermittent wind and solar power and letting its infrastructure go to pot. From Milton Exrati at The Epoch Times via zerohedge.com:

As more and more irritated customers become certain that power shortages and blackouts have become more common, the electric grid’s problems receive more attention. They should. Shortages and blackouts have in fact become much more common than they once were. The electric power grid has become increasingly fragile and considerably less reliable. This is especially troubling because, at the same time, Washington and several states plan to burden it further with electric cars and an increase in the use of electric appliances.

In part, the power problem reflects the increased reliance on inherently intermittent wind and solar sources. But this straightforward fact of life is only part of the story behind the electric grid’s problems. Matters are much more complicated.

Evidence of failure is irrefutable and has sometimes appeared with great drama. A 2021 cold snap in Texas, for example, led to widespread blackouts and the death of 250 people. California has for years regularly imposed rolling brownouts and blackouts on utility customers. Just this past Christmas season, unusually cold weather across the country prompted utilities from Massachusetts and New York across the Midwest and into the south to beg their customers to turn down their thermostats and delay their use of appliances. Millions lost power for days in North Carolina and Tennessee. Downed power lines caused some of the problems, but in many cases electric utilities simply had to cut off power to some in order to a total crash of their systems. The incidence of prolonged blackouts for all reasons has doubled since 2013.

The green lobby, predictably, blames the problem on how climate change has created more severe weather. The fossil fuel industry and its allies in Congress, equally predictably, blame the problem on the unreliability of wind and solar. No doubt there is truth on both sides, though many of these points are debatable. One point, however, is not subject to cavil—that the wind does not always blow, and the sun does not always shine. Even in the face of this reality, these problems would seem to be something engineers could find solutions and investments could implement. But there is a complication, because most of the country uses regional transmission organizations (RTOs) to buy and sell power.

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Doug Casey on the Rise of “Climate Brats” and Other Useful Idiots

Posted on March 8, 2023 | 2 comments

The useful idiots are destroying their own futures. From Doug Casey at internationalman.com:

Climate activists

International Man: Webster’s Dictionary defines a useful idiot as a “naive or credulous person who can be manipulated or exploited to advance a cause or political agenda.”

Lenin is thought to have originated the phrase when referring to communist sympathizers in the West.

What is your take on this term? Is it still applicable today?

Doug Casey: Today’s make-believe democracies are overflowing with useful idiots. They latch on to one lame-brained notion after another, perhaps to give meaning to their confused and pointless lives. They’re a bit like cats chasing the red dot from their master’s laser pointer. The Ukraine, Covid, sex perversions, Trump, racism, climate change—it’s one thing after another.

Climate change is one of the central scams being promoted by the World Economic Forum as part of their Great Reset. It seems everything that comes out of the WEF—I can’t think of any exceptions — is antithetical to the traditional values of Western Civilization, prominently including free markets and personal liberty.

We’ve discussed the COVID hysteria and what looks like World War III starting in the Ukraine. But the biggest thing, with the longest legs, is climate change. Full disclosure: I believe in climate change. The climate has been changing constantly since the world came together about four and a half billion years ago. And it’ll continue to change.

The problem, however, isn’t climate change itself but the process of indoctrinating the public, especially young people, with the belief that humanity is destroying Mother Earth.

They’re given snippets of science, like the fact that the world has been generally warming since the mid-19th century. Well, sure, it has because the planet went through what’s known as the Little Ice Age from the 16th through the 19th centuries. It has cyclically been warming for the last 150 years. As a matter of fact, the world has been warming since the end of the last Great Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago.

The “global warming” people have found a great excuse for changing not just the economy but the way literally everything works. My view is that they’re basically anti-human—they actually hate and fear people. It’s why Yuval Noah Harari, the mincing court intellectual of the WEF, often refers to them as “useless eaters.” He may be right. But what’s insane is that someone like him could gain the power to make serious decisions.

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Posted in Collapse, Economics, Economy, Education, Energy, Environment, Government, Horseshit, Politics, Propaganda, Science

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Commercial Confessions, by Eric Peters

Posted on March 7, 2023 | 1 comment

One auto company has started telling the truth about its EV’s emissions. From Eric Peters at ericpetersautos.com:

Maybe you have seen the latest Nissan commercials touting the company’s “electrified” offerings, including the $43,190-to-start Ariya – whatever that means – which is the company’s newest loss-leader now that the Leaf is on its way out.

What’s most interesting about the commercial isn’t the car – nor the pitiful attempt to impart excitement into something as fundamentally boring as a vacuum cleaner. The latter having the merit of working better than a broom and a dustpan.

But back to the interesting part.

If you look closely, you’ll see the confession – in faded font, appearing just barely: Tailpipe emissions-free, it says.

And so it is.

And that is very different from zero emissions, is it not?

Take note of the shifting – of the shifty – verbiage. Of a piece with the way a “vaccine” was redefined to mean something that reduces symptoms – like aspirin. As opposed to something that prevents you getting sick.

The question arises: Why is Nissan telling the truth about EVs? Could it be on account of lawyers telling Nissan that advertising vehicles that are not “zero emissions” is provably fraudulent? Perhaps Nissan is trying to asterisk – and fast-voice-at-the-end-of-the-commercial itself into a position of safety from being sued by a customer – by a class of them – on account of having sold them a lie?

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Whitney Webb on the Globalist Overlords Meeting in Davos, by Dr. Joseph Mercola

Posted on March 6, 2023 | Leave a comment

The World Economic Forum is pushing fascism. From Dr. Joseph Mercola at lewrockwell.com:

Curious about the inner workings of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the driving force behind The Great Reset? Set aside 30 minutes to watch investigative journalist Whitney Webb speak with MintPress News in the video above.1 Every year in January, WEF holds its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The 2023 theme was “cooperation in a fragmented world,” with WEF noting, “The world today is at a critical inflection point. The sheer number of ongoing crises calls for bold collective action.”2

Their actions, however, while carefully packaged to appear altruistic — and steeped in warm-and-fuzzy buzzwords like “green” and “sustainable” — will ultimately propel its small circle further into power while all but guaranteeing a downtrodden populace. If you so much as dip your finger beneath WEF’s surface, it becomes clear that corporatism and, more aptly, fascism, are its modus operandi.

WEF Promotes Fascist Ideology

WEF often speaks about the “transformative potential of public-private partnerships.” According to WEF:3

“The private sector needs to speak the language of social change, and the public sector needs to create economic incentives to harness the private sector’s innovation and expertise to address society’s challenges. With shared goals, targeted action and monitored impact, we can move beyond dialogue and aspiration to the co-creation of a more inclusive, prosperous and sustainable future.”

It sounds good in theory. But what, exactly, is a public-private partnership? It’s when private entities like multinational corporations join with the public sector, putting the two on equal ground. The problem is that most politicians receive money and other favors from these same multinational corporations, so many facets of the government are essentially owned by these corporations.

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The stage is set for Hybrid World War III, by Pepe Escobar

Posted on March 1, 2023 | Leave a comment

The Russians and Chinese see quite clearly that they stand in opposition to the U.S., and they are determined to build something different and what they regard as better than the American model. From Pepe Escobar at thesaker.is:

A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you’re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by selected stops and enlightening conversations, crystallizing disparate vectors one year after the start of the accelerated phase of the proxy war between US/NATO and Russia.

That’s how Moscow welcomes you: the undisputed capital of the 21st century multipolar world.

A long, walking meditation impregnates on us how President Putin’s address – rather, a civilizational speech – last week was a game-changer when it comes to the demarcation of the civilizational red lines we are all now facing. It acted like a powerful drill perforating the less than short, actually zero term memory of the Collective West. No wonder it exercised a somewhat sobering effect contrasting the non-stop Russophobia binge of the NATOstan space.

Alexey Dobrinin, Director of the Foreign Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Russia, has correctly described

Putin’s address as “a methodological basis for understanding, describing and constructing multipolarity.”

For years some of us have been showing how the emerging multipolar world is defined – but goes way beyond – high speed interconnectivity, physical and geoeconomic. Now, as we reach the next stage, it’s as if Putin and Xi Jinping, each in their own way, are conceptualizing the two key civilizational vectors of multipolarity. That’s the deeper meaning of the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership, invisible to the naked eye.

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Posted in Economics, Economy, Energy, Eurasian Axis, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Governments, History, Politics

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U.S. Electricity Generation by Source in 2022: Natural Gas, Coal, Nuclear, Wind, Hydro, Solar, Geothermal, Biomass, Petroleum, by Wolf Richter

Posted on February 28, 2023 | Leave a comment

If you’re curious about from whence all the electricity comes, here’s a good breakdown. From Wolf Richter at wolfstreet.com:

A record year for power generation, after 14 Years of Stagnation.

Electricity generation, as measured in gigawatt-hours, has gotten hammered by a near-stagnation in demand since 2007, as efforts to make everything more efficient have produced results for electricity users who’d invested in more efficient lights, appliances, electronic equipment, industrial equipment, heating and air-conditioning, etc. and in better building insulation, shading, etc. These upfront costs by electricity users produced financial returns via reduced electricity consumption. For electric utilities, it meant that they were stuck in a demand quagmire.

But then in 2022, there was finally the breakout in demand after 14 years. EV charging and crypto mining come to mind. And electricity generation rose by 3.5% from 2021, to a new record of 4,297,000 gigawatt-hours, according to EIA data released today. But 2021 had been flat with 2007, and so in 2022, the amount of electricity generated was only up by 3.5% from 2007!

The chart shows the total amount of electricity generated each year by utility-scale power plants and by small-scale solar installations, such as rooftop solar. The green line connects 2021 and 2007:

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The Great Game Reloaded: Superpowers In The Modern World, by RFE/RL staff

Posted on February 28, 2023 | Leave a comment

The new Cold War is here and its centerpiece this time may the standoff between the West and China. From the RFE/RL staff at oilprice.com:

  • Munich Security Conference reveals tensions between US and China, with China sensing an opportunity to strengthen its global status.
  • Chinese official Wang Yi accuses US of fueling war in Ukraine, while US Secretary of State Blinken accuses China of preparing to provide weapons to Russia.
  • Despite tensions, European leaders engage with China during Wang’s diplomatic tour of Europe, raising concerns over de-dollarization and digital currencies decreasing Western leverage over China, Russia, and Iran.

Top foreign policy officials from the United States and China spent most of the last weekend at the Munich Security Conference stressing that their governments were not seeking a new Cold War, but amid tense rhetoric and accusations, a chill across much of the world is already being felt.Finding Perspective: The Munich gathering is Europe’s premier foreign policy conference and has long been a mainstay for leading officials from the West and elsewhere to hobnob and take the pulse of the current world order.

This year’s diagnosis was far from optimistic. While the West showed that it is perhaps more united now than in recent years and that support for Ukraine is entrenched — a message reinforced by U.S. President Joe Biden’s unannounced visit to Kyiv — it’s hard to shake the sense that the West remains more out of step than ever with the rest of the world and that the damage done by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be undone.

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