Energy - July 2023

Energy – July, 2023

Burning Forests for Wind and Solar? Are we really suffering under the Sun or is it just political greening?

On the Greek island of Rhodes, it is "forest fire dry" every year: "Whether it comes to a forest fire depends solely on whether any person sets fire there – intentionally or negligently." Vegetation only burns at 250 to 300 degrees. At 40 degrees, a forest does not start to burn faster than at 0 degrees. "The fact that many people have not yet understood this is devastating. Some debates make me feel like I've been transported back to the early Middle Ages."

Auf der griechischen Insel Rhodos sei es jedes Jahr «waldbrandtrocken»: «Ob es zu einem Waldbrand kommt, hängt einzig und allein davon ab, ob irgendein Mensch dort Feuer legt – absichtlich oder fahrlässig.» Vegetation brenne erst bei 250 bis 300 Grad. Bei 40 Grad beginne ein Wald nicht schneller zu brennen als bei 0 Grad. «Dass dies viele Leute noch nicht verstanden haben, ist verheerend. Bei manchen Debatten fühle ich mich ins Frühmittelalter zurückversetzt.

While all the Climate activists and the believers in the doomsday scenarios including the green parties and left leaning politicians and media’s are touting every opportunity as Forest Fires, hot days as record on a daily basis, we hear nothing about other weather conditions that actually might be as normal or out of line as ever.

The peak of information about Forest Fires might have been Greece and Spain, but we all know that tourism and real estate investments are both keys in those countries for its GDP, and as California and perhaps Canada Forest mismanagement is the real culprit, its is more deliberate burning, and some even argue that in Greece the Forest were burned to erect wind and photovoltaic infrastructure? Well if Land is tight and you want to convert to Green, the easiest way is to burn the Land you need, it is all to save the Planet?

Here two competitive reports, one that is supporting the Climate change as dramatic as possible as quasi arm of the European Union, if you take the time to read through these reports, it may not be as bad as politics wishes? Nius.de in German but the Graphs show the essence, and here from EU Science Hub.

The supposedly steadily rising average temperature is also put into perspective: According to official data from the US space agency Nasa on climate change, the average temperature in 2022 did not exceed the value of 2015.

Auch die vermeintlich stetig emporkletternde Durchschnittstemperatur wird relativiert: Laut offiziellen Daten der US-Raumfahrtbehörde Nasa zum Klimawandel hat die Durchschnittstemperatur im Jahr 2022 den Wert von 2015 nicht überstiegen.

Perhaps the whole panic mode is nothing but political fabric to justify the global Energy crisis and its conversion to Green, that especially has thrown Germany into a recession as the Energy prices have stalled investments and the German Companies rather move out, and one preferred destination is the US as it offers great incentives with Government supported plans as the Infrastructure Bill, Jobs Act and others.

If you wish it was bit cooler, see Johannesburg, but that is certainly as well attributed to Climate Change? But that is once a decade, so still important to remember that it might not be worth mentioning in a conversation.

You may ask what climate has to do with Energy, everything as it drives the Energy agenda? A German transition in desperation, as in this report there was no mention of any positives but Government subsidies and shortage, and a daily changing plan, with the latest strategy hydrogen, but at what cost of the entire transition.

Following a John Kerry visit to China, to push the urgency the West and especially the UN (the world is burning) end of time scenario, China is going its own way and is under no rush to give in the Mr. Kerry’s plea to save the World.

If you think the Solar and Wind world energy will be sufficient, have you ever thought about the storage capacity needed, or the cost of a dual (fossil or nuclear if needed) system, but if Batteries are the carriers for storage, Lithium needs a refresher that could come in the form of a solid-state Battery?

The battery of the future comes from Switzerland – and will soon be ready for use. In October, the Managing Director of Swiss Clean Battery (SCB), Thomas Lützenrath, plans to publicly present the world's first solid-state battery in series production.

A single cell measures 13 by 13 centimeters and fits into most battery-powered applications, from power storage systems for grid stabilization to industrial and home storage systems to cars, ships, and, eventually, airplanes. The technology could outshine the previous lithium-ion batteries.

Die Batterie der Zukunft kommt aus der Schweiz – und ist demnächst bereit für den Einsatz. Im Oktober will der Geschäftsführer von Swiss Clean Battery (SCB), Thomas Lützenrath, die weltweit erste Feststoffbatterie in Serienfertigung öffentlich vorstellen.

Eine einzelne Zelle misst 13 mal 13 Zentimeter und passt in die meisten batteriebetriebenen Anwendungen, von Stromspeichern zur Netzstabilisierung über Industrie- und Heimspeicher bis hin zu Autos, Schiffen und später einmal auch Flugzeugen. Die Technologie könnte die bisherigen Lithium-Ionen-Akkus in den Schatten stellen.

It has become a bit quiet on the EV front, although our administration is still pushing the nationwide charging net, but unresolved issues remain and perhaps we will in 2-3 years find out that Batteries and EV’s are not the solution? See this article from the Manhattan Institute and think for yourself.

And here from the Battery experts themselves – it is not a real rosy picture, especially looking at the natural resources available?

For the ones worried about a disintegrating world from the Power of the Sun, who buy into the narrative that the hottest Day on Earth (+0.3 deg) are a matter of life and death may have been too long in an Air-conditioned room, thus heat becomes a real issue. Wonder how the people survived 100 deg days without AC and mostly physical labor in the fields picking? But here is John Kerry of the UN, he will make sure we keep burning, his name Jim Skea.