The Week That Was: 2022-02-26 (February 26, 2022)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven. The same key opens the gates of hell. And so it is with science.”— Richard P. Feynman.
Number of the Week: 595,000 BPD (barrels per day)
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: As the Russian troops and equipment maneuvered to invade Ukraine, the Biden White House countered with a “Climate Science Roundtable on Countering ‘Delayism’ and Communicating the Urgency of Climate Action” discussed below. The Biden Administration’s obsession with climate was verified by former US Secretary of State and current special climate envoy John Kerry who:
“warned in an interview this week about ‘massive emissions consequences’ from a Russian war against Ukraine, which he also said would be a distraction from work on climate change. Nevertheless, he added, ‘I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.’”
No doubt the Biden Administration has Putin quivering in fear of the consequences of his actions. An issue remains: Will the first invasion of a central European country since World War II delay the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) planned propaganda campaign on the supposed dangers of carbon dioxide global warming? The photos of Russian tanks invading Ukraine are a stark reminder that physical sciences depend on physical evidence, not imagined “evidence” resulting from climate models.
Ron Clutz posted the video and text of an interview by Climate Realism (Germany) of John Christy on data-based climate science. And based on physical evidence, Roger Pielke Jr. has an essay on trends in disaster risk. David Whitehouse warns us that trends in hurricane frequencies may be longer than the current warming period. All countering the false claims of the climate establishment which has abandoned the need for correcting of errors in science for it to advance.
Jennifer Marohasy has an interesting essay explaining why many alarming climate studies cannot be replicated. Articles by members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are providing interesting counters to the nonsense being published by Western Academies. A recent one uses the IPCC’s high claims of the extent of warming to explore whether temperature increase alone, without the benefits of added carbon dioxide, would cause plant life to die.
Last week’s TWTW did not fully explain the concept behind its use of the Number of the Week and several readers commented on it. The reasoning will be explained below.
Over the course of this week, SEPP will be posting on its web site essays by Howard Hayden on Basic Climate Physics. Caution, basic physics means all-inclusive physics, not necessarily simple physics, and certainly not “made-up physics.” So, the essays may not be suitable for John Kerry, Al Gore, and other political “leaders” in climate science.
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White House Propaganda: According to a White House press release:
“The head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Deputy Assistant to the President Dr. Alondra Nelson applauded the roundtable participants for providing knowledge which will help to inform and accelerate federal climate action, and cited their work as an example of the value of combining social science with physical science:”
“‘This is deeply important to us, because, as you know, the Biden-Harris Administration’s agenda on climate change is historic. We rejoined the Paris Agreement on Day One, and we’ve been back at the table internationally — leading the world to increase our collective ambition, action, and innovation over the next decade. We’ve also set bold goals for the United States: to cut U.S. emissions in half by the end of the decade, to reach 100% clean electricity by 2035, and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. And we are making unprecedented investments in clean energy and climate resilience, the largest in U.S. history, to build a better America.
Now, given the realities of climate change and global warming — including the rigor and ‘soundness of the science, and the increasing evidence of its impacts — one could be tempted to ask, ‘what’s taken so long?’ That brings us to another reality, which this group knows better than most: that there have been for decades, and still are, forces arrayed against the cause of climate action — running the gamut from self-interest and short-term thinking, to deliberate disinformation campaigns that are as insidious as they are invidious.’” [Boldface added.]
Those leading the attack on scientists and others who insist that physical science is built on actual physical evidence, not speculation in mathematical models, included White House OSTP Deputy Director for Climate and Environment Dr. Jane Lubchenco who led the roundtable. Formerly Administrator of NOAA under the Obama Administration, Lubchenco so lowered the standards of that agency that it continues to base projections of sea level rise on climate models rather than actual physical measurements.
“In closing remarks, White House Senior Advisor Neera Tanden said, ‘It’s clear that a variety of special interests have had a vested interest in sowing doubt on climate change and feeding denialism and delay. We need to confront that reality. However, despite this organized campaign, a strong majority of the country wants climate action because they understand the consequences of inaction.’”
The five speakers were:
Tony Leiserowitz, Founder and Director of the Yale Program on Climate Communication, Senior Research Scientist at the Yale School of the Environment, started the conversation by sharing data about public perceptions of climate change, how they have changed, and why.”
“Andrea Dutton, Professor of Geoscience from the University of Wisconsin, summarized evidence for some of the risks of delay in light of the predictable impacts of climate change over the next three to five decades, including some less predictable impacts and potential tipping points.”
“Gernot Wagner, New York University Associated Clinical Professor and Clinical Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Public Service steered the discussion into the very real economic costs associated with delaying climate action.
“‘From an economic standpoint, it is precisely the risks and uncertainties that increase the urgency for action. What we know for sure is bad, what we don’t is potentially much worse.’
“Dan Abbasi, former government and civil society climate communicator, now with Douglass Winthrop Advisors, shared his experiences on effective ways to counter arguments for delay and lessons learned.
“‘We’re committed to 1 foot of sea level rise by 2050, but we can still stay at the low end of 2 to 7 feet by 2100 if we act. So, we need to make that fork in the road more visible and remind Americans of the can-do spirit they have always brought to challenges like this and need to again – from business innovators to citizens holding their elected officials more accountable.’
“Marshall Shepherd, University of Georgia Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences and past President of American Meteorological Society focused on overcoming arguments for delay through communication with different audiences.
“‘Doom and gloom solutions do not do well. Most Americans don’t see scientists like us every day – they see the scientists on their TV, their meteorologists, talking about kitchen table issues. We have to remember that good messengers come from inside a community.’”
After such an array of people who use rhetoric as if it were physical evidence is there any wonder why John Kerry considers the Russian invasion of the Ukraine is a greater threat to an international climate agreement that it is to the civil liberties of the Ukrainian people?
See links under Defending the Orthodoxy.
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Propaganda in Action: The above quote about John Kerry comes from an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, “John Kerry’s Ukraine Emissions, He frets that Russian Brutality will distract from climate change.” After the introduction, the editorial states:
“What’s overheated here is Mr. Kerry’s brain. His comments came before Vladimir Putin began Thursday’s massive assault on Ukraine. But the BBC says the interview was taped this week, and the alarms about Mr. Putin’s impending attack have been ringing loudly. Mr. Kerry was running Foggy Bottom in 2014 when Mr. Putin invaded Crimea. How has he failed to internalize that Mr. Putin is a bad actor motivated by power and Russian revanchism?
“Mr. Kerry told the BBC that he hopes Mr. Putin realizes Northern Russia is thawing, ‘and his infrastructure is at risk, and the people of Russia are at risk.’ We’ll wait until you stop laughing. Mr. Putin deserves to be made a pariah. Western leaders like Mr. Kerry shouldn’t be wondering whether a polite tea in Moscow might induce him to slightly lower next year’s oil production when he can enrich the Kremlin by selling it for $100 a barrel.
“Mr. Kerry’s defenders—assuming they exist—might say he’s merely fulfilling his role as President Biden’s climate envoy. And Mr. Kerry did express to the BBC his concerns about ‘the people of Ukraine,’ as well as the principle of using force to alter boundaries.
“But Mr. Kerry’s comments aren’t a gaffe. They reveal the Biden Administration’s obsession with climate, and with punishing fossil-fuel production, which has made the U.S. and Europe vulnerable to Mr. Putin’s energy blackmail. The climate lobby has made Mr. Putin more powerful. Every time Mr. Kerry visits Moscow, the boys in the Kremlin must think it’s Christmas.”
It is difficult to find words to describe an administration so out of touch with physical reality. Perhaps Kerry no more accepts images from satellites of Russian troop movements than he accepts images from satellites of the greening of the earth from carbon dioxide and measurements showing that atmospheric warming is not dangerous?
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Physical Science in Action: In a timely post, Ron Clutz gives the text and video of an interview of John Christy by the Climate Realism group in Germany. The physical evidence presented by the head of the Earth System Science Center of the University of Alabama in Huntsville is based on comprehensive measurements of temperature trends by satellites. It is systematically ignored by scientists supporting the IPCC and participating in the Biden Administration’s display of ignorance. Perhaps scientists claiming to understand climate change who ignore atmospheric measurements should be called half-scientists.
John Christy gives a bit of history by stating:
Around 1988 or so there was a lot of information coming out stating that the globe was warming rapidly, and congressional hearings were held. But we knew that those data were based upon ground stations which were pretty sparse and not very well calibrated. And my colleague Roy Spencer being a satellite expert, we were able to take data from NOAA satellites that orbit the earth from pole to pole. They see the entire earth and take a deep layer of the atmosphere and get the temperature of that rather than something just right at the surface. We actually were able to measure the temperature of the entire troposphere from the surface to about 10 kilometers in altitude. That’s the bulk of the atmosphere, so if you know the temperature of that, you will know if there really is a change in what’s going on. We began that study in 1989 and published in 1990 and are still carrying on with satellites today.
In discussing radiosonde balloon data, which is to verify satellite data, Christy states:
“Oh, weather balloons can do something satellites can’t. Weather balloons take precise temperature and humidity and wind readings at very discrete levels. Satellites see big layers, and so if you want to get the fine resolution in the vertical, you do need balloons. So, we will continue to have balloon data.
“CR [interviewer]: So how does it work with balloons in practical terms? How often are they released and how big a network do you have for people who release it?
“JC: Well of course balloons are only released where people live and so that’s going to be at best a few islands out in the oceans and various places on the continents. United States and Europe and China have lots of balloon data but most of the rest of the continents do not. So, we do have kind of a sparse network of balloons and that’s a little problem. So, in comparing with satellites, we take what the satellite sees at that same point where the balloon was released. And so, we’re able to do a real direct comparison between the two.
Although initially, Christy and Spencer won awards for their pioneering work, the climate establishment ignores their work. Their work does not support a climate alarm or crisis. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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The Decline Effect: In discussing why most published studies exaggerate the effects of a possible lowering of ocean alkalinity (the ill-named ocean acidification) Jennifer Marohasy writes:
“My colleague Peter Ridd describes the situation:
“’This problem with exaggeration of threats applies to many areas of science and has a name: The Decline Effect.
“’The Decline Effect goes like this: an early report, usually attracting huge media interest, predicts some sort of catastrophe. But when follow up work is done, usually with far better experimental procedure and far greater numbers of samples, the original report turns out to be wrong.’”
The essay goes on to point out that most studies on changing ocean chemistry around the Great Barrier Reef are wrong.
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World Less Dangerous? In discussing the reduction in disaster risks, Roger Pielke Jr. brings up the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The goals of the framework are:
“a) Substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030, aiming to lower the average per 100,000 global mortality rate in the decade 2020–2030 compared to the period 2005–2015.
(b) Substantially reduce the number of affected people globally by 2030, aiming to lower the average global figure per 100,000 in the decade 2020–2030 compared to the period 2005–2015.
(c) Reduce direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030”
This seems to be a positive step by a UN entity in reducing human suffering, based on physical evidence rather than speculation.
David Whitehouse of Net Zero Watch has a provocative essay on why we should not be misled by the recent reduction in severe hurricanes hitting the US. He writes:
“Hurricanes, like other extreme events, vary on timescales longer than the recent spell of global warming. While some contemplate the implications some are waiting for the increase in hurricane frequency. Others are sure it’s already happened. The debate can be described as unsettled.”
He looks at research at Hine’s Hole, a blue hole on Cal Sal Bank in the Bahamian Archipelago and finds:
Hine’s Hole records 16 intense storms per century from 1850 to 2016, but there are three periods from 1505 to 1530, 1570 to 1620, and 1710 to 1875 with over twice as many intense storms per century.
These active periods are also found in other reconstructions from the Bahamian Archipelago and Florida Keys, where the effect seems more pronounced. Hine’s Hole provides data on weaker and more distal storms and provides unprecedented insight into changes in hurricane activity within the pre-industrial climate system. Its 170-year record shows many more hurricanes than seen in recent decades.
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Warming Making the Earth Greener? The journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences is “sponsored by the Chinese Committee for International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Meteorological Society.” It published an unusual article using the second version of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Earth System Model (CAS-ESM2): “Changes in Global Vegetation Distribution and Carbon Fluxes in Response to Global Warming: Simulated Results from IAP-DGVM in CAS-ESM2” The abstract states:
“We conducted two sets of simulations, a present-day simulation and a future simulation, which were forced by the present-day climate during 1981–2000 and the future climate during 2081–2100, respectively, as derived from RCP8.5 outputs in CMIP5. CO2 concentration is kept constant in all simulations to isolate CO2-fertilization effects.”
The research indicates that contrary to the claims of the IPCC and its followers, but using the extreme warming claimed by the IPCC (under RCP8.5) even without considering the benefits of increasing CO2 for plant life, the supposed warming will not be a dangerous situation for plant life on earth. If the research holds up, it illustrates another false claim by the IPCC and its followers, including the Biden Administration. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Additions and Corrections: In last week’s TWTW $1289/kWh v. $0.1059/kWh were used as number of the week. Readers correctly pointed out that was not a proper comparison. The first number was the capital cost of constructing battery storage at Moss Landing, California. The second was average retail price of electricity in the US. The analysis by TWTW was not complete.
If we multiply the average retail price of electricity per hour by 8760 hours in a year, we get the average retail cost of electricity to be $927.70 per year. This includes the capital costs and operating costs, and profit of those generating electricity on the grid, as well as transmission costs, distribution costs, overhead costs and profits for entities involved. To make the numbers more comparable, the average gross price for storage in Moss Landing is $16,760 / kWh. The annual cost depends on how long they last and their deterioration rate, which is unknown.
Since the major supplier of alternative electricity to the California ISO is PV Solar, the hours of the day the sun does not generate electricity are important.
Having followed solar generation as posted by California ISO, TWTW looked at generation and storage requirements for a solar system that could provide around-the-clock power. There can be days on end when sunshine is weak, and winter days are shorter than summer days. For example, in late February the system provides 80% of rated capacity power for only about 8 hours. To handle just a single day, the solar system would have to produce at least three times the average daily power, and the storage capacity would have to be over two-thirds of one day’s energy. To handle just two days (a bright day followed by one cloudy day) the solar panels would have to generate over 6 times as much power as the average consumption, and the storage system would have to hold 2-2/3 day’s energy. Moreover, the batteries have very short lives under conditions of either fast charging/discharging or being run down to near-dead status (using the full capacity).
In short, the amortized cost per kWh per year of storage calculated above needs to be multiplied by perhaps 5 to 10, depending on where the solar system exists. The vast requirements of the solar system are becoming apparent.
As to the cost of batteries coming down, right now the cost decline in EV batteries is barely keeping with inflation of 7.5%. See Article # 2 and http://www.caiso.com/todaysoutlook/pages/supply.aspx
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Number of the Week: 595,000 BPD (barrels per day). According to Robert Rapier writing in Forbes:
“As of late 2021, the U.S. was importing 8.5 million BPD of crude oil from all countries. Canada was our top supplier, sending the U.S. 4.5 million BPD. (Having secure oil supplies from close allies highlights the importance of the Keystone XL Pipeline expansion). Mexico was second, at 700,000 BPD, and then Russia at 595,000 BPD. Saudi Arabia was our 4th largest supplier at 555,000 BPD.”
Many US refineries were designed for heavy crude from Venezuela. As the policies of government of Venezuela were destroying the oil industry in Venezuela, the refineries in the US shifted to other sources. We do not need heavy crude from Russia, we can get it from Canada and the Gulf. But for different ideological reasons, the policies of the Biden Administration are intent on destroying the US oil and gas industries, benefiting Russia.
Censorship
Facebook labeled half of climate denial posts from ‘Toxic Ten’: report
By Rebecca Klar, The Hill, Feb 23, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/595385-facebook-labeled-half-of-climate-denial-posts-from-toxic-ten-report
[SEPP Comment: No link to a new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). The prior report dealt with anti-vaccine advocates.]
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/
Download with no charge:
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
Christy’s Data-Based Climate Science
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Feb 20, 2022
Climate change theories are not scientific but politically driven and impacts deadly
By Staff, ICECAP, Feb 24, 2022
Tracking Positive Progress on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
By Roger Pielke Jr. His Blog, Feb 23, 2022
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/tracking-positive-progress-on-the?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozNTA0NDk1OSwicG9zdF9pZCI6NDkyMjk4MDAsIl8iOiJFR0pWUiIsImlhdCI6MTY0NTYyNzI0OCwiZXhwIjoxNjQ1NjMwODQ4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMTE5NDU0Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.138WJ0QcRjx2gHZPmbs_YZbP9u1B1fXQHMVUFBpsBu8&utm_source=url
Graph of the Week #7
Why aren’t there more hurricanes?
Why haven’t hurricanes increased in frequency or intensity? We live in a warming world, so why haven’t they?
By David Whitehouse, Net Zero Watch, Feb 22, 2022
Bad News For Climate Alarmism: Global Warming Of 4.9°C Will Make The Earth Greener, Not Browner
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Feb 21, 2022
Link to latest study using the second version of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Earth System Model (CAS-ESM2): Changes in Global Vegetation Distribution and Carbon Fluxes in Response to Global Warming: Simulated Results from IAP-DGVM in CAS-ESM2
By Xiaofei Gao, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, Jan 12, 2022
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00376-021-1138-3
The Greatest Scientific Fraud Of All Time — Part XXX
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Feb 20, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-2-20-the-greatest-scientific-fraud-of-all-time-part-xxx
“… the fact is that any collection of government bureaucrats, given the job to ‘adjust’ temperature data, will ‘adjust’ it in the way that best enhances the prospects for growth of the staff and budget of the bureaucracy. The chances that scientific integrity and accuracy might intrude into the process are essentially nil.”
Defending the Orthodoxy
White House science office to hold first event on countering climate change denial and delay
Leading climate scientists will meet with officials in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
By Maxine Joselow, The Washington Post, Feb 24, 2022
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/02/24/white-house-science-office-hold-first-ever-event-countering-climate-change-denial-delay/
Press release: Readout of White House Climate Science Roundtable on Countering “Delayism” and Communicating the Urgency of Climate Action
By Staff, The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Feb 25, 2022
https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/02/25/readout-of-white-house-climate-science-roundtable-on-countering-delayism-and-communicating-the-urgency-of-climate-action/
“We’ve also set bold goals for the United States: to cut U.S. emissions in half by the end of the decade, to reach 100% clean electricity by 2035, and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. And we are making unprecedented investments in clean energy and climate resilience, the largest in U.S. history, to build a better America.”
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
The past and future of tornado occurrences in the United States
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
Link to paper: Increased variability of tornado occurrence in the United States.
By Harold Brooks, et al, AAAS Science, Oct 17, 2014
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1257460#:~:text=Over%20the%20same%20period%2C%20the,than%202%20days%20was%202002.
[SEPP Comment: All too typically, no adjustment for better instrumentation.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
UK green economy has failed to grow since 2014, according to official data
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 20, 2022
“Hardly the surprise of the century!!”
“What is evident though is that the shutdown of fossil fuels will probably cost a lot more jobs than are created.”
Strangely unconcerned about heat
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
“Well, it was on ‘Public Opinion Research on Extreme Temperatures and Alerting Programs in Northern Canada,’ and they discovered that many people up who live in the Arctic couldn’t wait for the heat they’d been promised. Blast.”
The Decline Effect – Part 1: Ocean Acidification
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Feb 21, 2022
Starting With Energy, Let’s Invest Heavily in Africa
By Chinelo Anohu, Real Clear Energy, Feb 21, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/02/21/starting_with_energy_lets_invest_heavily_in_africa_817863.html
Thoughts On Storm Eunice
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 19, 2022
“’ Although work by Gillett et al. (2003) has shown that man-made factors have had a detectable influence on sea-level pressure distributions (and hence atmospheric circulation patterns) over the second half of the 20th century, there continues to be little evidence that the recent increase in storminess over the UK is related to man-made climate change.’
“As we know, the latest decade has become much quieter again, compared to the 1990s. This strengthens that conclusion about the effect of climate change.”
After Paris!
Egyptians Preparing Sharm el-Sheikh for the COP27 Conference
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Feb 22, 2022
Change in US Administrations
As the US, EU shrink, Russia grows: In 2020 the US was the worlds largest oil and gas producer
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 26, 2022
Working like the devil to lower energy prices
By Kathleen Sgamma and Dan Natz, The Hill, Feb 21, 2022
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/595224-working-like-the-devil-to-lower-energy-prices
Digital Hate, Climate Denial And Delay
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Feb 25, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/02/digital-hate-climate-denial-and-delay-2/
[SEPP Comment: Video exposing false claims such as a climate crisis and the White House and government regulations can stop climate change.]
Every Tool At His Disposal
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Feb 25, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/02/every-tool-at-his-disposal/
John Kerry Calls For “Monumental Transformation” In Sustainability
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 20, 2022
“’Given the population growth rate on the planet, the level of current resource utilisation is rapacious and not at all geared to the prospect of sustainability,’ he said at the ministerial session on ‘Ambition and Action in the Critical Decade for addressing Climate Change and Realising Sustainable Development’.” [Emphasis in original.]
John Kerry Praises India For Continuing To Increase Emissions
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 20, 2022
“India’s emissions in 2020 were 2298 MT CO2, so will be at least 50% higher on current projections by 2040.”
Biden, not Putin, to blame for higher gas prices
By Liz Peek, The Hill, Feb 24, 2022
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/595706-biden-not-putin-to-blame-for-higher-gas-prices
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
A little history of the hydrocarbon processing that meets society’s demands
By Ronald Stein, CFACT, Feb 22, 2022
https://www.cfact.org/2022/02/22/a-little-history-of-the-hydrocarbon-processing-that-meets-societys-demands/
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Spain, Denmark oppose EU green label for gas, nuclear
By AFP Staff Writers. Madrid (AFP), Feb 21, 2022
https://www.oilgasdaily.com/reports/Spain_Denmark_oppose_EU_green_label_for_gas_nuclear_999.html
Spain’s Solar Energy Crisis: 62,000 People Bankrupt After Investing in Solar Panels
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Feb 21, 2022
Video “Durable Electricity?”
Seeking a Common Ground
How we have mischaracterized climate risk
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Feb 19, 2022
Plant disease outbreaks may be curbed by periodic wildfires
Researchers surveyed vegetation plots in 35-year study
By Staff, NSF, Feb 24, 2022
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_1&cntn_id=304517&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Link to paper: Disease and fire interact to influence transitions between savanna–forest ecosystems over a multi-decadal experiment
By Adam F. A. Pellegrini, et al, Ecology Letters, Mar 10, 2021
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.13719
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Germany wants to keep fuel motor cars, but get rid of petrol
By AFP Staff Writers, Le Bourget, France (AFP,) Feb 21, 2022
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Germany_wants_to_keep_fuel_motor_cars_but_get_rid_of_petrol_999.html
The “World’s Dumbest Energy Policy” Just Got Dumber…The Frightening Race To Reset By World War
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 22, 2022
Models v. Observations
Snow depth trends revealed from CMIP6 models conflict with observations
By Li Yuan, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Feb 21, 2022
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-depth-trends-revealed-cmip6-conflict.html
Link to paper: Snow Depth Trends from CMIP6 Models Conflict with Observational Evidence
By Xinyue Zhong, Journal of Climate, Feb 2, 2022
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/35/4/JCLI-D-21-0177.1.xml
Measurement Issues — Surface
Australia’s Broken Temperature Record, Part 2
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Feb 24, 2022
A broken temperature record
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
“Peculiar Things” About Gavin Schmidt’s Temperature Series And Its “Corrections”
By Frank Bosse, Die kalte Sonne, Via No Tricks Zone, Feb 19, 2022
[SEPP Comment: NASA-GISS broken temperature record.]
The sunburnt lands up north: Fort Simpson, NWT
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
Energy methane emissions higher than reported, international agency says
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Feb 23, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/595553-energy-methane-emissions-higher-than-reported-international-agency
Link to report: Methane emissions from the global energy sector rebounded by almost 5% in 2021
By Staff: IEA, Global Methane Tracker 2022
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2022/overview
[SEPP Comment: Trivial impact on temperatures.]
Changing Weather
A new assessment of extreme weather trends: tornadoes
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
Analysis Of Winter Extreme Rainfall [England]
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 22, 2022
Changing Seas
One New Coral Reef Study Wipes Out Four Climate Alarm Narratives In One Fell Swoop
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Feb 24, 2022
Link to paper: Development of coral reefs around Weizhou Island and its bearing on climate
By Long Yating, et al., Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, Feb 28, 2022
http://en.cgsjournals.com/article/doi/10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2021103101
Most Published Studies Exaggerated the Effects of Ocean Acidification – and Covid, Etc.
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Feb 20, 2022
Link to paper: Meta-analysis reveals an extreme “decline effect” in the impacts of ocean acidification on fish behavior
By Jeff C. Clements, et al. Plos Biology, Feb 3, 2022
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001511
Webinar (Tues): Is the Great Barrier Reef in danger (or is it just a marketing tool to raise funds for the Green Blob?)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 25, 2022
“Global Times: 9:30AM Central European Time, 8:30AM UK, 3:30 AM New York, 12:30 AM California, 11:30pm Anchorage (Monday) and 10:30pm Hawaii (Monday)”
Marshall Islands Growing, Not Shrinking. World Bank’s Embarrassing Error In Alarmist 2021 Report
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 20, 2022
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Half-Truths About Retreating Glaciers
By Jim Steele, A Walk on the Natural Side, Feb 21, 2022 [H/t WUWT]
https://perhapsallnatural.blogspot.com/2022/02/half-truths-about-retreating-glaciers.html
Air moisture content is the main driver of glacier mass. Changes in ITCZ is the main driver of air moisture content.
Notes from a ravaged continent
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
“So right now the problem is the lack of evidence, and it’s generally agreed that a theory for which there is no evidence is a bad theory.”
Mid-winter polar bear sea ice habitat is abundant & within range of long-term average
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Feb 23, 2022
“Ahead of International Polar Bear Day (27 February) this year, polar bear habitat is as abundant as it has been for decades. This is a tough time for polar bears, many of which will be finding it hard to find seals to eat, as newborn seals won’t be an available food resource for about a month in most areas. Thin and hungry bears are dangerous.”
Lowering Standards
BBC Ignore Lithium Battery Fire Story
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 21, 2022
“Curiously however, the BBC report on the fire fails to mention the words “battery” or “electric cars” at all!
“I wonder why?”
[SEPP Comment: If it involved an oil spill, would the BBC emphasize it?]
Eunice & Met Office Fraud
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 18, 2022
Justin Rowlatt’s [BBC] Big Lie Exposed
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 25, 2022
“According to the BBC’s Climate Editor, Justin Rowlatt:
“’The death toll is rising around the world’ because of extreme weather brought about by climate change.
“In fact the opposite is true:”
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Dire Warnings Of A Climate Collapse By 2020 Made By Media In 2007 Get Postponed Again
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 18, 2022
‘Green’ Media Misrepresents the World’s Energy Reality
By Vijay Jayaraj, Real Clear Energy, Feb 22, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/02/22/green_media_misrepresents_the_worlds_energy_reality_817884.html
‘Mutually Beneficial’: Major News Outlet Expands Climate Change Reporting Funded By Left-Wing Activist Groups
By Thomas Catenacci, Daily Caller, Feb 16, 2022
https://dailycaller.com/2022/02/16/associated-press-climate-change-reporting-progressive-groups/
Sold to the highest bidder
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
Harrabin Misleads Over Fossil Fuels
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 24, 2022
“A blatantly one-sided piece even by Harrabin [of BBC] standards:
“We currently rely on pipeline imports from Norway for two thirds of our imports, with LNG supplies making up most of the difference:”
Net Zero Costs–Latest BBC Propaganda
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 23, 2022
“The whole story is a cheap attempt to take down the arguments of the Net Zero Group of MPs.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Energy poverty in the climate crisis: What Australia and the European Union can learn from each other
By Sangeetha Chandrashekeran. et al., The Conversation, Via Phys.org, Feb 23, 2022
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-energy-poverty-climate-crisis-australia.html
[SEPP Comment: More babble about energy poverty, a real problem, and inequity in costs. Addressing inequity does not solve the physical problems of wind and solar.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Solar energy cheaper even than existing coal-fired power stations
Press Release, By University of Surrey [UK], Feb 1, 2022
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-02-solar-energy-cheaper-coal-fired-power.html
Unable to find the article in the Journal
[SEPP Comment: Solar power is cheap at midnight when there is none? It is not momentary cost that is important, it is sustained costs.]
Accepted sea otter population estimate at 1911 as inaccurate as rejected polar bear estimate for 1960s
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Feb 24, 2022
“This is not an inconsequential issue.
“How can the public be expected to assess the efficacy of polar bear conservation measures (which many pay for through their taxes) if there is no way of determining whether numbers have increased or decreased over time – yet are expected to accept without challenge the output of computer models that predict a catastrophic future?”
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Convoy Organizer Denied Bail
By Donna Laframboise, Big Picture News, Feb 22, 2022
“Tamara isn’t accused of violence – only mischief (police-speak for peaceful civil disobedience).”
But some are more equal than others
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Two different protests, two different government responses. Truckers are terrorists, environmental groups who use weapons are not.]
Meet Canada’s Trampled Lady
By Donna Laframboise, Big Picture News, Feb 24, 2022
“Police horses trampled two protesters in Ottawa five days ago. One suffered a broken collarbone. The identity and condition of the other remains unknown.”
Questioning European Green
Boris goes green and goes down the gurgler
Net Zero was a huge mistake
By Judith Sloan, Spectator, Australia, Feb 19, 2022
Consumers Pay £2.6bn To Balance Grid, Thanks To Renewables
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 21, 2022
“Bit more importantly, what will happen in a few years time, when we have no coal plants left at all, and even more renewable intermittency?”
Stop funding Putin’s war, Boris!
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Feb 2, 2022
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Accelerating the strategy to envision a plan
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 23, 2022
“For some time, we’ve been warning that vague promises of new green technology and dramatic GHG reductions were all fun and good when the deadlines seemed too far off to matter. But objects in calendar are closer than they appear, and now all this Net Zero stuff is getting ominous. So again, we’re being assured it will be easy. It will also require boldness, innovation and magic beans.”
Burnout! Climate Politics Dizzies the Left (are eco-solutions eco-worse?)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource Feb 23, 2022
Green weakness enables wars. Punish Russia by burning more Coal, Gas, Shale and Nuclear power
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 25, 2022
Funding Issues
Oops. Who wants a Bank Run? Canadian Government unfreezes some accounts, after accidentally revealing no Canadian bank is safe
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 24, 2022
What Canada Means for Crypto
By Staff, Doomberg, Feb 22, 2022
https://doomberg.substack.com/p/what-canada-means-for-crypto?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3MDk1MzEsIl8iOiJPMWE0ZiIsImlhdCI6MTY0NTUzNDYyOCwiZXhwIjoxNjQ1NTM4MjI4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMzQzMTM5Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9._lfUcpCTCYzp55SRjrFOOrXT1jnTjs7hUtbNLcM03bc
[SEPP Comment: PM Trudeau seized bank accounts of those supporting protesters, showing the Canadian banking system is not safe.]
Why banks are fighting ESG legislation
By Bette Grande, American Thinker, Feb 23, 2022
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/02/why_banks_are_fighting_esg_legislation.html?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Heartland+Weekly%3A+YouTube+CEO%3A+Gov+t+Should+Pass+Laws+Restricting+Free+Speech&utm_campaign=HW+%2802-26-22%29
Litigation Issues
Will the Supreme Court Rein in the EPA?
By Marlo Lewis, Real Clear energy, Feb 25, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/02/25/will_the_supreme_court_rein_in_the_epa_818563.html
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Supreme Court Must Curtail the EPA’s Regulatory Overreach Immediately
By Gregg Goodnight, Real Clear energy, Feb 24, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/02/24/supreme_court_must_curtail_the_epas_regulatory_overreach_immediately_818417.html
Energy Issues – Non-US
On balance, we have a winner
By Andrew Montford, Net Zero Watch, Feb 24, 2022
“The outturn result was at the upper end of this range: £2.643 billion, representing about £90 per household. That’s up nearly a billion pounds on the previous year. Pretty awful, I think you’ll agree.”
[SEPP Comment: “The Balancing Mechanism, or BM, is the main mechanism used by National Grid, the TSO in Great-Britain, and by EirGrid, the TSO in Ireland, to balance electricity supply and demand close to real time. Other countries have similar mechanisms and markets for managing the system balance after gate closure.”
If there is too much electricity available wind and solar are paid not to produce. Already subsidized companies are paid additional subsidies. https://www.kyos.com/faq/what-is-the-balancing-mechanism/#:~:text=The%20Balancing%20Mechanism%2C%20or%20BM,system%20balance%20after%20gate%20closure.]
Saudi Arabia Slams Shortsighted Campaign Against Oil
By Tsvetana Paraskova, Oil Price.com, Feb 22, 2022
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Saudi-Arabia-Slams-Shortsighted-Campaign-Against-Oil.html
“The Saudi minister also criticized the International Energy Agency (IEA) for its contradictory messages, from ‘no new investment ever again’ last year to calls last week for more investment in oil and gas amid the current energy crisis and soaring oil prices.“
World of Energy Infographics
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Feb 25, 2022
Video
Revitalise North Sea exploration and start fracking — or lose Putin’s energy war for good
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Feb 22, 2022
Households pay £1,000 more for ‘green’ energy which is not even renewable
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 19, 2022
Energy Issues – Australia
Australia’s largest coal-fired power plant to close
By Andrew Beatty, Phys.cor. Feb 17, 2022
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-australia-largest-coal-fired-power.html
Energy Issues — US
America’s Electricity Generation Capacity: 2021 Update
By Paul Zummo, et al., American Public Power Association, March 2021
America’s Electricity Affordability and Reliability Crisis
By Staff, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, No Date
http://caseforconsumers.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CASE_ENERGYBRIEF_CRISIS.pdf
Epstein on Energy: ‘Fossil Future’ on Deck
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Feb 21, 2022
Russia Is A Major Supplier Of Oil To The U.S.
By Robert Rapier, Forbes, Feb 21, 2021
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2022/02/21/russia-is-a-major-supplier-of-oil-to-the-us/?sh=758468118c35
Northeast Pipeline Blockade Delivers Trifecta of Bad Outcomes: Dependence on Fuel Oil, Higher Prices, and More Foreign Energy Imports
By Dan Byers, Real Clear Energy, Feb 18, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/02/18/northeast_pipeline_blockade_delivers_trifecta_of_bad_outcomes_dependence_on_fuel_oil_higher_prices_and_more_foreign_energy_imports_817354.html
” Earlier this month, a group of senators primarily representing Northeastern states called on Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to halt permits for new liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities based on concerns that they harm U.S. energy consumers.”
[SEPP Comment: Save the politicians from their incompetence.]
No Matter How You Heat Your Home, This Winter Is Costing A Lot More
By Ben Lieberman, CEI, Feb 23, 2022
https://cei.org/blog/no-matter-how-you-heat-your-home-this-winter-is-costing-a-lot-more/
Maine policymakers make bold push for publicly owned power
By Brooks Hays, Washington DC (UPI), Feb 21, 2021
https://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Maine_policymakers_make_bold_push_for_publicly_owned_power_999.html
“But the key to a modern, sustainable and resilient electrical grid, they argue, isn’t a regulatory tweak or leadership change — it’s a structural overhaul and consumer control.”
[SEPP Comment: Consumer control or mob control?]
Washington’s Control of Energy [and Water]
Natural gas interstate pipeline capacity additions in 2021 are lowest since 2016
By Staff, EIA, Feb 16, 2022
https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/archivenew_ngwu/2022/02_17/
US won’t deliver water to California farmers amid severe drought
By Brad Dress, The Hill, Feb 24, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/595697-us-wont-deliver-water-to-california-farmers-amid-severe-drought
Tribal nations to receive $1.7B in water rights settlements
By Chloe Folmar, The Hill, Feb 23, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/595460-tribal-nations-to-receive-17b-in-water-rights-settlements
“The bipartisan infrastructure law provides $13 billion overall to tribal communities as well as makes them eligible for further investments.”
“Water is a sacred resource, and water rights are crucial to ensuring the health, safety and empowerment of Tribal communities,” [Secretary of Interior] Haaland said in the statement.
[SEPP Comment: Water is a sacred resource? Something else the administration did not tell the public in its infrastructure bill to repair bridges, etc.?]
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Upside Down – How Global Prices Steer U.S. LNG To Different Destinations
By Lindsay Schneider, RBN Energy, Feb 15. 2022
https://rbnenergy.com/upside-down-how-global-prices-steer-us-lng-to-different-destinations
Opinion: Here’s why the world should get natural gas and oil from Canada
By Tim McMillan, Calgary Herald, Feb 17, 2022
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-heres-why-the-world-should-get-natural-gas-and-oil-from-canada
Reviving the MidCat Natural Gas Pipeline Is Critical to Answering Russian Aggression
By Sam Buchan & Ricky Gill, Real Clear Energy, Feb 22, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/02/22/reviving_the_midcat_natural_gas_pipeline_is_critical_to_answering_russian_aggression_818052.html
Return of King Coal?
Record Coal Demotes ‘Net Zero’
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Feb 22, 2022
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Restoring Nuclear Power in US
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Feb 22, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Proposing an alternative to overcoming the fear of nuclear power and high initial costs.]
Bad News Vogtle #3 and #4 Yet Again
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Feb 24, 2022
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Lies My Wind Developer Told Me
By Kevon Martis, Master Resource, Feb 25, 2022
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Making Hydrogen fuel anywhere: ONR tests prototype to power Marines in expeditionary environments
By Staff Writers, Arlington VA (SPX) Feb 17, 2022
https://www.oilgasdaily.com/reports/Making_Hydrogen_fuel_anywhere_ONR_tests_prototype_to_power_Marines_in_expeditionary_environments_999.html
“H-TaRP is designed to provide power to forces in expeditionary environments by combining water with aluminum to create hydrogen fuel.”
Swiss government plans hydropower reserves and power plants
By Staff, Swissinfo.ch, Feb 17, 2022
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-government-plans-hydropower-reserves-and-power-plants/47357234?fbclid=IwAR3JHsBQKprpIlSHAWBy_vktUv5ko9lx2-9tRKI0UziwpGkyx-w5k7nIhGc
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
China Promises Massively Cheaper Energy Storage
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Feb 24, 2022
[SEPP Comment: When it goes to net zero!]
Lithium supply race heats up
By Shunyu Yao. S&P Global, Feb 11, 2022
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/research/lithium-supply-race-heats-up
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Shocking Surprise At Munich E-Car Charging Stations: Electricity Prices To Surge 81%… “Total Madness!”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 23, 2022
Health, Energy, and Climate
Extreme heat linked to increases in mental health ER visits: study
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, Feb 23, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/595538-extreme-heat-linked-to-increases-in-mental-health-er-visits
Association Between Ambient Heat and Risk of Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Among US Adults, 2010 to 2019
By Amruta Nori-Sarma, et al. , JAMA Psychiatry. Feb 23, 2022
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2789481?guestAccessKey=689710a0-a6a0-483c-809d-0a93fb2e49ab&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=022322
“Extreme heat was defined as the 95th percentile of the county-specific warm-season temperature distribution.”
“Conclusions and Relevance In this case-crossover study of a large population of US adults with health insurance, days of extreme heat were associated with higher rates of mental health–related ED visits. This finding may be informative for clinicians providing mental health services during periods of extreme heat to prepare for increases in health service needs when times of extreme heat are anticipated.”
[SEPP Comment: Unusually high temperatures, not high temperatures themselves. The reporters get it wrong by writing: “Waves of extreme heat, which are on the rise due to climate change, are linked to an uptick in emergency room visits for mental health conditions, a new study has determined.”]
Environmental Industry
350.org Outted As White Supremacists
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Feb 23, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-2-22-350org-outted-as-white-supremacists
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
The Biden Crime Family In Ukraine
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Feb 25, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/02/the-biden-crime-family-in-ukraine/
Text and short Video of Joe Biden bragging about how he changed the pending prosecution of his son.
John Kerry’s response to Ukraine invasion: ‘I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate’
By Chris Pandolfo, The Blaze, Feb 24, 2022
https://www.theblaze.com/news/john-kerry-worries-russia-s-war-against-ukraine-will-divert-attention-from-climate-change
Shelter for traumatised apes in DR Congo’s strife-torn east
By Ricky Ombeni, Bukavu, Dr Congo (AFP), Feb 21, 2022
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Shelter_for_traumatised_apes_in_DR_Congos_strife-torn_east_999.html
ARTICLES
1. John Kerry’s Ukraine Emissions
He frets that Russian brutality will distract from climate change.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, Feb. 24, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/john-kerrys-ukraine-emissions-climate-russia-vladimir-putin-11645736997?mod=hp_trending_now_opn_pos1
TWTW Summary given in text above.
**********************
2. Why All Those EV-Battery ‘Breakthroughs’ You Hear About Aren’t Breaking Through
In the superheated market for batteries, promising lab developments often get overhyped by startups. ‘Liar, liar, battery supplier.’
By Christopher Mims, WSJ, Feb 26, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-all-those-ev-battery-breakthroughs-you-hear-about-arent-breaking-through-11645851613?mod=business_lead_pos10
TWTW Summary: The article begins:
“Type the words ‘battery’ and ‘breakthrough’ into your search engine of choice, and you’ll encounter page after page of links. They include breathless news articles and lofty pronouncements from battery startups.
And yet, according to scientists, engineers, startup founders and analysts, the use of the word ‘breakthrough” in the context of battery technology is misleading at best. Claims that the latest research finding or startup launch will bear fruit in the near future are almost always nonsense, they say.
“’You don’t have to be in the field long to hear the phrase ‘Liar, liar, battery supplier,’ says Charlotte Hamilton, chief executive and co-founder of battery startup Conamix. The company was founded in 2014 and is pursuing technology that is being funded by venture capitalists and IARPA, a research arm of the U.S. intelligence community.
“Batteries are becoming ever more critical to daily life. Their performance dictates how often people have to recharge their smartwatch or phone and are central to overcoming range-anxiety felt by drivers embracing electric cars. Power storage also is critical to the growing demand for renewable energy. All that has supercharged demand for batteries, turning the industry into one of the hottest areas for investors.
“Venture capitalists last year poured almost $18 billion globally into startups that support the transition to electric vehicles, including batteries and lithium mining, according to PitchBook. In August, for example, China-based EV battery maker Svolt netted $1.6 billion in a single funding round.
“Given what’s at stake, it’s easy to chalk up exaggerated claims about new battery breakthroughs to the tech industry’s propensity for hyperbole and grandstanding. A typical example: Researchers invent a tweak to a type of battery that has long shown promise but has never come close to commercialization. That gets spun into claims that an electric car with a 2,000-mile range is within reach.”
After giving examples that its difficult to raise capital without exaggeration, the article states:
“When we started Tesla in 2003, the batteries were just good enough, but what we had noticed was that they got better at about 7% to 8% a year, and had for a long time,” says Marc Tarpenning, a co-founder of the company. “It’s been 19 years, and we still haven’t had a step change in battery capacity—it just ticks along at 7% to 8% per year.” [Boldface added.]
“The reasons progress has been more evolutionary than revolutionary are myriad, but they boil down to the inherent complexity of high-capacity batteries. It’s easy to take them for granted, seeing how they’re in practically every gizmo we buy nowadays. But at the molecular level, what goes on inside the average lithium-ion battery is a complex cascade of chemical reactions that—and this is the really tough part—unfold one way when the cell is charged, do the reverse when it is discharged, and must repeat the process countless times.
“To recharge an iPhone is to unscramble the proverbial egg of its battery. This process is never perfect and is the primary reason the capacity of even the best batteries degrades over time.
After discussing the enormous cost of battery research, the article concludes:
“The result of these long development cycles is that, even when battery tech ‘breakthroughs’ finally make it to market, they might just amount to the next, incremental increase in the capacity of existing battery packs, which continue to get better all the time anyway, says Mr. Tarpenning: By the time they finally get those things into production, it could be, ‘Oh, it’s just another 8% improvement; look at that.’”
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