H/T Dr. Stuart Bramhall. The Most Revolutionary Act blog.
Rhoda Wilson
While the World Economic Forum fabricates its Global Risk Report, an amateur futurist comes up with his own more realistic list.
Wind turbines are not a “green renewable” energy source and electric vehicles are proving to be a disaster for those championing them. The UK House of Lords has found a novel way of explaining away the slow electric vehicle market; it’s Mr. Bean who has put people off them.
Meanwhile, in Australia, Queensland state energy companies are remotely turning off air conditioners in people’s homes because the power grid is in trouble.
Below are brief descriptions of a collection of articles from recent days. To read the full article click on the section title.
GLOBAL RISKS REPORT 2024
In its Global Risks Report 2024, the World Economic Forum claims environmental threats are on the rise in the 2024 to 2034 period.
However, amateur futurist Michael Spencer makes his own list of global risks that are more grounded in reality including China’s debt crisis and geopolitical conflicts that are likely to erupt such as Taiwan, North Korea and Iran.
SCHWAB: DAVOS IS MORE THAN JUST A MEETING
The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting took place in Davos from 15-19 January 2024. China Global Television Network’s programme ‘Leaders Talk’ sat down with Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (“WEF”), to discuss the agenda of this year’s meeting and the necessity and the importance of rebuilding trust in an increasingly “fearful and fragmented” world.
According to Schwab, WEF’s annual Davos meetings are necessary because “the big challenges in the world”- such as “the environmental threats”- can only be resolved through co-operation between business and government.
“There are over 100 governments who are represented by the head of state, or the head of government… If you look at the business community, we think that out of the 1000 top global companies, about 70% will be represented in Davos by the top person.”
[…]
EUROPE: URSULA VON DER LEYEN SCRAPS PESTICIDE REDUCTION BILL, IN GIFT TO FARMERS
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on 6 February that she will scrap a contentious upcoming bill that aimed to slash the use of chemical pesticides in agriculture.
The European Commission first pitched the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUR) regulation in 2020 as part of its Green Deal, von der Leyen’s signature policy project, that involves ambitious and legally binding plans to make the Continent climate-neutral by 2050. The Commission then formally proposed the SUR bill in June 2022, setting a target to slash pesticide use and risks by 50 per cent by 2030. But with mounting political opposition from farmers’ lobbies and centre-right politicians, and now with farmers’ protests sweeping European countries – and even outside the Parliament itself last week – the EU executive pulled the plug.
WIND TURBINES ARE NOT A SOURCE OF GREEN OR RENEWABLE ENERGY
Wind turbines have a life expectancy of about 20 years. To date, there has yet to be discovered a financially viable means of recycling those wind turbines. As a result, old wind turbines are being dumped into toxic waste dumps. Because wind turbine blades are very difficult to recycle, the waste stream created by the retired blades is a mounting problem.
Persephone
@persephvoice
NET ZERO -Wind will be cheaper and better for the planet! they said!
▪️weight 1688 tons (= 23 houses)
▪️1300 tons of concrete
▪️295 tons of steel
▪️48 tons of Iron
▪️24 tons of fibreglass
▪️neodymium
▪️praseodymium
▪️dysprosium
And after 15 yrs they end up in graveyards 🤡
According to Today’s Homeowner, wind turbines that are properly maintained and occasionally have their parts replaced will last a full 25 to 30 years. But if the operators fall behind on maintenance, the turbines may face an early death. This is especially true for wind farms in harsh environments, such as those out at sea.
Wind turbines are predominantly made of steel, fibreglass, resin or plastic, iron or cast iron, copper, and aluminium.
Steel is critical for both onshore and offshore wind turbines, making up 20% and 90% of turbine mass, respectively. Onshore wind turbines rely on concrete for their foundations, while offshore wind turbines rely on steel structures. To build one wind turbine (inland), around 225 to 285 tonnes of steel is required. A windmill made with 260 tonnes of steel requires 170 tonnes of coking coal and 300 tonnes of iron ore, all mined, transported and produced by hydrocarbons.
A two-megawatt windmill weighs 1,688 tonnes, including 1,300 tonnes of concrete, 295 tonnes of steel, 48 tonnes of iron, 24 tonnes of fibreglass, 4 tonnes of copper, 4 tonnes of neodymium, 0.65 tonnes of dysprosium and more.
AI HELPED A MINING STARTUP BACKED BY JEFF BEZOS AND BILL GATES FIND A MAJOR COPPER DEPOSIT
California-based KoBold Metals announced Monday, 5 February, that it has found an expansive copper deposit in Zambia. Backed by a group of billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, the mining startup uses artificial intelligence to discover critical minerals needed for the energy transition. The company said that the site will be “one of the world’s biggest, high-grade large copper mines.”
CHINA BUILT 96% OF ALL COAL POWER IN 2023; US AND CANADA SOLD IT TO THEM
According to data from the US-based Global Energy Monitor, China accounted for 68% of all new coal generation that came online in 2023, 81% of all newly announced planned projects and 96% of all active construction projects.
China is hardly the world’s biggest coal hypocrite; that title goes to both the US and Canada whose exports of thermal coal climbed to multiyear highs in 2023 even as their own consumption fell to the lowest in a century.
Coal is the most widely used fuel in the world, and rising thanks to Canadian and US exports to India and China.
GRID ON THE EDGE: QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT SWITCHED OFF THOUSANDS OF HOME AIR CONDITIONERS SIX TIMES IN THE LAST 8 WEEKS
Welcome to modern Australia where the grid is so fragile, poor people have to buy air conditioners that the government can remotely switch off. Such is the state of decay that Queensland no longer has enough electricity to allow the riff-raff to have air conditioning whenever they want it – only the rich can do that.
The state energy companies of Queensland offer customers up to $400 cashback when they buy an air conditioner, but in return they allow the government to reach into their homes and turn off the air conditioner when the grid is in trouble. It was only supposed to be a “few days a year” but it seems to be happening a lot lately.
It’s a way to manage the grid – think of it as 170,000 mini blackouts instead of one big one.
UK ELECTRIC VEHICLE MAKER ARRIVAL ENTERS ADMINISTRATION WITH 170 JOBS AT RISK
New York-listed British electric vehicle maker Arrival has collapsed into administration – putting 170 jobs at risk – just three years after it was valued at more than $15bn.
Arrival’s demise adds another failure to Britain’s mixed recent history in the EV market. Britishvolt, the EV battery maker collapsed into administration last year after struggling to secure investment.
On 1 February, MarketWatch noted that only a month into 2024, the year was already off to a rocky start for EV fans. “Earlier this week, French automaker Renault said it has decided to cancel the initial public offering of its electric car unit Ampere. Ford, meanwhile, has slashed production of its electric F-150 Lightning, a pickup truck.”
MR. BEAN ACTOR ROWAN ATKINSON BLAMED FOR SLOW ELECTRIC CAR SALES
Rowan Atkinson has been blamed for “damaging” the reputation of EVs and contributing to slow sales.
The Mr Bean actor was name-checked in the House of Lords on Tuesday during its environment and climate change committee meeting.
Thinktank Green Alliance gave its views on the main obstacles the government faces in its bid to phase out petrol and diesel cars before 2035 and said a comment piece by the Johnny English star published in June 2023 was damaging to the cause.
MAJOR AUTO COMPANY SHUTS DOWN FUNDING TO EV SUBSIDIARY, IMMEDIATELY SEES STOCK PRICE BOOM
Volvo stock was doing well last Thursday, but it wasn’t because of a new product launch or something that the Swedish car manufacturer was building. On the contrary – the stock was up on the news that the company was going to stop doing something.
Shares in Volvo were up 26 per cent Thursday after it announced that it would no longer fund its Polestar Automotive, an electric vehicle (“EV”) manufacturer it had previously spun off as a separate subsidiary.
TESLA IS THE WORST-PERFORMING STOCK IN THE S&P 500 THIS YEAR
The EV manufacturer’s stock is the worst performer this year in the S&P 500.
Teslas had the worst accident rate in 2023. The EVs have been recording glitches that have raised their accident risks over the years. Tesla has recalled most of its car models at one time or another, the latest one being a 5 January recall of 1.6 million cars sold in China.
However, Bloomberg’s Matt Levine says Tesla stock is performing badly because Elon Musk’s antics have helped erase more than $200 billion of shareholder value.
GM IS GOING BACK TO HYBRIDS; IT’S BEEN HERE BEFORE
Amid an industry-wide sales slowdown for EVs and struggles to get production of its own EV under control, GM went and did something surprising: the company listened. Mere days after calls from its dealerships for hybrids, GM CEO Marry Barra announced the company would be bringing back hybrids in a recent earnings call.
HERTZ’S CEO CALLED ITS ELECTRIC VEHICLE FLEET A “DISTRACTION”
Last July, Hertz boasted had the largest rental fleet of EVs in the US. It hasn’t aged well. The car renter has now told investors that profits took a $464 million swing to a $348 million loss, and CEO Stephen Scherr is blaming EVs, calling them an “operational distraction.”
What does becoming less distracted look like? The rental car company dropped a third of its EVs and indicated it might thin the fleet further.
Hertz is reportedly modifying a 2022 purchasing agreement and putting a pause on EVs claiming the company wants to stop buying electric vehicles because it can’t sell them after their rentable mileage limit is reached.
[…]
Via https://expose-news.com/2024/02/08/electric-vehicles-prove-bad-for-business/
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