cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/85171 > Western nations are increasingly adopting plant-based energy sources, such as soybean or canola oils, or even animal fats, in a move to reduce carbon emissions by transitioning away from fossil fuels. This shift has presented a profitable opportunity for vegetable and palm oil producers to redirect some cooking oil supplies toward the transportation sector rather than their traditional use in food production.

Oooops

Over the weekend, a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale was discovered washed ashore near Chic’s Beach which is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed to Fox News Digital on Monday. According to local news outlets, there was no immediate cause of death and the whale didn't appear to have any entanglement marks. The discovery of the beached right whale came just two days after a humpback whale was found dead along the shoreline in Cape Charles, Virginia, and five days after a dead humpback whale was found off the coast of First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/82180 > Hundreds of potential recipients are jockeying for the money. The competition pits credit unions and community development institutions against a national not-for-profit organization that says it should collect much of the haul and be a clearinghouse for the taxpayer dollars, making it the first-ever US-government-minted green bank. > > The Coalition for Green Capital, a nonprofit that supports regional green banks, argues it should be the main repository for the $20 billion, making it a nationwide clearinghouse for the funding. > > At least half of this money is sure to go to obviously absurd boondoggles. Most of the rest will be wasted in ordinary graft.

Japan’s government on Feb. 10 adopted a policy seeking to maximize the use of nuclear power in a bid to stabilize the country’s energy supply amid soaring energy costs fueled by the prolonged war in Ukraine. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has reversed the previous administration’s plan to phase out nuclear energy and pledged to boost investment in the industry and revive its status as a key exporter of safe reactors.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/82173 > The two climate activists are now being held up as an example of the hypocrisy of many such activists who come from wealthy families that can afford the type of backpacking trip typical of this social class. At the same time, many of these same individuals have blockaded airports, arguing that airplanes are responsible for a significant amount of CO2 emissions and are only available to the “wealthy” percentage of the population. > > In addition, Luisa Neubauer, the spokeswoman for “Fridays for Future,” has also been accused of hypocrisy for her travels to Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Namibia, Canada, and Morocco when she was 26. The German climate activist has been nicknamed “long-distance Luisa” on social media.

**Germany** remains heavily reliant on coal power, which from 2017 to 2021 generated 31% of the nation’s electricity. Despite the dependence on the carbon intensive fossil fuel, wind and solar energy generation together made up more of Germany’s electricity generation at 33% (23% for wind and 10% for solar). **France** is Europe’s largest economy that primarily relies on nuclear power, with nuclear power making up more than half of the country’s electricity production. **Italy**, the **UK**, and the **Netherlands** are all primarily natural gas powered when it comes to their electricity generation from 2017 to 2021. While Italy is the most reliant of the three at 42% of electricity generated by natural gas, the Netherlands (40%), and the UK (38%) aren’t too far off.

A chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen creates electricity that powers the truck’s electric motor. Nikola said its hydrogen trucks can travel about 500 miles before having to refuel with hydrogen, compared with a total of about 300 miles for some trucks with rechargeable batteries.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/82079 > An attack on Nord Stream is an attack on Germany, and thus on the entire alliance. > > But if it were an ally that attacked our critical infrastructure, the trust that is the foundation of any alliance would be destroyed. > > Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to make one thing very clear before my words are deliberately twisted: > > I cannot rule out that it was the US and Norway that blew up Nord Stream.

According to the Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war on another country. Joe Biden has usurped that authority and carried out an act of war against a NATO ally (Germany). The potential ramifications of this act include the heightened risk of the U.S. starting a shooting war with Russia.

If you have suffered from high energy prices, blame a conniving, duplicitous Joe Biden.

And the government has not even started taxing the electricity used to rum electric vehicles like they do gasoline.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/80988 > I like how we are not allowed to question scientists who extrapolate relatively minor temperature changes to predict the end of humanity and civilization, but we’re not allowed to “extrapolate” years of data to reach an obvious conclusion. Reuters is full of hot air.

Bloomberg data shows next-day NatGas deliveries via the Iroquois Gas pipeline that transports Canadian NatGas into New York jumped to $164.80 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), a 14x increase from Wednesday prices. This is the highest print for NatGas at the New York hub dating back to 2003.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/79581 > The country faces a “perfect storm of inflation, electricity cuts and corruption accusations that will continue to deteriorate South Africa’s profile and to pose risk for investments in the country

Rare earth minerals are used in numerous high-tech products, notably including “green energy” systems and electric vehicles (EV). Efforts by Western governments to forcibly transition their economies to wind turbines, solar power, and electric cars have dramatically increased the demand for these minerals and China is the dominant supplier.

When all these costs are added up, we see that solar is much more expensive than using Mississippi’s existing natural gas, coal, or nuclear power plants. Therefore, the Mississippi Public Service Commissioners should protect ratepayers from the unnecessary cost increases that will inevitably result from building more solar facilities in the Magnolia state.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/78264 > One of the key pillars keeping the dollar in place as the world reserve is its petro-status, and this factor is often held up as the reason why the Greenback cannot fail. The other argument is that the dollar is backed by the full force of the US military, and the US military is backed by the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve – In other words, the dollar is backed by…the dollar; it’s a very circular and naive position.

Millions of people were left without drinking water as electric-powered pumps failed. While some schools and hospitals were able to turn to backup generators, many were left without power entirely throughout the day. Pakistani authorities went as far as deploying additional police at markets around the country as the sun went down, for extra security in the darkness.