Steve Bull's Blog, page 23
June 9, 2024
IEA: Clean energy investment to reach $2 trillion in 2024
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more money is being invested in solar power than in all other sources of electricity combined.
Global investment in clean energy will reach $2 trillion (€1.84 trillion) this year, twice the amount invested in fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“For every dollar going to fossil fuels today, almost two dollars are invested in clean energy,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
Clean technologies include renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear power, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency improvements and heat pumps.
Meanwhile, total energy investment is expected to exceed $3 trillion for the first time in 2024, the agency said in its annual World Energy Investment report.
In 2023, combined investment in renewable electricity and grids surpassed the amount spent on fossil fuels for the first time.
Are perovskite cells a game-changer for solar energy?
Solar investment surpasses other forms of energyAccording to the report, more money is going into solar photovoltaic (PV) panels than all other electricity generation technologies combined.
Solar panel costs have decreased by 30% over the past two years and in 2024 “investment in solar PV is set to grow to $500 billion as falling module prices spur new investments.”
China is set to account for the largest share of clean energy investment in 2024 with an estimated $675 billion, while Europe is set to account for $370 billion and the United States $315 billion.
Lack of investment in some regions
By comparison, global upstream oil and gas investment is expected to increase by 7% to $570 billion in 2024, following a similar increase in 2023.
National oil companies in the Middle East and Asia have been the main drivers of this growth, the report said.
What’s behind Pakistan’s solar energy boom?
The IEA warned that meeting medium-term global targets to reduce harmful carbon emissions would require a doubling of global investment in renewable energy by 2030.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Predicting Financial Collapse (and what to do about it)
Predicting Financial Collapse (and what to do about it)Many people ask me about how to insulate themselves from a financial collapse of some kind or another. I am not a financial advisor, and my focus has always been on collaborative resilience, whereby collectives of people might cope better. But when pressed by friends on what they could do to protect themselves a bit, what I typically recommend is to lessen one’s dependence on goods and services traded within a corporate market place, participate more in an economy of locally-produced goods, try to own some of the basic necessities like a bicycle, and if having some savings then put some of that into crypto (like Ethereum, which does not require massive amounts of energy), gold or silver (in physical possession), or other items that are likely to maintain their value and utility over time. I also recommend not postponing things like elective surgery or house repairs. Further than that, I suggest people no longer assume that their financial savings will give them spending power in the future and instead that they look to nurture other kinds of ongoing productivity with that money. In my own life, these considerations combined with my wish to promote collaborative resilience, so that I funded the launch of an organic farm and farm school in a country where I could afford to do that without debt. But financial resilience is not my field. Therefore, I asked my colleague Matthew Slater to explore this issue with me. In the following guest essay, Matthew writes as one who has been devouring financial collapse narratives since 2008 and studying the phenomenon of money, as well as building alternative means of exchange…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Scientists sound the alarm on pharmaceutical pollution crisis
Credit: Unsplash
Our increasing dependency on pharmaceuticals comes at a major environmental cost, researchers have warned.
In an article published in the journal Nature Sustainabilty, researchers warn that discharges to the environment during drug production, use, and disposal have resulted in ecosystems around the globe being polluted with mixtures of pharmaceuticals, posing a growing danger to wildlife and human health.
While emphasising that pharmaceuticals are indispensable in modern healthcare and will remain crucial in the future, the researchers highlight the need for designing and manufacturing more sustainable drugs to combat this issue at source.
“A wide variety of drugs have now been detected in environments spanning all continents on Earth,” said Assistant Professor Michael Bertram, a researcher at The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and shared first author.
“Exposure to even trace concentrations of some of these drugs can have severe impacts on the health of wildlife and human populations, and has already led to severe population crashes in vultures throughout India and Pakistan, as well as widespread sex-reversal of fish populations exposed to the human contraceptive pill.”
Pharmaceutical pollution is a complex problem that demands a multifaceted solution. So far, environmental protection efforts have mainly been focused on upgrading wastewater treatment infrastructure to remove drugs before release into waterways more effectively.
Despite being an important part of an overall solution, wastewater treatment is unable to address this issue in isolation.
In the article, 17 leading international scientists call for an increased focus on designing greener and more sustainable pharmaceuticals to tackle this issue at its source.
“Because drug design is the first step in the life-cycle of pharmaceuticals, greener drugs reduce the potential for pollution throughout the entire cycle” said Gorka Orive, a scientist and professor of pharmacy based at the University of the Basque Country.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
US Targets Journalists Who Criticize Administration’s Foreign Policy
State-ordered Purge of Truth-Tellers in Time of War. Scott Ritter Passport Seized, WaPo Smears Indy Journalists
Scott Ritter was pulled off a NY-to-Istanbul flight yesterday by US officials and his passport confiscated in a startling new development in the government’s open drive to censor and silence critics of the Administration’s foreign policies at a time when the United States is supplying billions of dollars in arms to foment wider war in Russia, accelerate the attacks on Gazans and set the stage for war with China over Taiwan.
A Marine veteran and true American patriot, Mr. Ritter is also a noted former Chief UN weapons inspector, author and journalist. He was enroute to Russia to attend an international conference in St. Petersburg.
Mr. Ritter first came to my attention when he testified at a Capitol hearing I sponsored to inquire into the Bush Administration’s plans to attack Iraq. Ritter warned in August of 2002 that a case had not been made for attacking Iraq.
Had Congress listened to Mr. Ritter, the US would have been spared the loss of thousands of our soldiers and the waste of trillions of tax dollars. Over one million Iraqis died as a result of the US attack on their country. America’s financial and moral debt will never be able to be repaid, but would not exist if we had simply looked at the evidence he presented.
Mr. Ritter’s passport was confiscated yesterday by U.S. authorities without explanation.
There are several Constitutional issues at stake here:
The taking of his passport was an illegal seizure, prohibited by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. Mr. Ritter asked for, but did not receive a receipt, for the seized passport.…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Ultimate Killer: Pollution Deadlier Than War, Terrorism, and Major Diseases
Researchers reveal that pollution is a greater health threat than that of war, terrorism, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, drugs, and alcohol combined. The study, involving global experts, examines traditional and lesser-known pollutants, advocating for better monitoring and awareness to mitigate cardiovascular impacts. Immediate action and broad public health campaigns are recommended to confront this escalating crisis. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Manmade pollutants and climate change contribute to millions of deaths from cardiovascular disease each year, warn a coalition of leading scientists.
A new series published today (June 3) in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology highlights how pollution, in all its forms, is a greater health threat than that of war, terrorism, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, drugs, and alcohol combined.
The researchers focus on global warming, air pollution, and exposure to wildfire smoke. They also highlight the lesser-known drivers of heart disease including soil, noise and light pollution, and exposure to toxic chemicals. The team includes researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Global Observatory on Planetary Health Boston College, Centre Scientifique de Monaco, University Medical Centre Mainz, and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
June 7, 2024
Our Crisis of Competence
If this is what passes for competence while we cheerlead “the Roaring 20s”, then our delusion has reached “what looks like a permanently high plateau.”
That America is mired in a crisis of competence appears to be yet another issue that can’t be addressed directly as it might upset the narrative control that all is well and everything is getting better in every way, every day.
And so we sugarcoat the incompetence, the endless delays, the sclerosis and the decline in quality and functionality as if these are all signs of rude, vibrant health rather than signs of systemic decline and decay.
Relatively straightforward infrastructure projects now face years or even a decade of delays / zero real-world progress. I can name several projects in my county where the environmental impact studies and various governmental reports have consumed six years, during which the harbor remains closed, the roads are unpaved gravel, the park is closed and the bridge is awaiting repairs.
When the public rightly complains of years of inaction and foot-dragging, local officials throw up their hands in frustration as all the necessary approvals and funding must wind their way through the impenetrable thickets of state and federal agencies, a leisurely process over which they have no control.
As for the private sector, I’ve often detailed the immense, systemic decline in the quality of everything from the ingredients in packaged food to “stainless steel”, as well as the equally immense burden of unpaid “shadow work” demanded of us all just to manage the complexity thickets generated by “progress.”
Stainless Steal (February 26, 2023)
The “Crapification” of the U.S. Economy Is Now Complete (February 9, 2022)
Digital Service Dumpster Fires and Shadow Work (February 14, 2024)
Is Anyone Else’s Life as Stupidly Complicated by Digital “Shadow Work” as Mine Is? (May 22, 2024)
If AI Is So Great, Why Is Managing the Digital Realm Eating Us Alive? (March 1, 2024)
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Russian Warships Steam For Caribbean As Ukraine Tensions Go Global
In a show of force perhaps prompted by President Biden’s authorization of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia using US weapons, a group of Russian warships is en route to the Caribbean, a senior US official has told McClatchy and the Miami Herald. White House officials alerted members of Congress to the Russian move on Wednesday.
The deployment signals Russia’s capacity to operate globally while still fully engaged its third year of war in Ukraine. “This is about Russia showing they are still capable of some level of naval power projection,” the official said. “We should expect more of this activity going forward.” In March, Ukraine claimed it had either sunk or disabled a full third of Russia’s ships in the Black Sea.
Plagued by constant breakdowns, Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, has been out of service for seven years (Norwegian Royal Air Force photo)CBS News reports that long-range Russian bombers will rendezvous with the ships for combined naval and air maneuvers. Such exercises are not without precedent: Russia conducted similar combined-arms Caribbean maneuvers in 2019, and had a streak of sending ships into the Western Hemisphere at least annually from 2013 to 2020. Following the summer exercises, Russia is expected to engage in a worldwide naval exercise this fall, sources tell CBS.
The Pentagon is tracking a “handful” of ships and support craft that are expected to reach Caribbean waters in the upcoming weeks. US analysts speculate that the flotilla will make port calls in both Cuba and Venezuela. Cuba’s likely relishes the opportunity to host the Russian warships: Last year’s docking of a US nuclear submarine at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base ruffled feathers in Havana, with the Cuban government calling it a “provocative escalation.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
False Flag On The Horizon? The Strange Case Of The Destroyed Russian Nuclear Radar
If we accept the fundamental truth that Ukraine is nothing more than a proxy battleground between Russia and the west, then you might say WWIII has already begun. The powers-that-be have been content to keep the situation contained primarily to Ukraine so far, but a recent event suggests things are about to change. There’s something very strange happening on the nuclear front between NATO and Russia and I believe it might be time to consider the possibility that a false flag threat is in the works.
In the past two weeks Ukraine has taken credit for at least two separate strikes on peculiar targets – Russian “over the horizon” radar stations using drones with an impressive flight range of at least 1200 miles. Until this point, long range attacks into Russian territory have been exceedingly rare. So, why these specifics radar stations?
The Voronezh-DM stations were positioned outside the city of Orsk and the region of Krasnodar (Armavir); far away from the front lines in Ukraine. The strikes are being hailed as the furthest Ukraine has attacked into the heart of Russia, but the corporate media has ignored the wider implications of the situation.
It is likely that the drones used were of US or European origin. NATO has (until the past couple of days) enforced tight restrictions on how their weapons can be used by Ukraine. Long range drones and cruise missiles hitting targets deep in Russia invites major blowback, including the threat of a nuclear response.
That said, it’s not so much the weapons used that concerns me, it’s the specific targets that Ukraine supposedly chose.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
June 3, 2024
Is the Loss of Insects a Desperate Cry for Help From a Planet Under Assault?
It’s already too late for millions of insect, plant, and animal species that have gone extinct; it may soon be too late for us if we don’t wake the hell up and take decisive action…
Not a single insect anywhere in sight…It’s early summer here in the Pacific Northwest and the flowers are blooming; above is a photo Louise took with her iPhone yesterday morning as we were walking along the Columbia River. The hillside is ablaze with wildflowers.
But it was also eerily silent. Look carefully: No matter how much you enlarge the photo you’ll not see a single insect. Thirty years ago this hillside was swarmed with bees, flies, and dozens of other winged bugs. Today, although pretty, walking by it felt like I was passing a graveyard.
I’ll never forget the day the trucker called into my radio show from southern Illinois. It was about seventeen years ago, and he was a long-haul driver who regularly ran a coast-to-coast route from the southeast to the Pacific Northwest a few dozen times a year.
“Used to be when I was driving through the southern part of the Midwest like I am right now,” he said, “I’d have to stop every few hours to clean the bugs off my windshield. It’s been three days since I’ve had to clean bugs off my windshield on this trip. There’s something spooky going on out here.”
The phone lines lit up. People from Maine to California, from Florida to Washington state shared their stories of the vanishing insects where they lived. Multiple long-haul truckers listening on SiriusXM had similar stories.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels
GARDI SUGDUB, Panama (AP) — On a tiny island off Panama’s Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings in preparation for a dramatic change. Generations of Gunas who have grown up on Gardi Sugdub in a life dedicated to the sea and tourism will trade that next week for the mainland’s solid ground.
They go voluntarily — sort of.
The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are the first of 63 communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades.
A Guna Indigenous woman covers her head due to light rain on Gardi Sugdub Island, part of the San Blas archipelago off Panama’s Caribbean coast, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)On a recent day, the island’s Indigenous residents rowed or sputtered off with outboard motors to fish. Children, some in uniforms and others in the colorful local textiles called “molas,” chattered as they hustled through the warren of narrow dirt streets on their way to school.
“We’re a little sad, because we’re going to leave behind the homes we’ve known all our lives, the relationship with the sea, where we fish, where we bathe and where the tourists come, but the sea is sinking the island little by little,” said Nadín Morales, 24, who prepared to move with her mother, uncle and boyfriend.
Child migration through Panama’s dangerous Darien Gap is up 40%, UN report says
Panama’s next president says he’ll try to shut down one of the world’s busiest migration routes
Western Hemisphere nations pledge to continue coordinating response to historic regional migration…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
