An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week we feature OPEC, which has agreed to raise production without specifying by exactly how much. The market, however, appears to regard this outcome as favorable and oil prices are up. We follow with the oil potential of the northern seas; surging US gas production; leaking methane; nuclear in Japan, China and Korea, coal and Trump’s trade war; Germany puts jobs before CO2; renewables in India and California; biomass in Europe; energy storage in New York; EVs in Paris; Norway’s electric plane; pumped hydro for Loch Ness; flow tests at Horse Hill; Antarctic ice; football in Nigeria and how we humans have five years to fix climate change or face extinction.
From earlier in the week:
The BP 2018 Statistical Review, electricity and CO2 emissions
“In a recent speech at the University of Chicago, James Anderson — a professor of atmospheric chemistry at Harvard University — warned that climate change is drastically pushing Earth back to the Eocene Epoch from 33 million BCE, when there was no ice on either pole. Anderson says current pollution levels have already catastrophically depleted atmospheric ozone levels, which absorb 98 percent of ultraviolet rays, to levels not seen in 12 million years. While some governments have made commitments to reduce carbon emissions Anderson warned that those measures were insufficient to stop the extinction of humanity by way of a rapidly changing climate. Instead, Anderson is calling for a Marshall Plan-style endeavor in which all of the world takes extreme measures to transition off of fossil fuels completely within the next five years.”
If he’s saying that radiation and mutation will eventually kill humans off, oh well, but the elimination of fossil fuel use in 5 years is impossible.
If he’d claimed that “uncontrolled migration will wipe out western civilization unless civilized countries seal their borders and the birth rates of savages are greatly reduced over the next five years,” he would have been much closer to the truth.
Rest assured a Marshall Plan to reduce savage populations to a sustainable level and to secure the civilized world’s borders would be sure to get popular support.
“According to the latest data, Venezuela’s crude oil production now stands at its lowest level in more than 50 years. Output in May averaged 1.36 million barrels per day (b/d), down from 1.41 million b/d in April. Monthly losses so far in 2018 have averaged more than 3.5 percent and the country is now producing more than 600 thousand barrels per day (kb/d) below its targeted level under the OPEC/Non-OPEC agreement. In fact, much of the success of the cohort in working off the overhang in global oil inventories can be attributed to the Venezuelan oil industry’s misfortune.”
https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-low-can-venezuelan-oil-production-go
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Venezuela-Forced-To-Shut-Down-Production-As-Operations-Fall-Apart.html
“Auto and coal workers need to know what jobs they will have in a new economy, Angela Merkel has told a gathering of climate ministers in Berlin. ”
That worked so well for Hillary…Hillary who… Hello Huston