68 thoughts to “Open Thread Non-Petroleum, Feb 25, 2022”

  1. Hi gang. I just posted my last post on The Fine-Tuned Universe.com It was not the success I had hoped for so I am giving it up for a while. I will keep it live and perhaps come back to it in a few months. In the meantime I am concentrating on writing a book about the whole thing. I explained all that in that last post. Take a look if you have time.

    Ron

    1. Perhaps people have some other topics to be worried about by now…

      1. Of course, they do. People always have things to worry about. But if people only read about the things they have to worry about, no books, newspapers, magazines or any other publican would ever be sold. All libraries in the world would close down, no one would read books anymore.

        It was never my intention to post about things that worried people. Hell, just who in the hell is worried about peak oil? But this site still has readers. And I really don’t think the reason is that they are worried about things that are posted here.

        1. All libraries in the world would close down, no one would read books anymore.

          Over half the USA “reads” at less than a 6th grade level.

          Libraries are radical democracy

    2. I applaud your work and thoughts on the The Fine-Tuned Universe.com Ron.

      I have made no comments since I don’t have the knowledge background to say anything of interest to you on it.
      That probably holds true for just about all of us.

      1. Hicks , I am in your camp . I have a lot of admiration for Ron , but this was just above my ” pay scale ” . Anyway tks Ron for teaching us on all other matters . Greatly appreciated .

        1. Ron these things take a lot of time to build momentum. People come to sites expecting tons of content already posted. A topic like this is a slow build. I’ve enjoyed reading and maybe even agree with your assessments, at least until I am won over by another argument haha! Thanks for taking the long view and the trouble and stick with it if it’s what you’re into.

  2. “Biden’s Offshore Wind Sale Brings In Record $4.3 Billion

    This week’s auction grossed more than any federal offshore oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history, according to the Interior Department.

    The Biden administration’s first offshore wind lease sale raked in an astonishing $4.37 billion in high bids — more than any offshore energy auction in U.S. history, including all oil and gas lease sales.

    The record sale, which the Interior Department announced Friday, offered up six tracts totaling more than 488,000 acres in New York Bight, the waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast

    The Biden administration called the blockbuster turnout a “major milestone” toward achieving its goal of securing 30 gigawatts, or 30,000 megawatts, of wind energy by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes for a year and cut 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.”

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/offshore-wind-lease-sale-new-york-bight_n_621933abe4b03d0c80388940

    1. Yep, and just the start of huge industry.
      “$4.37 billion in high bids — more than any offshore energy auction in U.S. history, including all oil and gas lease sales.”

    2. I presume that’s capacity of 30GW and not delivery ? So long as people are aware of the fickle nature of wind that needs backup power ( or storage in the 10-100TW range ) .

      minimum: 0.035 GW
      maximum: 14.286 GW
      average: 5.639 GW for the UK capacity of 24GW. taken from gridwatch.

      The UK has planned and passed another 33GW capacity

      The US could build more of all renewables but needs major investment in its electric grid.
      It has the advantage that nat gas backup can be powered by its own natgas sources , unlike Europe.

      Forbin

      1. When you see a project capacity of 30 GW- that refers to the nameplate capacity at full output, kind of like the horsepower output of an engine at full throttle.
        The actual output over a year will be in GWhrs.

        “The capacity factor [CF] of a wind turbine is its average power output divided by its maximum power capability. On land, capacity factors range from 0.26 to 0.52. The average 2019 capacity factor for projects built between 2014 and 2018 was 41%. In the U.S., the fleetwide average capacity factor was 35%.”

        For the big offshore turbines placed in windy areas capacity factors of 35-40% are now to be expected.
        A rough conservative estimate you can use 33%, although this is low for new big projects, especially windy offshore sites.

        For nuclear plants the CF is roughly 90%, unless it is a lemon or having big problems as they sometimes do.
        For utility scale solar the CF is roughly 25%. [29.1% in AZ, 21% in N.Carolina]

        Wind and solar CF’s vary widely with the location they are deployed. In a calm area the wind CF can be near zero, as will solar placed in deep shade.

        So, when you see a 30 GW wind project like the new lease area will have you can estimate than the annual output will be roughly equal to the output from 11 full size (1000MW) nuclear reactors.
        [30 x 0.3 = 11 x 0.9]
        Of course the wind is much more variable, but both can offset the shortage of depleting fossil fuel to some degree.

        1. thank you for your reply Hickory. I have always stated that the US is in a better position than the UK regards the re-newable energy.

          for 2020 , which I did the figures , the demand was 307 GWh p.a. just for electricity.
          Solar:
          average: 1.28 GW x 8760 hours per year = 11,213 GWh delivered or 11.21 TWh

          Installed UK capacity est: = 13.08 GW at a cost est 13.08 x 0.83 = £10.86 bn

          Load factor for the year is 1.28 / 13.08 = 0.0978 rounded = 0.1

          Wind:
          for the current 22Gw fleet for 2020 we get ; 6.22 /22 = 28.3%

          Offshore is all we build these days so I’ll use the load factor of 42% or 0.42 that the Dogger Bank Project uses.

          33 GW x 0.42 = 13.86 GW ave. delivered est.

          22 GW current fleet is averaged 6.22 GW x 8760 hours per year = 54.50 TWh

          33 GW proposed fleet is averaged 13.86 GW x 8760 hours per year = 121.41 TWh

          = 175.91 TWh pa (target is 307 TWh)

          If we get to the load factor of 0.63 that the UK predicts then we’d get more but then all current offshore will need replacement with those turbines.

          Dogger Bank Project est is approx £2.5 Bn per GW capacity built. It is expected this cost will drop for future builds.

          On the domestic front my energy supplier has informed me of April 1st increases

          Electricity: £1,582.79 from £1,123.20

          Gas: £1,114.49 from £661.14

          Electricity: is 5000KWh pa

          Gas: is 13,500KWh pa

          and increase in my combined bill of 2.3 . A further 20% increase is predicted this autum . Consumption is down too from last year for gas by about 1000KWh . This does not include any war increases.

          If we have a harsh winter in the south of England then it will be bad for many .

          I’d rather have the US continent to build renewables on than the UK , hey ho

  3. The cards have fallen in such a way that Putin looks likely to get away with invading Ukraine.

    It’s hard to say how this is going to affect the world wide economy going forward.

    The biggest one problem, for everybody outside Ukraine and Russia, is that there will be a new cold war, with lots of countries being compelled to arm or rearm to such an extent that other major problems will be shoved to the back burners.

    Money spent on munitions can’t be spent on wind and solar power or electric cars and trucks.

    There won’t be any restrictions placed on the sale and shipping of Russian oil and gas, because there’s simply no way Western Europe could avoid a crash and burn depression without Russian oil and gas.

    It’s too bad that at least a couple of oil tankers probably won’t be sunk and that the price of gasoline probably won’t spike to five or six bucks in the USA for at least a little while.

    We need a few sharp chunks of broken brick upside our collective head to help motivate us to stay pedal to the metal on renewable energy and conservation.

    The short term pain involved would be entirely trivial compared to the likelihood of speeding up the transition to electric cars and trucks so that we will be ready to deal with declining oil production starting sometime within the next few years.

    1. They may be much more disruption to the oil gas and coal international trade than many now foresee, a possibility well detailed in this article
      https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ukraine-crisis-will-disrupt-crude-coal-lng-flows-even-without-sanctions-russell-2022-02-25/

      The energy stress in Europe is really going to stoke the fire of innovation and deployment of solar/wind/storage, and likely nuclear power.
      None of these things can be deployed at scale on fast pace however.

      1. Hicks , ” None of these things can be deployed at scale on fast pace however.” This is the crux . I am hungry today but the system says you can have a hamburger after 30 days . No there is going to be no innovation and deployment of wind/ solar and nuclear . There is no ” nett ” surplus energy available for these ventures . The goose is cooked .

        1. “No there is going to be no innovation and deployment of wind/ solar and nuclear . ”

          You are entirely wrong on this HoleinHead,
          unless you are being literal about the double negative.
          If so, it would be easier to simply state it as “There is going to be innov….”

      2. Some more disruptions .
        https://venturebeat.com/2022/02/24/ukraine-supplies-90-percent-of-us-semiconductor-grade-neon-what-it-means-to-chip-supply-chain/amp/
        https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ukraine-crisis-could-hit-argentina-lng-imports-double-energy-deficit-2022-02-25/
        https://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/energy/2022/02/25/ukraine-govt-preparing-energy-crisis-plans-says-draghi_d6210dfa-82a4-4979-9b2d-5ba9784a3a27.html
        The West did two acts on Friday which are self defeating
        1. Sanction Putin in person which is makes the issue personel . Not a sign of diplomacy .
        2. Exclude Russian Banks (which ones ,no list provided) from SWIFT .
        Let us see what happens when markets open on Monday .

        1. A disruption that is now hitting the poor countries is fertilisers . Not only sky high prices plus shrink flation but just plain non availability . Reports of fist fights over urea and DAP in India are now an every day feature . As someone said ” High prices will make your eyes water but non availability will
          kill you ” . What is interesting is that how an event 10000 km away in Ukraine can lead to the bankruptcy of a sugarcane farmer in India who is absolutely unaware of globalisation . Tainter ” Complexity and connectivity are the Achilles heel of IC . ” We are going to go back to the first square in this game of ” snake and ladders ” .

  4. “Vladimir Putin almost certainly failed to anticipate that Germany would be willing to sacrifice the benefits of cheaper Russian gas to punish Russian aggression in Ukraine. But Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz indefinitely paused certification of the completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline to “reassess” the situation. While the move didn’t stop Putin from invading Ukraine—by that point Putin already had too much skin in the game to risk the loss of face from backing down—it has substantially raised the costs for Russia. Why did Germany do this, and why didn’t Putin see it coming?”

    https://politicalviolenceataglance.org/2022/02/25/how-germanys-coalition-change-contributed-to-putins-strategic-miscalculation-in-ukraine/

    1. Survivalist , you are a cool guy so no fights . Putin does not have to see this . NS2 is NOT certified and was not pumping any gas to Germany even before 22/2/2022 ( Irony 2222222) . It was waiting certification . He can wait to eternity . Gazprom spent $ 10 billion on the project . Gazprom has already recovered it’s investment because of the + 100 % increase in gas prices . Keep delaying and keep paying . Now ask me a question the Moscow exchange is ” MOEX is down by 45 % and Putin did not see it coming ” . Ask and you will get an answer tomorrow because it is time to hit the sleep button here . Good night .

  5. Just sitting here on a Saturday night hoping the Ukrainians kill as many damn Russkies as they can manage. God speed! Thank you for your fearless fight!!!

    1. 3,500 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded and Russian troops have not made serious gains on this third day of fighting.
      Germany, in a shift from its long-standing policy of not exporting weapons to war zones, said it would send anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles.
      Putin’s reach has exceeded his grasp. Hopefully it’s his Suez Moment.

      1. “said it would send anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles.”
        Any notion as to how equipment can be delivered? Clock is ticking.
        I assume Russia has the airspace locked down.
        I would be surprised if incoming road or rail cargo will be let through by the Russian fighter bombers.

      2. Survivalist , how is Mr Scholz going to send them ? Russia controls air , navy , road and rail . Russkies are 30 km from Kiev . The chunnel is between Calais and Dover and not been Berlin and kiev . May be he can starting digging for one now . All air no punch . All hat no cattle .

        1. Land bridge- Supplies are handed to Ukrainian troops at the Polish-Ukrainian border.

          UK & US previously had air bridge for supply but I understand it has been discontinued due to Russian anti aircraft threat.

          If your enemy has more weapons and men and is richer, it is probably better to let them come and attack you. In general, defenders have the advantage because they don’t have to worry as much about attrition affecting logistics and supplies. I feel Ukraine’s defenses are well sighted and that soldiers are ready and willing to fight. I would not discount this.

          Ukraine is quite large and flat. I would imagine there is a lot of attacking, flanking, counter flanking, counter counter flanking, counter counter counter flanking etc etc. It’s all very exhausting. And the pending urban battles don’t look like low cost options. It doesn’t look like an easy job.

          Here’s a Counter Spin for those that like links
          https://fair.org/home/bryce-greene-on-ukraine/

          1. hole in head. Now it is difficult to judge the situation in the war in Ukraine. Yes, information about Russia’s losses is a lie. Of course, there are losses. Important information from the military participating in the War:
            -The number of troops that entered Ukraine is approximately 100,000 people, 99% of contract soldiers. There are no conscripts (18-20 years old) there, for political reasons.
            – The military has strict orders not to shoot at civilians and residential buildings, this makes it difficult to fight.
            -Putin expected that the troops would be met with flowers (which happens in the east, it doesn’t happen in the center), the rear supply columns went unguarded and at least two of them (20-40 pieces of equipment) were destroyed by Ukrainian troops.
            – Mobilization in Russia has not been carried out. The requests of the military to carry out a partial mobilization are already heard.
            – While there are no big losses, there is no bitterness either. But there is a premonition that the situation did not go according to plan.
            Sincerely
            Alexander

            1. Alexander , I am following the events in Ukraine via two websites that I have linked on the non petroleum thread . Don’t have a TV connection since 2010 . As to events not going as per plan ” Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face ” — Mike Tyson . 🙂 . Also listen to Scott Ritter link . Unvarnished truth .

      4. Germany said they will supply anti tank weapons and surface to air missiles . I will add:
        5000 white flags supplied from France
        500 Critical Race Theory textbooks supplied from U.S.
        700 Septic Tanks supplied by Poland (who mistake them for Tanks)
        250 Broomsticks supplied by Germany (which is what they’ve been using for guns after running out of military funding)
        $350,000 liquidated assets from Prince Andrew’s childsex trafficking court settlement sent from UK.
        ROFL .

  6. Now with the Ukraine tragedy in full swing and China suggesting it might invade Taiwan, what are the odds of significant cooperation on climate issues? Meanwhile, we have a major resurgence of coal burning underway (with 2022 expected to be a new peak). Greenwashes, where are you? We need some feel good “news”.

    WHILE COP26 AIMS TO BANISH COAL, ASIA IS BUILDING HUNDREDS OF PLANTS TO BURN IT

    “The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the new plants alone will be close to 28 billion tonnes over their 30-year lifespans. That’s not far off the 32 billion tonnes of total worldwide CO2 emissions from all sources in 2020, according to BP, highlighting how tough it will be for leaders gathering in Glasgow – including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – to make meaningful progress on climate change. Across India, 281 coal plants are operating and beyond the 28 being built another 23 are in pre-construction phases.

    These numbers are dwarfed by China, the top global coal miner, consumer and emitter, whose leader, President Xi Jinping, is not expected to attend COP26. More than 1,000 coal plants are in operation, almost 240 planned or already under construction. Together, coal plants in the world’s second-largest economy will emit 170 billion tonnes of carbon in their lifetime – more than all global CO2 emissions between 2016 and 2020, BP data show.”

    https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/cop26-aims-banish-coal-asia-is-building-hundreds-power-plants-burn-it-2021-10-29/

    1. Get used to lots of coal burning. And wood.
      Thats what people do when they run short on oil and gas,
      and havn’t done much about about building any alternatives for critical purposes.

      Get used to that, and also the fighting over scraps.

      1. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Biggest-Problem-With-The-Green-Energy-Revolution.html

        Oil Price should be ashamed to run this sort of propaganda, given that it’s entirely one sided, entirely composed to suit the author’s canned doom and gloom approach to selling tickets to hear her canned speeches that align perfectly with this article.

        How one sided is it?

        Well…… it doesn’t even admit that using renewables extends the supply of fossil fuels so that they will last longer.

        It entirely fails to mention that the prices of wind and solar power have been dropping like rocks for the last couple of decades, to the point that new wind and solar power are now at least competitive and often cheaper than new coal and gas.

        There’s zero mention of the now obvious reality that battery powered light vehicles are the future of the transportation industry.

        Long distance transmission of electricity is dismissed with a sniff, as if it stinks.

        Efficiency and conservation in general are made to look like uninvited riff raff at a social gathering.

        1. OFM, is this realistic enough for you? Thousands of scientific papers, hundreds of authors. Their conclusion:

          THE NEW IPCC REPORT’S GRIM PREDICTIONS, AND WHY ADAPTATION EFFORTS ARE FALLING BEHIND

          “It’s clear reducing global emissions alongside effective adaptation will put us on a trajectory of lower costs and damages. But at a global level, we’re doing neither of these things to the necessary extent. We’re at risk of missing a brief and rapidly closing window to secure an equitable and sustainable future.”
          And,

          “Governments have delayed action on climate change for too long, and incremental changes in energy and food production will no longer be enough to create a climate-resilient future.”

          https://phys.org/news/2022-02-ipcc-grim-efforts-falling.html

          1. Yes, and we’ve known this well, since at least about the time I was in high school in the 70s, when I was an Earth Sciences student (but found I didn’t have a scientist’s discipline), when the first “Stop global warming” bumperstickers came out, when there was this thing called Earth Day, when Jimmy Carter spoke some truths and got gut-punched by a silly actor, and ever since that time it’s been a long, stupid spiral toward disaster.

            What a brilliantly incompetent ape we are.

          2. Equitable and sustainable are woke buzzwords being banned from schools in Red States. By using them that tells you the authors are writing a report for only a very tiny segment of the population.

        2. OFM.
          Yes. many of the articles on that site are entirely tunnel vision coverage of particular topics.
          They go for a simple message that can easily digested by their audience, and that fits their political or industry message without mentioning any other facets of an issue.
          Par for the course.

          And Doug- you won’t find that info on the site OFM refers too.

  7. I do not think that most people in the US realise just how big an impact Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is having in Europe and on the financial markets. There is absolute unanimity in the condemnation of Putin’s actions, and more and more corporations are disinvesting or refusing to trade with Russia or Russian owned organisations. Aviation, oil tankers, luxury cars, football and almost all other sport, even orchestral conductors are being shunned or banned. Switzerland is matching EU financial sanctions. Previously neutral and non-arms exporting countries like Sweden and Finland are lining up to donate anti tank and SAM weapons to Ukraine, funded by the EU. The EU is even looking to fast track Ukrainian membership, requested yesterday. This is becoming Europe’s 9/11 moment, the day the new cold war started. It is true that NG exports have not been affected yet, but there is huge political momentum behind the move to get Putin out of Ukraine. European media has wall to wall 24 coverage of every cluster bomb and crying child.

    Putin has fundamentally miscalculated. Not only has he misread the Ukrainian military strength and morale to resist, he has bungled the invasion tactically and has failed to shut down Ukrainian power and communications, and not even got total air superiority. Zelenskiy is still alive and doing a very good impression of Winston Churchill.

    Putin has also made the whole of Europe close ranks, military budgets are being expanded. It is yet to be seen if real sanctions are brought against the Russian elite to match the rhetoric, but if they are then Putin will very quickly find that there is a bullet with his name on it.

    1. Ralph , suggest you see my conversation with Alexander Oporitiv on the other thread . Putin miscalculated ? Says who ? The West ? He can knock out communication , water and electricity at will but he has resisted because he is aware he will have to rebuild . Military budgets are being expanded for which year ? 2050 . The West miscalculated . Russia is not Venezuela , Iran , Yemen or Afghanistan . Heck NATO lost in all these places against men armed with WW2
      .22 rifles and sandals . Where everyone gets it wrong is the Russian elite talk ” Understand the oligarchs don’t support Putin , it is Putin that supports the oligarchs ” . Ever hear of the golden rule ? Obviously not . Here it is ” He who has the gold rules but he who has the gun can rob the gold ” . Putin is ex KGB ( no, he was not head of the K9 section ) his army and spy network is loyal to him . Well , your wish granted . Russian army knocked out the telecom towers in Kiev .
      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/miles-long-russian-infantry-tank-convoy-bears-down-kiev-next-ceasefire-talks-expected
      Now go back and watch the idiot box .

  8. It always pisses me off when I run across such journalism, composed with the specific intent of making sure people are ill informed and unable to think for themselves.

    But you’re right of course.

  9. Nuclear power may be coming back.

    Once upon a time I wasn’t very concerned about the risks, but after Chernobyl and Fukushima I changed my mind on that point.

    Now I’m wondering, given all the problems associated with fossil fuels, whether nuclear isn’t potentially a good bet, given that new reactor designs should be far and away safer than older existing designs.

    And at various times I have posted a question here that never got a good answer…… Why can’t we grind up old spent fuel, mix it with other things making it harder to recover, and put it down old deep exhausted oil wells?

    If the geologic traps that held oil for many millions of years held that long, I can’t see any reason to believe they won’t continue to hold.

    And I believe it IS possible to bury nuclear waste safely……. assuming the site is properly selected and the work is done right.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYpiK3W-g_0

    1. When you continue the nuclear road, all the atomic waste will be burned up. It’s fuel for other reactor types, or you go even the thorium road where you burn all the fuel and have only medium age waste that needs to be stored only 500 years. An old mine will do this.

      A nice idea from a startup I read somewhere – they want to build an undercritical reactor combined with a particle accelerator. This reactor will be able to burn atomic waste – and the moment the accelerator is switched off or breaks, the chain reaction stops automatic because of neutron deficit. So no Tschernobyl scenario possible.
      Add a passive emergency cooling system for the switch off heat, and you have a very secure system.

      1. “When you continue the nuclear road, all the atomic waste will be burned up.”

        Meanwhile, tens of thousands of tons of radioactive waste are accumulating from commercial power plants and national defense operations around the globe. As this hazardous material (and the containers it sits in) await “permanent” disposal, the stockpiles keeps growing. Of course corrosion experts are doing their part to safeguard people and the environment from this danger, but it’s still there. Generalized statements like “the atomic waste will be burned up” are misleading. We’ve been talking for a long time about how fission can convert used nuclear fuel and turn it into energy.

        1. 10 thousands of tons sound much, but isn’t that much. You’ll need this as fuel later when going the nuclear road.
          Otherwise you’ll have to deposit it. Sweden is building a deposit for their stuff already, it’s possible, more a political than a technical question.

          Think millions of tons of heavy metal and radioactive contiminated coal ash, oil water and other hazard stuff. Old solar panels contain not nice stuff, too.
          Fun stuff – the coal ash contains much more energy in form of thorium and uranium than it provided while burning it.

          The alternative energy complete solution is still high experimental, too. Big storages and transporting the stuff in big scale is in experimental state still, too, as is modern nuclear tech.

          It’s not the same as putting solar cells on the roof and a few truck batteries in the cellar for the night. At the moment all this backup is driven by Mr. Putins gas and coal, at least partial.

          1. True, and I do realize that reprocessing is currently carried out at the Marcoule MOX fuel manufacturing plant and that since the mid-1960s, the La Hague plant has been safely processing spent fuel.

    2. OFM-
      “And I believe it IS possible to bury nuclear waste safely……. assuming the site is properly selected and the work is done right. ”

      Agree.
      In the US it would take a functional government to accomplish this task.
      I am not sure if we will ever have such a government, short of an authoritarian overthrow.

      Currently we remain on the Path of the Greatest Fool, producing high level radioactive waste with no plan.

  10. “By the federal government’s own models, the nation’s second largest reservoir, Lake Powell, has almost a 1 in 4 chance of losing hydropower production by end of Sept. ’23.

    If March and April are dry (which they’re projected to be), that outcome will be even more likely.”

    I think it will come down to Powell or Mead, not both.
    Powell will go

      1. For 1970’s era background on this river basin, I highly recommend
        The Monkey Wrench Gang, by Edward Abbey

        I’m sure Hightrekker has rad this a long time ago, as did I.

          1. Abbey’s a great writer who is unfortunately mostly unknown outside of the circle of serious environmentalists.

            A better book, in terms of actual useful data is Cadillac Desert.
            But Abbey’s book is a far better read.

            1. If you liked Cadillac Desert, I bet you’d find
              this one fascinating as well-
              The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California
              Book by Mark Arax

            2. Cadillac Desert is a gem also.
              I just reread it 6 months ago.
              A bit dated

  12. Here is an unexpected item to go in the “it’s worse than we thought” file:

    https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/944592

    Humans can endure lower max temperatures and humidities than previously thought:

    “It has been widely believed that a 35°C wet-bulb temperature (equal to 95°F at 100 percent humidity or 115°F at 50 percent humidity) was the maximum a human could endure before they could no longer adequately regulate their body temperature, potentially causing heat stroke or death over a prolonged exposure.
    …
    “But in their new study, the researchers found that the actual maximum wet-bulb temperature is lower – about 31°C wet-bulb or 87°F at 100 percent humidity – even for young, healthy subjects. The temperature for older populations, who are more vulnerable to heat, is likely even lower.”

      1. Doug,

        I agree it is depressing, but perhaps it will inspire a few to read some history.

  14. So, another opportunity lost!

    COUNTRIES MISSED OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CRISIS WITH PANDEMIC STIMULUS

    “Analyzing over $13 trillion in COVID-19-related stimulus packages from 19 countries and the European Union, just 6% of the money went to projects that will likely reduce greenhouse gasses, while the vast majority of recovery spending didn’t address climate at all. Another 3% of stimulus spending went to projects likely to increase emissions.” The findings are published today by Nature.

    https://phys.org/news/2022-03-countries-opportunity-climate-crisis-pandemic.html

  18. It may well be too little too late as far as the world is concerned, but I have long maintained that the Saudi royal family knows all about counting money, and that once wind and solar power got cheap enough, they would go in for it in a big way….. if for no other reason than that they can PROFITABLY sell the oil and gas they would otherwise be burning to generate electricity.

    I believe the costs have fallen to that point and below, and that there will be one hell of a lot of solar and battery capacity installed all over the Middle East over the next few years…… anyplace that’ s stable enough the bankers are willing to risk the money.

    https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/03/02/worlds-largest-off-grid-battery-project-reaches-financial-close/

  19. Russia’s War in Ukraine Isn’t Going to Plan
    https://shows.acast.com/warcollege/episodes/russias-war-in-ukraine-isnt-going-to-plan

    US Air Force Discusses Tactics with Ukrainian Air Force as Russian Advance Stalls
    “U.S. and NATO intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets on NATO’s eastern flank are providing tactical information to the Ukrainian Air Force as new air defense assistance arrives inside Ukraine”
    https://www.airforcemag.com/us-air-force-discusses-tactics-with-ukrainian-air-force-as-russian-advance-stalls/

    1. It’s not going nearly as well as Putin expected. There’s little doubt about that.

      But it’s still going, and unless something changes in a big way, it’s going to continue until Ukraine is finally ground into the dirt.

      It’s hard to imagine NATO putting troops on the ground and aircraft in the air over Ukraine, but I’m afraid that’s about the only thing that could force Putin to withdraw his army.

      But it might be possible that NATO countries could somehow provide the Ukrainians with enough munitions, fuel, food, etc, to enable them to hold out.

      And it’s possible that Putin’s underlings could overthrow him.

      All it would take is just one highly placed inner circle security guard willing to put his life and the life of his family on the line.

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