China’s Power Grids Are Having Trouble with “Relentless” Heat Waves!

For many parts of Asia, May has been a hot month, with records already being broken in places like China and India, even before the official start of summer.

Parts of eastern and southern China have been experiencing heat waves, which are expected to continue through June. The hot temperatures have been straining power grids as people are turning on air conditioners to combat the sweltering heat in large cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai, reported Reuters.

According to national meteorologists, most of the southern part of China is predicted to see temperatures higher than 95 degrees Fahrenheit in the next three days, with some areas baking under 104-degree heat.

Extreme weather such as drought and floods may disrupt the food production order and bring more uncertainties to the supply of food and oil, Sheng Xia, a chief agricultural analyst for Citic Securities, wrote this week in a research report, as CNN reported.

Power Grids Struggle Under ‘Relentless’

Shenzhen reached 91.4 degrees Friday, with humidity exacerbating the heat, reported Reuters. Earlier in the week, areas of the city experienced power outages, but local media said it was less than 2,000 households out of more than 17 million residents.

It s hot, but there s nothing to be done, we’ve got to make money for the family, a bricklayer named Zhao told Reuters. Our bosses have t been pushing other workers to return from lunch sooner, as several of us have been hospitalized for heatstroke.

Shanghai, a city of more than 26 million people in the eastern part of the country, saw its hottest May temperature in nearly 150 years on Monday, while southern provinces have been experiencing almost continuous heat waves.

[I]t s just been a week on week on week of these records being shattered, said Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist with the University of New South Wales, as Reuters reported. It s just relentless.

Read More: PFAS Levels in New Hampshire Soil Are Higher than Was Thought Before!

The demand for China’s Southern Power Grid has been close to an all-time high, with electricity demand in Guangdong and other manufacturing centers in the south soaring to more than 200 million kilowatts.

The Yangtze River basin has seen the most severe drought since 1961 beginning last summer, which has damaged local grain harvests, reported The Guardian.

According to statistics from the country s government, rainfall in the basin has decreased by almost 50 percent since last July. Recently, convective storms producing heavy rain and hail have destroyed the country s wheat harvest, Reuters reported.

Read More: Oil Prices Go Down as Worries About a U.S. Default Return!

Once something s wrong with agriculture, our bowls will be held in someone else s hands and we ll have to depend on others for food. How can we achieve modernization in that case? Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in an article published in March, as reported by CNN.

Deputy Director of the National Climate Center Gao Rong said that in parts of southwest China, as well as in Shanghai and other parts of the Yangtze River Delta, temperatures this month would be one to two degrees hotter than the same time last year, Reuters reported.

PFAS Levels in New Hampshire Soil Are Higher than Was Thought Before!

Federal testing of soil samples from 100 sites across New Hampshire has found high levels of per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in every sample that was collected, prompting concerns that the amounts of these chemicals in soil, along with water and air, could be much higher than previously thought.

The analysis, done by U.S. Geological Survey, took soil samples across various, undisturbed sites, including forests, shrublands, grasslands, wetlands, herbaceous lands, and barren lands between February 2021 and August 2021. At each location, the researchers took samples up to 6 inches deep. At half of the locations, they also collected samples 6 to 12 inches deep, and at six of these locations, they took samples up to 36 inches deep.

The team found PFAS in all samples, with nearly all of the samples of soil collected up to 6 inches deep containing PFAS at concentrations of 1 part per billion (ppb) to over 10 ppb. While there are not yet PFAS limits regulated at the state or at federal level, the amounts found in the report are higher than recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has recently proposed a limit of six types of PFAS in drinking water, with recommended enforceable limits of 1 to 4 parts per trillion of some PFAS.

While there are many known sources of PFAS contamination, including fire suppressants used at local military bases or industrial sources like local manufacturer Saint-Gobain, the study shows these contaminants are not only concentrated near these sources.

It is well known that PFAS transport atmospherically and there is long-range transport of the chemicals, so there might be some influence of local sources but what proportion of PFAS we found is local is not known, Andrea Tokranov, co-author of the study and research hydrologist at USGS.

PFAS are a group of chemicals, often called forever chemicals, that do not break down in the environment. They have been found in soil, water, air, and in the bodies of humans and animals. While research is ongoing, studies have shown possible links between PFAS exposure and negative health risk and outcomes, including decreased vaccine responses in children, higher cholesterol, and some types of cancer.

The report shines a light on the spread of PFAS in the environment, even in places farther from known PFAS polluters, and shows a need for more research into these chemicals, according to State Rep. Rosemarie Rung (D-Merrimack).

Read More: How to Stream Seasons 1-4 of Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland for Free?

When we look at PFAS contamination in New Hampshire, we ve always tracked it to a source, but this study does t show there is one specific source, Rung said, as reported by WMUR.

The report, combined with good tests for PFAS by the Department of Environmental Services, provides more information for the state to establish standards for soil remediation and PFAS regulation.

This information is really informing DES on what those specific contamination levels should be, Rung said.

How the New Mayor of Chicago Will Affect Environmental Justice?

On April 4, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois, union organizer, and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson gives a speech after being picked as the eventual mayor. Getty Images/Alex Wroblewski

This article, which was first published by Gristand, has been reprinted on Climate Desk as part of a cooperation.

The newly elected mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, who prevailed in a close battle on Tuesday, campaigned on issues of crime and education, but he also raised the issue of environmental justice.

Cook County Commissioner Johnson, 47, is a former educator and union activist. Making Chicago a sustainability leader and tackling the city’s polluted neighborhoods were among his campaign promises.

Paul Vallas, 69, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, was his rival in the run-off election and ran on a platform of tough-on-crime.

While other observers and environmental activists applaud his election as mayor, they are also aware of the truth.

He essentially supports the environment, especially equity, but he wasn’t elected on the basis of the environment, according to Dick Simpson, a former alderman and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Thus, pressure may be the determining factor in advancement.

Climate activists need to exert pressure on the new administration, according to Simpson. It will remain a very minor issue without vocal, ongoing pressure from both residents and the alderman in the municipal council.

In recent years, Chicago neighborhoods have organized to combat environmental injustice. The most recent conflict attracted national attention when Southeast Side neighbors protested the proposed establishment of a scrapyard in their already polluted neighborhood.

Eventually, activists were able to stop the move, although it took years of effort, including hunger strikes.

Scar Sanchez, a Southeast Environmental Taskforce organizer, was one of those hunger strikers.

He suggested that we consider Brandon to be a friend. But we also expect our pals to be responsible.

Activists will therefore be keeping an eye on Johnson to see if he keeps his campaign promises, particularly his pledge to reinstate the Chicago Department of Environment, which was abolished in 2011 by a previous government. Also promising to reinstate the Department of Environment, the current mayor, Lori Lightfoot, fell short.

According to research by Neighbors for Environmental Justice, Chicago’s polluters have mostly escaped punishment without the existence of that department. The local organization examined data spanning 20 years and discovered that, following the Department of Environment’s closure, environmental violations and air quality citations both decreased by 50% and 90%, respectively.

Read More: House Republicans Approve Bill to Promote Fossil Fuels Ignoring Experts’ Warnings in The Face of Climate Disaster.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s air quality has gotten worse. According to a recent examination of air quality statistics by the Guardian, Chicago’s South and West sides have the third-worst air quality in the country.

According to Sanchez, there is a strong connection between these pollution and environmental justice issues and other problems in the city.

According to him, environmental justice includes housing, energy costs, our capacity to access clean water at home, and the opportunity to bring our kids to school without worrying about diesel trucks.

8 AI tools every AI developer should know of

As the field of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to rapidly develop, there are more and more tools available to help developers and businesses take advantage of this technology. In 2023, there are several top AI tools that are particularly noteworthy for their functionality and ease of use.

TensorFlow

TensorFlow is an open-source platform that is widely considered to be the most popular tool for building and deploying machine learning models. It was created by Google and is now maintained by a large community of developers. TensorFlow provides a wide range of features for machine learning, including neural networks, linear regression, and decision trees. It also has an easy-to-use interface that allows developers to quickly create and train models.

PyTorch

PyTorch is another open-source platform for machine learning that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. It was developed by Facebook and is known for its flexibility and ease of use. PyTorch is particularly useful for deep learning applications and allows developers to create and train models quickly and efficiently. It also has a strong community of users who have contributed to its development.

Amazon SageMaker

Amazon SageMaker is a cloud-based platform that allows businesses to build and deploy machine learning models quickly and easily. It provides a wide range of tools and features, including pre-built algorithms, data preparation, and model deployment. Amazon SageMaker is particularly useful for businesses that want to take advantage of machine learning but don’t have the resources or expertise to build their own models.

IBM Watson

IBM Watson is an AI platform that provides a wide range of tools and services for businesses. It includes features for natural language processing, computer vision, and predictive analytics. IBM Watson is particularly useful for businesses that want to take advantage of AI but don’t have the resources or expertise to build their own models. It also has a strong community of developers who have contributed to its development.

Hugging Face

Hugging Face is an open-source platform for natural language processing that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. It provides a wide range of tools and features for working with text, including language modeling, text classification, and question answering. Hugging Face is particularly useful for developers who want to create chatbots, virtual assistants, or other text-based applications.

Google Cloud AI Platform

Google Cloud AI Platform is a cloud-based platform that provides a wide range of tools and features for machine learning. It includes pre-built algorithms, data preparation, and model deployment. Google Cloud AI Platform is particularly useful for businesses that want to take advantage of machine learning but don’t have the resources or expertise to build their own models.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is a cloud-based platform that provides a wide range of tools and services for businesses. It includes features for machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. Microsoft Azure is particularly useful for businesses that want to take advantage of AI but don’t have the resources or expertise to build their own models. It also has a strong community of developers who have contributed to its development.

Keras

Keras is an open-source neural network library that is widely used for deep learning applications. It provides a simple and easy-to-use interface for building and training neural networks. Keras is particularly useful for developers who want to create deep learning models but don’t have a lot of experience with machine learning.

In conclusion, there are many top AI tools available in 2023 that can help developers and businesses take advantage of this rapidly developing technology. Whether you’re looking for a platform for machine learning, natural language processing, or computer vision, there are many tools available that can meet your needs. With the help of these tools, businesses can unlock the power of AI and gain a competitive advantage in their respective industries.

 

In a Big Change to Its Energy Policy, Japan Wants to Make Nuclear Reactors Last Longer.

Japan has chosen a plan to increase the lifespan of its nuclear reactors, signaling a significant change in nuclear policy. The nation also has plans to upgrade outdated reactors and build new ones in light of the paucity of fuel in the world, the rising cost of gas and the requirement to lower its greenhouse gas emissions.

For a nation that had intended to progressively phase out nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, this is a huge shift.

According to the Financial Times, the public in Tokyo is reconsidering the restarting of its reactors due to the rising cost of energy and concern over blackouts. The 10-year plan for Japan’s updated nuclear strategy, developed by a government advisory council, would hasten the restart of the nation’s current nuclear reactors and extend their operational lives beyond 60 years. Additionally, it would create sophisticated nuclear reactors.

Energy Crisis Is a Possibility.

The panel’s roadmap made reference to the global rise in energy costs that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as reported by the Financial Times, for the first time since the 1973 oil crisis in the midst of a very difficult scenario. We were reminded of the vulnerability of the energy infrastructure in our nation, which puts our energy security at risk.

Eight more nuclear reactors have been restarted since the Fukushima Daiichi disaster when an earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant’s cooling system and power supply. According to the World Nuclear Association, two of Japan’s nuclear reactors were restarted in August and October of 2015 as a result of the disaster.

Before Fukushima, 54 nuclear reactors provided nearly one-third of Japan’s electricity requirements, according to the Financial Times. Nine of the reactors are currently operational, which has increased the nation’s reliance on natural gas, coal, and fuel oil. By 2050, Japan has pledged to have net zero carbon emissions.

The Japanese government has set a target for nuclear power to account for 20 to 22 percent of the nation’s energy supply by 2030 in the wake of Fukushima, according to The Associated Press. But following the accident in 2011, safety regulations were tightened. Only ten of the 27 reactor restart requests made by utility companies in the previous ten years has been granted.

For reactors that have been operational for 30 years, extensions would be permitted every ten years under a new plan developed by the Economy and Industry Ministry and approved by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority. Additionally, periods, when a reactor was offline, could be deducted from its operational life.

Read More: Arctic Air Brings Dangerously Cold Weather to The U.S., Which Could Test the Grid in Texas

The Parliament Has Not yet Given Its Approval to The New Safety Inspection Regulations.

Takeo Kikkawa, an economist and energy specialist at the International University of Japan, expressed skepticism regarding the continued use of old reactors, claiming that the new policy would permit utility operators to continue using outmoded equipment instead of investing in modern advancements or renewable energy.

Naturally, we should strive to employ cutting-edge technology safely. Thus, prolonging the lives of reactors is a bad idea, according to Kikkawa, as quoted by the Associated Press.

The majority of Japan’s nuclear reactors are older than three decades, and four of them have been given permission to continue operating after operating for more than four decades. Currently online is one of the reactors, which is 40 years old.

Read More: Big Oil Conspired to Mislead the Public, According to A Lawsuit Alleging Climate Terrorism.!

Atomic energy now provides less than 7% of Japan’s total power. To achieve the government’s target of 20 to 22 percent nuclear electricity by 2030, approximately 27 reactors will be required. According to Kikkawa, who was quoted by the Financial Times, this is our final opportunity to move the delayed nuclear program forward in order to reach carbon neutrality for 2050.

The Coldest Christmas in The US in Decades May Have Been Caused by The Climate Crisis.!

This holiday season, the weather will undoubtedly be dreadful over much of the United States.

Over the Christmas holiday, a storm that the National Weather Service (NWS) in Buffalo, New York, described as occurring just once in a generation is predicted to bring record low temperatures and potentially fatal conditions to most of the central and eastern United States.

Please heed the regional warnings, I implore everyone. So far, we’ve made contact with 26 governors in the impacted areas. Visit weather.gov for more details. According to The Independent, President Joe Biden stated this before the catastrophic weather incident. This is not like the snow days you remember as a child. This is important material.

According to the NWS, there are more than 30 states currently covered by advisories and watches, ranging from Florida in the southeast to Washington in the northwest. As of Thursday at lunchtime, almost 300 million Americans were under some kind of winter weather notice or advisory.

According to BBC News, the chilly and wintry weather is advancing eastward and may intensify into a bomb cyclone by Friday.

When a storm’s core air pressure falls by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours, an indication of rapid intensification, it is referred to as a bomb cyclone. They frequently come with blizzards, torrential rain, or thunderstorms.

The NWS reported that a significant and unusual storm system is expected to spread heavy snowfall, high winds, and dangerously cold temperatures from the northern Great Basin to the Plains, Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and the northern/central Appalachians through early this weekend.

Travel schedules and power are already being affected by the storm. According to Flight Aware, there were 1,932 cancellations and 4,522 delays for flights into, into, and out of the United States as of 1:56 p.m. Eastern Time. According to PowerOutage.us, there were 17,364 people without power in Texas as of 1:48 p.m. Eastern Time, 14,504 in California, and 9,935 in Oregon.

A mass of Arctic air has been flowing south and east over the country in advance of the storm.

According to the NWS, temperatures behind the front had already dropped by 50 degrees F throughout the central High Plains in a matter of hours, with widespread readings of or below zero occurring across most of the central/northern Plains, the northern Rockies, and the Great Basin.

According to BBC News, the storm and cold spell may cause Florida to have its coldest Christmas in 30 years, while other U.S. regions may also see their coldest Christmas in decades. In some areas, the temperature may drop as low as -50 to -70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Read More: The U.K.’s £2 Bus Price Cap Will Lower Vehicle Emissions in England and Promote Public Transportation.

Extreme cold snaps and winter storms like this weekend may still be climate signals even though winter is often the fastest warming season in the United States and the climate crisis is likely making the classic white Christmas ever more unusual.

According to Newsweek, this is due to the Arctic warming roughly four times faster than the global average over the past 40 years. One theory is that as the Arctic warms, the stratospheric polar vortex that usually confines the arctic air to a small ring becomes unstable.

According to MIT meteorologist Judah Cohen, “the frigid air generally limited to the Arctic can migrate southward to the mid-latitudes, including the U.S., Europe, and East Asia.” This can happen as the circulation around the polar vortex becomes less and less circular in shape.

The polar jet stream typically destabilizes along with the polar vortex as it becomes unstable, changing weather patterns. The contrast between cold, Arctic air and warmer, southerly air can foster the ideal environment for a bomb cyclone that is fast increasing.

According to Jason Furtado, a professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, “the creation of any mid-latitude storm system involves a contrast of warm air from the lower latitudes and cold, polar air masses from the high latitudes.” “As a result, low-pressure areas at middle latitudes benefit from this temperature difference. The intensity will intensify more quickly the greater the temperature difference since there will be more energy available to lower the core pressure.

Although it’s not definite that climate change is to blame for the polar vortex’s instability, similar occurrences have been more often over the past 30 years.

They also affect a population that is generally accustomed to milder weather, even in the winter.

According to NWS Weather Prediction Center warning coordination meteorologist Alex Lamers, there will be a more drastic departure than what people and other living things have been experiencing lately, as The Guardian reported.

Read More: The Uk Met Office Projects that By 2023, Global Temperatures Will Be 1.2°c Higher than Pre-Industrial Levels.!

Since people are not acclimated to temperatures that might result in frostbite in less than five minutes, this change could overburden the electricity supply and put people in danger.

Animals could also experience a shock, particularly bird species whose ranges have grown or whose migration has been postponed due to climate change.

Brooke Bateman, director of climate science at the National Audobon Society, warned The Guardian that birds like bluebirds, which frequently time their migration based on weather and food availability, may find themselves unable to handle the cold spell while also attempting to flee from it.

Could the Climate Crisis Be to Blame for the Coldest Christmas in Decades in the United States?

Big Oil Conspired to Mislead the Public, According to A Lawsuit Alleging Climate Terrorism.!

As part of the Climate Desk partnership, this article was originally published by the Guardian and is being reprinted here.

Oil and coal firms are accused of colluding to mislead the public about the climate problem, and the same racketeering legislation that was used to bring down mob chiefs, motorcycle gangs, football executives, and multinational fraudsters will be put to the test against them.

Communities in Puerto Rico who were devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017 are bringing a lawsuit in an attempt to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for years of deceit.

One of the regions of the world most impacted by climate change in Puerto Rico. It is the ideal location for this climate litigation because it is so dangerously situated and gets attacked from all sides by hurricanes, storm surges, heat waves, and coral bleaching, according to Melissa Sims, senior attorney for the plaintiff’s law firm Milberg.

The 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act was created to fight organized crime, such as the mafia, but has subsequently been applied in civil courts to argue organized crime claims involving the harms caused by opioids, car emissions, and even e-cigarettes.

A network of paid think tanks, scientists, and other operatives is now accused of conspiring to mislead the public, primarily Puerto Ricans, about the direct connection between their greenhouse gas-emitting products and climate change in the first-ever RICO case involving climate change.

According to the lawsuit, this fossil fuel business, which is still in existence, caused numerous damages as a result of climatic calamities that the defendants knew about but chose to conceal in order to increase profits.

The plaintiffs include 16 Puerto Rican municipalities that were severely impacted by Irma and Maria in September 2017, which resulted in thousands of fatalities, severe food shortages, extensive infrastructural damage, and the longest blackout in US history.

The difference in this [RICO] case, according to senior counsel Sims, is that we have written evidence of the decision made by rival companies, their front groups, scientists, and associations to collaborate in order to sway public opinion about the use of their consumer products by spreading false information.

The defendants, which include ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and Rio Tinto, formed the Global Climate Coalition as a not-for-profit corporation in 1989 to influence, advertise, and promote the interests of the fossil fuel industry by disseminating false information to their customers and the general public, according to the lawsuit filed in the US federal district court of Puerto Rico.

It contends that supposedly competitive businesses collaborated to mislead customers and create confusion in order to maintain high and lucrative fossil fuel sales and that the GCC was a propaganda apparatus specifically created to oppose the Kyoto protocol, the first significant international effort to combat climate change. A written action plan was created in 1998 to deceive customers into believing that global warming was not happening and that, even if it did, there was no scientific agreement over whether fossil fuels were to blame.

In other words, the action plan purportedly served as a climate change denial strategy that was carried out through a network of dark money invested in think tanks, research institutions, trade associations, and PR agencies. It also served as a road map for an ongoing, open-ended enterprise.

The complaint claims that the oil and coal industries understood that Puerto Rico was particularly vulnerable to climate change-related phenomena, such as hotter and wetter storms, excessive heat, and rising sea levels, as a result of the island’s geographic location.

According to the Germanwatch Climate Risk Index, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Myanmar have been the three regions most impacted by extreme weather events like storms, floods, heatwaves, and droughts over the past 20 years. These events are becoming more frequent due to greenhouse gas-driven human-caused global warming. A large portion of the island was left without electricity and water in September when Hurricane Ian damaged crucial infrastructures like roads and bridges.

Read More: The Uk Met Office Projects that By 2023, Global Temperatures Will Be 1.2°c Higher than Pre-Industrial Levels.!

The lawsuit claims that the oil and coal companies, along with their international partners, are collectively accountable for at least 40% of greenhouse gases. This puts them at fault for the damages brought on by the storms of 2017 and the likelihood of the island experiencing worse climate disasters in the future.

It’s the most recent in a string of civil class actions that municipalities, towns, and cities have taken against businesses and organizations they claim have harmed locals. Cities have a nearly limitless potential to employ their nuisance statutes and local ordinances, according to Sims, who has also represented Puerto Rico towns in opioid action that led to damages reimbursement.

Read More: The U.K.’s £2 Bus Price Cap Will Lower Vehicle Emissions in England and Promote Public Transportation.

 

Republican and Christian Sims claimed that cities all around the country have realized their potential and are beginning to use it almost like miniature attorneys general. Using their rights under the racketeering and other laws we’ve helped develop over the years, they are increasingly frequently the first ones to bring lawsuits on opioids, Juul electronic cigarettes, pollution, reverse redlining, and now climate change.

Among the defendants accused of consumer fraud, racketeering, antitrust, false misrepresentation, conspiracy to deceive, product liability, and unjust enrichment are seven oil companies, three coal companies, and hundreds of organizations and operatives.

Requests for feedback from the National Mining Association and American Petroleum Institute went unanswered. In statements, a number of the defendants have criticised the litigation.

Arctic Air Brings Dangerously Cold Weather to The U.S., Which Could Test the Grid in Texas

The lower 48 states are being hit by a bomb cyclone of Arctic air that will bring dangerously low temperatures, copious amounts of snow and rain, and blizzard conditions.

It was a “once in a generation winter storm,” according to the Buffalo, New York office of the National Weather Service, which is used to dealing with severe winter weather. Eastern Wyoming may have wind chills as low as -70 degrees Fahrenheit due to the lowest weather in decades, while the Eastern Seaboard will likely experience its coldest Christmas since Taylor Swift was born.

Tragically, the intense cold is also likely to highlight the devastating effects of harsh weather on those who are homeless.

The cold will certainly test the Texas electrical grid, which fell catastrophically in 2021, primarily as a result of the failure of the methane gas system, in addition to driving methane gas costs even higher for people throughout the central United States. The Texas grid now has more than 7,300 megawatts of additional wind, solar, and energy storage capacity, which might assist maintain grid stability.

Read More: 3M Claims that By the End of 2025, It Will Stop Producing and Using Forever Chemicals.!

Research indicates that the fast-warming Arctic may be contributing to the increased likelihood of cold air descending to the south.

Read More: The U.K.’s £2 Bus Price Cap Will Lower Vehicle Emissions in England and Promote Public Transportation.

To Delve Farther Further:

The Texas grid: The Texas Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, OilPrice; Climate Signals background: The Washington Post, AP, CNN, Axios, Reuters; Texas grid:

Amplified by The Arctic

You may subscribe to daily Hot News, follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and visit their news website, Nexus Media News, for additional information on climate change and clean energy.

Explosion on A Russian Gas Pipeline to Europe.!

A section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod natural gas pipeline in western Russia exploded Wednesday, killing three repair workers. One driver was also experiencing shock, according to Reuters. The pipeline is now the main gas export route from Russia to Europe and carries gas from Siberia to central Europe via Ukraine.

According to local authorities, supplies had been redirected and the gas flare had been put out.

The gas pipeline’s damaged part was quickly localized. According to a statement from the Russian gas business Gazprom Transgaz Nizhny Novgorod, which was obtained by Reuters, gas is being delivered to consumers in full using parallel gas pipelines.

According to The Associated Press, Oleg Nikolayev, the governor of the Russia’s Republic of Chuvashia, said it was unclear how long the explosion-related pipeline repairs would take.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines exploded beneath the Baltic Sea in September, making the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline the main route for gas from Russia to Europe. This pipeline was constructed in the 1980s.

With the excuse that there were equipment problems, Russia abruptly halted supplying gas to Germany through Nord Stream 1 in August. Germany denied these assertions, claiming that Russia was attempting to raise gas costs and spread disbelief.

Just before Russia invaded Ukraine, Germany halted the licensing process for Nord Stream 2, and the pipeline was never used.

According to Reuters, Gazprom stated that it planned to flow 1,518.5 million cubic feet of gas through the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline to Europe the day after the incident, a volume commensurate with recent deliveries.

Read More: Australia Announces Its First Wind Zone out At Sea.!

However, according to OilPrice.com, that is just 5.4% of the roughly 5,473.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas that Russia supplied to Europe last year. Europe has started importing liquified natural gas to complement its supply of natural gas from Russia.

A report from the nonprofit organization Environment America claims that a gas pipeline problem occurs in the United States once every 40 hours or thereabouts. Between January 2010 and October 2021, there were around 2,600 pipeline gas discharge occurrences that were significant enough to be reported to the federal government. 328 of them set off explosions and flames, which resulted in 122 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

Read More: The U.K.’s £2 Bus Price Cap Will Lower Vehicle Emissions in England and Promote Public Transportation.

Approximately 26.6 billion cubic feet of methane gas have been released into the Earth’s atmosphere as a result of leaks that the federal government has documented, which has the same impact on global warming as the annual emissions of more than 2.4 million cars.

The reported gas leaks have cost and damaged about $4 billion since 2010.

According to the analysis, the volume of gas seeping into the environment is significantly more than what is indicated by federal leak reporting or emissions projections from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Biden Administration Is Taking Steps to Phase out Cf Ls and Promote Le Ds.!

In order to gradually phase out compact fluorescent lightbulbs in favor of even more energy-efficient LEDs, the Biden administration unveiled a new regulation on Monday.

The rule would increase the brightness-per-watt standard from 45 to 120 lumens, more than doubling it. The Department of Energy estimates that the proposed rule will reduce U.S. climate pollution by 131 million metric tonnes of CO2 and 903 thousand tonnes of methane over the next 30 years, or about the annual emissions released by 29 million homes. LED bulbs use significantly less energy and last much longer than CFLs and incandescent bulbs.

The rule is expected to be completed before the conclusion of Biden’s current term, according to the administration.

Read More: Australia Announces Its First Wind Zone out At Sea.!

According to The Hill:

According to calculations from the Energy Department, the proposed regulation that was announced on Monday would save consumers $20 billion in total expenses over the next three decades and stop 131 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions.

Although today’s LEDs are a terrific product, it turns out that the most advanced technology may make the lights much more effective. We use so many light bulbs that this innovation, according to [Appliance Standards Awareness Project]ASAP Executive Director Andrew deLaski, will significantly lower energy expenditures for homes and businesses while reducing climate pollution from power plants.

Compact fluorescent bulbs, which are still available in some stores today but are inferior to LEDs, would likewise come to an end under this proposal.

Read More: The U.K.’s £2 Bus Price Cap Will Lower Vehicle Emissions in England and Promote Public Transportation.

To Delve Farther Further:

Washington Examiner, The Hill, Bloomberg, CNN, and MarketWatch

You may subscribe to daily Hot News, follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and visit their news website, Nexus Media News, for additional information on climate change and clean energy.

 

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