Category Archives: China

Can Tesla Survive The Loss Of Subsidies?

Posted on September 1, 2017 | Leave a comment

Three years ago, The Los Angeles Times posted “Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies”. I have not seen a summary of the current total of Musk’s subsidies but it is certainly more than $4.9 billion now. When The LA Times speaks about an “empire” it included Tesla, Space X and Solar City—all Musk controlled businesses.

This discussion will focus on the Tesla electric vehicle (EV) business.

Subsidies start with the Federal Tax Credit of $7,500 given to each buyer of a Tesla EV.  (Every EV maker gets the same treatment.).  California also provides a $2500 subsidy per car.

The following is from the LA Times posting:

“Tesla has also collected more than $517 million from competing automakers by selling environmental credits.  The regulation was developed in California and has been adopted by nine other states.”

These regulations require that companies selling automobiles must also sell a certain percentage of EVs.  Sales of an EV gives the seller environmental credits.   Manufacturers are penalized for not selling enough EVs and must buy credits to offset their failure. Because Tesla sells only EVs it gets a lot of credits which they sell to the other car makers.

The following 2016 video discusses what the Wall Street Journal thinks subsidies mean to the Tesla’s bottom line: (Please excuse the 15 second commercial.  When video ends click back to this page.)

https://video-api.wsj.com/api-video/player/v3/iframe.html?guid=00E58A9F-9315-47FE-BFED-7C79B2C3A98B&shareDomain=null

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, China, Climate Alarmism, Electric Vehicles, Electricity from Coal, Government Revenues, government subsidies, Personal Automobiles, President Trump, radical environmentalists, US Auto Manufacturers

Fire Ice–Biggest Source Of Natural Gas On The Planet

Posted on August 12, 2017 | Leave a comment

The US Geological Survey (USGS) cited estimates of the methane (CH4) trapped in global methane hydrate (aka methane clathrate, Fire Ice, etc.) deposits are 3600 times more than the 2016 US consumption of natural gas. The 2016 US   consumption of natural gas (natural gas is mostly methane), according to Donn Dears, was 27.5×10^12 cubic feet.

The estimate of trapped gas in the deposits ranges from 10^17 to 5×10^18 cubic feet*.  Those are estimates and further those estimates probably include some amount of methane hydrate that will never be economical to produce. Even so, oil reserves that were supposed to have peaked many years ago, keep growing because of new technology. eg. Fracking.  So, who knows?

*(For the non-engineer or scientist that might not know how much that is, it can be restated as 1 followed by 17 zeros to 5 followed by 18 zeros cubic feet of natural gas.)

Where are the hydrate deposits found?

Methane hydrate deposits are found (or predicted) to be associated with continental margins and onshore permafrost areas. The chart below global areas where deposits are to be found.

First, let’s discuss where the methane originates. Methane is largely produced by micro-organisms that act on the plankton that has accumulated deep in the ocean floor sediments.  In the upper layers of the sediment where the temperature and pressure are suitable, the rising CH4 bubbles are captured in very cold water and the hydrate is formed. While methane produced biogenically is considered the most widespread source, there is another source.  Thermogenic methane is produced where high pressures and high temperatures cook organic matter.

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Posted in China, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, methane hydrate, Off Shore Resources, Oil and Gas Exploration, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy, Sea Ice

Realtime Maps of Global Pollutant Sources

Posted on July 16, 2017 | Leave a comment

The picture below shows in color the concentration of air pollution in North America.  The  lower US  seems to have three  notable pollution sources according to the color scale shown in the lower left of the photo. Roughly locating these three sources would be in California in the Western US, Chicago area in the Great  Lakes region, and Baltimore to Boston along the I 95 corridor. 

 Now for a look at Asia and the middle East.

According to these maps, the above one shows where most of the air pollution originates.

The following from the Science website is some information about these pictures.  While the text is from November last year, the picture map shows the situation in real time.  These are for July 16, 2017.

By Dennis NormileNov. 28, 2016 , 3:15 PM

China’s air is notoriously toxic: Each year, it contributes to the premature deaths of some 1.6 million people. Concerned about how such pollution was affecting his family, Beijing-based data scientist Yann Boquillod founded AirVisual Earth, an online air pollution map that uses data from satellites and more than 8000 monitoring stations to display global air pollution in real time. The AirVisual Earth interactive maps prevailing wind patterns and shows color-coded concentrations of PM2.5—airborne particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter that can penetrate deep into the lungs. Users can zoom in, tilt, and spin the globe for better viewing. The air pollution visualization was crafted “so people really understand how bad it is,” says Boquillod, who hopes an informed citizenry will pressure governments and communities to clear the air. AirVisual also delivers 3-day air pollution forecasts for 6000 cities to smartphones, and it recently began selling low-cost monitors people can use to track indoor and outdoor air pollution. “People want to share that data,” Boquillod says.

 

The pictures are screen captures. You will have to go to the Science site link here to move around the globe.

I am not a fan of the 2.5micron particles stuff.  Another study suggest that there is no evidence for it being considered a vehicle for killing massive numbers of people.  See Junk Science links to see why I say that.  This is a good map for chasing black carbon and other aerosols.

cbdakota

 

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Posted in AGW, China, Earth from Space, Environment, Health

Do Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the UK know what they have gotten into?

Posted on July 12, 2017 | Leave a comment

 

The Manhattan Contrarian posted “Looks Like Global Action On “Climate Change” Is Dead by Frances Menton.  There is not much in the posting that I have not already covered.  However, there are two things that do standout that I want to pass on. Menton’s posting is relative to the members of the G 20, that have just reaffirmed their support for the Paris Agreement in the Summary statement at the end of the G 20* meeting.  The US did not join in the reaffirmation.

Menton notes that Russia’s intended reduction is based upon their CO2 emissions in 1990 before they collapse in 1991 of the Soviet Union.

“Then they closed down all that inefficient Soviet industry.  According to a graph at Climate Action Tracker here, by 2000 their emissions were down by almost 40% from the 1990 level, and they have only crept up a little from there since.”

That was their ploy back in the days of the Kyoto Pact, too.

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Posted in AGW, China, Climate Alarmism, CO2, Coal, Environment, EU, IPCC, Kyoto, Paris Agreement, President Trump, Renewable Energy, United Nations

How Energy And The Paris Agreement Fit In President Trump’s Plans To Make The US Economically Strong Again

Posted on July 5, 2017 | Leave a comment

A posting by sundance titled “Angela Merkel Reflects Fear And Loathing Amid EU Elites…”.  I believe provides an important perspective on the President Trump’s America First Strategy.  I have focused on Energy and the Paris

Agreement, but Trump’s strategy, as laid out by the author, sundance, is more that those two items.  It really is a plan to make the US economically strong again.

President Trump has put a jaw-dropping U.S. energy platform solidly into place.  You can learn more about them HERE and HERE.  The announcements last week are tectonic in consequence though seemingly lost amid the chafe of media reporting over twitter spats.

Everything President Trump’s team does is connected to a bigger, much bigger, picture than most people are paying attention to.  However, those who control the levers of multinational power are paying very close attention.

At it’s core and central elements ‘America-First’ is about prosperity and national security through the utilization of leveraged economic power.   For four decades, as he built out his empire of holdings, every-single-day at every-single-opportunity, Donald Trump voiced vociferous frustration that politicians were allowing the U.S. to be controlled, lessened, weakened and robbed by multinational economic interests.

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Posted in AGW, carbon tax, China, Climate Alarmism, Domestic Energy, Fracking/Shale Gas, Government Regulations, Oil and Gas Exploration, OPEC, Paris Agreement, President Trump

Paris Agreement Doomed By Projected Coal Based Power Plants

Posted on July 3, 2017 | Leave a comment

The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) posted “Forget Paris—1600 New Coal Power Plants Built Around The World.”  The GWPF provides the chart below that focuses on Europe, Asia and Africa using data from Coal Exit.com:


 

 

 

 

As you can see, China already has 2,363 coal based plants and expects to have 1,171more.  It comes as no surprise that China and India are major users of coal based power currently and they will be the major builders in the future.  No other country is even close.  It is illustrative to see that European nations are forecast to be increasing coal based capacity, not reducing it as their none too subtle “holier than thou” attitude would suggest.

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, China, Climate Alarmism, Climate Models, CO2, Coal, Electricity from Coal, Global Temperatures, Government Regulations, Paris Agreement, President Trump, solar cells, Windpower

Media Ignorance Concerning The Paris Agreement

Posted on June 2, 2017 | Leave a comment

The ignorance shown by the media regarding the Paris Agreement leads me to wonder is it incompetence of just out-right lies.  The primary argument often is, quoting the editorial in the local newspaper, “By breaking ranks with nearly 200 nations, the United States joins only Syria (which is riven by civil war) and Nicaragua ….”  More on this paragraph below, but first about the 200 nations.  According to the Paris Agreement’s Green Climate Fund, the majority of the almost 200 nations are to be given money from this fund.  As of May 2017, 41 nations have contributed or have pledged money to this fund. Reviewing the data, we find that of the 41 nations, 22 of them are in for $10 million or less, 6 are in for $100 million or less, 7 are in for $500 million or less, 1 is in for $750million or less and 5 are in for more than $1billion with the US the major player at $3 billion. Beginning 2020,  the Green Climate Fund will require that the donor nations provide a total of  $100 billion per year! So what has been given so far is chump change.

Well, what do the other 160 nations have to lose by not joining?  Free money is what they will lose if they don’t sign up.  In fact, only about 13 countries are contributing any serious money. The nearly “200 nations” is a bogus issue.

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Posted in AGW, China, Climate Alarmism, Climate Models, CO2, Coal, Fracking/Shale Gas, Global Temperatures, IPCC, Paris Agreement, President Trump, United Nations

CO2 And Climate Change Science–Part 2: A Summary Of The Science

Posted on March 10, 2017 | Leave a comment

The website CO2 Coalition has a post titled “Climate Change: A summary of the Science”.  It one of the best summaries I have come across lately.  It is fairly long, so I could do my usual and summarize it, but there is virtually nothing in it that I would want to skip over.  So, I will not deprive the reader. I will put it in, in its entirety.  I hope that my posting yesterday will fill in any blanks you may have otherwise had.

cbdakota

==========================================================

News 26 Feb, 2017

Climate Change: A Summary of the Science

The climate change science is settled, but not how the climate alarmists want you to think.

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Posted in AGW, chemistry, China, Climate Alarmism, Climate Models, CO2, crop yields, Environment, fossil fuels, Global Temperatures, Media Bias, Ocean Acidification, photosynthesis, Sea Level, Solar Activity, Storms/hurricanes, Sun, sun and climate, The Pause

The Paris Agreement Has It Wrong–Developed Nations Are Not The Primary Sources Of Greenhouse Gases.

Posted on February 8, 2017 | Leave a comment

The website EnergyMatters’ posting titled “Attributing the blame for global warming” is one of the most intriguing postings I have read lately.   The posting discusses a report made by a UN group to determine who is responsible for the man-made greenhouse gases that the warmers say have damaged the Earth. The Paris Agreement, for example, blames the Developed Nations and wants them to pay reparations to the rest of the world. The posting, on the contrary, persuasively argues that the developed nations aren’t not the primary sources of greenhouse gases.  Further the folly of the “Developed Nations are at fault theme” is that when projected into the future the evidence says it is even less true.  For those of us that believe that nature is the primary forcing agent with regard to global climate change, who is to “blame” is not particularly our big issue, but it is for the warmers.  This posting seems to point out they continue to get it wrong:

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Posted in AGW, carbon tax, China, Climate Alarmism, CO2, EPA, fossil fuels, IPCC, United Nations

The Impending Collapse Of The Global Warming Scare

Posted on January 22, 2017 | Leave a comment

I am reblogging the “The Impending Collapse of the Global Warming Scare“.  That’s the title of a posting by Francis Menton on the Manhattan Contrarian blog.  His description of the state of the catastrophic man-made global warming theory and how it got to be so pervasive if not persuasive is spot on.  He outlines why he thinks the new administration will take actions that will ultimately cause its collapse.  I think he is right that if the funding dries up, or is finally given to skeptics too, the science will finally put the computer forecast science out of business. 

There is a caution in my mind.  And that is I think the really wealthy NGOs like World Wildlife Fund and wealthy people like Soros and Styer who have political reasons to want to continue the scare will put up an enormous fight to keep it alive.  The scare tactics will not diminish, but with the help of the liberal media, the scare stories will reach new heights.  I hope I am wrong about this.

cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, China, Climate Alarmism, Climate Models, CO2, Environment, EPA, fossil fuels, Global Temperatures, Government Regulations, IPCC, Media Bias, President Trump, Renewable Energy