#Power-To-Gas Market Values

[cmipooja]

Global Power-To-Gas Market Is Estimated To Witness High Growth Owing To Increasing Demand For Renewable Energy Solutions

The global Power-To-Gas market is estimated to be valued at US$ 30.27 billion in 2022 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 12.2% over the forecast period of 2023-2030, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. Market Overview: Power-To-Gas is a technology that converts electrical energy into chemical energy by using surplus renewable electricity to produce hydrogen or synthetic natural gas. This helps in storing excess renewable energy and enables its usage during periods of high demand. The process involves electrolysis, where water is split into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen further converted into methane. Power-To-Gas technology provides an efficient solution for energy storage and grid balancing, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Market Key Trends: One key trend in the Power-To-Gas market is the increasing demand for renewable energy solutions. As countries worldwide focus on reducing carbon emissions and transitioning towards cleaner energy sources, the demand for renewable energy solutions such as Power-To-Gas is expected to surge. This trend is driven by various factors, including government initiatives and policies promoting the use of renewable energy, growing concerns about climate change, and the need for energy security. For example, countries like Germany and Denmark have been at the forefront of adopting Power-To-Gas technology to store excess renewable energy generated from wind and solar power. In Germany, Power-To-Gas systems are being used to convert surplus wind power into hydrogen, which can then be injected into the natural gas grid or used as fuel for transportation. Similarly, in Denmark, Power-To-Gas facilities are being utilized to produce synthetic natural gas from surplus wind power. PEST Analysis: - Political: Governments worldwide are implementing favorable policies and regulations to promote the adoption of renewable energy solutions. This includes providing subsidies, tax incentives, and feed-in tariffs for renewable energy projects. - Economic: The decreasing cost of renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels and wind turbines, is making Power-To-Gas solutions more economically viable. Additionally, the potential for revenue generation from the sale of hydrogen or synthetic natural gas is attracting investments in Power-To-Gas projects. - Social: Growing awareness about the need for sustainable energy solutions and the harmful effects of fossil fuels on the environment is driving the demand for renewable energy solutions like Power-To-Gas. - Technological: Advancements in electrolysis technology and hydrogen fuel cells are improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of Power-To-Gas systems. The development of renewable energy storage technologies, such as hydrogen storage and underground caverns for synthetic natural gas, is further driving the adoption of Power-To-Gas. Key Takeaways: - The Global Power-To-Gas Market Size is expected to witness high growth, exhibiting a CAGR of 12.2% over the forecast period. This growth is driven by increasing demand for renewable energy solutions and the need for efficient energy storage and grid balancing. - Regionally, Europe is expected to dominate the Power-To-Gas market, owing to supportive government policies, well-established renewable energy infrastructure, and high investments in Power-To-Gas projects. Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing region, driven by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and a shift towards renewable energy sources.

[unprettyg1rl]

I’m reading a book on the history of invention and how our cultural views of masculinity vs femininity affect our progress and holy shit if women’s needs and preferences were taken seriously we would’ve been using electric cars since the late 1800s instead of just starting to use them now.

In “Att uppfinna världen” (Mother of Invention in the English translation) by Katrine Marçal there is a chapter dedicated to the process of inventing the modern automobile, where I read that there were multiple ways of constructing a car when the invention was relatively recent, as the field was still open to experimentation. Petrol wasn’t an obvious choice for fuelling the engine – in fact, around the year 1900 a third of all cars in Europe were electric cars, and the percentage was even bigger in America. Electrically powered cars were superior to petrol-fuelled ones in many ways: they were quieter, didn’t expel smelly gas, much safer and more reliable, and easy to start and control from the driver’s seat. Cars fuelled by petrol, on the other hand, were loud, more unreliable and required a lot more maintenance, and to start the engine one had to do some serious manual labour involving a crank – which would often leave you sweaty and with oil stains on your clothes, plus a constant risk of causing an explosion if you weren’t careful enough. Naturally, women preferred the former, being more convenient and comfortable and thus more suited to their travel needs, whereas the petrol-fuelled car was marketed as the more adventurous, macho choice for men.

The one downside to electric cars was that the battery didn’t last for longer journeys, which in the case for women wasn’t that much of a problem since the majority mainly just made trips within the city or town. This was also an issue that could’ve been fixed, and there were many plans to do so, mainly infrastructure-related ones like battery-switching stations and developing better battery solutions. There were even plans for a net of rentable electric cars for anyone to use, and electric trains, trams, and taxis for public transport (seems very ahead of its time, doesn’t it? A much more environmentally conscious system than our good ol’ “everyone has one or multiple cars that individually expel copious amounts of greenhouse gasses” method). However, investments were too few since the male-dominated society deemed these “women’s cars”. After all, a real man isn’t soft, safe and comfortable – he cranks his own car to life and makes a lot of noise as he travels. A report from 1916 by the magazine Electric Vehicle stated that “The thing that is effeminate, or that has that reputation, does not find favor with the American man. Whether or not he is ‘red-blooded’ or ‘virile’ in the ordinary physical sense, at least his ideals are. The fact that anything from a car to a color is the delight of the ladies is enough to change his interest to mere amused tolerance.”

Like, it’s insane that values such as comfort, safety and convenience were seen as “feminine” and thus dismissed, leading to petrol-fuelled cars completely taking over the market in the end. Imagine what the world would’ve looked like if women were the standard instead of men. It really pains me to think how much damage we’ve done to the planet just because of men’s stubborn macho ideals.

(a lot of this research is quoted from The Electric Vehicle: Technology and Expectations in the Automobile Age by Gijs Mom, a book I’m now very interested in reading in full)

[mariacallous]

Liz Truss is the most disastrous and unpopular leader in modern British history. Mortgage holders and small businesses still loathe her for sending interest rates through the roof. Her short, catastrophic premiership is routinely compared unfavourably to the shelf life of a lettuce. (A comparison first made by the bright leader writers at the Economist to give credit where it is due.)

When Labour wins the next election, its triumph will be in part the result of the public’s reaction against her vast and dogmatic economic folly.

If you were Liz Truss, you might retire from public life. At the very least you would apologize and hang your head in shame.

If readers expect contrition, however, they have yet to learn that being on the radical right means never having to say you are sorry.

Truss’s demotion from national leader to national joke has not embarrassed her in the slightest but pushed deep into paranoid conspiracism.

Her autobiography, bizarrely titled Ten Years to Save the West, as if the fate of liberal democracy depended on the advice of an epic failure,  shows that, despite all she did to this country, her eyes still shine with a bright, self-righteous fanaticism, as if the sockets are backlit by an idiot’s lantern,

Chutzpah used to be defined as murdering both your parents and asking the court for clemency because you are an orphan. In Truss’s case it is using the power of the prime minister to crash the economy and then claiming she was a powerless victim of the liberal elite.

Her writing is as lacking in self-awareness as it is powered by self-righteousness.

At one point she says in all innocence that, when Boris Johnson resigned in the summer of 2022, her agent encouraged her to join the race to be prime minister, as the campaign might be good for her profile.

But she reports that he then wisely added “it would be for the best if I came second”.

Later she informs us that during the leadership campaign she “frankly lost trust in many of my erstwhile ministerial colleagues who were supporting my opponent [Rishi Sunak].

“They had spent the last six weeks not just attacking me but seeking to undermine my plans, saying my agenda was unworkable."

Truss never stops to think that the few people who will finish this book will believe that her agent was right, and it would clearly have been for the best if she had never been prime minister.

Nor does she contemplate the possibility that her agenda was indeed “unworkable”, and was proved to be unworkable when her unfunded tax cuts and fuel subsidies sent the price of gilts shooting up, the value of the pound crashing down, and caused a crisis in the pension industry for good measure.

And yet, and yet…Mock her as much as you like. Please don’t hold back on my account. But you cannot dismiss her.

There are two reasons why Truss is still dangerous. The first lies in the strength of the right-wing clique that brought her to power.

It is true that Liz Truss did not become prime minister by winning over Conservative MPs. As with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party, Truss’s career illustrates the danger of expecting leaders who do not have the support of a plurality of their colleagues to function in a Parliamentary democracy.

But she still beat Rishi Sunak with the votes of 57 percent of Tory members.

And with the honourable exception of the Times, the Tory press was all for her. “In Liz We Trust”, said the Express “Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Woman”, cried the Mail. “Liz Puts Her Foot on the Gas”, cheered the Sun.

Kwasi Kwarteng set off a market panic as he put Truss’s ideas into practice in the mini budget of September 2022. The reaction of right-wing papers was not one of alarm, however, but of adoration.

“At last”, gushed the Daily Mail, “a True Tory Budget”. A Daily Telegraph commentator said it was “the best Budget I have ever heard a British Chancellor deliver”.

Meanwhile the Truss premiership allowed the voodoo economics of the US-influenced (and in all probability US-financed) think tanks to finally impose itself on this luckless country.  The Centre for Policy Studies welcomed the mini-budget saying it was “exactly what we would have hoped for”. The Taxpayers’ Alliance called it “the most taxpayer-friendly budget in recent memory”.

Robert Saunders of Queen Mary University made the unarguable point that Truss was not an aberration or some alien figure that had appeared from nowhere to take over the Conservative party.

Follow  the money that cascaded in from party donors, he said, and “the Truss premiership begins to look less like the personal failure of a flawed individual, and more like a systemic disaster for which the party bears collective responsibility”.

Those forces will dominate the Conservative party after its defeat and drive it to the radical right. Indeed, in opposition the members, the think tanks, the  press and the ideologue donors will become more important, for they will be all the party has.

In a sign of things to come, Truss is already allying with Nigel Farage, and even Rishi Sunak says he will not ban Farage from joining Conservative party.

Despite her failure, Truss remains a potent figure on the radical right because of her championing of revanchism, which is now its dominant emotion.

This isn't a book. It’s a 300-page wail of resentment at a world that will not do as it is told.

I have no problem with conservatives complaining about woke policies taking over institutions. Only a fool or liar maintains that progressive biases among supposedly impartial organisations are an invention of the right,

But the woke conspiracy Truss invokes is of a wholly different order. It is utterly fantastical.

To recap, Truss's unfunded subsidies and tax cuts panicked the bond markets.  They would not lend to a country whose leaders lacked plausible means of meeting its debts. Or if they did lend they would demand an additional yield on government bonds, which  became known in plain-speaking financial markets as the “moron premium”: the extra cost that comes with lending to a nation run by idiots.

In her apologia Truss, who still poses as a Thatcherite, no longer sees markets as an expression of the wisdom of crowds, but as a conspiracy to do her down.

 “I came to realise there is no such thing as ‘the market’ in this sense. Rather, there are groups of influential individuals in the financial establishment, all of whom know and speak to one another in a closed feedback loop. The Treasury, the Bank of England, and the OBR are deeply embedded in these social networks and share the same beliefs in the established economic orthodoxy."

The markets were at fault for not seeing her financial genius. Financial traders were the world’s unlikeliest lefties. Even though she and Kwarteng fired the permanent secretary at the Treasury and cut out the Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility from policy making, they were still, somehow, responsible for Tory failure.

“The powerful vested interests there pushed back, made my life very difficult and ultimately got me fired,” Truss concludes.

Older readers may remember a time when Conservatives insisted on personal responsibility. You were not allowed to blame crime on poverty or your failings on a bad childhood. You were accountable.

But the case of Liz Truss proves that these morality tales were only ever for the poor. In her mind, the economy collapsed not because of decisions she made but because of “a sustained whispering campaign by the economic establishment, encouraged and fueled by my political opponents in the Conservative Party who refused to accept my mandate to lead”.

Trumpism is the end point of such conspiracism and revanchism, and Truss goes all the way down the line to the terminus.

She mutters about the “deep state” a Trumpian phrase she uses without irony or self-knowledge.

And even though her support for Ukraine was her redeeming feature during her time as foreign secretary and prime minister, she is now supporting the pro-Putin Trump and his allies in Congress who are denying aid to Kyiv.

Truss is finished. But the resentment born of failure and the fury at modernity ensures Trump is still very much with us. 

If he delights Putin and wins in November, the UK and Europe will learn the hard way that the real threat to Western civilisation comes from  Liz Truss and her friends.

[anonymusbosch]

A specific piece of misinformation I'm responding to is the one originating from this headline:

(x)

spawning responses like

(x) which is... not entirely wrong

and

which is completely misunderstanding the original study - the Carbon Majors Database, CDP Carbon Majors Report 2017.

What this report absolutely does not say is "100 companies burn enough fossil fuels to produce 70% of emissions per year." It says something more like "70% of emissions since the 1988 can be traced back to extraction of fossil fuels by 100 producers." Those 100 producers include 36 state-owned companies, 7 state-owned producers, 41 public companies, and 16 private companies.

It also says that over half of industrial emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 25 producers. Of those 635 gigatons of emitted CO2, 59% come from state-owned producers, 32% from public companies, and 9% from private companies.

The largest shares here at the bottom of the graph are all state-owned producers: an aggregate of Chinese state-owned coal producers, Saudi Aramco (owned by the Saudi Arabian state), Gazprom (a Russian company with majority ownership by the state and partial public ownership), National Iranian Oil (unsurprisingly, nationally owned), and then finally we get to the first non-state-owned company (ExxonMobil).

The fraction is nearly identical for values for yearly emissions in 2015 - 59% of emissions since 1988 are tied to extraction by state-owned producers. Nonetheless:

"Emissions from investor-owned companies are significant: of the 30.6 GtCO2e of operational and product GHG emissions from 224 fossil fuel extraction companies, 30% is public investor-owned, 11% is private investor-owned, and 59% is state-owned."

There is absolutely immense responsibility on producers for extracting, marketing, and selling fossil fuels, and for (in several notable cases) deliberately covering up anthropogenic climate change as an outcome of fossil fuel use. But that extraction doesn't occur in a vacuum - fuels are extracted and burned for heat, for electricity, for transport, for industry.

The tweet about nothing changing if people didn't drive and used plastic straws is exactly wrong: fossil fuels are valuable to extract because they're used for everything around us. In the US, transportation accounts for ~29% of greenhouse gas emissions, and 57% of that is from personal vehicles. In 2016, the average passenger car fuel efficiency in the US was 22.1 miles per gallon; an electric car can easily get > 100 miles-per-gallon-equivalent, some as high as 142 miles-per-gallon-equivalent. Magically substituting all gas cars in the US alone for electric would slash nationwide emissions by 13 percentage points even if all those vehicles were powered by electricity made from fossil fuels! (Clearly there are a lot of gross assumptions and approximations there.) (Also, yes, magic wand car swaps aren't a thing we can do in real life, but it's what the tweet said, so I wanted to toss it in there.)

Like, there's a lot of complexity to global emissions - who's responsible, what levers we have to move things in a better direction, what any individual can or can't do. But this specific piece of misinformation or at least misrepresentation really ought to be excised from the record.

[newstfionline]

Friday, May 17, 2024

Americans are falling behind on their credit card bills (NPR) Nearly one in five credit card users have maxed out on their borrowing, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. People under 30 and those who live in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be at or close to their credit limit. The debt is a sign borrowers are feeling the strain of rising prices and high interest rates.

Overdose deaths dropped for the first time in five years (NYT) U.S. overdose deaths declined in 2023 by about 3 percent from the year prior, according to federal data released today. Last year’s toll—107,543—was still horrific. But it was the first drop-off in drug fatalities since 2018, when the rates were two-thirds of their current height. The decrease was attributable mostly to a drop in deaths from synthetic opioids, but the report did not offer reasons for the drop. One possible factor is that naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, has become more widely available.

Chile’s capital faces fiercest cold snap in decades (Reuters) Chileans are bundling up with more clothes and clutching cups of hot coffee as the country faces the most intense cold snap in nearly 70 years, bringing winter weather in the middle of autumn. “Since 1950, that is, in the last 74 years, we had not had a cold wave as intense as the current one in May,” climatologist at the University of Santiago, Raul Cordero, told Reuters. For Thursday, the meteorological office expected a minimum temperature of 1 degree Celsius (34 Fahrenheit) in the central Santiago area. The change was abrupt—within days of summer heat ending, mountains near the capital had snowy peaks.

A France in Shock Confronts the Violence in Its Midst (NYT) If France is a country of illusions—a beautiful and seductive land offering many of life’s greatest pleasures that sits atop and conceals a crime-ridden, drug-plagued world of violence—then the past week offered a rude awakening to this dual reality. The Olympic flame arrived on French soil last week in the ancient port city of Marseille as a joyous crowd thronged the beautiful harbor. But the flame also arrived in a city whose northern districts are the epicenter of the French drug trade, where 49 people were killed last year and 123 injured in drug-related shootings. The coldblooded killing on Tuesday of two prison guards on a major highway in an ambush that freed Mohamed Amra, a midlevel prisoner being investigated in Marseille for possible ties to a drug-related homicide case, shook France. This, just 85 miles from the capital, was a methodical execution in broad daylight on the main road from Paris to Normandy. Its methods were consistent with the brutality of a booming narcotics market. Senator Jérôme Durain, a member of the Socialist Party and one of two authors of a Senate Committee report on drug trafficking in France that was completed this week, was not shocked by the killing. “The world we found was one of limitless violence involving people, often very young people, who have no conscience and lost all sense of the value of life,” he said in an interview. “This fits exactly.”

In this Spanish town, capitalism actually works for the workers (Christian Science Monitor) At first glance, this could be any industrial factory. Workers wearing protective gloves assemble control panels and heating plates amid the relentless whirring of machinery. Giant yellow robot arms swing back and forth, lining trays with tiny metal parts. But there is a reason that each year thousands of visitors from every continent come to this mountainous Basque landscape to study factories like this one. This is the home of the Mondragon Corp., the world’s largest federation of worker-owned cooperatives. By the end of the day, this floor alone will churn out 30,000 gas valves, destined for stoves worldwide. Yet it is also churning out a radically different vision of capitalism. In a traditional capitalist system, decision-making power and wealth are concentrated in the hands of a few top executives and shareholders. In contrast, Mondragon’s nearly 70,000 members, ranging from floor workers to top executives, are co-owners of their businesses. They have voting power at general assemblies, where they weigh in on company strategy and policy. The income disparity between the highest- and lowest-paid employees in Mondragon’s cooperatives is capped at a ratio of 6-to-1, compared with a typical ratio of 344-to-1 in the United States. (It’s typically 77-to-1 in Spain.) “Here, no one is rich,” says Hugo Montalvo, who works for a Mondragon based in Bergara, a short drive from the town of Mondragón. “But no one is poor either. We’re all in that middle range, earning decent salaries.”

Age no barrier for Italy’s 90-year-old sprint queen (Reuters) Born on Aug. 1, 1933, Mazzenga is one of the unsung stars of Italian athletics, currently holding five world records, nine European records and 28 best Italian performances in various categories of Masters sprinting—competitive races for older runners organised by age group. “I am very happy and satisfied, and also a bit surprised because I didn’t think I went that fast,” Mazzenga said modestly after her record-breaking run on May 5, beating the previous record of 53.35 seconds set by Japan’s Emiko Saito in 2022. Her running career as a Masters athlete, which she kicked off at the age of 53, has been an important comfort for Mazzenga’s later years. “It got me through some difficult times, which of course haven’t been lacking in a life as long as mine,” she said. Her next commitments include the Italian championships starting in June and she has an eye on the world championships in Sweden next year, but Mazzenga joked that she prefers “not to make long-term plans.”

NATO considers sending trainers into Ukraine (NYT) NATO allies are inching closer to sending troops into Ukraine to train the country’s armed forces, a move that would blur a previous red line. Ukrainian officials have asked for help training 150,000 new recruits closer to the front lines, for faster deployment. The U.S. has said no, but the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today that a NATO deployment of trainers appeared to be inevitable. Under the alliance’s treaty, the U.S. would be obliged to aid in the defense of the trainers if they were attacked, potentially dragging America into the war.

China and Russia reaffirm ties as Moscow presses offensive in Ukraine (AP/Bloomberg) Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping for efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict at a Beijing summit Thursday, where the two leaders reaffirmed a “no-limits” partnership that has grown deeper as both countries face deepening tensions with the west. Xi said his nation was “ready to work with Russia as a good neighbor, friend and partner with mutual trust,” state broadcaster China Central Television reported Thursday after the pair met in Beijing. China was prepared “to consolidate the friendship between the two peoples for generations to come,” Xi added. Putin described the nations’ cooperation as “one of the main stabilizing factors in the international arena,” according to a video posted on a Kremlin social media account.

Japan, famously polite, struggles to cope with influx of tourists (Washington Post) Japan is proud of its “omotenashi” spirit: Its practice of wholeheartedly caring and catering for guests. But a post-covid surge in tourist numbers, coupled with a weak yen that makes Japan cheaper for many visitors, is pushing Japan’s world-famous hospitality to the brink. One town is installing a huge screen to stop tourists causing traffic jams while they take selfies in front of Mount Fuji. At least one overrun restaurant is reserving Friday nights for locals only. Even the deer of Nara, usually very proactive about coming forth for snacks, have had their fill. This is because international tourists, unable to enter Japan for two and a half years during the covid pandemic, now appear to be making up for lost time. A staggering 25.1 million tourists visited the country last year, marking a sixfold increase from 2022. The influx has been good for the Japanese economy. But, in many popular places, it has not been good for the locals. There have been widespread complaints about overcrowding, litter, and strain on infrastructure.

Pacific countries call for calm as New Caledonia riots continue (AP) New Caledonia’s Pacific neighbours called for de-escalation and a return to dialogue between France and the island territory’s political parties, after a third night of violent riots that have killed four people and led to hundreds of arrests. France declared a state of emergency in New Caledonia that came into force at 5 a.m. local time (1800 GMT Wednesday), giving authorities additional powers to ban gatherings and forbid people from moving around the island. Rioting broke out over a new bill, adopted by lawmakers in Paris on Tuesday, that will let French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years vote in provincial elections—a move some local leaders fear will dilute the indigenous Kanak vote.

US military says Gaza Strip pier project is completed (AP) The U.S. military finished installing a floating pier for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with officials poised to begin ferrying badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war. Fraught with logistical, weather and security challenges, the maritime route is designed to bolster the amount of aid getting into the Gaza Strip, but it is not considered a substitute for far cheaper land-based deliveries that aid agencies say are much more sustainable. The boatloads of aid will be deposited at a port facility built by the Israelis just southwest of Gaza City and then distributed by aid groups.

Hamas Shift to Guerrilla Tactics Raises Specter of Forever War for Israel (WSJ) Seven months into the war, Hamas is far from defeated, stoking fears in Israel that it is walking into a forever war. The U.S.-designated terrorist group is using its network of tunnels, small cells of fighters and broad social influence to not only survive but to harry Israeli forces. Hamas is attacking more aggressively, firing more antitank weapons at soldiers sheltering in houses and at Israeli military vehicles daily, said an Israeli reservist from the 98th commando division currently fighting in Jabalia. Hamas’s resilience poses a strategic problem for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says a key war aim is the total destruction of the Palestinian Islamist group. Concerns have grown within Israel, including in the security establishment, that Israel has no credible plan for replacing Hamas, and whatever achievements the military has won will be diminished. “Hamas is everywhere in Gaza,” said Joost Hiltermann, the head of the Middle East and North Africa program at International Crisis Group, a conflict-resolution organization. “Hamas is far from defeated.”

Religion Publishers See 'A Good Day' (Publishers Weekly) Holy sales stats! How did religion book publishing roll up revenue numbers markedly ahead of other publishing categories last year, up 7.8% over 2022 according to the Association of American Publishers StatShot report? PW called on CEOs and senior sales executives at eight religion and spirituality houses to ask what's driving the numbers up. Top answer: Bibles, which have been in strikingly high demand and tend to pop in sales whenever things get a bit weird geopolitically. “It’s a different day, and a good day,” says Doug Lockhart senior v-p for sales and marketing for HarperCollins Christian Publishing. He noted Google Analytics showed searches for words such as “Bible,” “Bible studies” and “Bible resources” are up 13% over 2023. Why? “There’s a lot of angst in the world today and people are looking for answers. Everything from the Ukraine War to the Hamas-Israel war to the challenges people have in everyday life” prompts people to ask deep questions and to seek spiritual health, says Lockhart.

[aisha-priya123]

Green Living: How Energy Audit Services Can Help You Go Eco-Friendly and Save Money

Green living is all about adopting habits and practices that contribute to the health of our planet. It's about making conscious choices to reduce waste, conserve resources, and minimize environmental impact. One powerful tool in this eco-friendly arsenal is the energy audit. But what exactly is an energy audit, and how can it help you go green while saving money? Let’s dive in.

Understanding Energy Audits

Definition of Energy Audits

An energy audit is a comprehensive evaluation of a building’s energy use. It identifies where and how energy is being consumed and pinpoints areas where energy is being wasted. The goal is to provide actionable recommendations to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.

Types of Energy Audits

There are generally three types of energy audits:

Walk-Through Audit: A basic inspection to identify obvious energy waste.

Detailed Audit: An in-depth analysis including Energy Consumption data and specific recommendations.

Investment-Grade Audit: A thorough audit used to justify large-scale energy efficiency projects, often including financial analysis.

Components of an Energy Audit

An energy audit typically involves:

Inspection of HVAC Systems: Assessing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning for efficiency.

Lighting Analysis: Evaluating lighting systems for energy use and effectiveness.

Insulation Check: Inspecting insulation in walls, attics, and floors.

Appliance Assessment: Reviewing the efficiency of major appliances.

Benefits of Energy Audits

Financial Savings

By identifying inefficiencies and making the recommended changes, you can significantly lower your energy bills. For instance, sealing drafts and upgrading insulation can reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 30%.

Environmental Impact

Reducing energy consumption directly decreases greenhouse gas emissions. By using less energy, you help combat climate change and promote a healthier planet.

Improved Comfort and Health

Enhanced insulation, better HVAC systems, and sealed leaks contribute to a more consistent and comfortable indoor temperature, improving overall comfort and health.

Increased Property Value

Energy-efficient homes and buildings are more attractive to buyers and tenants. Energy audits can lead to improvements that enhance property value and marketability.

The Energy Audit Process

Initial Consultation

The process begins with a consultation where you discuss your concerns and goals with the auditor.

On-Site Inspection

Auditors visit your property to conduct a thorough inspection, using tools like infrared cameras and blower doors to detect issues.

Energy Consumption Analysis

By reviewing your utility bills and energy usage patterns, auditors can understand consumption trends and pinpoint high-energy-use areas.

Report and Recommendations

After the inspection and analysis, the auditor provides a detailed report with findings and specific recommendations for improvement.

Common Issues Identified in Energy Audits

Air Leaks

Air leaks around windows, doors, and other openings can cause significant energy loss.

Poor Insulation

Inadequate insulation in walls, attics, and floors leads to higher heating and cooling costs.

Inefficient Lighting

Old, inefficient lighting fixtures can be a major energy drain.

Outdated Appliances

Older appliances often consume more energy than newer, energy-efficient models.

How to Prepare for an Energy Audit

Choosing the Right Auditor

Look for reputable and certified energy auditors or companies with experience and positive reviews.

Gathering Utility Bills and Documentation

Collect past utility bills and any relevant documentation to help the auditor understand your energy usage patterns.

Preparing Your Home or Building

Ensure access to all areas of the building and list any specific concerns or areas you want the auditor to focus on.

Implementing Energy Audit Recommendations

Prioritizing Improvements

Start with the most impactful and cost-effective measures. This could include sealing leaks, upgrading insulation, or replacing outdated appliances.

DIY Solutions vs. Professional Services

Some recommendations might be simple enough to tackle on your own, while others may require professional services.

Utilizing Rebates and Incentives

Many governments and utility companies offer rebates, tax credits, and incentives for energy-efficient upgrades. An energy audit can help you identify and take advantage of these opportunities.

Future Trends in Energy Audits

Technological Advancements

Advancements in technology, such as smart home systems and more efficient diagnostic tools, are making energy audits more precise and effective.

Increasing Adoption of Renewable Energy

As renewable energy becomes more accessible and affordable, more energy audits are including recommendations for solar panels and other renewable energy sources.

Myths and Misconceptions About Energy Audits

Common Myths Debunked

Some believe energy audits are too expensive or unnecessary. However, the long-term savings and environmental benefits often outweigh the initial cost.

Facts to Consider

Energy audits can provide valuable insights and practical solutions, making them a smart investment for both homeowners and businesses.

Conclusion

Energy audits are a powerful tool for anyone looking to embrace green living and save money. By providing a clear picture of energy use and practical recommendations for improvement, Energy Audits help reduce waste, lower costs, and contribute to environmental sustainability. Investing in an energy audit is a step toward a more eco-friendly lifestyle and a more efficient, cost-effective property.

FAQs

What is an Energy Audit?

An energy audit is a thorough assessment of a building's energy use, identifying areas of waste and providing recommendations for improving efficiency.

How Much Does an Energy Audit Cost?

Costs vary depending on the size and type of building, but residential audits typically range from $200 to $600, while commercial audits can be more expensive.

How Long Does an Energy Audit Take?

The duration can vary, but most residential audits take a few hours, while more detailed commercial audits can take several days.

Are Energy Audits Worth It?

Yes, the potential savings on energy bills and the environmental benefits often make energy audits a worthwhile investment.

Can I Perform My Own Energy Audit?

While you can conduct a basic assessment, professional energy audits provide more accurate and comprehensive results.

[mightyflamethrower]

The Hertz Meltdown Reveals Scale Of The EV Debacle

BY TYLER DURDEN

Indeed, the artificial boom and then meltdown of the EV market is a modern industrial calamity. It was created by government, social media, wild disease frenzy, far-flung thinking, and the irrational chasing of utopia, followed by a rude awakening by facts and reality.

CEO of Hertz Stephen Scherr has been booted out due to a vast purchase of an EV fleet that consumers didn’t even want to rent. The company has now been forced to sell them at a deep discount and in a market where consumers are not particularly interested.

Looking back, however, Scherr’s decision to bet everything on an EV boom was a disaster that was highly praised at the time. Only last year, the company bragged: “This morning, [Hertz] was recognized by The White House for our efforts to expand access to electric vehicles across the country. Demand for EV rentals is growing and we’re here to help our customers electrify their travels.”

Pleasing the Biden administration is not the same as pleasing consumers.

The demand turned south fast in a real-world test of drivers. But that’s not all. Hertz could not make their investment pay no matter what they did.

The key issues with EVs are as follows.

The cost upfront is much higher. Financing charges are higher. They depreciate at a higher rate than internal combustion cars. The insurance is more expensive, by at least 25 percent. Repairs are much more expensive, if you can get them done at all, and take longer. Tires are more expensive and don’t last as long because the car is so heavy. Refueling is not easy and missteps here can have nightmarish consequences. They are more likely to catch fire.

Any motor vehicle accident that impacts the battery can lead to repairs higher than the value of the car, that is totaled with so much as a scratch.

To top it all over, there is no longer any financial advantage to the driver. It now costs slightly more to charge under many conditions than to refuel with gasoline.

The novelty of driving one for a day wears off after the first day. At first they seem like the greatest thing that ever happened, like an iPhone with wheels. That’s great but then the problems crop up and people start to realize that they are fine for urban commutes with home chargers and not much else.

They make truly terrible rentals. Obviously, under rental conditions, people have to use charging stations rather than a charger in the garage. That means spending part of your vacation figuring out where to find one.

Not all are superchargers, and if it is a regular charger, you are looking at an overnight wait. If you do find a station with fast chargers, you might have to wait in line. They might not work. You waste hours doing this. And you likely have to reroute your trip even to find a station without any certainty that you will get a spot with a functioning charger.

No one wants to do this. When you rent a car, all you want is a car that goes the distance. And typically car rentals are for going some distance else you would just take a taxi or a Lyft from the airport. You might need to drive several hours. And god forbid that this takes place in cold weather because that can reduce your mileage by half. Your whole trip will be ruined.

Why in the world would anyone want to rent one of these things rather than a gas-powered car? 

You might be better off with a horse and carriage.

Did Hertz think of any of this before they spent $250M on a fleet? Nope. They were just doing the fashionable thing.

Again, I’m not knocking some uses for EVs. If you think of them as enclosed and souped up golf carts, you get the idea. They can be wonderful for certain urban environments so long as you don’t overuse them and have to get them repaired. You also have to be in a financial position to afford the higher costs all around, from financing to insurance to repairs and tires. And you have to be prepared to take a big loss on resale, if you can even manage to find a buyer.

There is money to be made in this market, as there is with any niche good or service. But that is covered with normal market conditions, not massive subsidies, mandates, and frenzies. The Hertz case proves it. It is a perfect clinical trial of these machines. We now know the answer. They cannot work.

And thank goodness because if the United States truly switched over in a big way from gas to electric, we would face other disasters. The wear and tear on roads is much worse due to the sheer weight of the cars, which is 25 percent higher than gas cars on average. Many parking garages would have to be rebuilt with new reinforcements.

Then there is the strain on the grid.

There is no way the industry could handle the demand. Brownouts and travel restrictions would be essential. All this would pave the way toward 15-minute cities.

Please remember how this craze began. It was lockdown time and automakers suspended orders for parts and chips. They stopped cranking out cars. When demand intensified, the chip makers had moved on to other things, so delays escalated. By the summer of 2021, there was a general panic about a growing car shortage.

At that point, consumers were willing to buy anything on the lot, among which EVs. The sales records were completely misinterpreted. The manufacturers made huge investments, and the car rental companies did too. But the product had not really been tested. That test is taking place now, and the EVs are completely failing.

We keep hearing that this is still too early, that development has a long way to go, that more charging stations are coming, that manufacturers are going to overcome all these problems in time. 

All of this sounds very similar to what the producers of mRNA shots say: this was just a trial run and they will get better the next time.

Maybe but doubtful. There is a huge problem in the investment market right now. EVs are massive losers. Consumers, manufacturers, car rental companies, and every other market in which these lemons are made available are running away from them as fast as possible. They had their day in the sun and got fried.

There is another problem: surveillance. 

The car can be tracked anywhere and shut off at a moment’s notice. This is obviously a great thing if the government desires a social-credit system of citizens control.

At this point, it is doubtful that the industry can recover. And yet, even now, the Biden administration is planning more subsidies, more mandates, more restrictions on gas cars, and digging themselves even deeper into this hole.

“The Biden administration on Wednesday issued one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, a rule designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032,” reports the New York Times.

You simply cannot make up nuttier stuff. 

At some point, we could see manufacturers making the cars just to satisfy the central planners but otherwise preparing to chop them up and throw them out. They would likely be happy to dump them in the ocean but that isn’t allowed either.

[supersoftly]

If the minimum wage shouldn't be increased, what's the solution? Do you believe in capping executive pay or having a maximum wage? What would you do instead? Also, do you believe the studies that show increasing the minimum wage doesn't cause inflation or do you believe those studies are flawed?

Look, all I'm saying is that this isn't a thing that hasn't been tried before, you can finds studies (both small, genuine or flawed) that support your claim and in practice do jack shit or worse. In Canada, we're practically infamous for implementing every genius socialist idea and watching it play out. Last time they pushed for a huge leap in the minimum wage here you know what happened to the very people meant to help? Businesses simply cut hours per employee and then demanded they do the same work in less amount of time. Senior employees have zero incentive to give a shit when the newbie who calls in for mental health breaks only to quit a week later are paid the same. Small businesses either closed or suffered a dramatic cost increase without making profit. Heres another thought exercise for you: why do you think so many of our extremely educated and well trained nurses leave the country? Because nurses as a part of our nationalized healthcare have a capped pay, is that an acceptable end result of declaring and generalizing arbitrary value to a broad range of a workforce? You have to accept that a nurse in Ontario is worth the same as a gas station attendant, a cashier, a shelf stocker, a Walmart greeter, or do you think they deserve the money they believe they're worth even if it's more than what the government deemed? It's two sides of the same coin, all manipulated not by the will of the free market and the people, but by government and that should concern you.

Money is a system of belief, remember that, if people don't believe in the system, that the money isn't worth the value of the things you trade it for, it will fail and artificially inflating value, during a time when everything is literally getting shittier, is not a real solution because it's not producing anything. Literally look at Canada's economics since Trudeau came into power, we've just been pissing away our money for the press and our dollar, our economy is on its way to nosediving this entire country just to 'own the conservatives' or whatever the heck makes everyone salivate over supporting our corrupt government and ignore their self appointed raises 2020-2023. Recall that I'm in the country where when one MP openly suggested all of the Parliament take CERB as their paycut during COVID lockdowns since they forced it on everyone else and it was rejected by basically all but the guy who suggested it. I have a hard time believing any of these people have you, me or the little guy in their hearts when making any decision.

But either way, all I can do is question if this is really the solution y'all think it is cuz it's not like I have any control or voting power in the province I live in, so they'll probably raise the wage anyways and we'll see it play out just like you want. Maybe you and your studies are right and we'll see a turn for the better, but I have my doubts, mostly in anything the government implements for the supposed 'greater good'. We'll see how it plays out, Cotton.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Scott Stantis, Chicago Tribune

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 1, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

Although no one has seen the charges, MAGA Republican lawmakers reacted to the decision of a grand jury of ordinary citizens to charge a former president by preemptively accusing Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg of abusing the power of the government against MAGA Republicans.

“[C]orrupt Socialist District Attorney Alvin Bragg [and] the radical Far Left” (New York representative Elise Stefanik) “irreparably damaged our country” (House speaker Kevin McCarthy) “for pure political gain” (Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin). It is “a direct assault on the tens of millions of Americans who support [Trump]” (Ohio senator J. D. Vance), and “[the House Republicans] will hold Alvin Bragg accountable” (Stefanik, again).

The lawmakers have reached their position after extensive coordination with Trump, with whom Stefanik, Jordan, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speak regularly to keep him abreast of what they know about investigations and to plan policy. As Stephen Collinson pointed out on CNN, they are taking to a new level what they have been doing since Trump took office: weaponizing the government to put Trump back into power.

As the Manhattan grand jury’s investigation got close to a decision, McCarthy backed an investigation of the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Promptly, committee chairs Jim Jordan (R-OH, Judiciary), James Comer (R-KY, Oversight and Accountability), and Bryan Steil (R-WI, House Administration) demanded that Bragg turn over all documents and testimony related to the investigation and appear before them to answer questions. As the counsel for the district attorney’s office, Leslie B. Dubeck, pointed out in response, these demands are “an unprecedented and illegitimate incursion on New York’s sovereign interests” and amount to  “unlawful political interference.”

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told Washington Post reporter Greg Sargent: “This is an extreme move to use the resources of Congress to interfere with a criminal investigation at the state and local level and block an indictment.” It is, he said, “the kind of political culture you find in authoritarian dictatorships.”

At Axios today, Sophia Cai and Juliegrace Brufke ran the numbers of Trump backers in Congress. Thirty-seven Republicans have already endorsed him, and in the House, McCarthy has put them into key positions. Trump supporters make up more than a third of the Republicans members on the Committee on the Judiciary, which oversees the legal system, and the Committee on Oversight, which oversees government accountability. Nine of the 25 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee support him; 11 of the 26 Republicans on House Oversight do, too.

What is actually in the indictment remains unknown, but the language Republicans are using to attack it reveals that what it says doesn’t particularly matter. Their claim that “the Left” is “weaponizing government” against the right echoes “post-liberal” ideology. This worldview explains why the right wing continues to lose ground in society despite Republican victories at the polls. The problem is not that right-wing positions are unpopular, post-liberal thinkers insist, it’s that the “left” has captured the nation’s institutions.

They argue that the ideas that underpin democracy—equality before the law, separation of church and state, academic freedom, a market-driven economy, free speech—have undermined virtue. These values are “liberal” values because they are based on the idea of the importance of individual freedom from an oppressive government, and they are at the heart of American democracy.

But post-liberal thinkers say that liberalism’s defense of individual rights has destroyed the family, communities, and even the fundamental differences between men and women, throwing society into chaos. They propose to restore the values of traditional Christianity, which would, they believe, restore traditional family structures and supportive communities, and promote the virtue of self-sacrifice as people give up their individualism for their children (their worldview utterly rejects abortion).

The position of those embracing a post-liberal order is a far cry from the Reagan Republicans’ claim to want small government and free markets. The new ideologues want a strong government to enforce their religious values on American society, and they reject those of both parties who support democratic norms—for it is those very norms they see as destructive. They urge their leaders to “dare to rule.”

Those who call for a new post-liberal order want to “reconquer public institutions all over the United States,” as Christopher Rufo put it after Florida governor Ron DeSantis appointed him to the board of New College as part of a mission to turn the progressive school into a right-wing bastion. “If we can take this high-risk, high-reward gambit and turn it into a victory,” Rufo told Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times, “we’re going to see conservative state legislators starting to reconquer public institutions all over the United States.”

To spur that process, Republicans have turned to so-called culture wars, but as David Kurtz of Talking Points Memo notes, issues are becoming heated not in some vague way, but because Republicans are deliberately making normal processes partisan to destroy consensus about them. So, for example, Rufo pushed the idea that the legal framework “critical race theory” was being pushed in public agencies and public schools in order, he told Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker, “to politicize the bureaucracy.” He hoped to “take some of these essentially corrupted state agencies and then contest them, and then create rival power centers within them.”

The Republican attacks on Bragg reflect this process. They are quite deliberately destroying public faith in the justice system, declaring Trump’s looming indictment a political attack even before we know what’s in it, and attributing the indictment to a single man—a Black man— rather than to a jury of ordinary citizens. That attack, as Raskin pointed out, is their own attempt to politicize the Department of Justice and then take it over.  

It is important to understand the pattern behind these attacks on American institutions. They are not piecemeal; they are a larger attack on democracy itself.

Republicans are wrong, not only in their attacks on Bragg, but also in their premise that liberal democracy is immoral. It has not destroyed families or communities, or ended self-sacrifice: just the opposite.

The principles of liberal democracy made nineteenth-century writer Harriet Beecher Stowe turn her grief for her dead eighteen-month-old son into the best-selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which showed why no mother’s child should be sold away from her. It made Rose Herera sue her former enslaver for custody of her own children after the Civil War. It made Julia Ward Howe demand the right to vote so her abusive husband could not control her life any longer.

It made Black mathematician and naturalist Benjamin Banneker call out Thomas Jefferson for praising liberty while denying it to Black Americans; Sitting Bull defend the right of the Lakota to practice their own new religion, even though he did not believe in it; Saum Song Bo tell The New York Sun he was insulted by their request for money to build a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty when, three years before, the country had excluded people like him; Dr. Héctor García realize that Mexican Americans needed to be able to vote in order to protect themselves; Edward Roberts claim the right to get an education despite his physical paralysis; drag king Stormé DeLarverie throw the first punch at the Stonewall riot that jump-started the gay rights movement.

And self-sacrifice? Americans trying to push the United States to live up to its principles have  always put themselves on the line for freedom rather than permitting democracy to fall to white supremacists or theocrats. As James Meredith recalled of his long struggle to desegregate the University of Mississippi in the 1960s: “My entire crusade at Ole Miss, you see, was a love story. It is a story about my love for America….”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[female-malice]

I mean no disrespect to you, here, but I disagree with your views about homesteading. First off, not everyone necessarily needs to own their own homestead like you assumed in order to produce enough food for everyone via homesteading (and, let's be honest; because interests tend to vary from person to person, not everyone will even necessarily want to). Even regular farming tends to overproduce more than they need to just to grow enough to earn a profit, which is necessary, because there is no way to really regulate how much food each plant or livestock animal will produce. In order to produce just enough, you have to plant or raise more than you actually need. A large amount of food gets thrown out before it ever hits store shelves because it can't be sold, either due to minor cosmetic flaws or because there is just so. Damn. Much of it that the supply overpowers the demand. This is known as farm surplus, and it produces a LOT of the methane gas in our landfills that contribute to global warming (I mean, not as much as oil and gas, of course, but still a lot) whilst millions go hungry. Sustainable, biomimicry-focused methods of farming, such as those employed in permaculture and by the Savory Institute, actually produces significantly more food per square mile of farmland than even conventional agriculture farming methods do, so it is more than possible to feed everyone off of far fewer small homesteads using sustainable, biomimicry-focused methods. So, no, not everyone needs to homestead for homesteading to still be the answer to our hunger problem, without wreaking the environment. The problem, however, is Capitalism, which is a profit-driven system that artificially limits amounts of common things that we actually have a nearly never-ending supply of (diamonds, food, you get the idea) in order to increase their market value. If we have too much of them, only the amount that can be sold at an actual profit will be sold, and the rest thrown out, resulting in the aforementioned farm surplus rotting in landfills that I already told you about, and the fact that the global food system is run by corporations instead of regular people who produce and farm the food is a main cause of this. What we need to do is get rid of the global Capitalist food system, and instead, write the concept of food sovereignty into law. After we have done so, there won't be such an issue with farm surplus, and everyone will be able to eat all of the food that sustainable homesteads provide, rather than throwing so much of it out over profit motive, people and planet be damned.

All you've done here is taken my argument against homesteading and twist it into a strawman.

Homesteading. It means working the land on your own private property. Private food on private property. That is the definition of homesteading. You can romanticize it all you want. Most of us in western society were raised to romanticize settler culture. But homesteading is inefficient, disorganized, and vulnerable to natural disaster. And anyone could show up and present themselves as a benevolent homesteader only to have terrible intentions for the community. We can't just leave the power of food in the hands of some random private individuals. No way.

Now reread my post. What did I recommend in my post? Public farming co-operatives. Collaboration between farm co-operatives, local universities, local food banks, local public schools, and local supply chains. Public food on public property. That's the definition of co-operative farming.

If you want to keep your land private, then rewild your private land. You can start a native plant nursery while you're at it. There's enough food on healthy wild land for one or two people. Enjoy.

If you want to grow large quantities of food on your land, then your land must become public land. And you must give up control of your land to the community. Food belongs to everyone. So the land food grows on must belong to everyone.

Private food needs to end now. And homesteading does not end private food. It only winds back the clock to feudal politics. I know this is raining on everyone's post-apocalypse cottage core fantasies. But we can't run a society on individual fantasies. We need an organized collective vision and we need to build public local institutions around that vision. No more fantasy.

[blueweave8]

Horizontal Directional Drilling Market Demand, Trends, Forecast 2022-2029

BlueWeave Consulting, a leading strategic consulting and market research firm, in its recent study, estimated the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Marketsize at USD 9.46 billion in 2022. During the forecast period between 2023 and 2029, BlueWeave expects Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Marketsize to grow at a significant CAGR of 5.7% reaching a value of USD 13.21 billion by 2029. Major growth drivers for the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Marketinclude the increasing adoption of HDD technology for precise and minimally invasive drilling operations. This technique facilitates the drilling and reverse reaming of pipes with precision, navigating through obstacles in the underground terrain while minimizing harm to ecosystems. Market expansion is further fueled by increasing investments in shale gas projects and the ongoing development of high-speed connectivity in the telecom industry. Notably, The global surge in oil and gas activities has spurred an increase in horizontal directional drilling (HDD) worldwide. Recognizing the environmental impact of conventional drilling methods, there is a growing emphasis on employing eco-friendly drilling technology, leading to the expansion of the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market. The horizontal directional drilling approach stands out for its precision and reduced power consumption compared to vertical maneuvering techniques. Another significant driving force is the rapid globalization and urbanization, fueled by the escalating energy and fuel demand in developing nations. This surge in demand is closely tied to ongoing infrastructure development, utility system construction, and advancements in the telecommunications sector, including 5G testing. These factors, along with related developments, are anticipated to contribute significantly to the market's swift growth during the forecast period. The increasing utilization of horizontal directional drilling products in surveying, designing, and installing subsurface electrical systems for subterranean cables further propels the expansion of the market. Also, the rising demand for natural gas and electricity distribution in middle and upper pipeline lines is expected to drive market growth. The use of horizontal directional drilling fasteners in utility, communications, and oil and gas industries offers benefits such as increased stability, enhanced device management, and improved treatment and monitoring outcomes. However, high costs and technical challenges are anticipated to restrain the overall market growth during the forecast period.

Impact of Escalating Geopolitical Tensions on Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market

The Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market has been significantly impacted by intensifying geopolitical disruptions in recent times. For instance, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has disrupted supply chains decreased service demand, and increased uncertainty for businesses. This turmoil extended to energy markets, causing turbulence due to Russia's significant role as a major gas supplier, resulting in noticeable price fluctuations. In addition, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other have had widespread implications, injecting a level of risk for investors across various sectors. Beyond the war zones and disputed areas, the ongoing crisis jeopardizes stability on a global scale. It becomes imperative for businesses and investors alike to comprehend and adeptly manage these interconnected challenges.

Despite the current challenges posed by geopolitical tensions, there are potential growth opportunities for the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market. The ongoing infrastructure projects, utility installations, and the continuous expansion of the telecommunications industry. This demand underscores the market's resilience. Emphasizing strategic adaptation is crucial in navigating these complex circumstances, ensuring sustained success amid global challenges and uncertainties.

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Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market – By End User

On the basis of end user, the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market is divided into Oil & Gas Excavation, Utilities, and Telecommunication segments. The oil & gas excavation segment holds the highest share in the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market by end user. The existing and robust infrastructure generates a significant demand for drilling rigs, contributing to the predominant market position of the oil and gas excavation segment. Also, efforts to manage the increasing expenses linked to exploration and production endeavors in untapped regions are anticipated to strengthen the prominence of this segment. Meanwhile, the telecommunications segment holds the highest share in the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market. The increasing need for faster broadband access propels telecommunications operators to adopt advanced and reliable drilling services, including horizontal directional drilling. This method facilitates the expansion of optic fiber cable networks by deploying conduits and pipes through holes nearly 4 feet in diameter and 6,500 feet in length, particularly in offshore locations. The growing demand for 4G and 5G networks is expected to contribute significantly to the segment's growth throughout the forecast period.

Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market – By Region

The in-depth research report on the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market covers various country-specific markets across five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. North America holds the highest share in the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, liquid fuel consumption in 2022 was reported at 8.8 billion barrels per day. The growing prevalence of infrastructure and utility projects in North America is a key driver for the increased demand in horizontal directional drilling equipment and services. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region emerged as the second-largest user of drilling services for oil and gas excavation activities.

Competitive Landscape

Major players operating in the Global Horizontal Directional Drilling Market include Baker Hughes Company, Barbco Inc., China Oilfield Services Limited, Ellingson Companies, Halliburton Company, Helmerich & Payne Inc., Herrenknecht AG, Nabors Industries Ltd, NOV Inc., Schlumberger Limited, The Toro Company, Vermeer Corporation, Weatherford International plc, Drillto Trenchless Co. Ltd, Laney Directional Drilling, Prime Drilling GmbH, XCMG Group, and TRACTO. To further enhance their market share, these companies employ various strategies, including mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures, license agreements, and new product launches

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BlueWeave Consulting & Research Pvt. Ltd

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[enerdatics]

Renewable Energy M&A hits a record high of $100bn!

The global deal value surged by 48% y/y to $108bn in 2022; transacted capacity more than doubled to 740 GW. Corporate consolidations in the US and acquisitions of offshore wind assets in Europe were the major contributors to this rise.

Enerdatics has published its annual analysis of renewable energy transactions, globally. To access the full copy of this report, kindly visit enerdatics.com.

In the US, large, integrated power producers and oil majors expanded their presence in the onshore wind, solar and biofuels segments, fueled by incentives offered under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Biden administration’s waiver of import tariffs on solar panels from certain Southeast Asian countries improved the outlook for the US’s solar sector, contributing to a 309% y/y rise solar deal value during the year. Meanwhile, clean fuel tax credits and the rising demand to decarbonize domestic heating and power spurred billion-dollar investments in renewable natural gas (RNG) and alcohol fuels assets by bp and Chevron.

In Europe, private equity (PE)-led farm-ins in offshore wind assets, primarily in the UK and Germany accounted for ~40% of the region's transaction value. Ambitious government targets and supportive legislation, such as Germany’s Easter Package, drove deal activity. Further, the EU's plan to offset 3.5 billion cubic metres of Russian gas annually and efforts to decarbonize fossil fuel-based power and heating is spurring investments in renewable natural gas and energy-from-waste platforms. Shell and KKR led activity in the sector during the year.

APAC accounted for $19bn of transactions during the year, with India emerging as the premier market in the region. Onshore wind M&A activity surged by 69% y/y, as countries in the region overcame supply chain bottlenecks due to proximity to steel and equipment manufacturing hubs. Additionally, continued elevated prices of oil, coal, and LNG drove C&I customers to turn to corporate power purchase agreements, leading to a surge in interest for assets backed by bilateral contracts

LatAm deal value surged by 314% y/y, with Brazil accounting for 84% of the region’s transaction value. A 2021 regulation that allows companies to sign dollar-denominated PPAs incentivized foreign investment in Brazil's renewables sector by reducing forex risk. Meanwhile, Chile recorded $1bn of deals in 2022, however, transmission bottlenecks continue to impact investor appetite in the country.

PS: The above analysis is proprietary to Enerdatics’ energy analytics team, based on the current understanding of the available data. The information is subject to change and should not be taken to constitute professional advice or a recommendation.

[beardedmrbean]

Norwegian company Blastr has announced plans to establish a green steel plant with an integrated hydrogen production facility in Inkoo, Finland.

Blastr agreed a letter of intent with Finland's Fortum energy company that provides exclusive rights to utilize an existing industrial site located in Inkoo, on the Finnish south coast.

Decarbonized steel, also known as "green steel", uses local and renewable energy as the basis for heating, reduction and melting, rather than fossil fuels. The plant planned for Inkoo is to produce two and a half million tons of high-quality hot and cold-rolled green steel annually.

The investment value of the project is approximately four billion euros and will employ approximately 1,200 people when completed, marking one of the largest single industrial investments in Finland's history.

According to Blastr Green Steel CEO Hans Fredrik Wittusen, Inkoo was selected as as the site for the plant due to its existing infrastructure, deep harbour, access to nearby European markets, and availability of electricity from emission-free sources.

Production is set to begin from the start of 2026.

Inkoo was most recently in the headlines when Finland's first floating terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived at the port in late December.

Attracting green investments

Finland's Economy Minister Mika Lintilä (Cen) stated in a press release that Blastr's decision to locate its new plant at Inkoo is an indication of the competitiveness of Finnish industry and infrastructure.

He described Finland as an excellent place for carbon-neutral industry and production of decarbonized steel, as the Nordic nation has a strong and reliable electricity grid, good conditions for producing emission-free energy and efficient logistics.

Risto Murro, CEO of the pension company Varma told Yle on Tuesday that the news of Blastr's planned steel mill shows that Finland is an attractive country for green investments.

"Clearly a lot of investments in heavy industry are being made in Finland now," Murto said, adding that Finland has also managed to attract other energy investments, such as wind power, with industrial projects increasingly enticed by access to those sources of renewable energy.

[mariacallous]

Lena Anderson isn’t a soccer fan, but she does spend a lot of time ferrying her kids between soccer practices and competitive games.

“I may not pull out a foam finger and painted face, but soccer does have a place in my life,” says the soccer mom—who also happens to be completely made up. Anderson is a fictional personality played by artificial intelligence software like that powering ChatGPT.

Anderson doesn’t let her imaginary status get in the way of her opinions, though, and comes complete with a detailed backstory. In a wide-ranging conversation with a human interlocutor, the bot says that it has a 7-year-old son who is a fan of the New England Revolution and loves going to home games at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. Anderson claims to think the sport is a wonderful way for kids to stay active and make new friends.

In another conversation, two more AI characters, Jason Smith and Ashley Thompson, talk to one another about ways that Major League Soccer (MLS) might reach new audiences. Smith suggests a mobile app with an augmented reality feature showing different views of games. Thompson adds that the app could include “gamification” that lets players earn points as they watch.

The three bots are among scores of AI characters that have been developed by Fantasy, a New York company that helps businesses such as LG, Ford, Spotify, and Google dream up and test new product ideas. Fantasy calls its bots synthetic humans and says they can help clients learn about audiences, think through product concepts, and even generate new ideas, like the soccer app.

"The technology is truly incredible," says Cole Sletten, VP of digital experience at the MLS. “We’re already seeing huge value and this is just the beginning.”

Fantasy uses the kind of machine learning technology that powers chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard to create its synthetic humans. The company gives each agent dozens of characteristics drawn from ethnographic research on real people, feeding them into commercial large language models like OpenAI’s GPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Its agents can also be set up to have knowledge of existing product lines or businesses, so they can converse about a client’s offerings.

Fantasy then creates focus groups of both synthetic humans and real people. The participants are given a topic or a product idea to discuss, and Fantasy and its client watch the chatter. BP, an oil and gas company, asked a swarm of 50 of Fantasy’s synthetic humans to discuss ideas for smart city projects. “We've gotten a really good trove of ideas,” says Roger Rohatgi, BP’s global head of design. “Whereas a human may get tired of answering questions or not want to answer that many ways, a synthetic human can keep going,” he says.

Peter Smart, chief experience officer at Fantasy, says that synthetic humans have produced novel ideas for clients, and prompted real humans included in their conversations to be more creative. “It is fascinating to see novelty—genuine novelty—come out of both sides of that equation—it’s incredibly interesting,” he says.

Large language models are proving remarkably good at mirroring human behavior. Their algorithms are trained on huge amounts of text slurped from books, articles, websites like Reddit, and other sources—giving them the ability to mimic many kinds of social interaction.

When these bots adopt human personas, things can get weird.

Experts warn that anthropomorphizing AI is both potentially powerful and problematic, but that hasn’t stopped companies from trying it. Character.AI, for instance, lets users build chatbots that assume the personalities of real or imaginary individuals. The company has reportedly sought funding that would value it at around $5 billion.

The way language models seem to reflect human behavior has also caught the eye of some academics. Economist John Horton of MIT, for instance, sees potential in using these simulated humans—which he dubs Homo silicus—to simulate market behavior.

You don’t have to be an MIT professor or a multinational company to get a collection of chatbots talking amongst themselves. For the past few days, WIRED has been running a simulated society of 25 AI agents go about their daily lives in Smallville, a village with amenities including a college, stores, and a park. The characters’ chat with one another and move around a map that looks a lot like the game Stardew Valley. The characters in the WIRED sim include Jennifer Moore, a 68-year-old watercolor painter who putters around the house most days; Mei Lin, a professor who can often be found helping her kids with their homework; and Tom Moreno, a cantankerous shopkeeper.

The characters in this simulated world are powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model, but the software needed to create and maintain them was open sourced by a team at Stanford University. The research shows how language models can be used to produce some fascinating and realistic, if rather simplistic, social behavior. It was fun to see them start talking to customers, taking naps, and in one case decide to start a podcast.

Large language models “have learned a heck of a lot about human behavior” from their copious training data, says Michael Bernstein, an associate professor at Stanford University who led the development of Smallville. He hopes that language-model-powered agents will be able to autonomously test software that taps into social connections before real humans use them. He says there has also been plenty of interest in the project from videogame developers, too.

The Stanford software includes a way for the chatbot-powered characters to remember their personalities, what they have been up to, and to reflect upon what to do next. “We started building a reflection architecture where, at regular intervals, the agents would sort of draw up some of their more important memories, and ask themselves questions about them,” Bernstein says. “You do this a bunch of times and you kind of build up this tree of higher-and-higher-level reflections.”

Anyone hoping to use AI to model real humans, Bernstein says, should remember to question how faithfully language models actually mirror real behavior. Characters generated this way are not as complex or intelligent as real people and may tend to be more stereotypical and less varied than information sampled from real populations. How to make the models reflect reality more faithfully is “still an open research question,” he says.

Smallville is still fascinating and charming to observe. In one instance, described in the researchers’ paper on the project, the experimenters informed one character that it should throw a Valentine’s Day party. The team then watched as the agents autonomously spread invitations, asked each other out on dates to the party, and planned to show up together at the right time.

WIRED was sadly unable to re-create this delightful phenomenon with its own minions, but they managed to keep busy anyway. Be warned, however, running an instance of Smallville eats up API credits for access to OpenAI's GPT-4 at an alarming rate. Bernstein says running the sim for a day or more costs upwards of a thousand dollars. Just like real humans, it seems, synthetic ones don’t work for free.

[theusaleaders]

The Future of Flying Cars: What You Need to Know

When someone asks us, “How will the future be?” we always include the point of flying cars in our conversation. Various stories, animations, cartoons, etc., have always portrayed this concept. Initially, nobody could predict when such cars would become the new normal, but now the wait is almost over. With rapid technological advancements every year, the transport industry is exploring its potential more than ever. Experts predict that the global market for the flying car industry will reach $1.6 billion by 2030. In this blog, we will talk about the possibilities, impacts, challenges, and opportunities associated with the future of flying cars.

Let’s begin!

1. Technological Advancements

Electric and hybrid vehicles rely on electric propulsion, which uses an electric motor to enhance engine performance, power the vehicle, and improve safety, efficiency, and range. The market value was $14.72 billion in 2023.

In flying cars, autonomous systems utilize sensors to detect traffic lights, signs, pedestrians, and vehicles, creating a map of the surroundings to enhance navigation and safety. The market value is projected to reach $5.68 billion by 2033.

Advanced materials such as carbon fiber, titanium alloys, and aluminum alloys enable the construction of durable and lightweight flying cars. The market value was $65.2 billion in 2023.

Flying cars can operate in densely populated areas without extensive infrastructure, thanks to their Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) capabilities. The market value for such technology is estimated at $33.45 billion.

2. Urban Air Mobility

Urban air mobility aims to reduce traffic congestion in densely populated areas by utilizing small automated vehicles for passenger and cargo transport. This efficient system saves time, ensures safety, and reduces air pollution. We envision integrating it into a multimodal mobility system for the future, which will offer significant traffic reduction. The environmental benefits include reducing air pollution and saving fossil fuels by using electric flying cars. However, the implementation is hindered by infrastructure challenges such as the need for landing pads, charging stations, and maintenance facilities. To turn this concept into reality, we must overcome obstacles like pilot training, safety standards, and social resistance. The UAM market is valued at $3.8 billion in 2023.

3. Environmental Impact

The future of flying cars will not produce any air pollution. People will use such cars in the future, and they will completely eliminate their carbon footprint. Today, cars are one of the biggest causes of air pollution. According to research, electric flying cars will reduce greenhouse gases by 52% and generate 6% lower greenhouse gas emissions than electric cars over trips of 100 kilometers, or about 62 miles. These cars would be very useful in populated cities since the more the population, the more pollution. It suggests that flying cars may also reduce the future use of airplanes.

4. Economic opportunities

The new future of flying cars is also going to bring significant benefits to other industries.

Travel and Tourism Industry: Flying cars will make travel more convenient. Whether people are traveling or cargo is being transported, these cars will save time, avoid traffic congestion, and provide convenience. In the future, tourism could be done in both ways. People can choose to travel to destinations on their own, or travel companies can arrange their travel via flying cars.

Infrastructure industry: The future will require a lot of infrastructural construction, such as landing pads, charging stations, airways, parking spaces, and maintenance stations.

Hospitality industry: The future may see the emergence of skyports or airhotels, as many tourists would prefer to rest as they travel. These facilities will ensure smooth travel. It may take some time for humans to fully adapt to flying cars.

Insurance industry: The insurance sector may need to develop new insurance policies associated with aerial transportation. Insurers would have to offer coverage for potential accidents, collisions, and third-party liabilities.

Automobile, Material, and Tech industries: The automobile industry will profit the most, as many people will manufacture and purchase flying cars once using such vehicles becomes normal. Additionally, the material industry will benefit, as they will have to carefully select lightweight and durable materials to construct such a complex machine. Advanced technologies will also be used to drive the vehicle, as mentioned above, making the tech industry profitable as well.

Electric industry and Battery industry: Since these vehicles will heavily rely on electricity, this industry will also flourish. It will invest heavily in collaboration with the battery industry to develop better and longer-lasting batteries for traveling long distances.

5. Challenges and Limitations.

Although we imagine flying cars to be easy in the future, the reality is that they are not. There are many challenges at present.

Safety and Reliability: Technological advancements have made using flying cars possible today. We have come closer to achieving this dream through the development of technologies such as VTOL, Electric propulsion, advanced materials for car construction, and the Autonomous system. However, we still need to test these systems further before finalizing the model. We must address concerns such as midair collisions, emergency landings, and mid-air collisions to gain the public’s trust.

Cost: Many people wish to buy a flying car regardless of the situation, but money is the issue for them. These cars are currently very expensive, and common people can’t afford them. The cost of purchasing a flying car currently ranges from $1,20,000 to $3.5 million. Additionally, the maintenance of such cars will be very costly. These cars cannot work with a normal automotive battery.

Building infrastructure to support the car: Let’s say someone still buys the car, but what about other issues such as a landing pad, charging station, maintenance facilities, and air traffic? The government has not yet built such facilities to encourage people to buy cars.

Public Trust: People see potential in the future of flying cars, and they like this concept. However, they have not been able to accept and adapt it to their daily lives because many structural issues, financial issues, safety issues, and environmental issues have not been publicly addressed by authorities. As a result, nobody wants to purchase a car.

Coordination: Proper planning for the implementation of flying cars involves coordinating air and ground traffic, developing intermodal connectivity, and providing seamless transfer options between different modes of transportation.

Shortage of Pilots: Currently, nobody has been trained on how to use a flying car, except for airplane pilots.

6. Future Possibilities

Well, just like flying cars will become our reality at some point in time, they will also bring a bundle of possibilities, such as:

Other uses: Flying cars could revolutionize emergency medical services and rescue operations. E-commerce businesses could utilize them for product deliveries, while postal services could become quicker. Aerial inspections could be conducted for surveys, and researchers would gain easier access to remote locations, contributing to advancements in fields such as ecology, geology, and atmospheric sciences. Aerial sports could also emerge as a new genre in the sports industry, and photographers might use flying cars for scenic and wildlife photography.

Integration with AI and Drones: The use of AI will enhance driving experiences through advanced algorithms. AI’s sensor technology will help avoid aerial accidents, and it can effectively manage air traffic and regulate flying cars.

Similarly, imitating drones will enable flying cars to take off in a flexible manner and operate smoothly in urban areas, thereby avoiding accidents.

7. News Related to flying cars

The exciting news is floating around the topic:

Alef Aeronautics has launched “Model A,” the first flying car, with its official flying car design. The design resembles a normal car, but it hides propellers on the top. The car can accommodate up to two passengers for travel.

They have approved the first flying car and are all set for testing. It is said that the flying car will be ready to take off by 2025. Alef Aeronautics has launched the product, and the price is $300,000. They are saying that the car can now be pre-ordered. They have named the model “Model A,” and it will carry two passengers. Drivers can use it on public roads and can take off vertically as soon as the tests are over.

The next achievement of “Model A” is that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recently approved the airworthiness certificate of “Model A.” The FAA has allowed Alef Aeronautics to begin test flights this month. The FAA’s clearance marked the first time the US Government has legally approved a vehicle like this. “Model A” has a driving range of 200 miles and a flying range of 110 miles.

In conclusion, the future of flying cars looks very promising. These cars will not only benefit customers but also benefit various industrial sectors. Flying cars will create a lot of new job opportunities. Although these vehicles currently face infrastructural setbacks, they have many benefits. In the next 10 years, these cars will be used in reality and will create a new revolution altogether. It will be interesting to see what steps the government takes to provide solutions to the issues mentioned above, now that the first car is all set to launch in 2025.

[blueweave]

global building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market size at USD 14.06 billion in 2022. During the forecast period between 2023 and 2029, BlueWeave expects global building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market size to grow at a significant CAGR of 21% reaching a value of USD 44.45 billion by 2029. Major growth drivers for the global building integrated photovoltaics market include an increasing adoption of renewable energy sources, a growing focus on sustainable construction practices, supportive government incentives and regulations, rapid technological advancements in BIPV, and rising demand for green buildings. The market is further propelled by a strong emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainable development, with expectations of continued growth in the forecast period. Global awareness and adoption of solar power have been driven by countries prioritizing energy security and self-sufficiency. Supportive government legislations and commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions further fuel market growth. Key countries driving the transition to solar energy include Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Japan, and India. With these favorable conditions, the solar panel market is poised for significant expansion in the upcoming years. However, high initial costs of investments and complexity of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) installations are anticipated to restrain the overall market growth during the period in analysis.

Global Building Integrated Photovoltaics Market – Overview

The global building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market refers to the integration of photovoltaic materials into building elements, such as windows, facades, and roofs, to generate electricity while simultaneously serving their functional purposes. BIPV technology enables the seamless incorporation of solar panels into the building's design, allowing for the production of renewable energy on-site. This innovative approach combines the benefits of solar power generation with the aesthetics and functionality of building materials. BIPV systems can contribute to energy efficiency, reduce reliance on traditional power sources, and lower carbon emissions. The global BIPV market encompasses various technologies, materials, and applications aimed at integrating solar power generation into the built environment to meet the increasing demand for sustainable and energy-efficient buildings.

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