Woman perplexed by mysterious source of foul odor on nature walk: ‘What is this?’

Leo Collis
Tue, October 17, 2023

Reddit has once again come to the rescue after a forager was left completely stumped by a strange, foul-smelling organism while out in the woods.

Pictures of the mysterious growth were posted to the platform, with all examples appearing to be red with craters in the surface. While a couple seemed to be round, others looked as if they had been popped with a needle — like a deflated soccer ball.

“What is this? It smelled like poop and looked like poop in it with flies on it,” the Redditor captioned the images on the r/Mycology subreddit.

Photo Credit: u/Sad-Strawberry3976 / Reddit

Over 100 comments have been left on the post, and many people provided some suggestions of what it might be.

“Stinkhorn, only ever seen one in my life,” one user commented. But others elaborated on that identification.

Some people guessed it was a Clathrus ruber, which looks very similar to the fungus in the original poster’s pictures.

After discovering that it was found in south Florida, though, one user said: “Supports my ID of Clathrus crispus. Clathrus ruber is considered a west coast species.”

According to Ultimate Mushroom, the Clathrus crispus is a type of stinkhorn that “can be separated by the corona-like grooves surrounding each hole in the lattice structure.”

MushroomExpert.com noted they typically grow alone or in groups in woody or grassy areas in Florida, the Gulf Coast, Mexico, and the Caribbean. They also grow year-round in South America.

The website added the fungus resembles a red or pink “Wiffle ball.” Meanwhile, when discussing stinkhorns in general, MushroomExpert.com said the bad smell is from a slime coating that helps it to attract flies, which then help to spread its spores.

It’s not surprising that some Redditors thought this particular fungus was a Clathrus ruber, as it shares plenty of similarities with the Clathrus crispus. While the smell might put some off, Ultimate Mushroom noted that the Clathrus ruber is safe to eat in the egg stage and is even a delicacy in some parts of the world.

They can be useful in the decomposition process for plant and wood material, but Ultimate Mushroom recommends their removal, even if there is no evidence of toxicity in pets — and it might be wise to do the same with the Clathrus crispus.

To do so, knocking down the stalks when they sprout is a good start. If the foul smell has already reached your nostrils, dispose of them using gloves and put them in sealed plastic bags to prevent the fragrance from following you indoors.

Hplovecraft.com

https://hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/poetry/p289.aspx

"Fungi from Yuggoth" by H. P. Lovecraft 

Oct 20, 2009 ... Ecstasy-fraught, and as a day-dream free. It is in sunsets and strange city spires, Old villages and woods and misty downs, South winds, the sea ...

Scientists discover enormous goldmine of lithium in U.S.: ‘This is a very, very significant deposit’

Sara Klimek
Tue, October 17, 2023 



When you hear the term “valuable metal,” your mind may go straight to gold or silver. But a recent discovery proves that the true goldmine is a major cache of lithium — and it may be closer to home than you’d think.
Why is lithium valuable?

Lithium is a critical metal used for the creation of EV batteries.

Since the reserves of this metal are so limited, manufacturers have used recycled batteries to supplement their lithium needs and ensure there is enough for EV battery manufacturing.

The limited amount of lithium and other metals needed for the batteries, like cobalt and nickel, can create a bottleneck in generating new batteries.
Why is this lithium cache important?

The newly discovered lithium deposit is believed to be one of the world’s most significant and available sources of lithium — and it’s located in the United States.

The McDermitt Caldera, on the border of Oregon and Nevada, is estimated to hold between 22 and 44 million tons of the metal, according to Futurism. This makes global leader Bolivia’s 23 million tons encased in salt flats look less significant.

“If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimation, this is a very, very significant deposit of lithium,” Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University, told Chemistry World. “It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply, and geopolitics.”

Unlike other global sources of lithium, which is often stored in brine or hard rocks, a good source of this deposit’s lithium is encased in clays and claystones.

The location of the clay-rich sedimentary material relative to the Earth’s surface makes removal of the metal easier and significantly cheaper than other global stores.
How will this impact the renewable energy economy?

This massive jackpot of lithium has the potential to catapult the United States into becoming even more of a critical player than it is in the global renewable energy economy.

Since lithium is currently a metal in short supply (and was listed on the 2022 United States Geological Survey’s list of “critical minerals” essential to the country’s economy and national security), having major stores of it can speed up the production of batteries and potentially make it more affordable for manufacturers and consumers alike.

It may also make manufacturing EVs more practical than breaking ground to extract oil, coal, and gas to power the dirty-energy economy.

In addition, mining the clay-encased mineral should create less environmental damage than other lithium extraction methods.

Since most of the lithium stores are concentrated in part of the Thacker Pass in Nevada, it will reduce the amount of land that needs to be disturbed for mining. This can reduce negative environmental impacts, like surface pollution.

The mining operation has also had its fair share of controversy. Indigenous groups, who have claim over parts of the deposit, and conservationists have voiced their concerns with the environmental and cultural impacts of the program.

Advocates have argued that the ecological drawbacks of mining lithium are needed to produce “clean energy” batteries and rapidly decarbonize the economy. However, a district court denied the appeals in July 2023, and the project has since broken ground.

America was the world’s largest producer of primary aluminum until recently. Now companies are warning the 2% U.S. market share puts the energy transition at risk

Annie Sartor
Tue, October 17, 2023

Li Xin - VCG - Getty Images

More than a dozen companies, including Fortune 500 companies such as Ford, GM, Pepsi, and Ball Corporation, recently wrote a letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, asking for federal investment in clean aluminum. This letter signals the growing urgency around a domestic clean aluminum supply. The market has spoken—and companies are asking for funding and support to save this key American industry that will only grow more important as demand is projected to spike.

These pioneering companies understand that the U.S. is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign aluminum supply, and as demand increases, supply could come from countries that show no substantive signs of cleaning up their industry, such as China (58% of the global market), and Russia (5% of the global market).

While the six remaining smelters in the U.S. currently constitute a small and shrinking percentage of global primary aluminum capacity, it wasn’t always the case. As recently as 2000, the U.S. was the largest global producer of primary aluminum. In 2022, the U.S. had less than 2% of the global market share.

"As significant buyers of primary aluminum, we strongly support federal investments via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to ensure that the United States will be a leader in producing this critical material, which is essential to America’s economic growth," reads the letter. "Today, primary aluminum production in the United States is in crisis. While global demand for primary aluminum is forecast to grow over the coming decades, domestic primary aluminum production has continued to decline and is at risk of disappearing. Spiking electricity prices, lack of access to low-cost renewable energy, and insufficient federal investment have pushed the remaining six primary smelters to the brink."

As funds from the IRA are distributed to clean up American industry and create jobs, it would be easy to dismiss aluminum as a small industry because of its current state. However, the growing global demand for primary aluminum (that has not been recycled) is projected to grow at an unprecedented rate. U.S. production must grow with it to provide the very aluminum needed to build the clean energy infrastructure the IRA supports, from electric cars to solar panels and transmission lines. Without this supply, the vital clean energy revolution ahead will be reliant on higher-carbon aluminum at a time when emissions reductions are essential.

Fortunately, these forward-thinking companies see that their customers will increasingly demand cleaner supply chains, and U.S. manufacturers will need a reliable domestic supply of aluminum for their products. Demand from customers is growing, and these consumer-facing companies are keeping pace. Aluminum producers such as Alcoa see the writing on the wall too. Its 2022 sustainability report speaks to the need to “reduce risk and future liabilities by minimizing social and environmental impacts.” In other words, consumer-facing companies and aluminum producers see sustainable aluminum as not only an aspirational responsibility but also core to their business model and America’s competitive advantage in the global economy.

When environmentalists, national security advocates, industrialists, labor, and communities agree, it’s clear that the missing piece is federal investment. Let’s hope the Department of Energy is able to see the advantage in reshoring jobs, reviving a once-strong American industry, and investing in the clean energy future.

Annie Sartor is the aluminum campaign director for Industrious Labs, an organization focused on reimagining the industrial sector as a foundational part of the U.S. clean energy economy.

Scientists finally figure out why hundreds of gray whales keep washing up dead along US coasts

Sascha Pare
Tue, October 17, 2023 

A beached gray whale in Baja California Sur in Mexico.



A strange series of mass deaths among gray whales in the northeastern Pacific Ocean may finally have an explanation, with scientists linking Arctic sea ice levels to the major die-off events.

Three mortality events have struck gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) living off the coast of North America since the 1980s, reducing the population by 15% to 25% each time, according to a new study. In total, more than 2,000 gray whales are known to have died. The first mass die-off took place between 1987 and 1989 and was the largest in magnitude, killing at least 700 whales. Reporting structures and survey efforts only expanded in the 1990s, however, meaning the number of strandings associated with this mortality event could be an underestimate, according to the study. The second took place between 1999 and 2000, killing 651 whales.

The latest die-off began in 2019 and saw more than 70 gray whales wash up dead in just six months. It is ongoing and — as of Sept. 26, 2023 — a total of 688 whales have died. What caused each of the events was unclear.

"These are extreme population swings that we did not expect to see in a large, long-lived species like gray whales," study lead author Joshua Stewart, an assistant professor at Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute, said in a statement.

Related: Could an impending rise in solar storms cause more whales to strand?

Commercial whaling until the mid-20th century drove the population of North Pacific gray whales to near-extinction, but it has since bounced back and currently numbers around 14,500 individuals, according to the statement. Scientists previously thought this successful recovery meant the whales were dying off periodically as their numbers exceeded what their habitat and prey could provide for.

But changing conditions and fluctuating sea ice levels in the Arctic may better explain what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) termed "unusual mortality events," according to the new study, published Oct. 12 in the journal Science.

Sea ice cover and the amount of food available for gray whales may dictate how the population fares. Higher-than-usual ice cover in some years may block passage to the Bering and Chukchi seas, where the whales spend the summer months feasting on fatty crustaceans before migrating southward again. "When the availability of their prey in the Arctic is low and the whales cannot reach their feeding areas because of sea ice, the gray whale population experiences rapid and major shocks," Stewart said.

Gray whales quickly rebounded from the first two mortality events. But the most recent die-off is ongoing since 2019 and has cast us into "uncharted territory," Stewart said.

Unlike the two previous events, a historic loss of Arctic sea ice could be to blame for the latest gray whale die-off. That's because sea ice hosts a carpet of algae on its underside, which decays and showers the seabed with food for bottom-dwellers, including the whales' preferred crustaceans.

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"With less ice, you get less algae, which is worse for the gray whale prey," Stewart said. Melting sea ice also frees up passage for strong currents that sweep away the sediment and leaves bottom-dwelling crustaceans and other creatures homeless. "All of these factors are converging to reduce the quality and availability of the food [gray whales] rely on," he said.

Climate change might be the reason this mortality event is dragging on for longer than the previous two, Stewart said. "What we're seeing is much more of a bumpy ride in response to highly variable and rapidly changing ocean conditions," he said.

While climate change could mean there is less food for gray whales, it probably won't put the northeastern Pacific population at risk of extinction, Stewart said. But "an Arctic Ocean that has warmed significantly may not be able to support 25,000 gray whales like it has in the recent past," he added.

Scientists may have finally decoded mystery behind whales washing up dead along Pacific coast

Vishwam Sankaran
Tue, October 17, 2023



Changing Arctic ice cover and prey availability are the reasons behind gray whales washing up dead along the Pacific coast since 2019, according to a new study.

Scientists have been perplexed by the surge of gray whale strandings since 2019 with estimates suggesting that the mammal’s population in the North Pacific have declined from a peak of around 27,000 in 2016 to about 14,500 in 2023.

“These are extreme population swings that we did not expect to see in a large, long-lived species like gray whales,” Joshua Stuart from Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute said in a statement.

“When the availability of their prey in the Arctic is low, and the whales cannot reach their feeding areas because of sea ice, the gray whale population experiences rapid and major shocks,” Dr Stuart, author of the new study published in the journal Science, said. The study sheds light on the impact of climate change on these marine mammals.

The new research revealed that even highly mobile, long-lived species like gray whales are sensitive to climate change impacts.

Eastern North Pacific gray whales are one of the few populations of large whales in the world that have recovered to levels similar to those that existed prior to commercial whaling – making it a conservation success story in the post-whaling era.

Their population, which currently numbers about 14,500, migrate over 19,000km (12,000 miles) each year along the Pacific Coast – from the warm waters off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, in winter to the cold waters of the Arctic to feed during summer.

They are also the most closely studied large whale population on the planet, offering unique insights into factors affecting the species.

Researchers found from long term observation that unfavourable Arctic conditions led to two previous die-offs of these whales in the 1980s and the 1990s, which were not permanent as the population quickly rebounded with improved conditions.

But when a large number of gray whale strandings began occurring along the Pacific coast in 2019, scientists were perplexed about what was driving this latest unusual mortality event.

Now, by combining long-term data sets on the gray whale population with extensive environmental data from the Arctic, researchers found that the two “Unusual Mortality Events” in 1999 and 2019 are tied to sea ice levels in the Arctic and the biomass of seafloor-living crustaceans that the whales target for food.

They say years with less summer sea ice in the gray whales’ Arctic feeding areas provided increased foraging opportunities that benefited the population.

However, in the long term, decreasing sea ice cover due to rapid and accelerating climate change may not be beneficial to gray whales, scientists warn.

Deep sea shrimp-like crustaceans called amphipods which are the calorie-rich prey that gray whales prefer, are sensitive to sea ice cover, researchers say.

The amphipod population, according to scientists, is enriched by algae that grow underneath sea ice as it sinks to the seafloor.

But less ice leads to less algae reaching the seafloor, researchers warn.

They say warmer water also favors smaller deep sea crustaceans as well as faster currents that reduce habitat for gray whales’ preferred prey.

“With less ice, you get less algae, which is worse for the gray whale prey. All of these factors are converging to reduce the quality and availability of the food they rely on,” Dr Stuart explained.



Less prey availability ultimately leads to gray whale die-offs such as in the most recent event, which is is still considered ongoing, continuing significantly longer than the two earlier events.

“We are in uncharted territory now. The two previous events, despite being significant and dramatic, only lasted a couple of years,” Dr Stewart said.

“The most recent mortality event has slowed and there are signs things are turning around, but the population has continued to decline. One reason it may be dragging on is the climate change component, which is contributing to a long-term trend of lower-quality prey,” he added.

Gray whales have been mysteriously washing up dead on the Pacific coast. Now scientists think they might have the answer.

Kelsey Vlamis
Mon, October 16, 2023 

Gray whales have been dying off at an alarming rate since 2019.


Scientists at Oregon State think the deaths could be due to melting sea ice, a new study says.


The melting ice may be causing a decrease in the crustaceans the whales prey on.

Gray whales have been washing up dead on the Pacific coast at an alarming rate since 2019, and scientists think they might finally know why.

The gray whale strandings from Mexico all the way to Alaska have been declared an "unusual mortality event," or a significant die-off of a species that is unexplained and requires a quick response.

Two other mass die-offs of gray whales occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, though those only lasted a couple of years; the latest is still ongoing.

The latest die-off has caused the North Pacific gray whale population to plummet from an estimated 27,000 in 2016 to 14,500 in 2023, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For years, researchers could only guess what was killing the whales. NOAA has previously noted that emaciation had been observed in some of the dead whales, but not in others.

But scientists at Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute now say there is strong evidence that the whale deaths are linked directly to sea ice melting in the Arctic, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

Joshua Stewart, an assistant professor at the Marine Mammal Institute and lead author of the study, said the decrease in sea ice was also causing the gray whales' food supply to diminish.

"Feels like this time we've got a pretty good 'smoking gun," Stewart told the outlet KTVB of the explanation of what was causing the whale deaths.

Gray whales make the longest migration of any mammal on Earth, traveling more than 12,000 miles every year from their foraging grounds in the Arctic, where they spend the summers, to their breeding grounds in the warm, shallow lagoons of Mexico's Baja Peninsula, where they spend the winters.

While in the Arctic, the gray whales feed on amphipod crustaceans. Amphipods in turn feed on algae, which grows on the underside of sea ice.

"With less ice, you get less algae, which is worse for the gray whale prey," Stewart said in a release from Oregon State, adding, "When there are sudden declines in the quality of prey, the population of gray whales is significantly affected."

In other words, the melting sea ice disrupts the entire food chain.

The decrease in available food can cause skinnier or malnourished whales, as well as lower birth rates. Stewart said he does not think there is currently a risk of extinction for gray whales. The species, which was hunted to the brink of extinction decades ago, has been touted has a major conservation success thanks to the populations bouncing back after international whaling regulations were enacted.

But the die-offs are a reminder of the wide-ranging impacts of the climate crisis, as sea ice continues to melt at alarming and historic rates.

"Even highly mobile, long-lived species such as gray whales are sensitive to climate change impacts," Stewart said.

And while he said we probably do not have to worry about extinction, we may have to simply get used to having fewer gray whales.

WWIII; THE BALKANS

Azerbaijan to host military exercises with Turkey next week

Reuters
Tue, October 17, 2023 
(Reuters) - Azerbaijan said on Tuesday it would host military exercises with its close ally Turkey next week.

On its website, the defence ministry of the mostly ethnically Turkic south Caucasus state said the manoeuvres marking the centenary of the Turkish republic would take place on Oct. 23-25 in several regions.

These will include the capital Baku, the region of Nakhchivan, and Azerbaijani territories seized from ethnic Armenian control since 2020 in advances welcomed by Turkey.


Nakhchivan borders Turkey and Iran but is geographically separated from mainland Azerbaijan by Armenia.

Last month, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Nakhchivan, less than a week after Azerbaijani forces swept into the breakaway ethnic Armenian-controlled territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the last area of Azerbaijan outside Baku's control.

At the meeting, Aliyev received Erdogan's support for the prospect of creating a land corridor between western Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan via Armenia, which opposes the idea.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Armenia says it is ready to make peace but Azerbaijan says process undermined
Felix Light
Updated Tue, October 17, 2023 

Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan addresses parliament in Yerevan

By Felix Light

TBILISI (Reuters) - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday said he was ready to sign a peace deal with Azerbaijan by the end of the year, even as Baku accused Yerevan of undermining the process of normalising their relations.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency cited Pashinyan as telling the European Parliament in Strasbourg that Armenia was ready to end more than three decades of hostilities, and to guarantee the safety of ethnic Azeris in Armenia.

But in a statement later on, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry accused Pashinyan of undermining the peace process with "aggressive rhetoric". It said Armenia as a country had a reputation for "blunt falsification of facts and history".

The two countries have in recent weeks stated their willingness to sign a treaty to end decades of intermittent conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region that Azerbaijan recaptured last month, prompting most of its population of some 120,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.

Armenia describes the Karabakh Armenians' flight as ethnic cleansing driven by the threat of violence after a nine-month blockade of essential supplies, the latest chapter in a conflict between Christian Armenians and Turkic Muslim Azeris that goes back more than a century.

Azerbaijan says the Karabakh Armenian civilians were welcome to stay and be integrated in Azerbaijani society, but left voluntarily.

Beyond Karabakh, the two countries' shared border is riddled with small exclaves surrounded by the other side's land - sovereign territory that is in effect occupied by the other side - complicating a final peace deal. Exchanges of fire across the frontier, sometimes fatal, are a regular occurrence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week said he believed a peace deal was achievable if both sides showed goodwill, playing down the difficulty of reaching an agreement on their shared border.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday made his first visit to the territories retaken by Azerbaijan last month, and was filmed raising Azerbaijan's flag in the region's capital and treading on the flag of Karabakh's dissolved ethnic Armenian authority.

(Reporting by Felix Light in Tbilisi and Nailia Bagirova; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Pashinyan says Armenia ready to sign peace treaty with Azerbaijan

Nate Ostiller
Tue, October 17, 2023 


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he's willing to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan by the end of the year.

"We must move steadily towards peace," Pashinyan said during an address to the European Parliament on Oct. 17. "To do this, political will is necessary, and I have that political will."

At the same time, he denounced Azerbaijan's recent recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that it was a "fulfillment of its long-standing policy of ethnic cleansing."

Pashinyan criticized the inaction of Armenia's supposed allies, adding that they had not only refused to help but had actually "made public calls for a change of power in Armenia, to overthrow the democratic government."

He mentioned the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), saying the organization and its members "did not help us at all, they left us alone." The organization comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.

Nonetheless, Pashinyan emphasized that he was ready for Armenia to seek a lasting peace with Azerbaijan.

Read also: Azerbaijani President raises flag in Nagorno-Karabakh capital

Nagorno-Karabakh, which is recognized as Azerbaijani under international law, surrendered on Sept. 20 after 24 hours of attacks by Azerbaijani forces. It was home to a predominantly Armenian population.

The breakaway republic agreed to dissolve its political institutions, and in the following weeks, most ethnic Armenians fled.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev decided not to attend peace talks planned in Grenada, Spain, on Oct. 5 but then offered Georgia as an alternative location on Oct. 8. It is still unclear when or if the talks will commence.

On Oct. 13, reports emerged that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was concerned Azerbaijan may invade Armenia proper, supposedly to secure a corridor between Azerbaijan and the landlocked exclave Nakhchivan.

However, the Armenian news agency said on Oct. 15 that U.S. State Department official Matthew Miller had contacted them and described the reports as inaccurate.

Read also: Russia’s ‘peacekeeper’ act crumbles as Azerbaijan overwhelms Nagorno-Karabakh

Greta Thunberg charged with public order offense in UK after arrest outside oil industry conference
Associated Press Finance
Wed, October 18, 2023






Britain Climate Protest
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg is taken away by police officers during the Oily Money Out protest outside the Intercontinental Hostel, in London, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. 

(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

LONDON (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been charged with a public order offense after being arrested at a demonstration against an oil and gas industry conference in London.

The Metropolitan Police force said Wednesday that the 20-year-old Swedish campaigner was one of 26 people charged after protesters gathered outside the luxury InterContinental Hotel during the Energy Intelligence Forum. Thunberg was among dozens of protesters who chanted “oily money out” and sought to block access to the hotel on Tuesday.

Thunberg was detained and taken to a police station before being released overnight, police said.


She was charged with breaching a section of the Public Order Act that allows police to impose limits on public assemblies and was released on bail until a Nov. 15 hearing at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The other protesters facing charges were also allowed bail.

The three-day conference, which runs until Thursday, features speakers including the chief executives of Shell, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and Norway’s Equinor, as well as the U.K.’s energy security minister.

The protesters accuse fossil fuel companies of deliberately slowing the global energy transition to renewables in order to make more profit. They also oppose the British government’s recent approval of drilling for oil in the North Sea, off the Scottish coast.

Thunberg inspired a global youth movement demanding stronger efforts to fight climate change after staging weekly protests outside the Swedish Parliament starting in 2018. She was recently fined by a Swedish court for disobeying police during an environmental protest in Sweden.

Greta Thunberg condemns London oil conference
Reuters Videos
Tue, October 17, 2023 


STORY: Drummers and protesters with loud hailers gathered outside the event held at a London hotel.

Previously known at the Oil and Money conference, campaigners say the Energy Intelligence Forum is attended by leaders from major oil and gas firms such as Shell, Total and Equinor.

The event is billed as a forum for energy leaders to “shape sustainable solutions to the energy challenges of the 21st century.”

Campaigners said the renaming of the event is an attempt at greenwashing and doesn’t represent a true shift in the agenda of the conference.

 

 

 

 

Energy Latest: London Oil Event Rolls On After a Day of Protests

Bloomberg News
Tue, October 17, 2023 at 12:36 PM MDT·6 min read



(Bloomberg) -- A major oil-industry conference in London saw a day of disruption as hundreds of climate protesters blocked entrances, before police eventually reopened access to the event.

Greta Thunberg was among at least 20 demonstrators to be arrested outside the annual Energy Intelligence Forum. Executives from companies including Gunvor Group, Trafigura Group and Shell Plc had been unable to enter to give speeches.

The energy transition has been a topic of discussion at the conference, which takes place through Thursday. It’s a subject that carries extra urgency after several months that shattered temperature records and just a few weeks before crucial climate talks in Dubai.

The conference also comes at a turbulent time for global energy markets, with the conflict between Israel and Hamas renewing fears about Europe’s winter gas supply, while also boosting prices and raising oil majors’ share prices.

All times London:

TotalEnergies Sees No Impact to Projects From Israel—Hamas War — for Now (5:33 p.m.)

While the unfolding conflict between Israel and Hamas is dramatic, the situation isn’t having an impact on TotalEnergies SE’s projects in the region, according to Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne. “There will be consequences that we’ll have to monitor,” he said during a panel discussion. “But I’m confident that we can find a way.”

Japan Still Assessing US Sanctions on Russian LNG Hubs (5:08 p.m.)

The Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security is still assessing the impact of US sanctions imposed in September on Russian LNG transshipment terminals, according to JOGMEC Chief Executive Office Ichiro Takahara.

Russia plans to use the new terminals in Kamchatka and Murmansk to reduce costs of shipping LNG from its Arctic projects, including the Arctic LNG-2 facility. But Japan is concerned this could create difficulties for its own deliveries

Modular Units Cut LNG Project Construction Time (4:30 p.m.)

LNG projects are moving toward smaller modular units that can be built in different locations — decreasing the amount of manpower needed on sites — and which can be scaled up, said Baker Hughes Co. Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Simonelli. Some of the projects that previously took 48 months now take 28 months, he said.

Supply Chain Gridlock Could Take Years to Clear: JGC (4:20 p.m.)

Expect significant lead times for delivering energy-related materials for at least a few more years. The supply chain is “really stretched,” and shows no sign of easing, said Farhan Mujib, president of engineering contractor JGC Corp., during a panel discussion.

Capacity is a problem as “everything has to happen at the same moment, between now and 2030,” including new oil and gas resources to be developed and new renewable capacity to be built, said Alessandro Puliti, chief executive of drilling company Saipem SpA.

In the UK, more stability around subsidies is needed for the energy transition to move ahead, he added, noting that otherwise there’s no possibility for investment.

Shell Has Changed Its Pathway to Net Zero, CEO Says (2:45 p.m.)

Shell hasn’t changed its target of net zero emissions by 2050, but has altered its pathway there, said Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan. Investors have responded positively to the company’s new strategy, which involves putting a greater proportion of its investment into oil and gas, he said via video link. Some employees have questioned Sawan’s approach and asked if the company should be moving faster in the transition to clean energy, he said.

Hotel Entrance Reopened (1:30 p.m.)

The police have been able to clear a safe pathway for delegates to enter the conference venue via the main entrance, forum organizers said.

Thunberg Is Arrested (1:20 p.m.)

Greta Thunberg was arrested along with at least 10 others.

Vitol CEO Sees Oil Around $85 Next Year (12:53 p.m.)

Oil demand is showing robust growth, but there has also been extra supply despite the cuts from some members of OPEC+, said Vitol Chief Executive Officer Russell Hardy. “There is supply around. The US is doing well, Guyana is doing well. and generally the OPEC grouping is doing well when you consider Libya, Venezuela and Iran,” he said. Hardy sees oil trading around $85 a barrel next year, not far off current levels.

Protests to Continue All Week (12:38 p.m.)

Further protests are planned throughout the three day conference, Greenpeace said by email.

“Oil bosses are toasting each other in a luxury hotel and plotting how to make even larger profits, while millions struggle to rebuild after a summer of extreme weather,” Maja Darlington, campaigner at Greenpeace UK said in a statement.

Shell CEO to Deliver Speech Remotely (12:36 p.m.)

Shell CEO Wael Sawan will deliver his speech to the conference remotely because he can’t access the hotel.

Vitol Expects Some Gas Demand to Be Lost Forever (12:30 p.m.)

European industrial demand has not recovered from last year’s energy crisis, according to Vitol CEO Russell Hardy. “We can expect some of that lost demand to stay lost forever,” he said.

Further cuts to gas production in Israel could lead to lower LNG exports to Europe from Egypt. “The European market will get nervous on the back of that,” he said.

CEOs Stuck Outside as Police Await Reinforcements (12:17 p.m.)

The CEOs of trading houses Gunvor and Trafigura missed their appearances at the conference because they were stuck outside the venue. The organizers told anyone attempting to enter the Intercontinental Hotel to wait until more police officers arrived to disperse the protesters. Inside the building, Russell Hardy, the CEO of Vitol, the largest independent oil trader, told attendees that about half his company’s annual capital expenditure of $1 billion is going into renewables and power.

Disruption Worsens as Protests Continue (10:36 a.m)

The conference continues, but some scheduled speakers have been unable to make it inside. Police on the scene estimate that 200 to 250 protesters are blocking access to the venue.

Aramco is Looking at Further LNG Investments (10:14 a.m.)

As protests continued outside, the world’s largest company was inside the venue talking about its plans for natural gas. Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said his company is looking at making more investments in liquefied natural gas as it seeks to diversify its energy mix. The company last month entered the LNG market by purchasing a stake in MidOcean Energy for $500 million. “LNG is important,” Nasser said. “We want to be a player in LNG so we’re looking at investment.”

Entrances to the Conference Blocked by Protests (9:50 a.m.)

Hundreds of delegates are waiting outside to be let in to the Intercontinental hotel in London as protesters block the entrances. The head of the hotel’s security said there are about a thousand guests staying at the hotel. It’s not clear when people will be let in but the program has started inside with Saudi Aramco speaking.

--With assistance from Priscila Azevedo Rocha and Elena Mazneva.

Major solar panel plant opens in US amid backdrop of industry worries about low-priced Asian imports

JEFF AMY
Wed, October 18, 2023 

A South Korean company has begun production at a huge new solar panel factory in Georgia even as industry leaders say surging Asian imports could dampen efforts to make more solar components in the United States.

Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, said Wednesday that it can now turn out enough solar panels to generate 5.1 gigawatts of power yearly at a two-factory complex in the northwest Georgia city of Dalton. That's almost 40% of U.S. solar panel capacity, according to figures from the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Qcells' opened its first factory in 2019 and an even larger plant in phases since, what the company describes as the largest solar investment in American history.

“It’s another milestone as we as a company really strive to become a global leader and a U.S. leader in solar manufacturing," said Scott Moskowitz, Qcells head of market strategy and public affairs, speaking with The Associated Press after a plant tour Monday.

The company says its new plant is the first solar module factory in the U.S. to begin production since passage of President Joe Biden’s signature climate legislation. Qcells' $208 million investment again shows how federal incentives are spurring a nationwide boom in renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Industry jitters about a flood of cheap solar panels from overseas show how dependent on federal policy the solar industry remains. That's a threat in part because former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is hostile to renewable energy.

Qcells leaders say the new plant showcases more efficient equipment and processes, part of a much larger investment intended to bring key steps in solar manufacturing to the U.S. A solar panel, or module, is assembled from solar cells most commonly made from wafers cut from ingots of polysilicon.

Today, the company's solar cells are imported from Asia. But 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Dalton in Cartersville, Qcells is building a $2.3 billion complex to take polysilicon refined in Washington state and make ingots, wafers and solar cells — in addition to 3.3 gigawatts of solar modules. That plant is scheduled to open in phases starting next year.

Currently, no silicon ingots or wafers are made in the U.S. But Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, besides offering a extra tax credit on American-made solar equipment, lets manufacturers earn incentives for every unit of polysilicon they refine and every wafer, cell and module they make. For example, Qcells earns a tax credit of 7 cents per watt for every panel it makes in Dalton, or $34.30 for every 490-watt residential panel made.

Even with that boost, solar industry leaders warn, factories will struggle to compete with a new spike in cheap Asian imports. They're again urging federal officials to investigate whether solar panels are being dumped at unfairly low prices. Previous investigations have led to anti-dumping tariffs on panels made in China and Taiwan.

U.S. officials shouldn't regard the spike as a normal market fluctuation, said Mike Carr, executive director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, a group that includes Qcells. He argues Chinese component makers are pushing out cheap modules from southeast Asian factories, tanking panel prices to ensure Chinese dominance and smother U.S. manufacturing.

“This is likely to be the No. 1 new energy source in the 21st century," Carr said. "It’s already cheaper than pretty much anything else to install. It is the path to meeting our climate goals. So I think it becomes a real national security kind of concern. The way OPEC is in oil markets, we don’t want to allow China to become that same controller of supply in solar.”

Qcells sees current low prices as a “near-term challenge" in achieving economies of scale and serving a long-term market, Moskowitz said. Beyond trade policy, he said, requiring federal agencies to buy American-made products and promoting panels produced with fewer carbon emissions could bolster Qcells.

Politics envelops the solar industry. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the plant earlier this year. At the state level, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has wrestled with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff over political credit for electric vehicle and renewable energy investments flowing to Georgia.

“Out of all the places Qcells could have gone, they chose to operate and expand here in Georgia because of our unrivaled assets and the competitive package we put together,” Kemp said in a statement.

Ossoff and fellow Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock note they authored the component incentives that benefit Qcells, emphasizing federal policy.

“Our state is emerging as the advanced energy capital of the nation, thanks to federal infrastructure and manufacturing policies that are benefiting Georgia more than any other state,” Ossoff said in a statement.

Qcells, for its part, praises both state and federal assistance.

“To build these markets up and to have them work, you need a whole government approach," Moskowitz said.

Hanwha QCells Solar Expansion
An employee works on a solar panel inside the Hanwha Qcells Solar plant, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Dalton, Ga. The Korean company is opening what it says is the first solar panel factory to begin production in the U.S. since the passage of President Joe Biden’s signature climate legislation. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Maryland unveils tallest statue of BR Ambedkar outside of India

DALIT LEADER SIGNATORY TO INDIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1947

Bryan Ke
Mon, October 16, 2023


[Source]

Hundreds of Indian Americans, Indians and others gathered at a suburb in Maryland in the United States on Sunday to witness the unveiling of a statute of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the principal architect of India’s constitution.

Key details: Around 500 people reportedly attended the event held in Livingston Road in Accokeek in Maryland on Saturday. Many attendees could be heard chanting “Jai Bhim” as organizers unveiled the statue of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, which is touted as the tallest statue of the late political leader outside of India.

Unveiling the statue of Dr Ambedkar at Accokeek Maryland USA pic.twitter.com/FWW2bhhlKR

— Ambedkar International Center (AIC) (@ambedkar_center) October 14, 2023

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The event was also reportedly accompanied by performances from various Indian American groups from different parts of the country.

Coinciding dates: The unveiling date reportedly coincided with the same day Ambedkar embraced Buddhism on Oct. 14, 1956. He died nearly two months later on Dec. 6, 1956.

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About the project: Created by renowned Indian artist and sculptor Ram Sutar, the 19-feet-tall statue is called the “Statue of Equality.” Ram Kumar, president of the Ambedkar International Center, explained that the statue is a symbol of “shared values of democracy, justice and human rights that bind India and the United States."

Besides the Statue of Equality, Sutar also created a statue of Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister, which he called the “Statue of Unity.” The statue was erected in Kevadia in the Gujarat state, India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the project on Oct. 31, 2018.

He was treated as a Dalit leader: Born on April 14, 1891, to a Mahar caste, one of the Dalit castes in India, Ambedkar became known as the "Architect of the Indian Constitution" for spearheading the Drafting Committee after being appointed as its chairman on Aug. 29, 1947.

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Besides drafting the country’s constitution, which is regarded as the world’s longest at 145,000 words — in comparison, the U.S. Constitution only has 4,400 words — some of Ambedkar’s contributions to society also included helping empower women and the marginalized community, Ravi Kumar Narra, the national president of Dalit Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), told PTI News.

5,000-year-old weapon unearthed by man plowing his field in Poland. See it

Moira Ritter
Tue, October 17, 2023 

After plowing his field in Poland recently, Jarosław Lipiec spotted something peculiar in the soil. Then he unearthed two ancient weapons from thousands of years ago.

Lipiec accidentally discovered a fragment of a large flint ax and a flint spearhead, according to an Oct. 13 Facebook post from the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments. The artifacts were found in Potok Górny, a village about 140 miles southeast of Warsaw.

Officials said the gray-brown flint fragment was once a tetrahedral ax, likely created by Neolithic people about 5,000 years ago. The piece is about 4.3 inches long, 1.6 inches thick and 2.4 inches wide.



The flint spearhead found in the field was fully preserved, the post said. The chocolate brown artifact was once part of a javelin or spear that was used at least 3,500 years ago.


Experts believe the 4.7-inch long blade was crafted between 1900 B.C. and 1500 B.C., meaning it was made by either the Mierzanowice culture or the Trzciniec culture, according to the Facebook post. Analysis indicates that it was used as a weapon.

The region where the weapons were found was previously believed to be void of any prehistoric settlements, but the latest discovery indicates that it was settled by ancient people, per the post.

Officials said they are planning further research in the area to search for any other ancient artifacts.

Google Translate was used to translate a Facebook post from the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments.

ICYMI

World Rapidly Approaching Peak Fossil Fuels, Analysts Say
Yale Environment 360
Wed, October 18, 2023

Multiple recent analyses find that global fossil fuel demand is nearing its peak, with energy emissions at last headed for decline.

A forthcoming forecast from the historically conservative International Energy Agency indicates that demand for each fossil fuel — coal, oil, and natural gas — will begin to fall this decade. “These remarkable shifts will bring forward the peak in global greenhouse gas emissions,” IEA chief Fatih Birol wrote in a recent op-ed for the Financial Times.

The power sector is already on the cusp of peak emissions, as wind and solar gain ground on coal and natural gas, according to a recent report from energy think tank Ember. In the first half of this year, wind and solar power grew 12 percent, while fossil power grew just 0.1 percent. Power sector emissions have plateaued and could begin to fall before the end of 2023.

Emissions from oil-reliant cars, trucks, planes, and ships will take slightly longer to crest. A new analysis from consulting firm DNV finds that oil emissions are set to peak in 2025, a shift driven in large part by the rapid growth of electric vehicles. Total energy emissions, across all fuels, are likely to peak in 2024, the analysis found.

Despite the rosy outlook for clean energy, analysts warn that emissions are still not falling fast enough to keep warming to 1.5 degrees C, the aim of the Paris Agreement. Hitting the 1.5-degree goal, Birol wrote, “will require significantly stronger and faster policy action by governments.”

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