From Worldometer (new COVID-19 deaths yesterday):
DAY USA WORLD Brazil India South Africa
Summary:
- The USA had 104,758 new cases yesterday. #2 was India with 42,566, #3 Iran 39,900 and #4 Indonesia 33,900.
- Indonesia led in new deaths with 1598, #2 Brazil 1238 and #3 India 561.
- Indonesia only reported 33,900 new cases, but I suspect their real number is at least double that number.
- #5 in new deaths was the USA, but those new cases yesterday mean that that our new deaths/day in 10 days could rise to 2000.
- The two worst states in new deaths are Florida and Texas. President Joe Biden deprecated the policies of those two Republican governors, and indicated they should more closely follow CDC recommendations. Politics, sure, but Republicans are a good part of the current problem.
- From the New York Times this morning, deaths per million people for U.S. counties with low vaccination rates are more than 5 times higher than for those with high vaccination rates:
- Israel has begun booster shots for fully vaccinated people, with Germany, France, Russia and Hungary also offering this option for higher-risk citizens. The CDC at this time seems hesitant, but almost surely will follow suit, for the Federal government has already purchased enough extra Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those over 65 and people with compromised immune systems for this booster. A key question is whether it would be more strategically wise to inoculate poor countries first, for any major outbreak in Africa or elsewhere could introduce yet another variant.
- About my gripe as to why we haven't taken vaccines off the experimental state, the FDA is aiming to complete the approval process for Pfizer by Labor Day. But I took the Moderna shots. What about them?
- After the topic of the day, I end with two truly heartwarming stories of the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Even if you skip this energy summary, please scroll down to experience the human side of the Games.
When the USA gained independence in 1776 we were essentially 100% dependent on wood for energy. This continued for another century until coal appeared, then petroleum, followed by natural gas.
Also from the 26 July 2021 issue of Energy Matters:
- demand was 24% less than projected
- renewables were 79% more than projected
- natural gas was 112% more than projected
- coal and oil was 70% less than projected
- To help prevent wildfires, PG&E has budgeted between $15 and $30 billion to bury 10,000 miles of power lines ... about 10% of its total lines.
About China:
- China’s coal fleet has surpassed 1,000 GW of electric generating capacity ... about the same size as the entire US electricity supply (natural gas, coal, oil, nuclear, and renewables combined). (Source: America's Power) |
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 - Between 2000 and 2019, there were about 1,141 investments by Chinese lenders to African governments, about $153 billion (USD) for development of electricity generating projects (includes - Featured (source in Chinese): China has passed legislation to strengthen “high quality”development of its rare earth industry in Baotou, the rare-earth capital of the world. (Note: Baotou is to rare earth elements and minerals as Houston is to oil and gas or Silicon Valley to technology.) - Mining and production of rare earth elements is more geographically concentrated than it is for oil or natural gas. (Insert: the share of the top-3 producing countries, by selected minerals and fossil fuels.)
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- The US continues to lead global natural gas and oil production (insert: estimated O&G production in select countries, in quadrillion BTU's).
Incidentally, guess what caused the following beautiful piece of art?
- Coal production in the US has fallen to its lowest level since 1965 (insert below).
- A heat wave in China, the world's largest coal consumer, has higher demand for coal-fired electricity (2.2 million metric tons/day, a record high).
- Warm weather in the US has pushed natural gas prices higher.
Where are our wind and solar resources located?
- Wind and solar resources in the United States (wind left, solar right).
It is about five times more expensive to recycle the materials in lithium-based batteries(high-grade copper, aluminum, cobalt, nickel, graphite, manganese, and some rare earths) than to mine or manufacture these battery materials. Consequently, only a few companies are focusing on recycling lithium-based batteries, like Redwood Materials.
- Cushman & Wakefield is seeking a Global Sustainability & Energy Manager.
- Cummings Group in Los Angeles is seeking an Energy Project Manager.
- McCarthy Buildings Co. (Phoenix) is seeking a Renewable Energy - Manager.
- Schneider Electric is seeking a Client Development Manager, Cleantech & Carbon Advisory (00745Z)
- ClearPath is seeking to hire a Program Director for their Carbon Capture Policy team, and a Policy Analyst for their Economics, Finance and Power Markets team.
- WindBorne is hiring for a meteorologist, business development, and field operations.
- Tesla has internships (Fall, 2021) for Energy Engineers to work in "Power Systems".
Finally, these temperatures were all taken about the same time in Milan, Italy on 1 July 2021:
Is there a clue here on what urban planners should do in the future?
The scene is the final of men's high jump at the Tokyo Olympics. Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi was facing Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim in the final. Both of them jumped 2.37 meters and were on par ! Olympic officials gave three more attempts to each of them, but they were unable to reach more than 2.37 meters.
One more attempt was given to two both of them, but Tampberi withdrew from the last attempt due to a serious leg injury. The moment when there was no other opponent in front of Barshim, the moment when he could have easily approached the gold alone !
Seeing this, the Italian opponent Tamberi ran and hugged Barshim and screamed ! What we saw there was a great share of love in sports that touches our hearts. It reveals the indescribable sportsmanship that makes religions, colors and borders irrelevant !!!
Another heartwarming story about a Cambodian orphan, gay American father and the Summer Olympics.
- Preliminary: Friday, Aug. 6, 2 a.m. ET (Stream)
- Semifinal: Friday, Aug. 6, 9 p.m. ET (Stream; also airs in primetime on NBC)
- Final: Saturday, Aug. 7, 2 a.m. ET (Stream; also airs in primetime on NBC)
Of course, if you live in Hawaii, that would be 8PM Thursday night for the preliminaries. We are also ideally positioned on Friday for the semifinal at 3PM HST and 8PM final.
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