ENERGY MATTERS

          From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9    1093     4732         1185       246       82

July    22     1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9     1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21     1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25      2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30      3880    14748       1224       299      465

Jan     14       4142    15512         1151        189       712              

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

          25       2414    10578        1582        119      144

Mar     2        1989      9490       1726       110      194

          31       1115      12301        3950       458       58

April   6         906     11787         4211        631       37

May    4         853     13667         3025     3786      59 

         26         607     12348         2399     3842     101

June    1         287     10637        2346      3205      95

          30        249      8505        2127        991      383

July     7          251      8440         1595        817      411

         28          483    10136          1366       641      520 

Aug     3          516    10057         1238        561      555

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. 

In 2020, about equal parts of nuclear and the renewables crept up to 21%.

Also from the 26 July 2021 issue of Energy Matters: 

- The American Jobs Plan proposed by President Biden, originally for 10-years and $2 trillion, is now at about $579 billion. Meanwhile, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WVa) has introduced a separate 423-page draft energy infrastructure bill. 

 

- Comparing "business as usual" projections in 2005 to what actually happened in 2020, carbon emissions in the power sector were less than half of what was projected, and 42% lower than 2005 levels. AES suggests reading the “halfway to zero” report. Several other notable factors:

• 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)

- 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 infrastructure).   - 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.)

- 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?

An oil slick.

Also, more on fossil fuels:

- Coal prices have gone above $150 a metric ton (a record). There are several reasons:

• 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).

About possibly recycling materials from lithium batteries:

 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.

Looking for something to do?

• 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".

A few closing quotes:

"The German language has no words, I think, for the devastation.”

- German Chancellor Angela Merkel

 

"Climate scientists tend to be overly conservative."

- Michael Wehner, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 

"We know that many assumptions [in the IPCC report] are not realistic or feasible.” 

- Daniela Jacob, director of the Climate Service Center Germany, on a survey of technologies designed to reduce or utilize carbon.

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?

On Sunday I showed you a photo of Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy jumping into the arms of Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, where both earned gold medals for jumping 7'9" at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.  I never shared the whole story:

A touching moment... great sportsmanship! 

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 !

 

But Barshim asked the official "if the gold can be shared between the two of us if I withdraw from the final attempt ?"  The official checks and confirms and says "yes then the gold will be shared between the two of you".  Barshim then had nothing to think about, announces withdrawal from the last attempt.

 

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.

Schedule for 10 meter platform diving:

• 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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