ENERGY MATTERS

This is Day 21 of our trip and Day 12 of our cruise on the Oceania Riviera from Yokohama to Vancouver.  We've been sailing in the open ocean for several days, the seas are now not as rough, and we finally arrive in Kodiak, Alaska tomorrow.  As such, I have been occupied with topics like the International Date Line and why the USA is great, and could well become greater under Donald Trump (that was the potential if he somehow succeeds in gobbling up Canada and Greenland).

First, Happy Boys Day.

It was my third posting of this blog site, 5May2008, that I wrote about Boys Day.  Same day as Cinco de Mayo, as shown at the end.

Today, though, I'll revert to a topic I toss in perhaps monthly called Energy Matters, the following from the 5May2025 issue of this subject from the America Energy Society.

• Here is some bad stuff you probably had no idea even existed:  PET COKE.
• Petroleum coke is the final product from the cracking of oil.
• When burned, it emits a lot more carbon dioxide than coal.
• The U.S. is the largest exporter of pet coke.  
• We send it to India, Australia, the UAE and European Union.
• We annually produce 46 million tons and export 41 million tons.
• What do they do with pet coke?  They use it to make cement.
• 
  Ever heard of ethane?
• This is a naturally occurring organic chemical with a formula of C2H6, and is a colorless and odorless gas.  Methane, which is most of widely used natural gas, is C1H4.
• Ethane is isolated from natural gas in the refining process.
• The U.S. is the largest ethane exporter in the world.
• It is a greenhouse gas, but only has a lifetime of several months, compared to over a decade for methane.
• 
  It is suspected that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a sea of ethane covering the polar regions.  Detected on Comet Hyakutake.  How did it get there?  Read this.
• Is a feedstock for commodity chemicals.
• Is not carcinogenic.
• Uranium production in the U.S. is starting to increase.

• 
  Mati Carbon won the $50 million 2025 XPrize, a carbon capture and removal competition funded by the Musk Foundation,  Their idea spreads finally crushed basalt across farmland, accelerating a natural process that bind carbon dioxide into rock.
• In March of this year, renewables and nuclear met 51% of electricity demand.

• Note that some sources now refer to nuclear as "clean."

• A decade ago, the U.S. got nearly two-thirds of its power from fossil fuels. But after years of building mostly solar, wind, and batteries, the country has started to close that gap. Just last month solar and wind generation jumped by 37% and 12% respectively, compared to March 2024. Meanwhile, fossil-fuel generation fell by 2.5%.
• 
  President Donald Trump wants to halt all wind turbine construction. Congressional Republicans are considering cutting Inflation Reduction Act tax credits that incentivize clean energy projects. Trump’s aggressive tariffs on China, which remain in place even after he paused ​“reciprocal” levies on every other country, could drastically slow the battery storage boom. And the president just this week signed a clutch of executive orders aimed at boosting coal, a highly polluting energy source that also happens to be in structural decline because it cannot compete with fossil gas or renewables on cost.

• California is significantly ahead of Florida in solar production, both in terms of installed capacity and electricity generated. California has the largest solar market in the nation, with 46.9 GW of installed capacity, while Florida is third with 10.352 GW. In 2023, California generated 68,816 GWh of electricity from solar, while Florida generated 17,809 GWh. 
• Yet, Florida is the new #1 solar center, adding large-scale solar at a faster rate than California.  
• Florida is also #2 in residential solar.  
• Now receives 8.6% of its electricity from solar.
• Florida equals all of Africa in solar power generation.
• Then there is Texas.
• Their ERCOT grid broke its own record for most wind production (28,470 MW), most solar (24,818 MW) and highest battery discharge (4,833 MW).
• Their renewable battery fleet provides nearly as much power as all of the Texas nuclear power plants.
• China leads the world in utility-scale solar power capacity.
• The 5 countries most vulnerable to climate breakdown (based on the following criteria: extreme heat; insufficient and/or excessive rainfall (drought or flooding; frequent sand and dust storms).

• Somalia
• Syria
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Afghanistan
• Note: Iraq is quickly moving up the list due to heat, sandstorms, and insufficient water.

Well, the cruise continues.  Last night we had dinner at Red Ginger, the special Asian restaurant on the ship.

Had two white wines, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough and American Chardonnay from Washington.

They poured some hot water over a postage stamp size white material on a dish, and it popped up into an oshibori, that white towel provided at the beginning in a Japanese restaurant..

First came some boiled soy beans, edamame.

Dinner was tuna tatki and chicken ramen.

Dessert.

We then went up to Horizons for some music and dancing.  But did not dance because the ship was tossing and turning.

Not much walking or dancing today.

Lunch.

An ice cream cone and rosé wine.

Afternoon of silly games.

Why play these games?  As poorly as one does, they give you a card with 1,2 or 3 points, and these can be combined to get you a t-shirt or sweater at the end.  However, many of these games also occur in the morning and during meal periods, so unless you're a fanatic, you can't get much.

Finally, Happy Cinco de Mayo, which is also today, May 5.  Here is one of my postings from a decade ago.

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