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Page added on January 26, 2019
Is China’s plan to use a nuclear bomb detonator to release shale gas
China is planning to apply the same technology used to detonate a nuclear bomb over Hiroshima during the second world war to access its massive shale gas reserves in Sichuan province. While success would mean a giant leap forward not only for the industry but also Beijing’s energy self-sufficiency ambitions, some observers are concerned about the potential risk of widespread drilling for the fuel in a region known for its devastating earthquakes.
Despite being home to the largest reserves of shale gas on the planet – about 31.6 trillion cubic metres according to 2015 figures from the US Energy Information Administration, or twice as much as the United States and Australia combined – China is the world’s biggest importer of natural gas, with about 40 per cent of its annual requirement coming from overseas.
In 2017, it produced just 6 billion cubic metres of shale gas, or about 6 per cent of its natural gas output for the whole year.
The problem is that 80 per cent of its deposits are located more than 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) below sea level, which is far beyond the range of hydraulic fracturing, the standard method for extraction.
But all that could be about to change, after a team of nuclear weapons scientists led by Professor Zhang Yongming from the State Key Laboratory of Controlled Shock Waves at Xian Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province, released details of a new “energy rod” that has the power to plumb depths never before thought possible.
Unlike hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as it is more commonly known, which uses highly pressurised jets of water to release gas deposits trapped in sedimentary rock, Zhang’s torpedo-shaped device uses a powerful electric current to generate concentrated, precisely controlled shock waves to achieve the same result.
He told the South China Morning Post that while the technology had yet to be applied outside the laboratory, the first field test was set to take place in Sichuan in March or April.
“We are about to see the result of a decade’s work,” he said.
Chen Jun, a professor at Southwest Petroleum University in Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital, is not involved with the programme but said he was eagerly awaiting the results of the trials.
“A technological breakthrough could trigger another shale gas revolution,” he said.
Shale gas is another name for methane (or natural gas) that is trapped in impermeable rock deep underground. Unlike conventional natural gas which is in permeable rocks, shale gas does not flow and so cannot be reached by simply drilling a well.
The widespread use of fracking in the United States began in 2007 and heralded a boom in energy production in the country. In the decade that followed its natural gas output rose 40 per cent, prices fell by more than two thirds and America went from importer to exporter.
One of the main reasons for the success of the so called shale gas revolution was the relative accessibility of the fuel. In many cases, including at several sites in Pennsylvania and New York state, the deposits were found just a few hundred metres below ground.
The deeper the shale beds, the higher the water pressure needed to frack the rock and release the gas. Reaching China’s reserves, at 3.5km (2.2 miles) underground, would require a water pressure of about 100 megapascals, or about the same as is found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest point on Earth.
No pump, pipe or drill shaft wall material has the strength to withstand such a crush.
No surprise then that previous efforts to tap into China’s rich gas seams by state-owned energy giants like Sinopec and CNPC, often working in partnership with US firms, failed to deliver.
Zhang hopes his alternative, developed by a team that has worked on some of the world’s most advanced nuclear weapons systems, can change all that, but he also knows the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
“The technology was born in a dust-free laboratory,” he said. “Not many people believe it can be used in a mine.
Zhang and his team have dubbed their creation an “energy concentration rod” as it is able to control the release of explosive bolts of energy into an extremely short, precisely calculated period of time so as to maximise the fracturing effect of the shock waves.
It works by passing a strong electric current along a specially coated wire coil – encased by a metal shell – that is submerged in water. When the wire vaporises it produces a cloud of plasma – the extremely hot, electrically charged matter that makes up the sun – within which is a huge amount of energy just waiting to be released.
“The shock wave generated by the device can be as high as 200 megapascals at close range, which is expected to produce a fracture zone up to 50 metres in diameter,” Zhang said.
The method, known as exploding wire, enables scientists to control the energy, duration and even direction of the explosion. The same principle was used to detonate the atomic bomb code named “Little Boy” that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Despite that commonality, Zhang’s device does not create a nuclear blast, so is fundamentally different to what the United States was doing in the 1960s, when scientists there detonated a nuclear bomb underground to boost natural gas production. The former Soviet Union also used thermal nuclear weapons for mining and in dam construction.
Trade war: China’s natural gas tariff will kill off US projects, says Canadian firm
Also, unlike a traditional detonator, which fires just once, Zhang’s energy rod has been designed to withstand hundreds of massive blasts.
After each one, the rod is hoisted back up the shaft and a jet of water is injected under high pressure into the cavity to further open up the rock. The rod is then lowered back into position and is ready to fire again.
The device can “generate shock waves repeatedly … like a machine gun”, Zhang said, adding that because the wire was encased and submerged the rod did not generate sparks, so reducing the safety risk.
While the scientist has concerns about how well his creation will work in shale rock, it has already been used to release potentially hazardous gas deposits from coal beds and is now recommended by the government as a way to improve both safety and productivity in the mining industry.
Wang Chengwen, a professor at the China University of Petroleum in Qingdao, Shandong province, said that one of the advantages of the new technology was that it was potentially more environmentally friendly than other fracking methods.
The waste water generated by traditional shale gas production contained large amounts of toxic chemicals that could contaminate rivers and underground water sources, he said.
However, it was yet to be seen if the force generated by the rod would be enough to fracture rocks at such extreme depths, he said.
Wang said that as the technology was still in its infancy, extra measures would have to be taken to ensure the safety of workers at the drilling site, while mass production would also require the construction of a huge network of underground support facilities.
“Fracturing is just part of shale gas production,” he said.
Aside from the technical challenges, Chen Qun, a professor at the school of water resources and hydropower at Sichuan University in Chengdu, said that scientists and politicians would have to consider the potentially devastating environmental damage that the new technology could cause.
While large shale gas reserves have been identified at seven sites across China, half of them are in Sichuan, a region of southwest China that is notorious for its deadly earthquake and landslides.
A magnitude 8 quake there in May 2008 left 87,000 people dead, 370,000 injured and 5 million homeless.
Chen said that while the shock waves produced by Zhang’s device would be relatively localised, if the technology was applied at multiple sites it could change the underlying geophysics of the region and put man-made infrastructure, like buildings and dams, at risk.
One of the largest shale gas deposits to be found in recent years is located near the city of Yichang, which is home to the Three Gorges Dam that spans the Yangtze River and is the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity.
A study by Stanford University in 2017 linked thousands of small tremors in the southern US state of Arkansas to shale gas production, and warned they might be early indicators of much bigger quakes to come.
Shi Lei, an associate professor with the school of environment at Tsinghua University, said that while increased shale gas production would be good for China’s economy and its energy supply chain, a possible downside was that it would lead to lower fossil fuel prices and thus hamper the development of renewable energy sources.
Moreover, whatever technological breakthroughs it made on shale gas extraction, China still had some way to go if it wanted to challenge the global order, Shi said.
“The US is the world leader on energy … and China can’t change that.”
His comments will be music to the ears of US President Donald Trump who has demanded China buy more American shale gas as a way to reduce its massive trade surplus.
166 Comments on "Is China’s plan to use a nuclear bomb detonator to release shale gas"
DerHundistLos on Wed, 30th Jan 2019 6:38 am
THE HUMAN KILLING MACHINE
I was shocked to read in AN ARS Technica article that human colonization of the Pacific Islands caused the extinction of nearly 1.000 SPECIES of large-bodied, flightless birds known as passerine landbirds. As humanity colonized Pacific islands, the result was mass extinction.
A study of fossils from 41 Pacific islands found that two-thirds of bird populations on these islands went extinct in the period between the first arrival of humans and European colonization.
Overhunting by humans, exacerbated by forest clearance, was a major cause of prehistoric bird extinctions.
On some islands, after the inhabitants ate the local wildlife to extinction, a common consequence was cannibalism. The best known example in which a society embraced cannibalism in response to self-imposed ecological devastation is among the Maori people.
New Zealand is the most well-documented case of how human colonization and the ensuing overhunting can devastate island bird life. The country has lost over 30 percent of its native land birds, the most notable of which is the moa, which was able to grow over over three meters tall.
To provide an understanding of the wholesale hunting until extinction of flightless birds, archeologists unearthed a Maori flightless bird bone graveyard that was 80 acres in size!!!!!
This same scenario is our future since we never learn the lessons of history. Soylent Green was not far off in predicting the future. Remember, this film was made in 1971, yet in one scene involving Edward G. Robinson and Charlton Heston, the Robinson character complains,
“This heat is becoming unbearable. It feels as if we live in a hothouse greenhouse twelve months of the year. It wasn’t always like this. Hell, I remember as a kid when we had what was known as spring, summer, fall, and winter. God, what have we done? God? What God would permit this existence?”
Go Speed Racer on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 5:16 am
Hi Der Honda is Toast,
Ya out here on the Left Coast, its much
hotter wintertime than before. I used to
need “faucet covers” in winter,
but I don’t need those anymore.
Since the whole planet is now wrecked, the
goal is to grab as much as U can of
what’s left, and then slam down your
submarine hatch on your bomb shelter.
I think pretty much everything is going
extinct, not just flightless birds.
There won’t be anything left in the ocean
but floating plastic bottles.
Hi Clogster,
I saw your worries on Peak Oil going out
of style.
Well dont lose track of reality,
conventional oil has already peaked !!
What people didn’t consider, is how much
OTHER stuff besides oil can be burnt up.
Shale oil? That’s basically busting up
rocks and burning them.
I have a woodstove, I burn up old pallets.
As a society, we can burn garbage.
We can burn old tires and sofa’s.
Theres lots of stuff to burn.
Late one night was driving the interstate
and pulled over to watch a giant dumpster
fire. A really big dumpster, one of those
ones with a ladder on the side. The whole
thing was glowing bright red, flames 20 feet
in the air.
The most evil thing of all, was the fire
department came by and put it out. And
that was not easy to do either. Dummies
they should have let it burn itself out.
Point is… that’s some serious energy.
So “peak oil” i think if we include all
the other energy sources (dumpster fires
etc) then it will probably be a long time
before we get a real peak of all the energy
sources. And at the very end the whole
planet will be one big parking lot because
we burnt up absolutely everything.
Thats why Peak Oil theory is having a
little trouble right now.
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 5:50 am
Inside The Nevada “Doomsday Prepper Dream Home” That Can Be Yours For Just $900,000
https://tinyurl.com/ya52zed3
“A four-story, 22-room, 8,000-square-foot prepper castle in the middle of the Nevada desert can be yours for just $900,000, according to CNBC. Sporting 16″ thick walls, self-sustained wind and solar systems and a 4,000-gallon water storage/rain catchment system, the Hard Luck Mine Castle even sports its own gold mine that operated from 1897 to around World War II. In addition to two kitchens, three full bathrooms, a wood shop, wine cellar (the “lick-her” vault), theater, game room, glass solarium, planetarium and fountain room, the castle has two vintage pipe organs for the new owners to play a “phantom of the apocalypse” duet. Current owner, Randy Johnston, who bought the property in 1998, according to the website, spent more than $3 million constructing the “castle,” Rasmuson tells CNBC Make It. It went on the market in late October for $1.2 million. “Pricing is very difficult on a property as unique as this,” Rasmuson tells CNBC Make It. “Given HOW unique it is, it may be difficult to recoup the total investment on any time frame. The pricing has been established in a realistic range to gain interest…. [Y]ou can get an 8,000-square-foot castle for the same price as one-bedroom condo in San Francisco.” The Hard Luck Castle comes with 40 acres of land off Highway 267 in Esmeralda County. It gets hot in the summer — 90 degrees in July — and is just below the snow line, according to Rasmuson’s listing for the property. –CNBC”
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 5:50 am
Prepper dream home is not the point of prep. The physical structure is important but bunkers are not it. They only give a false sense of security. They are lifeless monuments to egos. The ideal security is community. The structure you choose for your doomstead is important but it should be more oriented to efficiency and act as workplace because prep is about work and activity. Your doomstead will be where you do your work repairing equipment, preparing food, and houses your life-support systems that must be managed. These life support systems would be you energy collecting devices, water, and storage of food, equipment, and knowledge. Ideally a good doomstead will have a renewable system but grid tied too. The grid is a valuable asset but complete reliance on the grid is minimized. This system will be capable of getting you by when the grid goes unstable or gone altogether. You might have a safe room for fallout and or security. A safe to keep guns, gold, and cash. You would have multiple months of long shelf life food and water. Water purification devices. You might have this place fenced and with dogs.
This effort ramp up from there until you have a farmstead because longer term it is about providing food and gathering solar energy in the form of plants and animals but also the technology of renewables. This means some acreage with barns. Ideally groups of people could participate in this so they could have their affordable private homes and together share the effort and expense of the doomstead farm. This farm would have gardens and orchards and also have natural components because nature can provide plant and animal support. This of course varies by geography so a coastal location would differ from an interior region but the same blue print applies. The human leadership and management varies according to culture but revolves around common good. People are always the most difficult aspect of community.
Advancing this arrangement is would come down to those aspects of community where participants find common meaning. A shared respect for a higher power and a mutual effort at a human safety net. Entertainment and leisure would be incorporated. These would be tied together by localism and real green motivations. Real Efficiency which is both technical and behavioral seeks to combine low foot print sustainability with resilient demand management. These efforts would focus on adapting to seasonality and intermittency. This effort would seek a hybrid of the best of new and old technologies and behaviors. It would collect and store this information in a library placed in a setting for education. Basics of health care and mental health would be part of this place. Physical activity would be promoted as much as knowledge. Strong and fit members are essential to survival in difficult times. Security would be common and this is as much about avoidance as defense. Avoidance means trying to stay under the radar screen and have ways to monitor and dissuade trespassing.
All this would be wrapped up in a community that realizes it can’t decouple from our modern civilization. This community would realize it must cooperate and participate to be able to earn resources from a delocalized world but wherever possible this community would produce what it needs. Ideally this community would have a participatory structure in place like the Amish but based on real green wisdom. Real green wisdom would pick and choose what technology and efforts at efficiency would be embraced. It would also make efforts at controlling how much the community participates in the delocalized world to prevent contamination. Ideally the digital mediums would have some kind of control and the laziness of TV and digital diversions discouraged. Vehicles would be limited with a minimum of discretionary transport. Consumerism would center on the doomstead. Consumerism would be utilized to advance the doomstead but anything that could be made locally promoted. Rigorous repair efforts also promoted. Consumerism would be minimized through common understanding. Consumerism and discretionary transport would be managed because these are the forces that delocalize. Delocalization and the contamination of social relativity based on thrill seeking are the primary force to be battled.
So this doomstead is about both physical and the mental. You can do this in very small groups like a family or it can be grown to the size of a small community. It would then be small communities cooperating amongst themselves. There is nothing new here. It is about the basics of what has been in the past before delocalization and the age of transportation. There is nothing new here except that it is a new way back to the old. It is about adapting the traditional tried and true and utilizing the new and advanced with checks and balances of common wisdom based on real green. That is the hybridization. This includes triage which is the removing of the deadwood of clutter humans hoard. Most of these efforts and forces are in place in various degrees what lacks is the narrative to gather them into on place for a common effort. Civilization is the problem both with a future and the meaning it portrays. There is no perfect doomstead but there is action so start something.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 6:23 am
I wonder if anyone in the world will ever read Davy’s above comment. I know I didn’t! LOL!
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 6:32 am
“China rebuffs threat claims”
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1137589.shtml
Americans are the worst threat to both the world and the USA, not China or Russia. Americans have a bad habit of projecting their beliefs and behavior unto others. We see this here on this board on a daily basis. The Chinese are building stuff while the US government is wasting the USA’s stolen wealth in a senseless pursuit of global power and control that is bound to fail. The USA has the most inefficient and ineffective government in human history.
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 6:38 am
I am sure you read it juan. You skimmed through it looking for something to use against me and since you didn’t find anything you decided to say you didn’t read it. It is too big to be used a identity theft. You could use boney joe to attack it but it is too large and complicated for that. You don’t have the times so you do your one-liner above. Makato would regurgitate the same shit he does and so would anon. I expect these responses. Maybe a better question is what don’t you like about it or what do you disagree with? Saying you don’t like me is self-evident in why you are now on this forum. I consider that an honor. I admire your permaculture skills but loath your personality. You are the reason good things fail. I hate davy is all you said above. I am able to say something more than hate. I am able to promote what I live. I am humble enough to know you and two others are lurking there to attack me and rip apart anything I say good or bad because you are completely fixated and triggered by me. That is what I read in you as a person and wonder why anyone pays attention to you. In fact nobody does unless you spam the board with malfeasance which is all your identity theft and sock puppetry is. Then people have no choice but to pay attention to you because it smells and it is disagreeable. It is censorship that impinges on them and makes their morning here disagreeable.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 6:52 am
Davy “I am sure you read it juan. You skimmed through it looking for something to use against me and since you didn’t find anything you decided to say you didn’t read it.”
I did not read it at all. I don’t read the vast majority of your word salads, Davy. Very few people visit this place anymore thanks to you, and most of us have been skipping your word salads for years. You have been repeating the same stuff over and over for too long. And your comments are too wordy because they reflect an obvious psychological need on your part to be the center of attention. You could make your points better with shorter comments.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 6:54 am
Davy “You don’t have the times so you do your one-liner above.”
I have all the time in the world, but I don’t consider reading your word salads a good way to use it. I do enjoy moderating your extremist behavior, though I would rather you behaved better.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:00 am
Davy “I hate davy is all you said above.”
I don’t hate you, Davy. You are not worth hating. I simply pity you and wish you could behave like a decent person so you would stop lying, bullying, and insulting everyone you disagree with. You are entitled to your opinions and so are others, Davy. I respect your right to have your opinions even if I disagree with them; why can’t you do that?
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:05 am
Davy “I am humble …”
No, you are not humble at all. You have never displayed any humility in the many years you’ve been here. You are an incredibly arrogant person. You are by far the most arrogant regular here. And the reason I mostly write one liners is that that is all I need to make my point. You should learn to be more concise; it is more efficient.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:07 am
Davy “You are the reason good things fail.”
You are projecting again and blaming others for the consequences of your actions.
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:24 am
Juan, your behavior is what defines you. I don’t need to say anymore in regards to the evidence. The fact that some days you try to be respectable and other a raving maniac proves my point. You are not right but pretend you are right. Knock yourself out hating me. Like I said it is an honor when people like you hate me and attack me. Mission accomplished with extremism and bad behavior.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:27 am
Davy “Juan, your behavior is what defines you.”
I couldn’t agree more. I hope you do realize that the same applies to you! LOL!
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:30 am
Davy “The fact that some days you try to be respectable and other a raving maniac proves my point.”
And you pretend to be respectable while behaving like a raving maniac every single day proving you are insane.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:35 am
Davy “Knock yourself out hating me. Like I said it is an honor when people like you hate me and attack me.”
I don’t hate you, Davy. I pity you. Nobody on this board hates you. We deeply dislike you because you are a thoroughly disagreeable person. I guess your insanity prevents you from understanding the difference. It is sad that you think being supposedly hated is an honor to you. You are obviously not an honorable person and, furthermore, don’t even understand what honor is.
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:38 am
The more you go after me juan the more you prove my point. You started this shit as usual today but of course you want the first and last word. Pretty soon the identity theft and sock puppets start. Some days you dump a massive slurry of wasted space and time to the point people can’t even ignore you. I mean come on, nothing said just a desperate attempt at censorship because god forbid juan was triggered. I suggest you prove me wrong with ideas and show you know what you are talking about instead of saying you know what you are talking about because you are juan.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:38 am
Davy “Mission accomplished with extremism and bad behavior.”
If your mission was to be an extremist and behave badly then you have definitely accomplished it! ROFLMFAO!
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:40 am
Davy “Pretty soon the identity theft and sock puppets start.”
You should know! LOL!
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:42 am
Davy “Some days you dump a massive slurry of wasted space and time to the point people can’t even ignore you.”
You are projecting and making false accusations again, Davy! LOL!
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 7:55 am
Your behavior is documented here juan. When you deny these action you prove you are a liar. This the plain and simple of it. You want your cake and eat it with this bad behavior. Today you are trying so hard to be good but it is hard for you. You are getting animated and soon “Boom” the other juan comes out. This is the problem with untreated mental and personality issues. This is especially a problem when someone like you believes these character flaws can be utilized for offensive actions. You know manipulation and censorship. “I am juan and I am crazy” “I will do whatever it takes to win” and other times you are rational and sincere. You are a borderline personality juan. Learn to live with it and medicate if possible. Stop the self-medication if that is what you are doing. If a place like this is destructive to your mental wellbeing leave.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:06 am
Davy “Your behavior is documented here juan. When you deny these action you prove you are a liar.”
You are projecting again! LOL! Everybody here knows you started this!
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:08 am
Davy “You are a borderline personality juan.”
That is another lie! It would have been a projection, too, if it weren’t for the fact that you crossed that line a long time ago. LOL!
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:10 am
Davy “If a place like this is destructive to your mental wellbeing leave.”
Maybe you should follow your own advice! ROFLMFAO!
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:12 am
“The circularity gap”
https://tinyurl.com/yclsn76w
“A new report outlines measures for transitioning to a circular economy. Just nine percent of the 92.8 billion tonnes of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass that enter the economy are re-used annually, according to the latest Circularity Gap Report. As much as 62 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions – excluding those from land use and forestry – is released during the extraction, processing and manufacturing of goods.”
“For a low-carbon future, we need a circular economy; there is no other way. Our world must become more than 9 percent circular. To date, most governments have focused their green agenda on renewable energy, energy efficiency and avoiding deforestation. Policy-makers have overlooked the vast potential of the circular economy to achieve the Paris goals. Re-use, re-manufacturing and recycling, greater resource efficiency and circular business models offer huge scope not only reduce emissions, but also to boost growth through efficiency gains. The Report calls on governments to take action to move from a linear economy to a circular model that maximises the use of existing assets, while reducing dependence on new raw materials and minimising waste. Innovation to extend the lifespan of existing resources will not only curb emissions but also reduce social inequality and foster low-carbon growth.”
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:12 am
Real green calls out articles like this. There will be no circular economy. There can be “more” circular micro economies within the linear global economy. There is also a point where critical mass of micro circular economies will begin to destroy the affluence of globalism. This means less people and fancy and often expensive “low” carbon tech. In other words techno optimists be careful what you wish for. Taking circular to its extreme requires also the building hospices and lifeboats. This is what the real green movement of the awakened says to fake green articles like this. It’s too late. There are consequences for action like globalism with 7BIL people. It is like angels with iron wings, good ideas that don’t float. Nonetheless micro circular economies are part of the real green movement.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:14 am
Davy “This is the problem with untreated mental and personality issues. This is especially a problem when someone like you believes these character flaws can be utilized for offensive actions. You know manipulation and censorship.”
You are projecting again, Davy. I wish you could see how obvious and funny your projections are. I really enjoy them; they make me laugh. LOL!
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:18 am
“India’s ‘airpocalypse’”
https://tinyurl.com/y9y8lyxp
“Pollution levels in nearly 250 cities exceed the government’s ambient air quality standards, new data shows Weeks after the Indian government unveiled the country’s first ever air pollution reduction targets, new data has revealed the number of cities violating the country’s air quality standards is more than twice as high as previously thought. The National Clean Air Programme, published earlier this month after months of waiting and years of campaigning by Indian civil society, set a target of reducing levels of toxic particle pollution by 20 to 30% by 2024, from 2017 levels. The plan includes a list of 102 cities violating the country’s air quality standards that are required to prepare city-level action plans and expected to achieve the reduction targets.”
“In recent years India’s air quality has deteriorated to the point where it has become the most consistently smoggy country in the world, with pollution levels even exceeding those in neighbouring China. Not only do the new numbers show the need for urgency in reducing particle pollution levels across the country, they also highlight that even a 30% reduction would just be the beginning. Even if a 30% reduction was achieved across the country, more than 150 cities would still violate India’s national air quality standards, and these standards themselves are four times as lenient for PM2.5 as those recommended by the World Health Organization (40 micrograms per cubic meter in India vs. WHO guideline of 10).”
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:24 am
“India’s infrastructure needs will push it to reconsider BRI”
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1137469.shtml
India is essentially the only continental Asian country that is still voluntarily not participating in the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, and that is slowing its development.
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:31 am
“The Analog Tipping Points Lurking in Tech’s Future”
https://tinyurl.com/y96oowu4
“Too Much Tech in Tech There is too much tech in tech. That sounds counterintuitive if not a bit crazy. Innovative ideas and great engineering have been the foundation of the tech industry’s extraordinary success for decades. And those who drove that success – the engineers, programmers and mathematicians – rightly dominate the industry’s leadership today. But that success has created a myopia in the industry, particularly in senior management. This will increasingly become a problem as lurking in the future are meaningful challenges that the tech sector is only now beginning to confront. These challenges are largely not technical in nature,and they do not play to the industry’s traditional strengths. And as we’ve seen in a string of recent scandals, they are challenges for which tech companies appear completely unprepared. This flat-footedness is not surprising. A less remarked-upon contributor to the tech sector’s success has been its singular lack of scrutiny. The industry has lacked any meaningful regulatory or legislative constraints, and until recently, has not endured messy congressional or parliamentary hearings, skeptical media coverage, or meaningful public outcry. Even the occasional anti-trust action or the dot.com boom and bust left little lasting effect on how the tech industry does business.”
“This seeming paradox can be explained. First, while technology has had a profound impact on the world, most individual tech companies have not. Second, the positive impact of technology (along with its propensity for trumpeting that fact) has overshadowed its more disruptive traits. And while substantial in aggregate, tech’s disruption has been dispersed and thus, subtle. Until very recently, it certainly has not drawn the attention of policymakers, the media and the public in any meaningful way.”
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:31 am
From a real green movement point of view this “too much tech is about lack of wisdom of the consequences of tech and efficiency. It is about tech used as a substitute to fight bad behavior instead of going after the bad behavior in the first place. It is about the corruption of the marketing of tech for goals of profit and market share at the expense of what is in the long term public good. It is about unaccountability for short and long term consequences. Tech is part of the problem and also part of the solution. Behavior is the problem and the key to solutions. Since tech appears to almost have taken on a “god” like status today then you as real green should be very suspect of tech but realize in the new Anthropocene tech is part of the ecosystem. Chose tech wisely.
Antius on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:44 am
“From a real green movement point of view this “too much tech is about lack of wisdom of the consequences of tech and efficiency. It is about tech used as a substitute to fight bad behavior instead of going after the bad behavior in the first place. It is about the corruption of the marketing of tech for goals of profit and market share at the expense of what is in the long term public good. It is about unaccountability for short and long term consequences. Tech is part of the problem and also part of the solution. Behavior is the problem and the key to solutions. Since tech appears to almost have taken on a “god” like status today then you as real green should be very suspect of tech but realize in the new Anthropocene tech is part of the ecosystem. Chose tech wisely.”
Words of wisdom Davy. Precious few people have the ability to think laterally. Green techno-utopians like Amory Lovins have spent a lot of time looking into alternative ways of powering cars, rather than considering whether suburban car culture is something that is worth spending much time and money trying to save. There are parallels wherever we look. People looking for alternative ways of maintaining their existing way of life, rather than changing the way they do live.
JuanP on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 8:46 am
“CBO: US set to borrow over 1 trillion for second year”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-28/cbo-unveils-apocalyptic-long-term-debt-picture-us-set-borrow-over-1-trillion-second
I have been enjoying the benefits of the USA’s debt binge more than most people for three decades now, but I am extremely happy that I have a home, family, friends, and money waiting for me in Uruguay when this biggest debt bubble in world history blows up. I would not want to be stuck in the USA to suffer the consequences. I will enjoy the ride while it lasts, though.
Mitch on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 10:23 am
There is no green solution for 7.6 billion people.
Take tech out of the equation, humanity dies off. Keep embracing tech, humanity dies off even more. Die off now, or die off more later. That is the human predicament.
Duncan Idaho on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 10:50 am
There is no green solution for 7.6 billion people.
Bingo!
we have a winner.
This is a predicament, not a problem.
Cloggie on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 11:52 am
It is too early for catastrophic conclusions.
Duncan Idaho on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 12:17 pm
It is too early for catastrophic conclusions.
Depends on your education and intelligence.
Antius on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 12:28 pm
This author seems to be saying a lot of what Cloggie has been saying about the US.
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2019/01/30/the-america-problem/
The demographic decline of white America makes it more or less inevitable that it will degenerate into a Venezuela-style, far-left autocracy. Alexandra Cortez is the new face of America. This is clearly dangerous for the rest of the world, given America’s formidable military and nuclear arsenal. It will be in some ways like the Soviet Union collapse, but with a large majority of stupid brown people pulling the levers of residual power. Unless there is some form of civil war, leading to whitey gaining the upper hand as Cloggie suggested.
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 12:52 pm
“There is no green solution for 7.6 billion people. Bingo! we have a winner. This is a predicament, not a problem. It is too early for catastrophic conclusions. It is too early for catastrophic conclusions. Depends on your education and intelligence.”
How are we going to look at this situation? Are we going to have an academic detachment acknowledging the cold mathematical realities of systematic overshoot and the possibility of extinction at some point? Are we going to look at society in the next few years? Are we going to look at it via the individual and his ability to do something personally now and a few years ahead? If a more rapid collapse process does materialize we probably won’t all die off together right away. This means some with do better than others depending on place/time. It does not look good for civilization decades hence but now we are more or less stable. This is about point of views and starting points. Generalizations don’t fit the same for a country or an individual. I am more optimistic these days but no less a doomer and prepper longer term. I am also believing much more in the promise of renewables than even a year ago but I still don’t see them saving us further out…….yet.
Cloggie on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 12:58 pm
While eagerly awaiting the opportunity for European-Americans to rejoin European mainstream and set up an “Interplanetary Aryan Super-civilization” [*] and restore the grandeur of European civilization, meanwhile another probe of what white people are capable off…
Sustainable building. Early next year in my home town Eindhoven, 5 new homes will be printed:
https://www.nu.nl/237509/video/geprinte-woningen-met-aparte-vormen-dit-is-project-milestone.html
What you get is a home with complex forms, but that require less material and energy:
https://www.3dprintedhouse.nl/en/project-info/
[*] I would never use that expression in polite company, but as a little provocation in a biotope of racial commies, it is good fun.
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 12:58 pm
“The demographic decline of white America makes it more or less inevitable that it will degenerate into a Venezuela-style, far-left autocracy”
Nonsense, this is a big country Antius you are not viewing scale properly.
“Alexandra Cortez is the new face of America.”
One of many faces
“This is clearly dangerous for the rest of the world, given America’s formidable military and nuclear arsenal.”
The US is dangerous either way Antius. What has White America done that has not been dangerous in the past?? You are not thinking clearly in regards to these people. These far left you worry about are only a small percentage that makes a big amount of noise.
Cloggie on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 1:08 pm
Raw pictures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muySDlT4wR8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvlxSdrvsxk
Cloggie on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 1:48 pm
“These far left you worry about are only a small percentage that makes a big amount of noise.”
Davy has been spending two decades anticipating and preparing for that peak oil fata morgana and is completely missing the 600 pound gorilla in the room, CW2.
https://documents1940.wordpress.com/2018/06/11/cw2-brewing/
He missed it because “his” media don’t talk about it.
I AM THE MOB on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 1:55 pm
Clogg
All we have to do is sit back and eat popcorn and wait for the oil shortage and watch Europe and Asia collapse..No false flag or bullets even needed..
IEA Chief warns of world oil shortages by 2020 as discoveries fall to record lows
https://www.wsj.com/articles/iea-says-global-oil-discoveries-at-record-low-in-2016-1493244000
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Warns of World Oil Shortages Ahead
https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-minister-sees-end-of-oil-price-slump-1476870790
There will be an oil shortage in the 2020’s, Goldman Sachs says
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/09/goldman-sachs-there-will-be-an-oil-shortage-in-the-2020s.html
Wood Mackenzie warns of oil and gas supply crunch
https://www.ft.com/content/a1eb0e58-d7a4-11e8-ab8e-6be0dcf18713
Davy on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 2:01 pm
“These far left you worry about are only a small percentage that makes a big amount of noise.” “Davy has been spending two decades anticipating and preparing for that peak oil fata morgana and is completely missing the 600 pound gorilla in the room, CW2.”
Clogged, CW2 is looking you in the face too. I didn’t say it was not a problem. My point of view is it not as extreme a problem as you and Antius make it out to be here or in Euroland.
“He missed it because “his” media don’t talk about it.”
Clogged, you spam this US CW2 shit in every way shape and form here on this forum 20/7 how could I miss that?? No media can come close to your extremist bias spam reporting.
I AM THE MOB on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 2:04 pm
Clog
I have referenced over fifty mainstream articles, over a dozen peer reviewed science papers, and a handful of government studies on peak oil..if that isn’t enough evidence for you..Nothing ever will be..Its amazing how you ignore so much and feel so confident..You base your beliefs on faith not reason..
And your faith is going to be tested someday soon..
FuelShortateComingYouAreDeadUglyLoser on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 2:07 pm
Global cooling is happening at the same time of White people die off and peak oil.
Whites people with their low birth rate and low population number (8% of the planet) are leaving the planet earlier the other race and therefore avoiding the blood, misery and pain.
Britain Braced for 9-hour Blizzard — Overnight Low of 14.4C Recorded, the Coldest Temp in the UK Since 2012
https://electroverse.net/britain-braced-for-9-hour-blizzard-overnight-low-of-14-4c-recorded-the-coldest-temp-in-the-uk-since-2012/
It is going to be funny to see the two major demographics in Toronto, Asians and Indians fighting each other for the Control of Toronto. If you are White, sit back and watch other races kill each other.
I AM THE MOB on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 2:08 pm
There isn’t going to be a civil war in America..Last time there was there was only 30 million people..Now there is 328 million..Never going to happen.Once the world economy collapses all governments will collapse as well..And it will be every man woman and child for themselves..Just like the German army study concluded..
Cloggie on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 2:57 pm
“There isn’t going to be a civil war in America.”
Most CW-links I got from you.
Getting 2nd thoughts?
Cloggie on Thu, 31st Jan 2019 3:11 pm
Iran and EU circumvent US sanctions via barter:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-eu-france/france-says-it-expects-iran-eu-trade-mechanism-to-be-established-in-coming-days-idUSKCN1PH22Z