Energy Crisis

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Energy Crisis In Europe

Europe is facing an extremely cold winter that will be filled with energy shortages, blackouts and absurdly high power bills. All across the continent, ordinary people can see what is coming, and many of them are starting to panic. Demand for wood stoves is off the charts, and many Europeans are hoarding wood and other materials to burn in their existing wood stoves during the bitterly cold months ahead. We truly are in unprecedented territory, and things are about to start getting really crazy out there.

If you live in Europe and you haven’t purchased a wood stove yet, it is probably already too late to get one for the beginning of winter.

It is being reported that any stoves ordered now could take “months to deliver”, and prices for wood pellets have almost doubled…

As much as 70% of European heating comes from natural gas and electricity, and with Russian deliveries drastically reduced, wood — already used by some 40 million people for heating — has become a sought-after commodity.

Prices for wood pellets have nearly doubled to 600 euros a ton in France, and there are signs of panic buying of the world’s most basic fuel. Hungary even went so far as to ban exports of pellets, and Romania capped firewood prices for six months. Meanwhile, wood stoves can now take months to deliver.

With wood and wood pellets being so expensive, some people in Europe are considering “other options” that once would have been unthinkable.

For example, we are being told that some Europeans are actually contacting local chimney sweeps to inquire about the possibility of burning horse poop in their stoves…

Inexperience is also evident in Germany, where the country’s association of chimney sweeps is dealing with a flood of requests to connect new and old stoves, and customers are inquiring about burning horse dung and other obscure fuels.

If you were cold enough, would you burn horse poop in order to stay warm?

Under normal conditions, no rational person would do such a thing.

But at this point, Europeans can see that they may not be able to rely on their national power grids this winter.

In fact, one top EU official is openly warning that energy shortages could lead to widespread blackouts in the months ahead…

The European Union could face blackouts this winter as the continent faces an ongoing energy crisis amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Brussels is preparing for worst-case scenarios, according to EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič.

Asked in an interview published Tuesday by Germany’s RND media network whether EU countries would need disaster relief due to the energy crisis, Lenarčič responded: “Yes, that is quite possible.”

Sadly, this is true even in Germany.

The Germans have the largest economy in the EU by a wide margin, but their leaders are publicly acknowledging that Germany “may run out of gas” at some point by the end of the winter…

German Federal Economy Minister Robert Habeck expressed concern over the looming energy crisis this winter, telling German media that the situation was extremely tense and there is a possibility that Germany may run out of gas.

Habeck spoke on Friday, appealing to Germans to reduce their consumption of natural gas ahead of this winter a day after the German government launched a new price break programme to help Germans with the rising costs of energy.

And whoever bombed the NordStream pipeline system made sure that Russia would not be able to come to the rescue by providing much needed natural gas at a critical moment.

Germans desperately need to cut back if rationing is to be avoided, but here we are just weeks away from severely cold weather and that is still not happening…

The head of Germany’s Federal Network Agency, which would be in charge of gas rationing in the event of a supply emergency, repeated his warning a week ago that consumption was too high.

“We will struggle to avoid a gas emergency this winter without at least 20% savings in private households, businesses and industry,” Klaus Mueller of the Bundesnetzagentur told Reuters.

“The situation may become very serious if we do not significantly reduce our gas consumption,” he added.

The situation in the UK is quite dire as well.

Last week, a warning that the British people could potentially face three hour rolling blackouts this winter made headlines all over the globe…

Households could experience a series of three-hour power cuts this winter if Vladimir Putin shuts off gas supplies from Russia and Britain experiences a cold snap, National Grid has warned.

Such an event would mean consumers in different parts of the country being notified a day in advance of three-hour blocks of time during which their power would be cut off, in an effort to reduce total consumption by 5%.

What would you do if the power went out for three hours on one of the coldest days of the year?

You might want to think about that.

Here in the United States, it appears unlikely that we will face energy shortages this winter, but heating costs will definitely surge to record highs as energy prices continue to soar all over the planet.

And we definitely do not want prices to go higher, because approximately 20 million Americans are already behind on their power bills…

At least 20 million households — or about 1 in 6 American homes — are behind on their power bills as soaring electricity prices spark what is said to be the worst-ever crisis in late utility payments, according to Bloomberg, citing data from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada).

Neada said electricity prices had increased significantly since 2020 after a decade of stagnation. The steep rise has resulted in billions of dollars in overdue power bills.

The greatest energy crisis in any of our lifetimes is here, and it is setting the stage for the kind of historic economic meltdown of epic proportions that so many prominent voices have warned would be coming.

The price of energy has already gotten so high that some major European manufacturers have already been forced to shut down operations.

If energy costs make it impossible to operate profitably, the only logical thing to do is to close up shop until energy costs come back down.

But they aren’t going to come back down any time soon.

Europe is truly entering a new “Dark Ages”, and right now there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

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Ukrainian energy ministry halting energy exports due to Russian missile strikes

(Reuters) - The Ukrainian energy ministry said it will halt exports of electricity to the European Union following Russian missile strikes on energy infrastructure on Monday.

"Today's missile strikes, which hit the thermal generation and electrical substations, forced Ukraine to suspend electricity exports from Oct. 11, 2022 to stabilize its own energy system," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Russia earlier on Monday launched its most widespread missile strikes on Ukraine since the start of the conflict, raining cruise missiles on cities and knocking out power supplies, in what Russian President Vladimir Putin called revenge for a blown up bridge.

Ukraine's energy minister Herman Halushchenko said the attacks on the energy system were "the biggest during the entire war."

In a TV broadcast he said that missile strikes "on the entire chain of supply (were made) in order to make switching supply as difficult as possible."

In June, Ukrainian energy ministry said it was hoping to bring in 1.5 billion euros ($1.45 billion) from electricity exports to the EU, its main export market for energy since the war began, by the end of the year.

Russia launched its invasion on Ukraine on Feb 24. It has repeatedly denied attacks on civilian targets.

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BURN THE SCIENCE: Germany announces plan to “thermally recycle” 800 million covid masks as FUEL amid energy crisis

Close to 800 million sealed face coverings that were manufactured for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) scamdemic will soon be incinerated as fuel to keep people in Germany warm this upcoming dark winter .

Reports indicate that the economic powerhouse of Europe is struggling to stay afloat amid the ongoing altercation between Russia and Ukraine-NATO. This has left the country unable to obtain or produce enough energy to make it through the cold season.

Many in Germany are panicking and trying to buy firewood, stoves, wood pellets and anything else they can get their hands on to create heat due to the impending loss of oil and gas reserves.

The recent sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 (NS1) and Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipelines from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea have only made matters worse, rendering an already difficult situation that much worse.

The 800 million masks, we are told, have exceeded their expiration date (who knew a piece of Chinese-made paper and plastic had a shelf life?). They were originally purchased by the German government for an astounding $5.9 billion – talk about a waste of money .

dark winter.

Burning masks doesn’t generate “clean” energy – sorry, Germany!

The smoke and ash they leave behind will produce similar pollution to that of fossil fuels, which Germany has scoffed at in its transition to a “green” economy.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-07/germany-to-burn-almost-800-million-unused-covid-masks#xj4y7vzkg

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The authorities in Austria are talking about the inevitable power outage for 2 weeks

A blackout is said to be imminent: the civil protection association of Lower Austria sent out folders with stock examples. Sausage fans go away empty-handed.
Energy crisis and blackout have been on everyone’s lips for months, the right preparation and stockpiling is necessary and wise. Therefore, the civil protection association of Lower Austria has now published a folder with examples of stocks for two weeks in the event of a blackout.

Canned goods are essential
But what do we need on average according to the Civil Protection Association of Lower Austria? For a 2-week blackout, you should only stock up on 1 liter of long-life milk. Nothing is planned for die-hard sausage fans either. The list includes 2 cans of spread and 2 cans of canned fish.

Tesla’s impressive earnings over the past 10 years

Outside help not possible
15 tin cans should also be stored in stock. 10 piece eggs and salads in a jar are also suggested. Don’t skimp on water bottles – at least 24 pieces.

The army also published a guide for self-provision. It advises taking a first aid course and stocking up on batteries for your flashlight or radio. Communicating with neighbors, for example to discuss and use common resources, can be an advantage that should not be underestimated.

It is important, however, that everyone should consider for themselves what they really need in the event of a blackout for 2 weeks. Whether children, animals or sick people live in the house, are you a smoker or not, what medication do you need. Because if a blackout should occur, then according to the army, outside help is not possible.

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US scientists boost clean power hopes with fusion energy breakthrough

Net energy gain indicates technology could provide an abundant zero-carbon alternative to fossil fuels.

US government scientists have made a breakthrough in the pursuit of limitless, zero-carbon power by achieving a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time, according to three people with knowledge of preliminary results from a recent experiment. Physicists have since the 1950s sought to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun, but no group had been able to produce more energy from the reaction than it consumes — a milestone known as net energy gain or target gain, which would help prove the process could provide a reliable, abundant alternative to fossil fuels and conventional nuclear energy. The federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, which uses a process called inertial confinement fusion that involves bombarding a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma with the world’s biggest laser, had achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment in the past two weeks, the people said. Although many scientists believe fusion power stations are still decades away, the technology’s potential is hard to ignore. Fusion reactions emit no carbon, produce no long-lived radioactive waste and a small cup of the hydrogen fuel could theoretically power a house for hundreds of years. The US breakthrough comes as the world wrestles with high energy prices and the need to rapidly move away from burning fossil fuels to stop average global temperatures reaching dangerous levels. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration is ploughing almost $370bn into new subsidies for low-carbon energy in an effort to slash emissions and win a global race for next-generation clean tech. The fusion reaction at the US government facility produced about 2.5 megajoules of energy, which was about 120 per cent of the 2.1 megajoules of energy in the lasers, the people with knowledge of the results said, adding that the data was still being analysed.

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The US department of energy has said energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and under-secretary for nuclear security Jill Hruby will announce “a major scientific breakthrough” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Tuesday. The department declined to comment further. The laboratory confirmed that a successful experiment had recently taken place at its National Ignition Facility but said analysis of the results was ongoing. “Initial diagnostic data suggests another successful experiment at the National Ignition Facility. However, the exact yield is still being determined and we can’t confirm that it is over the threshold at this time,” it said. “That analysis is in process, so publishing the information . . . before that process is complete would be inaccurate.” Two of the people with knowledge of the results said the energy output had been greater than expected, which had damaged some diagnostic equipment, complicating the analysis. The breakthrough was already being widely discussed by scientists, the people added. “If this is confirmed, we are witnessing a moment of history,” said Dr Arthur Turrell, a plasma physicist whose book The Star Builders charts the effort to achieve fusion power. “Scientists have struggled to show that fusion can release more energy than is put in since the 1950s, and the researchers at Lawrence Livermore seem to have finally and absolutely smashed this decades-old goal.”

The $3.5bn National Ignition Facility was primarily designed to test nuclear weapons by simulating explosions but has since been used to advance fusion energy research. It came the closest in the world to net energy gain last year when it produced 1.37 megajoules from a fusion reaction, which was about 70 per cent of the energy in the lasers on that occasion. At the launch of a new White House fusion power strategy this year, Congressman Don Beyer, chair of the bipartisan fusion energy caucus, described the technology as the “holy grail” of clean energy, adding: “Fusion has the potential to lift more citizens of the world out of poverty than anything since the invention of fire.” Most fusion research is focused on a different approach known as magnetic confinement fusion, in which the hydrogen fuel is held in place by powerful magnets and heated to extreme temperatures so the atomic nuclei fuse. Historically, that science has been done by large publicly funded laboratories, such as the Joint European Torus in Oxford, but in recent years investment has also flooded into private companies promising to deliver fusion power in the 2030s. In the 12 months to the end of June, fusion companies raised $2.83bn in investment, according to the Fusion Industry Association, bringing total private sector investment to date to almost $4.9bn. Nicholas Hawker, chief executive of Oxford-based start-up First Light Fusion, which is developing an approach similar to that used at NIF, described the potential breakthrough as “game-changing”. “It couldn’t be more profound for fusion power,” he said. Subscribe to read | Financial Times

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'Major breakthrough' in nuclear fusion that will go down in history: Scientists produce more energy than what was used to activate it - unlocking potential for endless clean energy

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Dangers of EMP and Cyber Attacks Causing Blackouts - Maria Zeee & Mike Adams on Infowars