Oil and gas: end of!

... for heating systems in Denmark!

From January 1st, 2013, onwards Denmark has forbidden oil or gas fired heating systems for new builds; for existing heating systems 2016 will be the deadline.

More here and here.

Even though mainstream avoided and avoids this ground breaking news making headline - all over Europe, not only the UK! - there are already sarcastic comments floating around on how tiny Denmark believes it would make a da... bit of a difference, etc.

Stupid, arrogant foolishness; no, it is intentional ignorance!

By the way, any news on the offshore leaks?! No! Wonder why? And then this hits the Italian nail on its cappella:

(c) Harm Bengen, www.harmbengen.de

Carpe diem!

re-pression is programme

Stock markets are running out of arguments where "all the money pumped into the economies" would pump the global party to new heights. While bank crunch has now turned into a credit crunch and soon will be a supply and demand crunch the global players gamble on all kinds of commodities, an artificial world they dream to live in and bound to bounce.

The wake up call will be ugly; it will be a fight for labour and energy enforced by neo-protecionism which will leave the neo-liberals homeless.

Not that charts tell you much other than memorising the past; obviously 1929/30 and last five years' FTSE look very similar - the challenging difference is that then we had lots of white spots on this planet and WWII was next while today we have many unsolved hot spots in a globalised over-populated world pressurised by the ongoing fights for labour, energy and any other resource.

And why does the GBP look so similar?


Carpe diem!

the nuclear countdown

telegraph: "Ten nuclear power plants get the go-ahead despite safety fears"

source: "Explain that Stuff!"

The article appears to me like a confession of failure and sums up pipe dreams of 10 new nuclear power stations supplying up to 25% of the UK's electricity latest from 2025 onwards with the first to go onto the grid as early as 2018: nine years from now!

If you miss the explanation why this should work now and has not for the last 20 years: I do too.

May be the mixture of a Government ready to override all objections, to sweep away the toxic waste problem while mixing in dark and cold power-cut-scenarios and the need for some pseudo-green coal power plants and the ever-so-alleged leadership in new technologies such as CCS shall act as the smoke screen.

Is that what sustainability stands for?

Carpe diem!

Russia and China sign $25bn deal

(click headline for original article)

While we all get used to billions and trillions of Pounds, Dollars or Euros being poured into banks or automobile manufacturers to no particular avail so far two long time enemies found an easy way to contract friendship on a meagre £17bn deal. The article hardly made the headlines yesterday but the 20 year contract marks another beginning of an upgradeable partnership where Russia is helped over the <$60 per barrel period while China gets prepared for the next economic competition with energy definitely playing an even more dominant role. China, more energy hungry virtually by the hour will burn all the oil coming directly through pipelines from the wells in highly inefficient but very competitive boilers, trucks and engines to power the world’s workbench supplying the cheapest products possible. With a workforce under enormous pressure from millions of unemployed colleagues and more so from never-been-employed-moving-into-town-farmers labour costs are no issue as is the fact that the same workforce is paid with paper money worth little to nothing on a global scale. We could manage this misbalance if “Globalism had ever gone global”; by allowing some players to apply their own understanding of social welfare and environmental protection, print their own paper money versus collecting and saving hard currencies by the trillions and strengthen the one and only ruling party, the game is not only unfair but dangerous. On a global scale the unemployed Chinese farmer regulates the minimum wage one could work for and the same poor soul’s government has the means to always pay the extra buck on the barrel; leading the competition at both ends. What is left for us? In the end it might be a good idea to print money, get inflation going and devaluate savings. But it still needs strategic thinking to prepare our world for the immediate future’s challenges. Carpe diem