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Socialism for capitalists is no better than other forms of socialism, and few reforms could be more important than once again making capitalism a system of profit and loss. The market-liberal logic is merciless: either a business is competitive and so does not need support, or it is not competitive and so doesn’t deserve support.--Norberg
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Worshipping False Gods
Devotion to concepts and notions is not its own reward. There are many religions and all can not be right. Being wrong has consequences. One does not want to offer one's daughter to the volcano without having some confidence in the value of her sacrifice.
This does not seem to be of much concern in faith-based environmentalism. A teaching case is Africa.
An essential element of commerce of any type is availability. Scarcity. Ignoring this basic quality makes any action whimsical and its aim a forgone failure. It's a common problem for adolescents and governments.
Hydropower is the world’s most widely used form of renewable energy, propelling development in South America, parts of China and India, and much of sub-Saharan Africa. But over the past two years, extreme droughts have made this critical energy supply less reliable. Growing populations have exaggerated the problem, leading to desperation and potential political instability.
Hydropower — which makes up about half of the world’s clean energy supply — saw a record decline last year. As a consequence, Beijing fired up more coal plants. India increased coal imports. The International Energy Agency says that global emissions from electricity generation would have fallen last year, instead of rising to another record high, had it not been for unexpected, drought-related hydropower failures on multiple continents — and the policy decisions that followed. In other words, everything was going fine, until it wasn't.
This year, the extreme shortages have shifted to other parts of the world. Amid a historic South American drought, Ecuador is contending with daily blackouts, and its government leased a Turkish barge-mounted power plant as an emergency measure.
Hydropower plays a major role in almost any scenario where the planet meets its climate goals. But one 2022 study, led by researchers at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), found that 26 percent of existing dams are located where there’s a medium to very high risk of water scarcity. By 2050, the study projects, climate change will push that figure up to 32 percent.
The International Energy Agency has singled out Africa’s vulnerability, noting its high dependence on hydropower and the “increased risk of water stress due to changing and erratic precipitation patterns” as the planet warms.
“Of all the different climate solutions — wind, solar — it’s definitely the one that is the most vulnerable to the climate itself,” said Jeff Opperman, the global freshwater lead scientist at the WWF.
Right now, Zambia’s Kariba hydro plant — the country’s single biggest source of power — is operating at one-tenth of its capacity.
Zambia has moved quickly to double the capacity of an existing coal-fired power plant that, when the expansion is completed in two years, will give the country a modest energy boost. It has also rush-ordered diesel generators, distributing them in markets across the capital of Lusaka. But in the meantime, there’s an even dirtier fuel that is booming in demand: charcoal, a carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents.
An essential element of commerce of any type is availability. Scarcity. Ignoring this basic quality makes any action whimsical and its aim a forgone failure. It's a common problem for adolescents and governments.
Hydropower is the world’s most widely used form of renewable energy, propelling development in South America, parts of China and India, and much of sub-Saharan Africa. But over the past two years, extreme droughts have made this critical energy supply less reliable. Growing populations have exaggerated the problem, leading to desperation and potential political instability.
Hydropower — which makes up about half of the world’s clean energy supply — saw a record decline last year. As a consequence, Beijing fired up more coal plants. India increased coal imports. The International Energy Agency says that global emissions from electricity generation would have fallen last year, instead of rising to another record high, had it not been for unexpected, drought-related hydropower failures on multiple continents — and the policy decisions that followed. In other words, everything was going fine, until it wasn't.
This year, the extreme shortages have shifted to other parts of the world. Amid a historic South American drought, Ecuador is contending with daily blackouts, and its government leased a Turkish barge-mounted power plant as an emergency measure.
Hydropower plays a major role in almost any scenario where the planet meets its climate goals. But one 2022 study, led by researchers at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), found that 26 percent of existing dams are located where there’s a medium to very high risk of water scarcity. By 2050, the study projects, climate change will push that figure up to 32 percent.
The International Energy Agency has singled out Africa’s vulnerability, noting its high dependence on hydropower and the “increased risk of water stress due to changing and erratic precipitation patterns” as the planet warms.
“Of all the different climate solutions — wind, solar — it’s definitely the one that is the most vulnerable to the climate itself,” said Jeff Opperman, the global freshwater lead scientist at the WWF.
Right now, Zambia’s Kariba hydro plant — the country’s single biggest source of power — is operating at one-tenth of its capacity.
Zambia has moved quickly to double the capacity of an existing coal-fired power plant that, when the expansion is completed in two years, will give the country a modest energy boost. It has also rush-ordered diesel generators, distributing them in markets across the capital of Lusaka. But in the meantime, there’s an even dirtier fuel that is booming in demand: charcoal, a carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents.
The coal plant would stave off an even worse scenario that’s unfolding now. As Zambians seek out charcoal, they are cutting down forests that absorb carbon dioxide if they are left standing.
Charcoal production is decimating Zambia’s forests so coal would be a superior alternative.
Zambia doesn’t have oil or gas, but it sits on large reserves of coal. It operated a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant before the hydropower shortfall; its capacity will rise to 600 megawatts. Because many international lenders had sworn off funding coal, Zambia tapped its national pension fund to help finance the work.
Zambia doesn’t have oil or gas, but it sits on large reserves of coal. It operated a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant before the hydropower shortfall; its capacity will rise to 600 megawatts. Because many international lenders had sworn off funding coal, Zambia tapped its national pension fund to help finance the work.
Sometimes the rain dance doesn't fall on the right ears. So we dance faster, harder, and louder.
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