Twist and Turn

From an, for this time of the year, unusually cold mid-Germany (-11C), we send out our last Update and Editorial of the year. The cold seems to grip very large parts of Europe and may be one of the first very tangible signs that the climate in Europe is changing. It is quite normal that it freezes here around this time, but the depth of it is unusual, as well as the snow in West Ireland, in the South of Greece, and the extremis of the temperature-drops that have occurred over the last weeks.

The story goes that the Warm Gulfstream, the warm-water jetstream coming from the Gulf-of Mexico area that crosses the Atlantic to the borders of Ireland and the UK that keeps the climate in Ireland so lovely almost Mediterranean and the rest of Europe also relatively warm, has stopped working.

The stories about the causes vary between the excessive melting-water from the Northern Area (as a result of global warming) that has disrupted the flow, to the after-effects of the GoM-spill and especially the usage of the dispersants to hide the extent of the spill.

Or it may be part of the planetary changes that are occurring, in which we humans only play a minor role, but have to do with the simple fact that our planet also moves through space, as does our solar-system (with about 1 mm km per hour) and we are entering space we have never been in before with other influences extending upon the planet.

Anyway, we will discover the truth much later and can only accept that we are in fast-changing times.

There are so many issues that want to be addressed to get a deeper understanding of the developments currently at play that it is almost impossible to choose. But an overall feeling that is ever more rising is, that we are being mislead, lied to, cheated, and screwed (excuse the word) in a way that is almost unfathomable.

This is the way in many, many issues, of which I will mention just a few, mostly related to energy and oil and gas.

- One issue that comes up in one of the articles in this Updates has to do with the relationship between energy and water. Producing oil and oil-products uses vast amounts of drinkable, sweet water. Cooling power-plants uses vast amounts of sweet water. And cooling solar powerplants of the heat-concentrating-kind, uses 2 – 3 times the amount of water a coal-powerplant does. So whilst these kind of powerplants may not produce too much CO2 (apart from in the production), they use vast amounts of sweet water. And some very ‘environmentally conscious’ corporations and governments want to plaster the Sahara with these kind of solar powerplants. The water issue has probably not yet been considered but it would mean vast investments and an ecological disaster by draining the last deep water-reserves of the Sahara, all in the name of ‘Saving the Planet’.

- We are being told that the planet is over-populated and that humanity is overstretching the planetary resources and is causing undue pollution and that there will not be enough food, water and energy to cater for all. But in the Western World 30 – 40 % of all food is being wasted, as are vast amounts of paper, energy, and many other resources, polluting and destroying large parts of our planet. If we would live more consciously and waste less and be and act like responsible human beings, there probably would not even be a problem.

- Also on this issue: in Western Europe governments are doing the most crazy things to encourage people to get children again, as many couples have started to feel ever less inclined to take this upon themselves. The reason for the encouragement is not a worry for the continuing of the human race but because otherwise the economy breaks down! The economies of most western countries have been living on the earnings of their future babies, which, as it turns out now, are not being born.

- The next thing is that everyone is encouraged to consume! The new religion is Consumerism! We can only spend our way out of trouble, so we are told. But at the same time, we are being told that resources are becoming tight, oil is peaking, pollution is endangering all and everyone, the seas are being emptied, and getting acidified due to the already existing pollution, the forests are cut down, taking away our future oxygen, the climate is changing, and so much more. But we need to consume, to spend our way out of trouble!

- A few days ago another of these mega-conferences on the global climate came to an end. And again, just like the one before that and the one before that, the best thing they can agree on is that they need to agree on something to make sure they do not lose face so they can go with a clear conscience to the next mega-event in yet another exotic location providing statements that show the world that everyone is working very hard to save the planet. But the hot air from these conferences, as well as the pollution that is created by them due to the many thousands of delegates, experts and journalists flying all across the planet to attend them, as well as the paper produced, and all the other waste, is probably worse than when nothing would happen. But many people are working very hard to save the planet, or so it seems or they want to tell us.

And there are so many more issues that seem to be one thing but often are completely the opposite of what we are being told, and this can be extended to vaccination-campaigns ‘to save the poor children in...’ or calls for ‘free Markets’, as long as it serves some parties, or ‘free speech’, as long as it is controlled, or even the ‘free Internet’, as long as it doesn’t leak information that is uncomfortable to some.

And some even have a double-twist, as the current ‘leaking-hype’ is showing, in which we are being given the feeling that some are really fighting hard for the freedom of speech, unlocking ‘sensitive material’ from the powers that be to ‘the people in the World’. However, after looking more closely, it seems just another extension and further twist to fool us and woo us in a sense of security and safety that revolution can happen peacefully, whilst at the same time tightening the rope around the necks of the people that just want to live a decent life.

With these defiant tones I leave you and hope our updates and comments have served you in your personal or professional life and we wish you, appreciated reader, a Happy Christmas, ‘Season’s Greetings’ as well as already a very happy and healthy New Year.

Take a rest!

Alexander

Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections at www.gasandoil.com is a leading portal site for high-quality news and information for the global gas, oil, power and affiliated industry.