News round-up, May 30, 2023
Tuesday's chaos reflections...
Is the current state of war is out of control?
The protracted conflict of attrition that both superpowers have been pursuing has proven to be unsuccessful.
The phrase "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" is a well-known principle of justice that dates back to ancient times. It suggests that the punishment for a wrongdoing should be proportional to the harm caused by the offense. This concept has been debated and interpreted in various ways throughout history, but it remains a fundamental principle in many legal systems around the world.
The adage "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" has its roots in the Code of Hammurabi, a legal code inscribed in the Akkadian language during the reign of King Hammurabi of Babylon between 1792 and 1750 BC. This expression is referenced in the Bible, more precisely in Matthew 5:38.
The military operations conducted by both superpowers, as evidenced by the recent missile strikes launched by Russia on the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and the utilization of drones by Ukraine to target Moscow, indicate that the protracted conflict that both superpowers have been pursuing has not yielded the desired outcome of attrition. The fundamental principle of checks and balances has been eroded, resulting in a feeling of hopelessness and an illogical approach to justice, whereby each action is met with an equivalent and opposing reaction. It is imperative to tackle these concerns and reinstate equilibrium and impartiality in our political structures.
In the context of retributive justice, Mahatma Gandhi famously stated, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," a statement that remains pertinent in contemporary times. The pursuit of vengeance serves to sustain a culture of violence and devastation, resulting in an unceasing pattern of anguish and affliction. Instead, it is imperative that we endeavor to cultivate forgiveness and understanding as a means of attaining enduring peace and harmony in our global community. It is imperative to acknowledge that the experience of anger and resentment can impede our capacity to empathize with others, thereby limiting our ability to understand and relate to their perspectives. By cultivating compassion and empathy, it is possible to break away from this cycle and strive towards a more promising future that benefits all individuals. Let us reflect upon the of Gandhi and opt for the course of forgiveness and comprehension, even when confronted with challenging circumstances.
The destruction of a wind farm during an armed conflict presents a multifaceted challenge for its destruction...
Wind farms pose a greater challenge as a potential wartime target due to their dispersed nature and the requirement for multiple strikes with numerous missiles or drones.
It is difficult to cause the same damage to a wind farm as it is to a conventional power plant. According to a recent New York Times article, Ukraine is increasingly reliant on wind power, which benefits the country. With the current geopolitical tensions surrounding Russia, wind farms are gaining popularity as a secure alternative to traditional power plants.
So long…
Tina Turner: a fantastic woman with a unique energy, strong muscles, and a voice that could move mountains…
We'll never forget her magic and how she used to light up the stage with her live performances. Even though she's no longer with us, her spirit will live on through the fantastic music...
Turner's incredible career spanned decades, during which she sold over 200 million records and created timeless classics that continue to inspire and move us to this day. Hits like "What's Love Got to Do with It" will forever be etched into our hearts and minds. It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of her passing. After a long illness, Turner passed away peacefully last week in her Küsnacht home near Zurich, Switzerland.
Most Read…
Ukraine Sees New Virtue in Wind Power: It’s Harder to Destroy
Bombarding the power grid has been an essential part of Russia’s invasion, but officials say it would take many more missile strikes to badly damage a wind farm than a power plant.
NYT By Maria Varenikova, May 29, 2023
Moscow targeted by drone attack, no casualties
The Russian capital's mayor spoke of "minor" damage to buildings but reported no casualties.
Le Monde with AFP, published today at 7:27 am (Paris)Russia launches missile strikes on Kyiv after overnight barrage
Residents run for shelter during attack that appears to have been part of effort to exhaust air defences
The Guardian Julian Borger in Kyiv, Mon 29 May 2023Russia blames Ukraine for large-scale drone attack on Moscow
No one was seriously injured in the strike, which Moscow called a ‘terrorist attack.’
REUTERS BY GABRIEL GAVIN AND NICOLAS CAMUT, MAY 30, 2023Terrible public policy’: Why the debt deal infuriates climate activists
The deal keeps intact spending in Biden’s landmark climate bill, but it expedites a natural gas pipeline backed by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.).
WP By Timothy Puko, Updated May 29, EDT|Published May 29, 2023 at 6:07 p.m. EDT'Chile's constitutional reform is once again at an impasse'
The elections to Chile's Constitutional Council, won by the far right, have shown the stalemate that constitutional reforms, designed to solve a society's fundamental problems, can create when they are enacted without prior political agreement.
Le Monde, *Sébastien Velut, Paris, TodayVietnam urges industry to save energy during heatwave
Hanoi cuts public lighting to save power in heatwaves…
REUTERS By Thinh Nguyen, May 30, 2023Spanish green hydrogen competition gaining traction as African and Latin American countries develop green hydrogen.
The EU's effort to achieve independence from oil presents opportunities and challenges in both regions.
El País by Leandro Hernandez, May 30, 2023/English edition and supplements by GERMÁN & CO
The AES Corporation President Andrés Gluski, Dominican Republic Minister of Industry and Commerce Victor Bisonó, and Rolando González-Bunster, CEO of InterEnergy Group, spoke at the Latin American Cities Conferences panel on "Facilitating Sustainable Investment in Strategic Sectors" on April 12 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.How can strategic investment achieve both economic growth and social progress?… What is the role of renewable energy and battery storage in achieving the goals of the low-carbon economy?…
Image: Germán & CoUkraine Sees New Virtue in Wind Power: It’s Harder to Destroy
Bombarding the power grid has been an essential part of Russia’s invasion, but officials say it would take many more missile strikes to badly damage a wind farm than a power plant.
NYT By Maria Varenikova, May 29, 2023ODESA, Ukraine — The giants catch the wind with their huge arms, helping to keep the lights on in Ukraine — newly built windmills on plains along the Black Sea.
In 15 months of war, Russia has launched countless missiles and exploding drones at power plants, hydroelectric dams and substations, trying to black out as much of Ukraine as it can, as often as it can, in its campaign to pound the country into submission. The new Tyligulska wind farm stands only a few dozen miles from Russian artillery, but Ukrainians say it has a crucial advantage over most of the country’s grid.
A single, well-placed missile can damage a power plant severely enough to take it out of action, but Ukrainian officials say that doing the same to a set of windmills, each one hundreds of feet apart from any other, would require dozens of missiles. A wind farm can be temporarily disabled by striking a transformer substation or transmission lines, but these are much easier to repair than power plants.
“It is our response to Russians,” said Maksym Timchenko, the chief executive of DTEK Group, the company that built the turbines, in the southern Mykolaiv region, the first phase of what is planned as Eastern Europe’s largest wind farm. “It is the most profitable and, as we know now, most secure form of energy.”
Ukraine has had laws in place since 2014 to promote the transition to renewable energy, both to lower dependence on Russian energy imports and because it was profitable. But that transition still has a long way to go, and the war makes its prospects — like everything else about Ukraine’s future — murky.
In 2020, 12 percent of Ukraine’s electricity came from renewable sources, barely half the percentage for the European Union. Plans for the Tyligulska project call for 85 turbines producing up to 500 megawatts of electricity, enough for 500,000 apartments — an impressive output for a wind farm, but less than 1 percent of the country’s prewar generating capacity.
After the Kremlin began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the need for new power sources became acute. Russia has bombarded Ukraine’s power plants and cut off delivery of the natural gas that fueled some of them.
Russian occupation forces have seized a large part of the country’s power supply, ensuring that its output does not reach territory still held by Ukraine. They hold the single largest generator, the 5,700-megawatt Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been damaged repeatedly in fighting and has stopped transmitting energy to the grid. They also control 90 percent of Ukraine’s renewable energy plants, which are concentrated in the southeast.
The postwar recovery plans Ukraine has presented to the European Union — which it hopes to join — and other supporters includes a major new commitment to clean energy.
“The war speeded us up,” said Hanna Zamazeeva, the head of the Ukrainian government’s energy efficiency agency, which supported the construction of the wind farm.
But energy and economic analysts say much of the hoped-for green transition will have to wait until after reconstruction begins and foreign investment returns, and could depend on Ukrainian success on the battlefield.
“Developing renewables, particularly wind and solar, depends on Ukraine successfully recapturing these territories” now held by Russia, the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported in December. “The level of destruction across these regions could impede any new investment or development, as enabling infrastructure such as roads and grid networks may need to be rebuilt. Current installations may also have been damaged.”
Southern Ukraine’s potential for wind power was clear at the project’s opening ceremony this month when hot, dry air gusted through a wheat field dotted with huge turbines. Amid snack-covered tables, their linens flapping in the wind, the gathered diplomats and journalists had to turn their backs to the blowing dust.
The three-bladed turbines at Tyligulska, made by the Danish company Vestas, are huge, carving circles in the air more than 500 feet in diameter. Each windmill weighs about 800 tons.
The first turbine was built in February 2022, the month the invasion began, and then DTEK froze construction. But in August, Evheniy Moroz, the company’s site manager, received a call from his director, who asked if they could resume work without international contractors, who had all evacuated, taking their heavy equipment with them.
“I started calling the guys I worked with to find out where they are, what contractors are still operating, and whether there are any cranes able to lift 100 tons still in Ukraine,” Mr. Moroz said.
He found just one, and it needed renovation, but this crane was the only hope. The builders modified the crane for the job and started calling it their “little dragon.” With it, construction restarted.
Builders worked in open fields about 60 miles from the front lines, hiding in a bunker when air-raid sirens sounded. Missiles fired from Russian ships in the Black Sea roared overhead but did not target the site. Cruise missiles flew lower than the turbines, trying to evade radar detection by Ukrainian air defenses.
They are a modest step toward energy security and a green transition, but the new windmills mean something more immediate for Ukraine, said Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region.
“The construction of this wind power plant is a sort of a signal that it is possible to build during the war,” he said. “Such projects have to exist for the independence of our country.”
Image: Germán & CoCooperate with objective and ethical thinking…
Image by Germán & CoMoscow targeted by drone attack, no casualties
The Russian capital's mayor spoke of "minor" damage to buildings but reported no casualties.
Le Monde with AFP, published today at 7:27 am (Paris)Moscow was targeted by a drone attack on Tuesday, May 30, causing "minor" damage to buildings and no casualties, the city's mayor said.
"This morning, at dawn, a drone attack caused minor damage to several buildings. All the city's emergency services are on the scene ... No one has been seriously injured so far," Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Russia's defence ministry blamed Ukraine for a "terrorist attack," saying it had intercepted all of the eight drones aimed at Moscow.
Moscow, located more than 1,000 kilometers from Ukraine, has rarely been targeted by drone attacks since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, even though such attacks have become more common elsewhere in Russia.
The attack follows a similar assault on Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, carried out by Russian drones overnight and leaving at least one person dead, according to the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Russian forces fired missiles at Kyiv on Monday, sending panicked residents running for shelter in an unusual daytime attack on the Ukrainian capital following overnight strikes.
In early May, two drones were shot down over the Kremlin in an attack blamed on Ukraine.
Ukraine on Tuesday said it had downed 29 out of 31 drones, mainly over Kyiv and the Kyiv region, in the latest Russian barrage, the third in 24 hours.
Image: Germán & Co by Shutterstock
Russia launches missile strikes on Kyiv after overnight barrage
Residents run for shelter during attack that appears to have been part of effort to exhaust air defences
The Guardian Julian Borger in Kyiv, Mon 29 May 2023Russian forces have launched an intense and unusual daytime missile barrage at Kyiv, forcing residents to flee to bomb shelters, in what appears to be an effort to exhaust Ukraine’s air defences.
The Ukrainian military said it had intercepted all 11 of the ballistic and cruise missiles fired at the city in the attack that began at 11am. One person was reported to have been injured. Residents who had become accustomed to a string of night-time attacks ran to Kyiv’s metro stations and other shelters after a succession of loud bangs as incoming missiles were intercepted and bursts of smoke from air defences dotted the clear morning sky.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted a video of what he said was frightened schoolchildren running and screaming down a Kyiv street to a bomb shelter to the sound of air raid sirens.
“This is what an ordinary weekday looks like,” Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, posted a picture on social media of what appeared to be a smouldering rocket motor in the middle of a busy street.
He said: “Another difficult night for the capital. But, thanks to the professionalism of our defenders, as a result of the air attack of the barbarians in Kyiv, there was no damage or destruction of infrastructural and other objects.”
The assault, which used short-range Iskander ballistic missiles, came after a series of night-time attacks on Kyiv involving Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles. The Ukrainian air force said that over Sunday night it shot down 37 of 40 Russian cruise missiles and 29 of 35 drones. In the early morning hours of Sunday, which marked Kyiv Day commemorating the city’s founding, Russia launched its biggest-ever drone attack on the Ukrainian capital city, involving 54 Shahed combat aerial vehicles.
Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said that as well as keeping Ukrainian civilians in a state of “deep psychological tension”, Russia’s leaders were seeking to exhaust the Ukraine’s air defences with the relentless spate of attacks.
Ukrainian officials have flagged their concerns that their anti-aircraft defences from the Soviet era were running out of ammunition and that western systems such as the US Patriot were not arriving in sufficient quantities to fill the gap.
Kyiv was not the only target on Monday. An airfield in the western Khmelnytskyi region was also struck. The region’s governor said five aircraft had been “disabled”and a fire had broken out in a fuel depot.
A drone was shot down over Odesa, and debris fell on the port causing a fire. Rockets and drones were reported to have been shot down over the Lviv, Kirovohrad, Poltava and Mykolaiv regions. Nine towns or villages were targeted in the Ukrainian-held Donetsk region, including the city of Kramatorsk, according to the governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
The Russian defence ministry claimed to have targeted Ukrainian airbases but did not mention the nearly daily strikes against cities.
In Russia, the governor of the Belgorod, which borders the Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, said on Monday that several Russian settlements had come under fire from Ukrainian forces.
Asked on Russian television how he thought Belgorod should be made safe, Vyachesla Gladkov said Kharkiv should be annexed.
Russia’s defense ministry accused Ukraine of being responsible for drone attack | Juan Barreto/AFP Russia blames Ukraine for large-scale drone attack on Moscow
No one was seriously injured in the strike, which Moscow called a ‘terrorist attack.’
REUTERS BY GABRIEL GAVIN AND NICOLAS CAMUT, MAY 30, 2023Moscow was targeted by a drone attack Tuesday morning after days of heavy fire on Kyiv, the Russian defense ministry said Tuesday, accusing Ukraine of being responsible.
“The attack involved eight uncrewed aircraft. All the enemy drones were shot down,” the defense ministry said in a statement, calling the event a “terrorist attack.”
The drone attack caused “minor damage to several buildings,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said, adding that no one was “seriously injured” in the attack. The alleged attack comes after three days of heavy Russian drone and rocket strikes across the border in Ukraine.
It is not the first time Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out aerial attacks on Russian soil.
Earlier this month, Moscow claimed that Kyiv was behind an attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack that caused minor damage to the Kremlin.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied the allegations, saying only that “we don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities.”
For weeks, Ukrainian officials have been hinting that their forces are preparing for an imminent counteroffensive to retake occupied territory in the east of the country. Kyiv’s armed forces have reportedly carried out “shaping operations” designed to strike Moscow’s logistics and undermine its efforts to wage war.
Connie Fitzsimmons of Blacksburg, Va., demonstrates with Appalachian and Indigenous climate advocates against the Mountain Valley Pipeline project approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act on Sept. 08, 2022. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)/Editing by Germán & Co‘Terrible public policy’: Why the debt deal infuriates climate activists
The deal keeps intact spending in Biden’s landmark climate bill, but it expedites a natural gas pipeline backed by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.).
WP By Timothy Puko, Updated May 29, EDT|Published May 29, 2023 at 6:07 p.m. EDTA long-disputed Appalachian natural gas pipeline could be on a fast track to completion as part of the new debt ceiling deal.
President Biden and House Republicans have agreed to expedite permitting for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project that is key to the West Virginia delegation as the president and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) seek to woo lawmakers across the capital.
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Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.). has previously demanded White House support for the project in exchange for his vote, and other Republicans, including West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, praised the pipeline provisions included in the legislation.
It is another White House concession to Manchin, who has long championed the 303-mile pipeline, which would carry West Virginia shale gas to the East Coast but has been tripped up by dozens of environmental violations and a slew of court fights. Environmentalists have fought the project since its inception, and the new provisions aims to block them from challenging almost all government approvals for the line to cut across federal forests and dozens of waterways in Appalachia’s hilly, wet terrain.
The pipeline language is just one of a few energy and climate provisions in the deal, drawing ire from pipeline opponents and climate activists. The bill also proposes streamlining the landmark National Environmental Policy Act to limit its requirements on some projects, and studying the capacity of the country’s grid to transfer electricity from region to region.
Republican leaders say they will work with the White House later on how to speed up major electric transmission projects — crucial to Biden’s goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels — but excluded such provisions from this deal. The White House also said it fended off efforts to cut billions in spending from major legislation Biden had championed, including last year’s roughly $370 billion package that funded his climate agenda.
That was not enough to please environmental groups. The Sierra Club on Monday called for Congress to reject it, as did Sen. Tim Kaine (D) from Virginia, where both U.S. senators have opposed the pipeline project.
Kaine said Monday he planned to propose an amendment to strip the pipeline provisions from the bill.
“Any deal that attempts to expedite the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline, that rolls back bedrock environmental protections, and makes life harder for workers and families already struggling is a bad deal for the country,” the Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said in a statement.
Several climate advocates criticized Biden for supporting the pipeline by noting the administration also approved a giant oil project in Alaska called Willow earlier this year, and has been reluctant to help stop other pipeline projects. Climate activists have tried to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline, also called MVP, as a way of limiting the supply of cheap natural gas, and locals have been frustrated by frequent construction mishaps.
But it has been a top priority for Manchin, who had demanded legislation to help the project as part of his support for the larger climate package last year. Along with Capito, Manchin may be needed again to pass the new deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling, and Democrats have been looking to help his tough reelection trying to defend a Democratic senate seat in his heavily Republican state.
“I am pleased Speaker McCarthy and his leadership team see the tremendous value in completing the MVP to increase domestic energy production and drive down costs across America and especially in West Virginia,” Manchin said late Sunday in a statement that did not mention Biden, the president from his own party. “I am proud to have fought for this critical project.”
MVP is a joint venture between some of the largest gas companies in Appalachia and the nation’s most valuable power company, NextEra Energy. Its largest investor is Equitrans Midstream, a spinoff of the largest U.S. natural gas producer, EQT, and MVP connects Marcellus shale sweet spots for EQT and other drillers in West Virginia to a hub for East Coast supplies in Virginia.
Lengths of pipe for the Mountain Valley Pipeline near Elliston, Va. (Charles Mostoller/Reuters)
Manchin has called it crucial for the country’s energy security, especially getting gas supply from his home state to major demand centers. He has complained that the administration has been unable to permit the rest of the project with just 20 miles of it left to complete.
But construction for Mountain Valley has relied on eminent domain to seize private property, repeatedly violated clean-water laws and gone billions of dollars over budget. It committed more than 500 violations in the two states, according to a count from the environmental group Appalachian Voices.
Just Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission needed to provided a further environmental review of the project, which could have put its completion off until 2024, according to the independent research firm ClearView Energy Partners.
The new legislation could nullify that decision and other outstanding court orders, experts said. Legislative language prohibits court oversight of decisions on MVP permitting from FERC and other federal agencies. It says Congress ratifies all permits and gives the Army Corps of Engineers 21 days after the bill’s passage to issue those permits. Only that law itself can be challenged in the D.C. Circuit.
“It’s really terrible public policy for Congress to pick winners and losers in the courtroom,” said Peter Anderson, Virginia policy director with Appalachian Voices. “One company is getting a pass while everyone else has to play by the rules.”
What House officials say they prevented Republican attempts to gut last year’s climate spending bill and to include a package, known as H. R. 1, that would have enacted bigger rollbacks of air pollution, clean water, and chemical protection laws.
How House Republicans forced a debt ceiling negotiation
Uncertainty over the debt ceiling has reached a level not seen in years after a narrow House Republican majority conditioned a debt increase on spending cuts. (Video: JM Rieger/The Washington Post)
“President Biden protected his historic climate legislation,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said. “We believe this is a bipartisan compromise that congressional Democrats can be proud of and that will accelerate our clean energy goals and climate agenda.”
White House officials also said that MVP was already likely to be completed anyway in due time — with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management issuing key permits earlier this month.
“It’s something that there’s a high degree of interest in, but I think, as a practical matter, this provision doesn’t have much of an effect,” White House climate adviser John Podesta said, according to audio of a call with House Democrats obtained by The Washington Post.
A spokeswoman for Equitrans said the company plans to finish the pipeline by the end of 2023. She said the company is grateful for support from the White House and congressional leaders of both parties.
“MVP is among the most environmentally scrutinized projects to be built in this country, having been subject to an unprecedented level of legal and regulatory review,” spokeswoman Natalie Cox said in an email.
The project’s delays put it in the middle of a discussion, brewing since last year, of how long it takes to permit energy infrastructure. A natural gas pipeline takes around three years to build; electric transmission is often even slower, eight to 15 years to build, a problem that White House officials have warned could block most of the benefits of last year’s climate-spending package if it is not fixed.
Environmentalists said the changes to the National Environmental Policy Act could help other pipeline projects go faster. But there is little in the deal directed at helping renewable energy get from generating plants to customers.
It leaves out measures, in talks as recently as Thursday, to encourage the construction of transmission lines by requiring regions to transfer at least 30 percent of their peak electricity demand between each other. The transmission study included in the deal also could take years to finish, and the legislative language for it “has technical problems” that may prevent it from surviving, said Rob Gramlich, president of the consulting group Grid Strategies.
Jason Grumet, chief executive of the American Clean Power Association, a renewable energy industry group, called the measures just a “down payment.” It will introduce shorter timelines for reviews and empower a single lead agency on decisions among other moves, but that will not be enough, he said.
“It is critical that Congress build upon these initial steps,” Grumet said. “Absent significant improvements in the siting and construction of new clean power transmission capabilities, our nation will fail to achieve critical economic, national security and climate goals.”
Chilean President Gabriel Boric/Editing by Germán & Co'Chile's constitutional reform is once again at an impasse'
Leftist leadership has resurged in Latin America. Progressive governments are rising in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Brazil, but leadres face challenges from the pandemic and global economic crisis.
Recently, a new wing-right movement has emerged with the bold statement that they are the ones who can safeguard democracy. They claim to have a deep understanding of the needs and desires of the people and believe that they can provide the right kind of leadership to ensure that democracy is protected and preserved.
While many are sceptical of their claims, others are intrigued by their ideas and are willing to give them a chance. Only time will tell if this movement can fulfil its promise, but for now, they are gaining momentum and support from those looking for a new way forward.
Germán & CoThe elections to Chile's Constitutional Council, won by the far right, have shown the stalemate that constitutional reforms, designed to solve a society's fundamental problems, can create when they are enacted without prior political agreement.
Le Monde, *Sébastien Velut, Paris, Today*Sébastien Velut is a professor of geography at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle, Institut des Hautes Etudes de l'Amérique LatineThe elections to Chile's Constitutional Council, won by the far right, have shown the stalemate that constitutional reforms, designed to solve a society's fundamental problems, can create when they are enacted without prior political agreement.
In recent years, leftists have returned to power in Latin America: in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and, in what was no small victory, Brazil. Faced with the combined effects of the global economic crisis and the pandemic, these governments are also coming up against a new blatant right wing, which is publicly breaking with the safeguards of democracy, at the same time as some sections of Latin American societies are expressing new aspirations.
On Sunday, May 7, the Chilean electorate voted to appoint the members of the Constitutional Council, who will be responsible for drafting a new constitution to be put to a referendum on December 17, with a very tight schedule. After a large majority rejected the proposed text prepared by the Constituent Convention, which met between 2021 and 2022, President Gabriel Boric and the parties represented in parliament agreed to restart a constitutional process that was more structured than the Convention's and to give the reforms a second chance.
A commission of experts appointed by the parties represented in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies has been preparing a document since March that will be discussed in the newly elected Constitutional Council. Twelve major principles frame the draft process. They define the characteristics of the political system and set out principles of respect for human rights, the identities of indigenous peoples and nature.
Divisions too strong
Only one party did not sign the agreement: the Republican Party (PLR, far-right), which emerged in 2019 following a split in the conservative right. Led by José Antonio Kast, a defeated candidate in the 2021 presidential run-off, the PLR believes it is unnecessary to renew the constitution. It presented the May 7 vote as an opportunity to punish the Boric government, while the traditional right campaigned mainly on the alleged rise in insecurity.
On May 7, the PLR won the election by a wide margin. It led nationally with more than 35% of the vote and, thanks to the constituency voting system, it will occupy 23 of the 51 seats on the Constitutional Council. An insufficient number to be able to decide alone, since it would need a three-fifths majority – 31 votes – to approve or reject the articles proposed by the commission of experts, but enough to be able to block any reform, since groups close to the current government total 16 elected representatives and the traditional right has 11 – only one seat is designated for the indigenous peoples, who had 17 councilors out of 155 in the previous convention.An alliance between the PLR and some of the right could also enable a new text to be drafted, stamped with the seal of conservatism, which would lead the left to play on the reverse side, gambling on its rejection by the December referendum.
expect to achieve partial agreements by the end of the year to vote on a new text. Retaining the 1980 constitution, which was written under dictatorship but amended many times by democratic governments, would seem to be the least-worst option. This text is considered shameful by some on the left and insufficient by social movements, which would like to see new rights included. Compared to the communicative euphoria of the 2019 demonstrations, the realization that the constitutional "big night" will not take place is a dampener at the beginning of this southern hemisphere autumn.
Political gesture
In Chile, President Boric and his allies have suffered a setback but they still have a relative majority in parliament. They can even hope that the threat posed by the rise of the PLR will lead some of the moderate right to be more open to dialogue. He will have to be very skillful and hope that some of the MPs will agree to follow him, otherwise the next few years of his term of office may be a long struggle, while Chileans are waiting for a number of reforms that take account of changes in society.
The May 7 vote has shown the difficulty of reforming constitutional texts. It took exceptional circumstances, such as the end of dictatorships, to reform constitutions like those of Brazil (1988) and Argentina (1994). Or governments with strong majorities led by radical leaders such as Hugo Chavez (Venezuela's constitution in 1999) and Evo Morales (Bolivia's constitution in 2009). In Mexico, López Obrador is engaged in a battle to reform certain articles of the Mexican constitution, without claiming to be creating a new text: The one inherited from the 1917 revolution is a national monument.
Compared to the grand political gesture of constitutional reform, which is designed to solve the fundamental problems of a society, the Chilean impasse shows that, in the end, revisions of the constitution only succeed when there are prior agreements, and that constitutional changes are as much an outcome as a beginning. In highly divided societies, where factions are entrenched in their positions, building these convergences requires patience, but that is the price of democracy. Perhaps this is what should inspire the Latin American lefts if they aspire to undertake reforms rather than posturing.
Seaboard: pioneers in power generation in the country…
…“More than 32 years ago, back in January 1990, Seaboard began operations as the first independent power producer (IPP) in the Dominican Republic. They became pioneers in the electricity market by way of the commercial operations of Estrella del Norte, a 40MW floating power generation plant and the first of three built for Seaboard by Wärtsilä.
Image by Germán & CoVietnam urges industry to save energy during heatwave
Hanoi cuts public lighting to save power in heatwaves…
REUTERS By Thinh Nguyen, May 30, 2023HANOI, May 30 (Reuters) - Vietnam is turning off street lights and manufacturers are switching operations to off-peak hours to keep the national power system running amid record temperatures in some areas that have caused a surge in demand.
As weather officials warn the heatwave could run into June, several cities have cut back on public lighting and government offices have been urged to cut power use by a tenth after state utility EVN said the national grid faced strain in coming weeks.
Temperatures this week are expected to hover between 26 and 38 degrees Celsius (78.8 and 100.4 degrees F), weather officials say.
To tackle the problem, Hanoi has shortened the duration of public lighting by an hour each day, while halving illumination on some major roads and in public parks.
"If people all save energy, all will have enough electricity to use, but if not, there will be a partial electrical overload that will put the power grid at risk," said Luong Minh Quan, an electrician with EVN in Hanoi.
Last week, Vietnam called for electrical devices to be turned off when not in use, and for air-conditioning to be kept above 26 degrees C (78.8 degrees F).
Authorities are pushing industrial consumers to operate during off-peak hours, when overall electricity demand is lower, to ease pressure on the national grid, said one industry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
More than 11,000 companies, from large factories of China's Texhong Textile Group to South Korean shoemaker Changshin, have agreed to cut consumption where possible, the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV) says.
Some Hanoi residents turned to a waterpark to cool off, though experts say activity in extreme heat can cause dehydration and exhaustion.
"The water can help overcome the heat, as there are no other immediate solutions," said Tran Minh Trung, 48.
Global hydrogen production by fuel and hydrogen demand by sector 2019-2070 Under the Sustainable Development Scenario (Source IEA, Energy Technology Perspectives, 2020)Spanish green hydrogen competition gaining traction as African and Latin American countries develop green hydrogen.
The EU's effort to achieve independence from oil presents opportunities and challenges in both regions.
El País by Leandro Hernandez, May 30, 2023/English edition and supplements by GERMÁN & CO“Latin America and the Caribbean region has an enormous amount of renewable resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrological resources, which allows the region to have 55% of clean power generation compared with the global average of 35%. Yet, that renewable energy was developed for the electricity market. What would happen if more renewable energy projects were built with the objective of producing green hydrogen for domestic needs and exports in the format of ammonia or methanol? The current and future renewable energy resources could be directed to the production of green hydrogen and provide a strong position for the region in this new worldwide industrial value chain that starts to develop. Hydrogen is also a great opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean countries to achieve cleaner domestic energy matrices, particularly for that 17% of emissions originating in industrial activities.
SOURCE: https://blogs.iadb.org/energia/en/will-hydrogen-development-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-be-color-blind/
Europe's confidence in the promised energy and industrial revolution generated by hydrogen is facing a new crisis. Not only are projects progressing slowly, with less than 5% implementation, but other regions are also looking to join the race at an accelerated pace. According to estimates by Goldman Sachs, the countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East have significant potential for exporting this energy source. By 2050, it is expected to account for 15% of all energy sources in Europe. In addition to aiming to produce one-fifth of Europe's hydrogen by 2030, Spain also strive to become a central hub for hydrogen entry into the region. The Iberian Peninsula not only accounts for 20% of the world's renewable hydrogen projects but also has the potential to become a crucial production route for energy powers like Morocco, Algeria, Brazil, and Chile. Unlike oil, hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, which means it can be produced anywhere on the planet. However, the cost and competitiveness of it vary, influenced by the energy price required to produce it. A report by the Hydrogen Council, a consortium of energy and oil industry leaders, identifies Latin America and Africa as the new promising regions for hydrogen development. Javier Brey, the President of the Spanish Hydrogen Association (AEH2), opposes the notion of hydrogen being a threat to local production and instead prefers to view it as an opportunity.
"Although the two terms always go hand in hand," he explained in conversation with CincoDías.
And he acknowledges that there is a race with regions at different starting points, but he also recognizes that "not everything has been said.
“The RepowerEU strategy envisions that by 2050, the European Union will import 10 million tons of green hydrogen, which is half of the estimated consumption. This percentage represents a significant decrease in Europe's dependence on oil imports. In 2021, Europe imported nearly 92% of the oil it consumed. At the same time, the EU-27 faces the challenge of avoiding the same mistake of entrusting practically all of their supply to a single supplier, as they have previously done with Russia.
The good news for major energy consumers like Germany, the Netherlands, and France is that the transportation costs for this energy source are minimal. A joint study conducted by the Port of Rotterdam, the largest terminal in Europe, and Uruguay has affirmed that the transport costs for hydrogen production from South America are marginal, despite the vast distances that separate the two countries. Near Neighbors North Africa is already positioned as the leading potential supplier of green hydrogen to Europe, with a projected production of up to 597 million tones annually by 2050. The vast stretches of uninhabited land, coupled with the high intensity of local radiation and the potential for energy connections with Europe that could be reconverted, have increased interest in the region.
“Morocco’s ambition to become a green hydrogen exporter could be complemented by Algeria's urgent need to replace its hydrocarbon exports, as well as the presence of gas pipelines," as stated in a recent study conducted by the Royal Elcano Institute.
This has not gone unnoticed by Brussels. In November of last year, the EU selected Morocco to establish its first green partnership with a country. This alliance includes the development of local hydrogen production capabilities. In October of the same year, a similar agreement was signed with Algeria. Bilaterally, the Alawite kingdom has signed agreements with Portugal, Germany, and Spain. The benefits for the country are clear. The high cost of the projects, coupled with the lack of local technology and capacity, present good opportunities for Spanish companies. Moreover, the interconnections that directly link the Iberian Peninsula to Morocco and Algeria could be utilized for shipping this element.
The risk is that other projects that avoid local geography will be favoured, such as the southern corridor linking Algiers directly to Italy and from there to the rest of Europe. In January, the two countries signed an initial agreement to begin technical studies before constructing this infrastructure. This initiative competes with the H2MED initiative promoted by Spain, Portugal and France, which Madrid and Paris are still debating.
Latin America
The real production giant may be on the other side of the Atlantic, in a region where Spanish companies have more than 150 billion euros in investments. Latin American countries could produce up to 913 million tonnes of hydrogen at a low cost by 2050, making it the region with the most significant potential in the world. At the same time, its geographical position connects it to both Asia and Europe.
Chile and Brazil lead the continental race, with almost thirty projects under study each. Argentina, a little further behind, has one of the world's largest initiatives worth 8 billion dollars (7.457 billion euros at current exchange rates). By way of reference, the largest investment announced in Spain, that of the oil company Cepsa in Andalusia, is less than half that.
"When Latin America looks to Europe, the entry point is the Iberian peninsula," Brey says. "What we can't do is sit here in Europe and wait for them to make their investments in renewables, infrastructure, ports and other key components. It's just not going to work," he says with conviction.
Many of these projects, especially in renewable generation, are already underway. In 2019, the latest data available, Brazil, Mexico, and Chile were among the 20 countries in the world with the highest investment in this sector, and Spanish companies have actively participated in this phenomenon. For example, Iberdrola inaugurated a hybrid project in Brazil in March for more than 630 million euros.
The potential is confident. The International Energy Agency points out that, despite the high level of decarbonisation of the energy matrix in most Latin American countries, the region needs to rethink the entire value chain to take advantage of the hydrogen opportunity. This implies modernising its transmission lines, generating new transport infrastructure and port terminals. At the same time, 17 million people in the region lack access to electricity, a social debt that the region must address.