Gwythian Prins: National security concerns must take precedence over the climate

There is a respectable peacetime economic case for closing the Port Talbot blast furnaces and ceasing production of basic oxygen steel (BOS) in the United Kingdom and it is set out by the leading trade economist Catherine McBride. She shows how much British steel-making of any type has declined by volume, and how chronically dependant what remains is upon imported raw materials. She also explains how much EAF – electric arc furnace – steel production from recycled scrap has increased worldwide: for example, 70% of American steel in 2022 came from that source. Finally, she shows how globally dominant China and India have become in BOS, as witness 90% of China’s 1 billion ton steel production in 2022. China and India have massive economies of scale, and also access to domestically controlled raw materials, giving end-to-end control: in the Chinese case, both coking coal and iron ore, and in the Indian case, iron ore but with need to import coking coal. In contrast, the UK currently has to import both ore and coking coal at scale to feed the condemned blast furnaces.

The EU Is Willing to Go To War Over Lithium?

By Phil Butler
New Eastern Outlook

January 3, 2024

The riddle of unhinged EU support for the Zelensky regime in Kyiv is now solved. Anyone inclined can unravel why the Germans, in particular, backstabbed Russia in the Minsk peace boondoggle. Lithium.

Energy Monitor’s parent company, GlobalData, recently released a report showing that Europe’s biggest lithium reserves lie in the Donbass region of Russia. The former Ukrainian Shevchenkivske field in the Donetsk region and the Kruta Balka block in the Zaporizhzhia region are now part of Russia. These reserves add tremendously to Russia’s humongous Lithium deposits (now 1.5M metric tons) and solidify the country’s top ten position globally. If we consider other BRICS nations’ reserves, including China (2M metric tons), EU industry is at a leverage point.

Trump turns the screws on Nordstream 2.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldtrodi/status/1208333825769689088

DW.com has this

US sanctions targeting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany became law on Friday evening after President Donald Trump signed off on a massive defense bill.

The sanctions target companies involved in constructing the $11 billion (€9.93 billion) energy project, which will transport Russian gas under the Baltic Sea and deliver it directly to Germany.

The bill describes Nord Stream 2 as a “tool of coercion and political leverage” that Moscow could use against Berlin — and says it risks significantly weakening US ties to Germany and other European allies.

US lawmakers in both houses of Congress overwhelmingly approved the sanctions.

Authoritarian warmongers censor former head of UK armed forces live on air

Scandalous.

https://twitter.com/EL4JC/status/984789066569998338

When lukewarmists attack

It’s a bit like being savaged by sheep. Anthony Watts and his psychotic sidekick Willis the drug-addled cowboy are at it again. They’re trying to undermine the work of Ned Nikolov and Karl Zeller, who gave an excellent presentation at our highly successful London Conference. Their theory covers the underlying physical principles which determine surface temperature across a range of solar system bodies with radically different parameters in terms of insolation, surface pressure, atmospheric composition and rotation rates. There’s not a snowball on Venus’ chance of Watts or Willis understanding it, as they amply demonstrated last time they had a go.

National Infrastructure Commission unveils plan to wreck UK

Lord Andrew Adonis broke cover on BBC radio 4 this morning to tell us about the new National Infrastructure Commission’s plans for making our country vulnerable to massive power cuts. This will be achieved by making the UK dependent on undersea electrical extension leads plugged into Iceland, Denmark and other EU countries wind power systems, continuing to shut down our traditional power generation capacity and the installation of smart meters which talk to new white-goods everyone will have to buy. A lot of the plan is predicated on ‘demand reduction’ and ‘storage’ (although details of that were not forthcoming).

Enviro-campaigner Roger Harrabin takes up the story:

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) envisages a smart energy revolution with more cables linking the National Grid to mainland Europe.

NIC also says the UK needs to store much more energy from intermittent renewable like wind and solar.

Fridges, freezers and washing machines could play a part, they say.

Trident whistleblower: chaos, incompetence & near disasters.

A Navy submariner has released details of a nuclear deterrent that, if true, passes from one crisis to another, barely able to leave port, let alone pose a threat to potential enemies.

William McNeilly (Navy engineering technician submariner) has released a document cataloging his experiences training and serving on Britain’s multi billion pound nuclear missile submarine fleet. He lists countless examples of non existent security, fires, floods, equipment failures, fights and a collision. An attitude amongst the crews of lethargy, more akin to the Big Brother household than a fighting force. He describes a number of incidences that could easily have resulted in the loss of submarines and crews.