[[{“value”:”
Irina Slav
International Author writing about energy, mining, and geopolitical issues. Bulgaria
David Blackmon
Principal at DB Energy Advisors, energy author, and podcast host.Principal at DB Energy Advisors, energy author, and podcast host.
Tammy Nemeth
Energy Consulting Specialist
Stuart Turley
President, and CEO, Sandstone Group, Podcast Host
Is Net Zero Dead? – The Energy Realities Team has some International insights
Irina Slav [00:00:14] Io there one?
David Blackmon [00:00:16] Yeah, we are live.
Irina Slav [00:00:17] Hello everybody. This is the Energy Reality podcast coming to you from the Northern hemisphere, where we are now in summer climate change, also known as the boiling season. And we recently heard news that people in the UK will be roasting at temperatures of 26°C and once upon a time used to be called balmy summer weather. But now it’s extreme temperature.
David Blackmon [00:00:46] Yeah, in Texas we call that winter.
Irina Slav [00:00:49] Only good winter. Well, that’s climate change. Your windows are warm like scorching hot. And so I’ve got Stu Turley and Blackmon with me, and some elements should be coming any minute now and moment hopefully. But today we’re talking about net zero and whether or not it is dead or possibly a zombie. David, what do you think? Is net zero dead already.
David Blackmon [00:01:21] Well, I you know, and I wrote about this last week, I was obsessed with it, but I think the the goal is dead as a goal, as a any sort of realistic goal. Nobody believes we can get there. No. Nobody with any brain. I mean, they’re politicians, you know, there are self-serving politicians who are going to continue that messaging because it’s helpful to them in their in their political campaigns, especially in the Western world. But but really, the consensus is that we’re way, way behind the world is way, way behind in it. And it’s, you know, whatever efforts they are really happening to meet that goal. I think the narrative is going to die in the next few years. And, hopefully once that happens, once the narrative goes away, you know, then possibly our societies can refocus on, you know, doing smart things about energy that rather than engaging in all of these trillions and trillions of dollars of wasted subsidies for substitutes that don’t work.
Irina Slav [00:02:23] I think you’re very, very optimistic. I’m not myself, Stu What do you think?
Stuart Turley [00:02:31] If let’s just take this as an anecdote or, from the grid. The grid requires physics to make the grid work around the world. We can’t stuff pipe dreams and fake things into the grid anymore, because the grid requires physics and fiscal responsibility in order to be affordable. And I think the green movement has just gone bonkers. And I believe we have.
David Blackmon [00:03:05] She was rebooting her computer. She was having connectivity issue.
Stuart Turley [00:03:09] Nice.
David Blackmon [00:03:10] So she’s trying to come on right now. Start turning anyway.
Stuart Turley [00:03:14] So some of this climate scientists have found a way to hack into Tammy’s, machine. They’ve got a tracking device on her, and any time she mentions climate change, it actually just shuts your machine down.
Irina Slav [00:03:31] That’s not even funny.
Tammy Nemeth [00:03:33] I know, hey, Funny Is it? Hi there. Oh my gosh. I don’t know. Windows wanted to do an update and I didn’t want it to. And so I’ve been fighting with my.
Irina Slav [00:03:44] Windows and it’s update said. Sorry, it’s.
Tammy Nemeth [00:03:47] Just one bit. Sorry, guys, thanks for your patience.
David Blackmon [00:03:52] Well, that’s what I meant by Robert De Domenico is actually very, very good. I like that. I wish I’d have thought to say that the vultures are circling over net zero. Think that’s certainly, different situation. Yeah. You know, sorry.
Stuart Turley [00:04:08] And I don’t know that it’s vultures. I, I, I think that this really goes along with today’s theme. They’re not quite dead yet. It’s going to be a a battle. Whenever a wolf is in the corner, they get really, really nasty and mean. When a bear is in, in a corner or a bear’s coming efforts, they get really mean. And I think we’re about to see some more things going on. And Tammy’s trying to come in again. So there she is.
David Blackmon [00:04:43] She’s there.
Irina Slav [00:04:44] Hi.But I think you you’re you’re comparing the energy transition cheerleaders to noble animals.
Tammy Nemeth [00:04:53] that’s unfair to the animals.
Stuart Turley [00:04:56] And my.
Irina Slav [00:04:59] important bears. Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:05:01] My bad. But I’m giving a good example of what’s about to happen. Because the more they lose power and the more they are going down. This. Because in my opinion, the energy transition is nothing more than a wealth transfer. And that’s my my unprofessional opinion. And I truly believe that we can no longer print money. The world is broke. And I think that we’re going to go to the cheapest common denominator for energy. And I think that some real realistically I see some hope around the corner. But it’s going to be an ugly run.
Irina Slav [00:05:46] Yeah. Yeah. Tammy what you think about the, you know, the. It is net zero. Death is a dying.
Tammy Nemeth [00:05:56] No, I don’t think so. I think whatever it seems like it is. It’s a it’s a show. It’s a kabuki theater. Because everything that the government, the governments are doubling down on it, you know, and by Robert and if you look at like, I think one of the links I put in for the headlines is the Labor Party in the UK. Their platform, their manifesto, and it is doubling down on net zero and accelerating it. So, you know, right now in the UK, for example, there are strict rules on what you can develop in the countryside and they want to just push that all aside and cover the beautiful hills, with solar panels everywhere and wind turbines everywhere, onshore and up, bypass whatever public outcry there might be and just say, nope, sorry. You know, we we have to do this for the planet. And so I’m not sure what that’s going to mean in the countryside here. And, and they’re going to triple offshore. It’s insane what their plans are and nationalize everything. So. You know, I.
Irina Slav [00:07:08] Don’t know easily. All this.
Tammy Nemeth [00:07:11] Probably. So then you know, it’s not. You’re going to litigate the government, a government that will, you know, push forward anyway. So I don’t know if I see in the UK Canada’s doubling down on it. Isn’t it zero dead? I don’t I don’t see it not not yet. And they’re embedding it in all these other things. I know people like oh sustainability standards, that’s blah blah blah. But it embeds it embeds it in the financial sector, which, you know, you talk about how terrible it will be if they actually succeed, it’ll crash economies.
David Blackmon [00:07:47] Oh yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:07:48] Because, you know, so it’s like they want to have, the regulators and people like Mark Carney want to have all of this data in one place in the the net zero data public utility that’s operated by the UN. They want all the companies to put all of their data there. So asset managers have one repository where they can create a big file of who what are everybody’s emissions profile, and then shift the investment accordingly. And once they do that, it could create a snowball effect which will crush the economies. And alternatively, it could also make it, you know, that the stocks will crash of the reliable energy companies. And then does Blackrock come in as a white knight. Does the government come in?
Irina Slav [00:08:37] I don’t know, but isn’t that a problem for the asset managers themselves. They don’t like a crashed economy.
Tammy Nemeth [00:08:44] I know.
Irina Slav [00:08:45] Unless there is a, you know, path out of it. But what would you describe is exactly what I’m saying. We’re dealing with a zombie narrative, not dead, but a zombie narrative because, you know, movies and books and everything. Zombies do not have the capability of rational thought. They have only very basic, you know? Not really.
David Blackmon [00:09:06] No, you’re right. You’re absolutely right.
Irina Slav [00:09:09] And so there there is just very basic move ahead and eat brains or whatever.
David Blackmon [00:09:16] Yeah. Rabid dog says.
Stuart Turley [00:09:18] We love Joanna. Good morning.
Tammy Nemeth [00:09:20] And Roberts.
Stuart Turley [00:09:22] Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:09:24] Doubling down, tripling our troubles. I won’t say that other bit in case it’s edited.
David Blackmon [00:09:29] I’ll say it. Dipshit. Yes
Irina Slav [00:09:31] Thank you.
David Blackmon [00:09:33] They’re used to me on YouTube. So I want to be clear, I don’t think. I mean, I totally agree with everything Tammy said. The governments in the West, particularly, are going to continue trying to push this narrative. They’re going to continue doubling down on these policies until the voters voted him out of office in the UK is unique, because you’ve had a supposed conservative Party that has bought fully into all this insanity, right? And this is the main reason they’re getting thrown out of office are one of the main reasons is because they have bought into all this insanity, but what are the voters about to do? They’re going to put in an even more insane bunch of idiots in the Labor Party. Absolute outright communist idiots. Yeah. Which are going to probably collapse the UK economy. First of all, the Western nations. I mean, I think the I think it’s almost baked into the cake once labor takes control because they’re going to go crazy with this stuff, just like the Biden administration has done in the US. So if Biden gets reelected, we’re going to have the same thing happening in the United States. Then we’re going to just be a couple of years behind the UK, but on a global basis. We are not in any way on track to get to net zero and nobody. I don’t think anyone other than the politically motivated apparatchiks at the International Energy Agency think there’s any chance that globally, we’re going to ever get to net zero. I mean, I mean, that’s all motivated by politics and wishful thinking. So that’s the only point I’m making in, is that as a global goal, as laid out in the Paris records and by by the UN’s agency, I’m going to forget what they’re called now every year. And they’re they’re crazy reports. You know, we’re just not on track to get to net zero, and we’re not ever going to get to net zero. And so to me that as a concept is a dead concept. The narratives will certainly continue. And all these crazy efforts in the West to be industrialize our economies and render is completely subservient to China, for all of our energy needs will continue apace until voters throw them all out. And, you know, they don’t.
Irina Slav [00:11:46] Even have the money. You know, they’ve been right. You know what? Lately, the there have been more reports about how the price tag of the transition has gone up. And now I hear G-7, discussing the those commitments, the climate commitments for the developing world. And they need even more money. Yeah. Where are they going to get it from?
Tammy Nemeth [00:12:12] Apparently. Russia there.
Irina Slav [00:12:15] Well.
David Blackmon [00:12:17] You know, I think things have worked so well that they’re getting it from Russia.
Tammy Nemeth [00:12:22] It’s all deceased. It’s the seized assets that they think they can just take.
Irina Slav [00:12:25] that. Well, you know.
Stuart Turley [00:12:29] What a mistake. I mean, it’s a mistake to do that.
Irina Slav [00:12:32] You cannot use the suicidal aspect of seizing, another country’s assets. Of course they won’t. But it’s not enough.
Stuart Turley [00:12:42] You know, we’re getting some great comments here. This is absolutely hilarious. You know.
Tammy Nemeth [00:12:50] I mean, did you want to talk to that one?
David Blackmon [00:12:54] The corporate.
Tammy Nemeth [00:12:54] Jets. The EU one.
David Blackmon [00:12:57] That EU Corporate Sustainability due Diligence directive that was passed in May.
Irina Slav [00:13:02] I had no idea.
Tammy Nemeth [00:13:03] No idea.
Irina Slav [00:13:04] I think this one is, but.
Tammy Nemeth [00:13:07] It basically allows the EU to sanction any large corporation that they believe is violating environmental or human rights outside the boundaries of the EU.
Irina Slav [00:13:20] Okay, everybody is in with.
Tammy Nemeth [00:13:23] Everybody, right? And is that targeted at China? Is that meant to be able to sanction things coming out of China? Maybe. Is it to prevent. I think it’s meant to operate in tandem with the carbon border adjustment mechanism that allows the EU to put tariffs on companies if they don’t have a carbon price and all that kind of stuff. So maybe but, yeah, we’ll see what happens. Joanna, with that, who knows what happens in practice.
Irina Slav [00:13:53] Oh, I’m sure it’ll be very, very good for the EU and very profitable for European corporations.
Tammy Nemeth [00:13:59] As always.
Irina Slav [00:14:00] Yeah.
David Blackmon [00:14:04] I hey, JT lon one. Thank you for agreeing with me. I appreciate that. Anytime somebody does that, the job market is frozen, the credit market is shrinking.
Stuart Turley [00:14:14] We had to make David feel better this morning.
David Blackmon [00:14:17] Yes, it makes me feel so much better. And now, the same, USS productivity has been stagnating since 2010. Yes. Climate action in 2008. And then corporate margins are protected by importing cheaper labor. So the headline GDP numbers are not terrible, but the per capita numbers are down. Yeah.
Irina Slav [00:14:36] Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:14:36] The UK has become a service economy rather than a manufacturing economy, just like Canada, right? To some extent.
Stuart Turley [00:14:43] I hate to do this to you again, but that one’s funny.
David Blackmon [00:14:48] Yes. We see that every time he’s out in public. They should stop letting him out in public. It’s really getting to be.
Tammy Nemeth [00:14:54] Like when Obama had to help him off the stage.
Stuart Turley [00:14:56] This is a real question in our listeners that we have already 73 on line that are on one stream, and we don’t know how many are on the other streams. Is Biden going to be the nominee? We know he’s not able to fog a mirror. I just want to know what everybody everybody’s thinking. And who do you think they’re going to roll in? I have no clue. I wonder, I saw Hillary make an appointment or an appearance last night, and it kind of scares me to death. They’re going to put that person back in. But,.
David Blackmon [00:15:31] The governor of California.
Tammy Nemeth [00:15:33] Really? You think Newsom.
David Blackmon [00:15:35] They’ve been setting him up this so many roles.
Irina Slav [00:15:38] Sorry, guys. Oh, this will be beautiful. Gavin Newsom, the president.
David Blackmon [00:15:44] But he’s the future.
Irina Slav [00:15:45] So they don’t have an official candidate yet. The Democrats.
David Blackmon [00:15:50] Well, I mean, Biden’s nominally running for reelection, but I think right before the convention, he’s going to make an Lyndon Johnson kind of speech and withdraw. And and they’re going to bring Gavin Newsom out from Sacramento, and he’ll be the nominee.
Stuart Turley [00:16:07] They had a van to escort him off the stage because he would.
David Blackmon [00:16:11] Have to escort him off the stage. Every time he makes an appearance. Now, two weeks ago, he made a speech in the Rose garden, which is 40ft away from the Oval Office at the white House, and a marine guard had to take him by the arm and escort him back to the Oval Office because he can’t find his way anymore. This happens every public appearance he makes. He has no idea where to stand, where to go when it’s over, how to get up on the stage to begin with. This is. It’s a farce anyway.
Stuart Turley [00:16:46] My bad for derailing this conversation. Let’s get back to net zero.
David Blackmon [00:16:50] That’s that’s my rant for today, by the way.
Irina Slav [00:16:54] Well, you can say that Biden has net zero adequacy.
Irina Slav [00:16:59] Nice Irina.
Irina Slav [00:17:01] I will tell you.
Stuart Turley [00:17:05] Here’s one from Nicholas. Nicholas. It’s been dead since day one. At least he’s on topic for the. Yes, net zero.
David Blackmon [00:17:14] As a practical matter, I think that’s right. Yes.
Stuart Turley [00:17:18] Uneducated. Never personally research and quote others who have no idea of the reality of the world and the energy.
Irina Slav [00:17:25] I’m going.
Stuart Turley [00:17:26] I will give, Nicholas. I will say a shout out for Senator Ted Cruz. Senator Ted Cruz is very articulate, and I’ve enjoyed my conversations with him. And we have several other more coming up.
David Blackmon [00:17:40] He and his father worked in the energy business for long. Yeah. So I mean, he has practical knowledge of it.
Stuart Turley [00:17:46] Yes. And I mean, but he is, he is a sharp cat. That’s on Newsome. No, I’m sorry for blasting through these, but these are great comments, and I want to get get them all I can. Someone else.
David Blackmon [00:18:03] The Dumbacratic vote.
Stuart Turley [00:18:06] Oh, I love that. Robert, I’ve got to use that later.
David Blackmon [00:18:10] I think the answer to that question is clearly no. Today’s global investor and ey li oh, elite governmental financiers put more credence in sustainability reports than annual reports. Many do. Yes, I think that’s absolutely right. Yeah, and I.
Tammy Nemeth [00:18:31] Think it’ll get worse. It’ll get worse in the next year or two.
Irina Slav [00:18:35] Yeah. No, we’re not seeing on oil or oil company websites. The whole page invariably includes the word sustainability or something along these lines. Yes. That’s the first thing you see as an oil companies homepage. Really?
David Blackmon [00:18:52] Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:18:53] Yeah. But. Oh, so can I, can I add can I add an anecdote?
David Blackmon [00:19:00] Absolutely.
Tammy Nemeth [00:19:02] So they snuck into I think I said before they snuck into the Competition Act in the, in Canada, two paragraphs that will basically make companies liable for forward looking statements talking about the energy transition. So, you know, when you when you’re not even like I think global companies will say that. But if they’re registered in Canada now, they can’t really talk about what they’re doing for sustainability unless they can be backed by an international methodology, whatever that means, because it’s not being defined. So companies are being told you must do the transition and you must tell people, but you’re not allowed to tell people because then it will you’ll be taken to court. So I don’t know how that’s going to play out in Canada when they’re asking for all this information. They’re going to have to put it in their financial disclosures, but then they can be hauled up in front of the Competition Bureau and suffer fines up to 3% of their annual earnings. Wow. It’s insane. It’s insane.
David Blackmon [00:20:10] Yeah. And what I suspect.
Irina Slav [00:20:13] You know, sounds like trying to find ways to get some more money. Yeah. By any means. You know, put the guards culture there.
Stuart Turley [00:20:22] Yeah. Along that lines is the, windfall profits tax on the North Sea and everything else to me. How can you, tax, windfall profits when it’s so costly to go drill and explore and get to the next, next. Well, yeah, because they are doing better on that. It’s like you’re going to kill the fatted calf. I mean.
Tammy Nemeth [00:20:47] That’s the point. It’s to to suck it dry before it’s put out of business. Right. So you get you squeeze every cent out of it before you collapse it. And the labor in their manifesto has said that they will increase the windfall profits tax and extend it out until the next election.
David Blackmon [00:21:08] Yep.
Tammy Nemeth [00:21:09] So.
Irina Slav [00:21:10] But and they won’t know what policing is all about as opposed to skimming. Possibly. So they’re going for the skinning.
Tammy Nemeth [00:21:18] Yeah, I think they. Yeah, I like this one, Robert. Net zero is a misnomer for negative infinity.
David Blackmon [00:21:34] That’s a you know, good point there.
Tammy Nemeth [00:21:36] This is a really good one. So you know how David had said that the UK for the past 12 years or whatever has been run technically by conservatives. And I put that in quotes because they don’t they don’t really act like it. Right. And Ursula von der Linde is the head of the so-called conservative European People’s Party in the EU.
Irina Slav [00:21:57] So yeah, but but she didn’t participate in the elections. The elections were parliament. So of course she would survive.
Tammy Nemeth [00:22:04] Though, right.
Irina Slav [00:22:04] Because she’s a bigger than that should be a vote for new commission president once the new parliament starts going to work. Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:22:13] So interesting.
Irina Slav [00:22:15] I don’t have much hope that she’ll be replaced. If she does get replaced, I shudder at the thought that it might be someone even worse than her.
David Blackmon [00:22:25] So I do think we have better hope that, that, there’s going to be a pretty much a sea change election in France at the end of this month. The snap elections that were called by Macron. But of course, Macron is not up either. He’s the president, not the prime minister. So, you know, Macron will survive one way or another, at least for a while. For a.
Irina Slav [00:22:49] While.
David Blackmon [00:22:50] But but you could have an actual, real, true conservative takeover of the parliament in France. It’s going to be fairly close, at least.
Stuart Turley [00:23:00] Joanna’s got a great question here. I’m sorry to go in. What about electrifying the Permian? Any thoughts? And, Joanna, that is an excellent, because the Permian is one of the largest oil, producing areas in the world. People like Chris, right over at Liberty Frack, which is an oil. Liberty energy. Excuse me? Which used to be liberty frack, have electric frack fleets. And he is looking at nuclear to in order to run those in microgrids. So you have outstanding leadership from oil and gas, operators out there looking to electrify and lower, CO2, and other emissions and to be better stewards of what we do use in natural resources. So I hope that’s right.
David Blackmon [00:23:52] But to be clear, the electricity in Texas is supplied, about 45 to 50% every day by natural gas and at times during the day by 70 to 80%. So, you know, I mean, it’s I guess the generators are electric. But, you know, the electricity has to be generated by something. And, yeah, there’s a lot of wind energy out there, but there’s a lot of natural gas to. And by the way, I don’t know if y’all saw it, but this this is also relevant to this net zero point. The head of Ercot last week told the legislature, shocked the legislature by saying, you know, gosh, you remember a few months ago we told you we’re going to need to increase power generation capacity in our state by about 25%, by 2030. Well, you know, today I’m going to tell you we’re going to need to double it because of AI and Bitcoin. Yeah. So, you know, Texas is going to be faced with a choice I believe in the next legislative session. Not only preserving the the viability of the mothballed coal plants in our state, but possibly reactivating some of those coal plants over the next several years just to meet the needs of the grid. So is that is that going to take us closer to net zero? I don’t think so. And by the way, the Texas grid’s in better shape than many other grids around the country. So we’re going to have a lot of hard choices, where power generation is concerned in America in the next few years.
Tammy Nemeth [00:25:26] All right. Do you think? David, do you think it’s possible that the AI and cloud servers, or would ever end up creating their own micro-grids instead of.
David Blackmon [00:25:37] Yeah, I think.
Tammy Nemeth [00:25:38] Latching on to the big ones.
David Blackmon [00:25:40] In fact, I think Dan Patrick, our lieutenant governor’s order, he’s thinking along those lines is what I’m being told. So I think, yeah. And you’re going to see, some policy changes that are going to. If not, mandate that. But highly encouraging.
Irina Slav [00:25:56] That would make perfect sense. Really? Yeah. Yeah. The essential thing.
Stuart Turley [00:26:01] We will see. And yeah, we’ll see a pattern of microgrids for the communities that can afford them. You will see redundancy built in which is going to add to the cost. Let’s take my house as a microcosm because I can I put in twin propane generators to run the four houses, and I can then put in solar or wind or all these other things to be a microgrid as an experiment, so I can talk about it and write about it. Here’s the problem. Those that can afford it are putting it in. Those that can’t are going to get screwed.
Irina Slav [00:26:42] Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:26:44] As with everything, right?
David Blackmon [00:26:47] So. Yep. Yep.
Stuart Turley [00:26:49] Microgrids are good, but it’s also going to have a whole nother layer of cost in order to get it done.
Tammy Nemeth [00:26:57] Yeah. But I say, you know, with the AI and the cloud servers though, they can afford it so they can afford to set up their own little micro natural gas generators directly off of a pipeline or whatever off grid, connect to whatever, fiber optic to run their stuff, to connect to the web or whatever, and therefore not be pulling energy off of the, the main grid and which then lowers the price. Maybe for others, I don’t know. I know you think that’ll increase the cost, but I guess they’ll be competing for the net.
Stuart Turley [00:27:33] Yes, because it depends. Like in Germany has, one way their grid is balanced down and you have to pay for it a certain way. And then you have the other grid association, know the pricing in the in the balancing authorities and the pricing. It is an additional cost. It’s an additional administrative cost. It is. It’s just an additional cost. Oops.
David Blackmon [00:28:01] And the costs are really piling up on our utility bills and taxes.
Tammy Nemeth [00:28:06] So someone’s, a LinkedIn user here is asking why electrify premium oil and gas? Just gas off either from fleets instead of diesel. Given all the supposed associated gas production in the Permian and.
David Blackmon [00:28:19] That there are there are some electric fleets that run on natural gas that is taken actually from oil ends in the area. So you bet. And I mean, that’s that’s been happening for a while.
Stuart Turley [00:28:30] You bet. And and also bitcoin mining I love bitcoin miners. For the fact that it allows extra revenue streams for, oil and gas frack fleets that can run off of natural gas and burn that natural gas that there’s normally in years past flare and then again brings in a a bitcoin mining operation and can give money back to. But it also has created a whole new scam level.
Tammy Nemeth [00:29:03] Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:29:03] People that are out there for for scammers. Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:29:08] So last week I was at the Global Energy Show in Calgary and they the they had this new venue absolutely packed full of different, different little setups from different countries. And there was actually Bitcoin miners there where they were going to try to encourage the oil and gas people to talk to them because they want to use, you know, like stooges said, to tap into, a microgrid or whatever in order to do Bitcoin mining. But I thought it was hilarious that at this global energy show, there was a little booth with with Bitcoin miners.
Stuart Turley [00:29:45] It’s awesome. When David and I talked to Senator Cruz with two weeks ago. He’s he’s now got a bitcoin miner set up. Yeah. And the city in his own words is is doing bitcoin mining I’m all in. Use it in and use it as a resource. I think it’s great in fact Elon. Oh hang on. Elon is calling me.
Irina Slav [00:30:08] We need that call.
Stuart Turley [00:30:11] Yes. I think Tesla is a great, great car. It will survive the rest of the world. Okay, thanks. And, no, I’m not going to invest in. Oh. Yeah, I do like. Yes, we got feedback. We do like your Cybertruck.
David Blackmon [00:30:25] Have a Cybertruck, I like you.
Irina Slav [00:30:29] But it’s funny, because Bitcoin miners, openly, you know, showing that they need reliable energy, unlike datacentre operators from big tech who continue to pretend that they can source 100% of their energy from wind, solar. And that’s why I suppose, and keep maintaining the they they sensors, even with the expected surge in demand from their AI exercises.
David Blackmon [00:30:58] Not not with the current battery tech. Yeah. 125. Yeah, they’re, in theory, will be paying on our bills for every. Yes we will. And, if you’re in Texas, you know, our in and maybe like this all over the country, we we have the utility charge and then we have the fuel charge broken down and our bills fuel charge at my house is gone from 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour in 2000 to $0.17 per kilowatt hour today. So it’s doubled in four years. Okay. That’s not sustainable. And that’s at a time when natural gas prices, which is supposedly the marginal price on our grid, has have been at historically low levels. Okay. Yeah. Throughout all that time, very steady at two, 2 to $3 range. And and yet the charge for it is doubled in four years. So that cannot continue for any long period of time. And SRB has a really good question. Yeah. Texas has 14GW of installed wind capacity, the most of any state in the US. Do you guys understand why this has happened in Texas and not, say, California, for example? Yes. It’s because our grid in Texas was designed by Ken Lay and Enron so that Enron can manipulate the market in Texas, just like they did in California. California’s grid, by the way, was also designed by Ken Lay and Enron for exactly the same purpose. So so, you know, our our state grid is exactly the same just in terms of how it operates as California’s. We’re just a few years behind on the deterioration scale right now. We yeah, we have a lot of wind. We have a lot of solar. We got 30GW of solar installed now, and that, you know, it’s great for a few hours a day gives you a lot of cheap, cheap, input into the system, and then it cost you the rest of the day. But Enron loved it until they went bankrupt, rushed and collapsed. And by then all the policy was in place. And our policy makers have never made the choice over the last 22 years to kind of regroup and change the structure of the grant. And that’s that’s why we’re in the position we’re in now.
Tammy Nemeth [00:33:06] Yeah.
David Blackmon [00:33:09] Yep. That’s my second rant for today.
Tammy Nemeth [00:33:13] Joanna is adding this one. She said I’d wager the electricity transmission costs in Texas during the summer peak demand days would far outweigh the casing head gas costs. What do you guys think?
David Blackmon [00:33:28] Oh, probably.
Irina Slav [00:33:29] So much wind and solar on the grid. That’s probably right. Yeah.
David Blackmon [00:33:34] Yeah, I mean, it costs. We spent $10 billion building the crest lines to bring up with wind generated electricity from from West Texas to Houston and Dallas. $10 billion. And of course, in 2001, they told the legislature, wind industry told the legislature the cost would be $1 billion, ended up costing ten. And we’re, by the way, we’re going to have to build a bunch more transmission here in the near future to what gives cost.
Stuart Turley [00:34:02] When I drive to my place in, in, in Abilene and I consider it West Texas, and all the folks in the Permian say it in West Texas. But when I go to West Texas, I think it’s my place in Abilene. There’s dead windmills all over the place there. I mean, it’s pathetic.
David Blackmon [00:34:20] Yeah. Well, we turn this into a Texas grid episode. Sorry about that.
Stuart Turley [00:34:26] Let’s get back to that back.
Irina Slav [00:34:27] of the narrative.
Stuart Turley [00:34:31] David, this is your video that you thought was a, a good. How did you phrase it?
David Blackmon [00:34:39] It’s a metaphor for the deindustrialization of the United Kingdom.
Stuart Turley [00:34:43] Irina don’t make fun of David for saying metaphor. It’s a metaphor. That’s a Texas way to say metaphor. I don’t know if it’s a.
Tammy Nemeth [00:34:52] Metaphor.
Stuart Turley [00:34:53] Thank you.
David Blackmon [00:34:54] For. Watching video. Yeah. And there you go.
Stuart Turley [00:35:09] Okay.
Irina Slav [00:35:10] Parts of the old do. Okay.
Tammy Nemeth [00:35:12] Sure.
David Blackmon [00:35:13] No. Irina is. This is what I really think is going to happen. It’s going to be ugly. Then going away from net zero is going to be ugly. And this is what I think it’s going to look like.
Irina Slav [00:35:32] and painful to
David Blackmon [00:35:36] painful. Yes. Very sorry for all of.
Stuart Turley [00:35:39] I just got to see this one again for everybody. But that looks like something I would do. I know it looks like something I have done.
Irina Slav [00:35:48] Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:35:51] Guys, I put a link in the in the chat there where it’s, this fellow had talked about Greenpeace had brought solar power to a community in India in 2014.
Irina Slav [00:36:05] Yes, yes, I saw that.
David Blackmon [00:36:06] Anjali. Peter. He’s great. Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:36:09] And the 100 kilowatt microgrid for 2200 people. The batteries died in three years. Now they use the the solar panels as cattle sheds.
Irina Slav [00:36:21] I thought I can be reused.
David Blackmon [00:36:25] Hey, they can be reused.
Irina Slav [00:36:26] Hey. Yeah. Not a total loss.
Tammy Nemeth [00:36:29] Circular economy.
David Blackmon [00:36:31] Hey, wait a minute. Some of those panels may work, and we could have Tom Kirkman use them for solar cows. Yeah.
Tammy Nemeth [00:36:37] Oh, there you go.
Irina Slav [00:36:39] Electric housing.
Tammy Nemeth [00:36:41] Electric.
Irina Slav [00:36:41] But but still. I love the last video on the best. You know, that blow to the head. We we discussed that maybe the net zero narrative means.
David Blackmon [00:36:51] Oh, this.
Video Speaker [00:36:53] I’m not. Dead. Nothing is, you know, but I’m not dead. Yeah. He says he’s not dead. Yes, he is, he’s not. He isn’t wild. He won’t be soon. He’s very old. I’m getting better. No you’re not. You’re behind it in a moment. Oh, gosh. I am not against regulation. I don’t want to go up the guy. Oh, double jump baby. Oh, come on, Jacob. I feel fine to do it. If I can run a couple of minutes, you won’t be long. I’m going to go to Robinsons. I’ve lost nine today. Well, on Thursday you think I’m going through hell? You’re not fooling anyone. You know. There’s no something you can do. I feel happy for you. Happy? Oh, thanks very much.
Stuart Turley [00:37:35] All right. Out of Monty Python. How long the world’s got that in the background when you’re always swinging that dead. Can I get real? Yeah. Sorry. I love Monty Python. I’m sorry.
Tammy Nemeth [00:37:49] So with that, the metaphor for net zero is net zero. The guy who they whacked on the head or.
Irina Slav [00:37:54] Yeah, it’s. I think it should be that guy.
David Blackmon [00:37:57] Yes. These that guy.
Stuart Turley [00:37:58] I think it’s not quite dead yet because throughout that movie in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, later on, John Cleese is standing there and his, faithful horse is clapping along with coconuts. Behind me is it gets shot with an arrow and goes, well, I’m not quite dead yet. Not quite yet, I think. Is it a zombie which I love? Irina. Your your is it a zombie? Because zombies are just, you know, mindless.
Irina Slav [00:38:23] An expert on zombies.
Stuart Turley [00:38:25] Right. And is it. I’m not quite dead yet. It’s got an arrow in it. Is it going to fail yet, or is it, you know, bring out your dead. So are we in one of these three stages now? I think we’ve got a vote on whether or not what stage we’re in. Is it? Bring out your dead is net zero and bring out your dead. Or is it? I’m not quite dead yet. Or is it a full blown zombie? And I, I will, we’re in anyway. Anyway.
Tammy Nemeth [00:38:56] I think it’s like the black night in in the Monty Python’s Holy Grail, where they keep chopping off limbs. Yes.
David Blackmon [00:39:03] Oh, you agree with me?
Irina Slav [00:39:04] Well, yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:39:06] Well know it’s only just.
David Blackmon [00:39:09] The flesh.
Stuart Turley [00:39:10] Wound I shot like an a guy from India, you know, talking mean.
Irina Slav [00:39:16] That’s that’s probably the best. Yeah. The Black Knights.
David Blackmon [00:39:19] And then there’s then there’s the Ministry of Silly walks. Oh my God, this is what the British government’s going to look like under the Labor Party.
Stuart Turley [00:39:29] This is absolutely not labor. I had the I had the pleasure of sitting, at an event and not a place was like, right next to me. That man talked for two hours nonstop, and I was sitting there. I just wanted to hug the man. He was the funniest guy I have ever met. Able to just sit there and, like, just pat him on the back. That was a good one, John. And but anyway, I mean, he’s a funny, funny guy. Look at that. Silly. What’s.
David Blackmon [00:40:05] My favorite skit? Okay, that’s probably get to this point.
Stuart Turley [00:40:15] I gotta go with just one more second here. Guys, we gotta get to this point. Let’s see where this is. No. Was this committed as a forward in. It was the. I’ll find it later. But it was the lady where she brings the coffee in. I’m sorry. The silly walk. And she’s bringing the coffee in. That is phenomenal.
Irina Slav [00:40:39] Okay, but shall we go to the headlines now?
David Blackmon [00:40:41] I think we probably better.
Stuart Turley [00:40:44] Thank you for being the adult in the room.
David Blackmon [00:40:47] There had to be one.
Irina Slav [00:40:50] Oh, these are mine. Okay, let’s start with Japan. Japan could be energy independent by 2060 thanks to renewables, Rystat energy CEO says. Apparently the man who founded Rystad Energy, previously one of the reputable. Energy research data providers has gone mad because in the story, he talks about Japan building. More wind and more solar. Because, you know, Japan is the size of North America and has all the space it can cover with all the old China. You know, it’s got space. It’s empty space. It’s not populated at all. It should cover all of its islands with solar and surround these islands with offshore wind. And it will be perfectly energy independent by 2060, oh one. Some batteries as well. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Honestly.
David Blackmon [00:41:55] I can’t help noticing the photo of Mount Fujiyama behind his head. Is he proposing to cover the whole mountain with windmills?
Irina Slav [00:42:03] Imagine that.
David Blackmon [00:42:04] Yeah. You know, there’s. You’re right. There’s not that much space in Japan. And what’s Japan really doing? What are they really doing to secure.
Irina Slav [00:42:10] Their opening their nuclear power plants?
David Blackmon [00:42:13] Yeah, damn right they are. And they’re building and they’re building.
Tammy Nemeth [00:42:15] And they’re building coal.
Stuart Turley [00:42:16] Yeah, they’re also negotiation right now. And watch. Watch this. Russia is going to North Korea and South Korea. They’re meeting with them now. And you will see a pipeline to China. The U.S. has stopped it twice. All they need is 20 miles in the pipeline. And they can have natural gas from Russia. And I guarantee you that it works. Natural gas. Now.
David Blackmon [00:42:48] He’s talking about North and South Korea, not Japan.
Stuart Turley [00:42:51] No, I’m talking about Japan because they’re going to come through that area and go over to Japan. There’s a 20 mile section in there. Russia is talking with both of them, and China in the U.S. is trying to stop it. The US is not your friend.
David Blackmon [00:43:12] Well, you know, we can do the same thing we did with Nord Stream, I guess.
Stuart Turley [00:43:15] I didn’t say that.
David Blackmon [00:43:19] Did I just say that you said no.
Irina Slav [00:43:21] Oh, it.
Tammy Nemeth [00:43:22] Will you say that out loud?
David Blackmon [00:43:24] I did.
Irina Slav [00:43:25] It for the first time. Volunteering. Thank you. Yeah, my.
Stuart Turley [00:43:34] For the CIA. That’s listening.
Irina Slav [00:43:38] Now. The second story is about steelmaking and green hydrogen, and its headline is steelmakers look to hydrogen to green, heavily polluting sector. Now the headline speaks for itself. But I would like to actually quote a reader on my Substack who summed up this. This piece of news is wonderfully good. Could you bring up the. Oh thank you. So here’s what he said. Ironic that water is needed to get hydrogen, which may reduce water in the reservoirs. The hydro reservoirs needed to produce hydropower, which is needed to produce the electricity to produce the hydrogen, which is needed to produce the green steel which will be produced by the electric naked furnaces with electricity that was produced by water through hydropower.
Tammy Nemeth [00:44:37] Yeah.
David Blackmon [00:44:38] Oh, we can
Irina Slav [00:44:39] The hydrogen dream in in a nutshell. And I love it.
David Blackmon [00:44:44] Goodness,.
Stuart Turley [00:44:45] Hydrogen corridor in the EU is a beautiful thing for wealthy business.
Irina Slav [00:44:51] Yeah, yeah. And it’s also totally happening. See?
Stuart Turley [00:44:56] It’s happening.
Irina Slav [00:44:58] Oh, yeah, I’m sure, I’m sure it is. We’re just going to use the old gas pipelines, you know? But we’ve discussed this too much.
David Blackmon [00:45:05] Oh, technologically, that’s not good idea. The Hindenburg is not a good brand to have on your pipeline.
Irina Slav [00:45:18] Okay. Who’s next?
David Blackmon [00:45:19] Okay. Oh, this is me. You know, OPEC, OPEC, the CEO. Hi. Hi. Our guys, came out with a long statement last week. Now saying we got pissed off at the IRS latest projection for peak oil, which is idiotic. We’re not going to reach peak oil. by 2030? And, we we published about a 1500 word statement, at the OPEC website in which he said, not only is peak oil not going to happen by 2030, we don’t even see it anywhere on our horizon of our projections to go through 2045. And, if they did projections through 2060, you wouldn’t see it there either, because the world is continuing, demand more and more oil just as it’s continuing, demand more coal, more gas and more wood, all carbon burning sources of energy. Or we’re going to use them at record levels this year and next year, and probably every year for the rest of this decade, and probably every year for the rest of my lifetime, because, populations continue to grow, the economies continue to expand. We continue to invent all these new technologies that demand more and more and more and more energy. And you can’t supply all that with windmills and solar panels. So that that was my first one. The next one, next one, was a piece I wrote at the Telegraph. But this is very self-serving. I’m not linking to my own stuff. The world is using more. Yeah, okay. That was the piece. We’ve already talked about that where I. Well, I posed the question, is net zero dead and answered it. Yes. Anyway, so, I and that one, by the way, has received more traffic than any piece I’ve written for the Telegraph so far.
Tammy Nemeth [00:47:10] Wow. I’m waiting for them to make that an election issue, because nobody’s talked about net zero yet. Now I’m hoping reform maybe kicks it up a notch in the next week or so, but they really need to start going on about net zero.
David Blackmon [00:47:27] And the election is July 4th, right?
Tammy Nemeth [00:47:29] Yeah, yeah. It’s the defining issue really. All the other stuff is ephemeral.
David Blackmon [00:47:37] Okay.
Irina Slav [00:47:38] All right.
Tammy Nemeth [00:47:39] So these are mine. And I mentioned the labor platform where they want to make Britain a clean energy superpower. And it’s, you know, labor is red for a reason because they’re beyond socialist. They’re, you know, pretty much communist at this point. And in their little manifesto there, they were explaining how the conservatives are ideologically against using the strong arm of the state to force the economy to do things. And labor has no such, you know, second thoughts about. That? Well, so it’s that. Right? You know, that’s unusual. They say labor will take decisive action to seize the economic opportunity. We will shape markets and use public investment to crowd in private funding. Not sure how that works in practice. So yeah, they’re going to create a national wealth fund out of the, the money that they take from oil and gas companies. So from that windfall profit tax that they’re increasing and extending, they’re going to use that money to create a national wealth fund. And then. Yeah, right. And so then they’re claiming they’re going to use all that to create 650,000 jobs, building solar panels and windmills or erecting them across the countryside and whatever. So, you know, they’re going to take money from reliable energy, and they’re gonna use it to create unreliable energy that will make everything more expensive for people in Britain. Wow.
David Blackmon [00:49:23] So can I ask a quick question about the Labor Party? And this is a serious question I don’t know the answer to. I’m not being facetious, but do they use the term manifesto intentionally to copy Karl Marx?
Tammy Nemeth [00:49:36] They all say manifesto.
David Blackmon [00:49:38] They all do it. Okay. I was just curious.
Tammy Nemeth [00:49:40] Part of the British. Okay, I know we would call it a platform or whatever. Right. But they call it a manifesto. Yeah. And it does sound very.
David Blackmon [00:49:50] It sounds very Karl Marx. Yes.
Stuart Turley [00:49:52] And it sounds like what happens to a mass shooter, I mean, is what it sounds like a manifesto for mass shooters?
Irina Slav [00:49:59] Yeah. It does. It does sound like. Yeah, but, I love the photo, by the way. It reminds me of a Russian saying, which loosely translated, goes like two morons, more powerful than one more. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t see.
Stuart Turley [00:50:18] How do you say that in Bulgaria?
Irina Slav [00:50:22] I don’t really. You probably sound very similar to Russian, which is very funny because it rhymes, but I think it’s translated poetically. So. But basically that’s it to me.
Tammy Nemeth [00:50:34] So notice that. Okay, so the guy on the right in the picture is Keir Starmer. He’s the leader of the Labor Party. And then the other guy is Ed Miliband. And I think.
Irina Slav [00:50:42] He was the yes.
Tammy Nemeth [00:50:43] The person responsible for clean energy. And notice that they’re kind of gazing lovingly at each other and they’re it’s a little odd, but okay, we’re going to wreck Britain. Okay. And so then the the other article there was from oil Price and linked on Zero Hedge and the title is Sweden rejects new power cable to Germany over market inefficiencies. So which I thought was hilarious because, you know, they’re pushing this whole idea of interconnects.
Stuart Turley [00:51:16] But the interconnection was the interconnect that was on there taming.
Tammy Nemeth [00:51:20] Right. That’s great. Thank you so much for putting that that, map on there, which shows the different interconnections. And, you know, so Sweden is building up wind of course, and, but doesn’t want to put it into the German grid because the German grid is a basket case. And, and Germany is looking to buy energy off of everybody so they don’t have to open anything up themselves, which is bizarre. So yeah, I thought that was very indicative of where Europe is right now, where they want interconnections. But it’s, you know, you end up farming out your production to the periphery rather than building it up yourself. And, you know, it’ll just create this a similar problem that Germany’s been facing since, losing Russian gas. So.
Stuart Turley [00:52:15] I just saw an article speaking of Russian gas. And, David, don’t do the joke. You know, the dad joke. Pull your finger. The Russia is out. So half, the EU has imported more natural gas from Russia this month. This month, for the first time since I.
Irina Slav [00:52:37] Was net in May.
David Blackmon [00:52:39] In May? Yeah. So holy smokes, Batman. You know, Russia’s not quite dead yet.
Tammy Nemeth [00:52:47] But they’re extending sanctions now to. I just saw a headline the other day where they’re increasing, broadening the sanctions so that a bunch of the equipment that Germany produces that helps, Russia build in the Arctic or something, they now want to put sanctions on that. And Germany is issued some kind of veto because it will undermine a lot of their manufacturing capacity or something. So I don’t know where that’s going to go.
Irina Slav [00:53:14] It’s just exasperating how these people keep doing the same thing over and over again, getting the opposite result of what they wanted and expected, and they keep doing it. This package should work. No it won’t.
Tammy Nemeth [00:53:30] Let’s try this one.
David Blackmon [00:53:33] You know I don’t get it. You can’t buy this kind of entertainment. You can.
Irina Slav [00:53:37] Yeah. Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:53:38] Speaking of entertainment. David. On the energy business group. Sue Biden administration over electric vehicle mandate. The API teamed up with several other ones. And you have a good relationship with them, don’t you? On, the API,.
David Blackmon [00:53:56] With a few folks there.
Stuart Turley [00:53:57] Yeah. And and I applaud them. Yay! We’ve got a, you know, you got to take it and go through the courts. You got to do it legally and everything else. But they teamed up with the ad group supporting ethanol, and. I’m sorry, I, we need food with over 250 food processing plants self combust since Biden took office. We need food rather than putting it into energy, into ethanol. I’m glad that they’re joining forces on this. So, I’m not sure what Biden’s thinking right there other than where’s my ice cream? The one thing that really gets me here on the forum. Ford ends its EV dealership, program. And the average cost that they paid in for these dealers, which was, I think a thousand of them, was a million bucks apiece.
David Blackmon [00:54:53] That thousand, refused to participate in it. Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:54:58] Yeah. No, they know that. No, there’s a thousand of them that paid in. No, that. Yeah,.
David Blackmon [00:55:04] But there’s about 2004 dealerships around the country, in the US, and 1000 of them refuse to pay.
Stuart Turley [00:55:10] And and they just. Yeah, they’ve killed it. And now they’ve got to try to figure out how they figure it out and how to do it. And so it’s like, Holy smokes, Batman. The one article, the EVs slow down steers the world further, from net zero was actually a very good article from Bloomberg. Yeah. And there’s a quote in here. It it’s just unbelievable. Lowering the estimates for electric vehicles. It everybody’s negative. I mean, they’re they’re all lowering them from here on out. The transformation might take longer than expected. Mercedes. Chief executive officer Ola. I’m sorry, I don’t really want to, but your name came up. Canalys said at the carmaker annual meeting. The maker of the S-Class sedans and G-wagon SUV is now expected to continue making, combustion engine and hybrid vehicles well into 2030 backing off the goal. That can’t be done. I’m all in on the EV use here.
Irina Slav [00:56:21] But I thought it could be done. So with.
David Blackmon [00:56:25] Yeah. Right. And, you know, and just to be clear, we’re just now seeing the beginning of these kinds of announcements from these big automakers in the West of slowing things down, delaying project production, you know, cutting back on employees in the EV divisions because this is going to go on for years and years until it all finally collapses of its own weight, probably sometime in the early 2030s.
Stuart Turley [00:56:55] Sorry. I just had to play.
David Blackmon [00:56:56] I can’t just, you know, a company like Ford can’t just say we’re going to start making EVs because, not in this administration. Because if they do, the administration will penalize them heavily for doing that. So they just have to gradually come back off and readjust their strategy and continue losing money, until, you know, they get into a political environment that allows them to just stop all the nonsense and go back to making the pickups and the SUVs that consumers actually walk.
Irina Slav [00:57:28] Yeah, well, I think we can wrap with this comment from from Twitter, which.
Tammy Nemeth [00:57:32] Is why biota is making.
Irina Slav [00:57:37] It was never meant to be achieve net zero. It was meant to be the foundation of the largest transfer world scam in human history. I still do not believe it’s all deliberate, but I think people are seeing an opportunity. When I say people, I mean evil people having this opportunity.
David Blackmon [00:57:56] You’re being nice, Irina.
Irina Slav [00:57:59] I know, I just.
David Blackmon [00:58:01] She says that the.
Irina Slav [00:58:02] It was natural stupidity over nefarious ness and.
Stuart Turley [00:58:09] You guys did great. This was fun.
Irina Slav [00:58:13] Yeah.
David Blackmon [00:58:14] Thank you, arena, for doing such a great job of herding the cats today.
Irina Slav [00:58:21] And we can get by.
Stuart Turley [00:58:25] All right. So with that, right, follow us on any where you get your, on Tammy’s LinkedIn. How do people find you, Tammy, or your LinkedIn and Twitter and the Nemeth report? Follow Irina Slav on Irina Slav @ substack.com. David Blackmon is blackmon.substack.com and follow me on energy news beat dot co or the energy news beat dot substack.
David Blackmon [00:58:54] Awesome.
Tammy Nemeth [00:58:55] Thank you everybody. Thanks. Thanks for the great questions today.
Irina Slav [00:58:58] Thank you. Okay. We can see you next Monday if we are still alive.
Sponsorships are available or get your own corporate brand produced by Sandstone Media.
David Blackmon LinkedIn
The Crude Truth with Rey Trevino
Rey Trevino LinkedIn
Energy Transition Weekly Conversation
David Blackmon LinkedIn
Irina Slav LinkedIn
Armando Cavanha LinkedIn
Our Podcast Sponsor
The post Is Net Zero Dead? – The Energy Realities Team has some International insights appeared first on Energy News Beat.
“}]]