One of the interesting continuities between President Trump and President Biden is revealed by an important Executive Order issued from the Oval Office on 24 February. This pledges to use the full powers of the state to subsidise, grant, buy and regulate to ensure that more things are made in the USA. Both Presidents wanted or want to onshore more activity, help create more better paid jobs and strengthen US resilience. How can the USA defend herself, they argue, if she does not control crucial raw materials and technologies important to her defence?
Let’s take the case of rare earths. These products are needed for the digital revolution. Too much of the world’s output has been concentrated in Chinese hands or in the territories of countries China finances and allies with. The USA is now scrambling to re open old mines and put in new capacity at home to remedy this problem, for fear of China using her strong position in this market to push up prices or deny supply to the USA and her allies.
Let’s consider semiconductors, currently in world shortage. US car plants may have to go slow for want of semiconductors to complete their assemblies. Asia produces most of them and has found an abundant and growing market in smartphones and other digital devices at a time when the motor industry needs more of these items to handle some recovery in volumes and the increase in semiconductor use in modern vehicles. The US with help from Taiwan is increasing its capacity.
Or let us consider large battery production. Now the USA has joined Europe in a combined wish to bury the diesel and petrol cars and replace them all as soon as possible with electric vehicles, there will be a colossal demand for batteries. The USA is short of such capacity and of the raw materials needed to produce them. The hunt is on to remedy these shortfalls.
The Biden Plan goes well beyond these targeted areas. The US wish to cut their imports and expand domestic production in a wide range of areas where government purchasing and government policy can make a difference and tip more in favour of competitive home product. The huge trade surpluses in goods of China and Germany are in their sights, as they seek to restore some balance to the large trade deficits they inherited.
March 19, 2021
The scramble for battery cars will expose the fact that there isn’t enough raw materials to go around.
This will spur the development of hydrogen propulsion and leave countries like the UK looking foolish.
Battery cars are useless, expensive and only good for short commutes.
Let’s start development on a real alternative.
March 19, 2021
@Ian Wragg; “This will spur the development of hydrogen propulsion
Or it will simply cause people to keep their cheaper, existing, IC powered cars longer, spend a less refurbishing a three to five year old vehicle, the way some talk on this site suggest they truly believe the IC engine is being banned from use in 2030 when no such action is being taken and some vehicles will carry on using the IC engine – indeed Ford announced only this week they are investing in a new IC engine for their Transit range and this will be in Dagenham.
Keeping an older IC powered car longer, even with their CO2 emissions, can actually be more ‘green’ than buying new, be that IC, hybrid, EV (or yet to be full developed) alternative when whole of life and recycling is considered.
March 19, 2021
The only problem with keeping vehicles longer Jerry is the cost of repairs and waiting for garages to get the parts in stock and this isn’t just as a result of Brexit as it has been happening for the past couple of years on both German and French vehicles.
Replacement DPF filters, turbos, alternators, hoses, vehicles now go straight into limp mode and the engines cease and on our ‘smart’ motorways with no hard-shoulder, this is very dangerous. The vehicles I’m talking about with problems with spares are all less than three years old.
March 20, 2021
I recently needed an alternator for my 8 year old Toyota. Rang the dealer, told him what I thought it was and was told to âbring it inâ. When I got there bloke I had spoken to on the phone brought out mechanic who confirmed alternator was knackered. A replacement had already been ordered and was to be delivered the next morning. I was given a courtesy car and went home. Next day I was phoned and told car was ready at 11.00 am. Went and collected it. Alternator and fitting was free as I have an extended Toyota warranty. I had to pay for a new belt, ÂŁ23 I think. That is what I call service and why I stick with Toyota.
March 20, 2021
Mike
Had similar with Toyota unlike with cars from much nearer home.
March 20, 2021
@a-tracy; I do wonder if the ‘shortage’ of replacement parts is more to do with some manufactures (or dealers) wanting to sell you a new car than any genuine problem with parts supplies, even more so when the same part is still sometimes still being fitted on the production line!
March 19, 2021
refurbishing a less than 5 year old car? – My God somebody bought a heap of rubbish. You shouldn’t even ‘think’ about it under 10.
March 20, 2021
@Fred.H; Except to SOME people five years is all but vintage, if it needs an MOT test they need a new car!
March 22, 2021
Depends what mileage you do Fred.
March 19, 2021
When fuel stations begin to close and the nearest one is 30 miles away or when the stupid government decrees diesel only for HGVs then you’ll be royally screwed.
The idea is to force the sheeples off the roads.
March 19, 2021
I think the continuance of the lockdown is now about the fictitious reducing carbon emissions! Nothing to do with science for Chinese virus and nothing to do with science about emissions!
I understand there is 0.65% chance of reinfection so why are people who have been vaccinated with an experimental drug, like a Johnson, still wearing a mask? He had the virus and vaccination and still wears a mask? Control, compliance?
It was good to watch Rand Paul question clueless Faucci on the subject. Paul quoted many scientific sources from around the world, Faucci had none in response. He was asked to produce evidence, he and none.
Govt tell us 1 in 3 have no symptoms and Dom it get Iâll whatsoever, that is about 23 million people, plus children who rarely get ill from the virus. All those millions of masks and vaccinations appear wasted.
Johnson continues with a lockdown which is proven to be harmful than good. We know this because the UK plan and that of the WHO said so!
March 19, 2021
Car usage down dramatically â ah co2 levels remain the same
Conclusion; cars donât have a direct bearing on co2âŠ..bugger weâll have to start blaming something else or just bury the facts
March 21, 2021
@Ian Wragg; “The idea is to force the sheeples off the roads.”
If that really was the objective behind the move towards EVs then why even bother, just do as you suggest (restrict through planning and other legislation the supply of hydrocarbon based fuels), or just bring in variable road pricing via GPS vehicle tracking, which would also discourage the use of private vehicles due to both much higher costs and privacy issues?
Anyway why would any govt want to restrict such a cash cow, just the mention of far greater EVs in the future has ignited a debate as to fuel duty revenue, an all out assault on the use of the private car would further increase the HMT shortfall…
March 19, 2021
Yes Ian, there is a mental blockage on hydrogen in government. Boris recently visited a UK bus factory as a photo op. The buses were driven by electricity, on message. It wasn’t mentioned that it was hydrogen via a fuel cell that produced the electricity on board, off message. The industry geared to manufacturing propulsion should be directed by government to minimise toxic emmissions, but then be left to get on with it while satisfying the needs of the market. Ministries should be directed to butt out. We did not get the Mosquito from a ministry, it came from private enterprise and was too good to be ignored. At the time there was only one interest group, and that was winning.
March 19, 2021
I agree on battery cars & they also do not even save any significant CO2 after mining all those battery materials, manufacturing the car/batteries and generating the electricity to charge them is allowed for. Their only real advantage is to shift pollution out of cities, but hybrids can do this far better and far more cheaply without the range issues and with a much cheaper small battery (for personal transport vehicles anyway).
Hydrogen though (with current technology) is worse than petrol cars, diesel cars or liquid gas cars. Hugely wasteful in energy (and very expensive indeed) especially where hydrogen made using electricity as the power source. Even worse if renewable electricity. Perhaps as little as 8% of the energy you started off with actually getting to move the car. Biden will hopefully not, in reality, go down his mad zero carbon road or will one hopes be prevented from doing so.
With luck Boris will come (back) to his senses too when scientific and economic reality hits him in the face. Or if he stops listening to Carrie.
March 19, 2021
Hydrogen and electricity are not energy, they are only energy carriers.
LPG gas has been available for transport use for decades at a discount price. Given a choice the consumer does not choose it.
March 19, 2021
Will
Its only at a discount price because the Government have not taxed it at the same rate as petrol and deisel.
March 19, 2021
@Wil Pretty
Care to name a source of usable, pure energy?
March 20, 2021
The point really is that batteries are essentially the equivalent of the fuel tank and hydrogen is in essence another sort of battery or energy storage. We have no hydrogen mines. The hydrogen or electricity still has to be made from other energy sources. Both storage systems are very expensive, rather limited and fairly or very energy wasteful ways of storing energy for use in a vehicle with current technology.
We do have âwellsâ of energy for oil, natural gas, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, wave and nuclear fuel sources of energy that we can in effect âmineâ for energy.
March 19, 2021
But that’s the whole point we are being denied choice.
March 19, 2021
According to road use statistics over a number of recent years the majority of car journeys are short commutes – 95% are 25 miles or less.
Transport Statistics Great Britain 2020 includes data (document nts0901) on annual mileage of cars by ownership, trip and purpose for 2002 onwards. It shows annual commute mileage has stayed more or less constant at 2500 – 2800. Assuming an average of 2700 pa with 22 working days per months that is around around 10 commute miles a day, while private mileage has reduced to around 7400 pa which is around 142 miles per week. Both are well within the range of the average BEV.
I don’t think there will be a single fuel or single alternative as the oil industry so conveniently supplied, there will need to be a range of different solutions to suit different applications, though most will involve electricity generation one way or another.
A first step is therefore a sound strategy from the government on how our total energy needs will be met sustainably and reliably.
March 19, 2021
What County do you live and commute in Dixie?
March 20, 2021
The UK, outside London and major cities.
March 20, 2021
sorry, misread the question – currently Berkshire
March 19, 2021
Ian Wragg
That is a very good opener for today’s debate.
March 19, 2021
For the UK this is doubly a problem because the necessary raw materials, such as Lithium, simply don’t occur here. On the other hand hydrogen can easily be made by electrolysis of water (assuming the government will dislike the more efficient alternative of natural gas reforming which has CO2 as a byproduct) and is a fairly useful way of using and “storing” excess windmill power when it is available. Of course the government fantasy “heat pump” home heating plans will all collapse too and then hydrogen can also be used to supplement natural gas for home heating – this should be perfectly feasible as the old Town Gas we used before North Sea Gas was up to 50% hydrogen – just need to update the burners in the boiler.
March 19, 2021
Wrong. Following a significant lithium discovery Cornwall in 2019, British Lithium plc is developing a sustainable quarry & integrated processing facility to produce lithium to power 350,000 electric vehicles every year. Do check your assertions before you post old chap.
March 20, 2021
What about cobalt and rare-earth materials both needed in an electric vehicle?
March 19, 2021
1. You are wrong about Lithium. We DO have supplies in the UK: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-54188071 The government should be pumping money into the company to accelerate its development. Unfortunately, of course, the government is too stupid to see this.
2. Hydrogen from natural gas is called Blue Hydrogen. BP have just announced they are to build a huge Blue Hydrogen plant in Teeside. What is really upsetting is that they are being forced to pump the resultant CO2 ito storage. This is a waste of money and of a valuable resource. CO2 can be used in many ways (here are just three examples, but there are many more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48723049). If only the government were to act act as a ‘matchmaker’, helping put together CO2 producers and CO2 users, so that we could have a much more efficient ‘circular economy’. Unfortunately, of course, the govenment is too stupid to see this.
3. Hydrogen from splitting water is called Green Hydrogen. We have the water (all around us!) and we have the energy, in the form of the offshore wind turbines. We could combine the two to create ample quantities of Green Hydrogen. That would reduce the amount of electricity available for the country, but if the government supported one of our major companies – Rolls-Royce (who are currently struggling because of the economic cost of Covid) – and rolled out their nuclear power SMRs (Small Modular Reactors), we could have energy security, a profitable company, lots of exports, and plenty of hydrogen to use in not just vehicles but also our homes. It would be a win all round for Britain and the British people. Unfortunately, of course, the government is too stupid to see this …
March 19, 2021
British Lithium
Following a significant lithium discovery in Cornwall British Lithium is developing a sustainable quarry & integrated processing facility to produce lithium to power 350,000 electric vehicles every year.
March 19, 2021
Liquid fuels are in turn far superior to hydrogen. The way forward is to synthesize them. I hear that someone is developing a method to create liquid fuel out of food waste, and previously I heard of the use of iron based catalysts to convert a hydrogen/carbon dioxide mix into liquid fuels.
March 19, 2021
google e-fuel or syntheic fuel ……its been around since ww2
March 19, 2021
The closer we get to 2030 with the stupid cut off ban of new diesel and petrol engined vehicles, the more the panic will set in when the Government, manufacturers and the public realise that the alternative battery power vehicle is useless for very many people, especially for those who complete longer journeys, who tow anything, or need flexibility.
For goodness sake put this date back to the original 2040 and give the manufacturers, science, research and development time to catch up.
March 19, 2021
Alan
This government and it’s so-called conservative party will be anhailated at the ballot box well before then.
March 19, 2021
steve
That maybe the case, but Labours Policies are just the same or even worse. Then we have the Lib Dumbs, and the Greens when there is nothing green about them at all because they would Bankrupt the Country.
No sensible Party to vote for at all, fortunately JR is my Mp so it’s a no brainer, shame he is not listened to more by his own Party though.
March 20, 2021
Alan, there is at least one ‘sensible’ party to vote for.
March 19, 2021
I wonder why every western politician is pushing EVs ??? It just doesnât feel democratic
March 19, 2021
Glen Cullen
It’s to do with control of freedom of movement and debt enslavement. Think about how easily an EV can be networked to the state. It’s a damn site easier to force mandatory integration of immobilising software into an EV. Don’t pay enough tax ? your vehicle wont go above 40, or range is limited further, or worse still it can be immobilised altogether.
It gives them the opportunity to decide who can move about and who cannot.
Credit companies also benefit, same too certain credit reference agencies. The common man will have to take out a big loan to acquire his first EV, which will be dead in 2 – 5 years. He then needs further finance to remain mobile.
Also they are (deliberately) impossible to maintain by the end user. They’re a lot cheaper for the manufacturers to produce hence massive profits…..an electric motor is cheaper for them to make than an engine, and of course that will not be reflected in the retail price.
Winner all round except for the mugs buying them.
It’s all about their profit, our debt and our loss of freedoms. Nothing whatsoever to do with the environment.
March 19, 2021
Not quite the utopia the green party envisaged nor one Iâd want to live in â in other words dictatorship
March 19, 2021
@Ian Wragg – or enough generating capacity to re-charge the batteries. We(as in the UK Government) is programming redundancy not building a future.
Even that weird set up of the EU Commission is now funding and subsidising Hydrogen production and distribution.
Lack of foresight, just preoccupation with todays headline.
March 19, 2021
Replying to my self – Todays MsM, BP is planning to build the UKâs largest hydrogen plant as it ramps up efforts to go green.
The FTSE 100 oil supermajor said the proposed facility on Teesside in north-east England could provide energy for local industry and homes by 2027 or even sooner.
Batteries are fast becoming prehistoric – so why keep funding soon to be redundant and not up to speed infrastructure? Surely that is not turning us ‘green’ and is wasting yet more taxpayer money
March 19, 2021
This is what happens when politicians dictate change rather than allowing market forces or consumer behaviour to dictate
March 19, 2021
The problem is the hydrogen being produced is from methane which emits vast quantities of CO2. This is going to be pumped back into redundant oil Wells.
It would be more sensible just to burn the methane as we do today.
March 19, 2021
On gov.uk website âTravel by distance, trips, type of transport and purposeâ 16/12/2020.
Averaged over five years (01/2015-12/2019) people in England travelled 6,554 miles in about 960 trips per year.
Which makes travelling an average of 6.8 miles per trip, and about 3 trips per day (960/365).
Is 20.5 miles per day not a âshort commuteâ? And therefore not possible in a âbattery carâ?
QED?
March 19, 2021
Ah, averages hide lots of variances. People in Greater London completely distort the stats and other Cities with buses running every 15 minutes.
March 19, 2021
Oooh, you know about statistics … If the majority of trips occurs within the M25, it might be worth having all those done with non-ICE vehicles. What dâyou think?
March 19, 2021
And when you go on holiday, or visit family members, are they all within the 20.5 miles you suggest.
Of course most journeys are local, but occasionally you do a much longer run, hence you want one car to fit ALL journeys at ANY time to suit your arrangements.
March 19, 2021
Thatâs a rather âfull of hot airâ (H2?) comment. For those longer trips, you rent a ICE vehicle or take the train plus taxi? Or is that too complicated for you?
March 20, 2021
hefner.
Not too complicated at all, used hire cars abroad many many times, but that industry does not have a great reputation with overcharging etc etc.
New ICE hire cars will not be able to be purchased after 2030 as they will be banned !
Take a train and taxies when 3-4 people are involved with a lot of luggage when in the UK. Not exactly flexible is it.
I want convenience to go where I want when I want.
Train trips abroad much more cost effective I agree, completed a number over the years.
March 19, 2021
Car journeys can’t be averaged. A big percentage will be lots of short trips – ideal for electric. Much longer will need full battery at start or a long stay before returning and where you can easily recharge. Other trips are long distance , no return for days. And then we have bad weather, traffic jams, a search for a recharge at t’other end. One size does NOT fit all.
March 19, 2021
You could bet on Redwoodians favouring Hydrogen over Batteries for Well to Tank energy carriers; or, Tank to Wheel for that matter; it’s what denialists do. Thermodynamic pathways of energy systems is not their long suit.
Hydrogen as a transport fuel will only work where vehicles regularly return to a depot for H2 refuelling. Buses, Daily cycle delivery Trucks and Trains. Going on a continental holiday in your Hydrogen powered SUV or Camper Van, as James May has discovered with his Toyota Mirai, is not possible. At Household level the future is Battery Electric. Expect Lithium Ion batteries to be superseded by Lithium Metal batteries in the next few years; a bit of a game changer.
Those big Oil and Gas corporations want a Hydrogen future powered by steam cracked Natural Gas (Methane). They will try and convince you that they can turn the CO2 emitted from the process, they can turn into fluffy white kittens.
March 20, 2021
Dependency on hydrogen will leave you under the thumb of oil companies, of course they want you to use it. A BEV can be refueled anywhere there is a mains supply and you can generate your electricity at home.
March 20, 2021
It is very hard to see hydrogen as a solution. I’ve been looking at a government commissioned costing for green hydrogen by consultants Element Energy, released under an FOI. It confirms that we are looking at 10 times the cost of methane, with a lot of optimistic assumptions about improving the technology hoping to cut that to 5 times by 2050. That is also the view of industry consultant Timera.
March 19, 2021
The USA is absolutely right in its drive for self sufficiency and will act swiftly, less hampered by its burocracy. There may not be ordenance flying about but we are in a war situation with democracy on one side and governments of evil intent on the other. Those who do not believe such should realise that WW2 was a war of production capacity primarily.
In the UK at present we are hobbled by our administration and our desperation to keep focus groups onside, the losing side I might add. Were a rare earths mother lode to be discovered anywhere in the UK, first it would be hailed by government, then handed to the ministry of god knows what who would have no idea of its significance either. Then some rare snail interest group would discover their presence on site. Progress would cease, an enquiry would be set up which would kick the whole project into the long grass. Remember gas fracking in the north west, and coal for steel in Whithaven. That is modern day UK that only got its vaccination programme by the miracle of keeping its creation out of the hands of the health ministry, who had already cocked up PPE. Dominic Cummings was absolutely right, our current administration is not fit for purpose, however much our host may dislike him. A passing hero like Nigel Farage.
March 19, 2021
You have summed up the UK’s condition very well. The government’s preoccupation with wokeism, kowtowing to vocal pressure groups and disregard, if not outright ignorance, of the economic reralities of life for (a) ordinary people and (b) what it takes to create, build, sustain and grow a successful business/industry looks set to doom this country’s future prosperity.
March 19, 2021
Fantastic post Agricola.
March 19, 2021
Agricola,
You must have missed this: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-54188071#:~:text=Cornish%20Lithium%20has%20been%20sampling,for%20a%20real%20new%20industry%22.
And I do share your concern that our woke government will find a way to make a mess of another (fishing) natural resource/advantage possession of the UK.
Where is the bonfire of EU red tape? Where are the pro-growth policies? Where is the funding for research projects? AND how did we agree to the ECJ having jurisdiction over the NI Protocol? Surely we know by now, the ECJ is the enforcement arm of the EU bureaucracy, there is NO CHANCE of a fair hearing. We must cease to recognise its jurisdiction immediately.
March 19, 2021
Thanks for that Peter. Lets hope that government remains a facilitator.
March 19, 2021
Fully Concur – spot on
March 19, 2021
Fully Concur
March 19, 2021
Peter
Well I don’t even recognise Boris Johnson’s authority, let alone that of the EU.
March 20, 2021
I see no sense of urgency over Cornish lithium. Just a pilot plant is all that seems planned in the next 5 years. Doing it at scale will require a lot of drilling and fracking as at United Downs, complete with all the issues of water tables, seismic activity (BGS continues to show rumbling at Caharrack, some of which would have shut a gas fracking site), etc. plus some industrialisation on the surface.
March 19, 2021
Agricola
Brilliant entry.
March 19, 2021
@agricola; “In the UK at present we are hobbled by our administration and our desperation to keep focus groups onside”
Very true, because by keeping such groups onside many a vestige interest is kept to the fore…
“Dominic Cummings was absolutely right, our current administration is not fit for purpose”
…of course he is, many have said the same of all govts for decades now, the problem is though, far to many do not actually want to find a solution to the real issue, just replace one raft-full of problems with another equality full, the only different being the political or fiscal ideologies etc. đ
March 19, 2021
“should realise that WW2 was a war of production capacity primarily”
Absolutely correct – and we have shipped our production capacity overseas in exchange for low inflation and interest rates – an exchange that will end as cots and living standards elsewhere improve. We not have invested in the necessary automation and manufacturing capability and would be unable to protect ourselves over any extended period. Hence the policy fall back to the last resort of nuclear weapons…
March 19, 2021
”… shipped our production capacity overseas….”
As the prescient Enoch Powell said: ”What would have been the fate of Britain in 1940 if production of the Hurricane and the Spitfire had been dependent upon the output of factories in France? That a question so glaringly obvious does not get asked in public or in government illuminates the danger created for this nation …..”
March 19, 2021
It is an old politicianâs trick to steal the oppositionâs popular policies. Obviously, Biden cannot match Trump on immigration control as that hits Bidenâs vote. However strengthening the manufacturing base of the USA and reducing offshoring is a good alternative – âThis pledges to use the full powers of the state to subsidise, grant, buy and regulate to ensure that more things are made in the USA. â
That said, it is also routine for politicians to default on promises or fail to deliver.
So Bidenâs words mean nothing until there is proof that they are matched by his actions. Meanwhile, the big donor corporations will be arguing against anything that hits their profits.
March 19, 2021
+1
March 19, 2021
The USA doesn’t have to concern itself with what the EU dictates. They can do as they please. Sensible forward thinking. When are our politicians going to wake up from the nightmare we, the public can forsee?
March 19, 2021
@FUS; Nothing to do with the EU but a body of world governance that has out grown its remit – the UN, and as such the USA are just as likely affected by such dictates as any, witness Biden rejoining the Paris climate accord!
The real problem is modern capitalism, monetarism, and the worship of profit above all other considerations, even national security. If a country no longer has the ownership of the the means to supply, nor security of IP, they have no security of supply.
March 19, 2021
Well Said Jerry
March 19, 2021
FuS
“The USA doesnât have to concern itself with what the EU dictates”
……the USA doesnt even concern itself with it’s own, Detroit being a fine example.
March 19, 2021
Trump did.
March 20, 2021
@Fred.H; Trump said he did, his all but total lack of actions during his four year term suggested otherwise.
March 19, 2021
FUS – our politicians don’t listen to us. They never have. We are here to be patronised at Election time, to get our vote, then ignored till next time. They increase our taxes, then throw it around all over the world, after ensuring their own cash is safe.
The vast majority of us can see that importing the Third World will only end up in our chaos and demise – but they carry on being allowed in – even welcomed and prioritised to housing, NHS and everything else on our taxes.
March 19, 2021
Good morning.
Well wanting something and actually putting in policies to achieve that are two entirely different things. As many here state, before we can grow our own, have independence in manufacturing and defence, we need to ensure that we have energy independence. But since our Dear Leaders (/sarc) believe that we can extract Moonbeams / Energy from Cucumbers I guess that is just another pipe dream. After all, we voted for BREXIT and got Soft REMAIN.
March 19, 2021
Challenger tanks to be upgraded by German firm . You couldn’t make it up.
March 19, 2021
Congratulations to President Biden on 100m vaccinations in just over 50 days.
The former guyâs administration managed 2m.
I see one of our new friends, India, is now not sending vaccines to the U.K. Nor should it either. India needs them there.
But I donât see the indignant outrage from the Brexitists about India that I saw when the EU suggested stopping vaccine exports to Britain earlier this week.
I also see nobody able to answer how many vaccines the U.K. has exported. Maybe the Brexitists get uncomfortable knowing it is none.
I agree with President Von Der Leyen that reciprocity is key. But with the Brexitists there is none.
March 19, 2021
plenty of raw materials for vaccines are exported by the UK. Plenty of finished vaccines come to the UK from India. The reason the US is where it is is because of Trump’s operation warp speed. Biden is continuing Trump’s policy of banning exports.
von der Leyen and other EU figures are floundering desperately. I hope we will not sink to their level by refusing supply of materials if they do impose a vaccine blockade.
I wonder where support will be for rejoin next time it gets measured? Remember it was at 39% down from 47% a couple of weeks back. my guess is in the 20s.
March 19, 2021
Could it be that the vaccinations were only available in millions in the last 50 days…..
Didn’t want that thought about, did you!
March 19, 2021
Andy :
âI also see nobody able to answer how many vaccines the U.K. has exported. Maybe the Brexitists get uncomfortable knowing it is none.â
Physical exports of the CV19 vaccine have not been necessary because Oxford AstraZeneca have gone far better by engaging with governments, multilateral organisations and other partners around the world to ensure broad and equitable access to the vaccine at no profit for the duration of the pandemic.
March 19, 2021
@Andy
You mean – ‘one of our former colonies’. Get it right.
March 19, 2021
Andy
“I agree with President Von Der Leyen that reciprocity is key. But with the Brexitists there is none.”
And why should they be ? the EU owes us, not the other way around.
March 19, 2021
What a ridiculous post Andy.
It is a contract between various companies and their customers.
It is not for bureaucrats to step inbetween and frustrate that contract.
March 19, 2021
Yet Brexit bureaucrats have stepped in to stop us exporting fish and cheese. And we can no longer buy stuff from Europe without additional Brexit hassles and taxes. Gotta love your pointless bureaucracy.
March 20, 2021
EU bureaucrats have created these difficulties quite deliberately.
They are playing us up.
Surely even you can see that Andy.
March 19, 2021
Andy :
âCongratulations to President Biden on 100m vaccinations in just over 50 days.
The former guyâs administration managed 2m.â
The race to produce CV-19 vaccines only started during the last year of Mr. Trumpâs Presidency and the FDA did not give emergency approval use to the Pfizer until 08/12/2020 followed by the Moderna vaccine on 18/12/2020 over a month after the Presidential election.
March 19, 2021
India – oh that friend with nuclear arms, fast jets, space programme, starving millions living with sewage in the streets and 100 ÂŁbillionaires?
Very happy with our overseas aid.
March 19, 2021
Can’t wait for the BBC to satirise the PotUS falling UP-stairs. They were relentless with Reagan and Trump.
March 20, 2021
It may catapult Kamala Harris upstairs a bit sooner.
March 19, 2021
Insight from someone who isn’t a power-mad, crazy politician with a hatred for freedom –
Commenting on the results, Tim Martin, the Chairman of J D Wetherspoon plc, said:
“Wetherspoon and its employees, along with the hospitality industry, have worked very hard to comply with ever-changing government guidelines. It is disappointing that so many regulations, implemented at tremendous cost to the nation, appear to have had no real basis in common sense or science – for example, curfews, “substantial meals” with drinks and masks for bathroom visits.
“The future of the industry, and of the UK economy, depends on a consistent set of sensible policies, and the ending of lockdowns and tier systems, which have created economic and social mayhem and colossal debts, with no apparent health benefits.”
March 19, 2021
Wow!
+1
March 19, 2021
Dom,
Yes Tim Martin offers common sense.
However the Great Reset looks to end small business. âYou will own nothing and you will be happyâ
Boris is looking to align himself with that. Hence âBuild Back Betterâ and other meaningless, globalist slogans.
March 19, 2021
Another Fake Tory historic record today, the most borrowed by a govt for February! This socialist outfit is turning our country into a basket case totalitarian Venezuela and JR worries about the US!
March 19, 2021
The Tories destroyed the pubs.
There is no shaking that one off.
March 19, 2021
I hope the neo-Marxist Tory-Marxist Labour partnership is happy now they’ve all profited from their devil’s pact to crush our world, ramp up the power of the State and the public sector and crush the private –
It takes someone like Tim Martin to expose the bullshit from Tory and Labour snakes
‘Wetherspoon recorded over 50 million customer visits to its pubs from reopening in July, to the year end, and there has been no evidence of even a single outbreak, as defined by the health authorities, during this time.
‘The main problem is that the government and SAGE have been unscientific in their approach- ignoring evidence, such as the evidence above, which contradicts their “narrative”. Rather than embracing, debating and investigating anomalies and counterintuitive information, as real scientists do, they have, instead, tried to discredit dissenters, as Wetherspoon News has pointed out. These tactics can work in an election campaign, but risk disaster in the day-to-day management of problems.’
March 19, 2021
I can’t pretend to know much about Whitbreads. I was in a pub in Bridport last time they were open and, having bought a pint and coke, had to ask the barman if he had made a mistake. The pint was something daft like ÂŁ2. The same pint in other pubs is ÂŁ4. I like Whitbreads. What’s not to like?
March 19, 2021
and before long there won’t be a choice of pubs there- and then you’ll pay whatever…Wetherspoon business model.
March 19, 2021
I like to drink in old fashioned, characterful pubs – especially on a hike. They are a bit more expensive but I’m prepared to pay for it.
Or was.
The Tories have managed to destroy them.
March 19, 2021
If only the UK would do the same. I’ve been tracking the ‘rare earths’ problem for some time. Recently I learned that the Australian mine at Mount Weld had attracted the covetous eyes of China, which had sought to buy a controlling stake in the mine’s owner. China isn’t content with having a thriving rare earths mining capability inside its own borders: it wants to control the entire market, giving itself another form of leverage over the free world. I call again for the UK government to start showing some strategic thinking and to see Communist China for what it is.
P.S. One can’t build an F-35 fighter without several hundreds of pounds of rare earth metals.
March 19, 2021
The USA is a huge continent with the means to achieve a large measure of self sufficiency if it sets its mind to it. The UK is a small island with limited natural resources. Successive UK governments have decided that virtue signalling is more important than using such natural resources that the UK may possess; potash and natural gas are two obvious examples. Others are bound up with increasing regulation and red tape rendering imports more price competitive; agricultural products are an example of that. The UK will only prosper if it succeeds in harnessing the wit, imagination and hard work of its people in ways that do not stunt their ambitions and initiatives. The record of the UK state and successive governments in this respect is abysmal. The current government looks set to repeat the failures of its predecessors.
March 19, 2021
The UK is a small, heavily over-populated island with limited natural resources.
That said we have coal, iron, aluminium and oil. It ought to be enough to be going on with while we fully harness the wind, sun and tides and create storage for the energy produced.
March 19, 2021
What coal of any quality value, where sourced, how to retrieve it, and what manufacturing could use it? Just asking.
March 19, 2021
Off shore wind farms make great employment and profit opportunities for the Danish and the Germans â doesnât reduce a single electric domestic bill in the UKâŠ..someone is being mugged
March 19, 2021
oldtimer
“The UK is a small island with limited natural resources”
Not so. We have a lot of resources and farming land the envy of many countries. It is’nt a matter of limited resources, more an issue of governments giving them away to foreigners.
March 19, 2021
We should be doing the same.
March 19, 2021
President Biden wants the UK to obey all the EU laws implicit in the Irish protocol:
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/us-offers-no-reaction-to-shock-over-bidens-disregard-for-unionist-consent-in-belfast-agreement-3170972
“US offers no reaction to shock over Bidenâs âdisregardâ for unionist consent in Belfast Agreement”
“The US government has offered no response to unionist shock over its support for the highly contentious NI Protocol – which unionists unanimously believe overrides the consent required by the Belfast Agreement.”
March 19, 2021
And that will be all the EU laws implicit in the Irish protocol now and in the future:
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/new-eu-import-control-measures-will-impact-on-northern-ireland-protocol/
“New EU import control measures will impact on Northern Ireland Protocol”
“The European Commission has confirmed to AgriLand that the EUâs new import control measures (ICS2) will impact on the Northern Ireland Protocol, established as part of the final Brexit settlement.”
âThese ICS2 requirements also apply in Northern Ireland, in accordance with the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, as will the subsequent phased releases for general air cargo in March 2023, and maritime, rail and road cargo in 2024.â
March 19, 2021
Dennis Cooper
“President Biden wants the UK to obey all the EU laws implicit in the Irish protocol:”
Well he would do, for religious and ancestral reasons. But I think he should kep his nose out of our affairs.
March 19, 2021
F U S
They can’t because for the majority they are only on a four year plan and one of campaigning to get re-elected.
Just look at the dedicated long term serving politicians banished to the back benches
March 19, 2021
His policy, started by Trump, is exactly right for the UK. It should be clear to everyone that the short-term ‘gain’ by encouraging cheap and nasty Chinese goods imported will kill UK businesses. Recently the anticipated EU backlash expected in spite for the UK having the temerity to wish to walk away from the shambles of the community demonstrates the exposure in global trading and reliance. And if any were needed the Covid vaccine invention by the Oxford team shows what can be done. Pity UK didn’t have full manufacturing facilities -begin puttting that right now!
March 19, 2021
https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/projects/vaccines-manufacturing-oxfordshire/
March 19, 2021
We won’t hear from the BBC that Biden is following former President Trump’s policy of ‘Make America Great Again’.
We need a similar urgent determination here for us but .
March 19, 2021
If anyone in this country said ‘Make Britain Great Again’ they would be hounded and called names such as ‘imperialist, little Englander, homophobe, technophobe, polluter, misogynist’ and any other term of abuse they could come up with.
It is NOT cool to want our country to do well. Eh, Andy? Not cool at all.
March 19, 2021
MW – St Patricks day is celebrated world wide.
Unfortunately we do not celebrate St. Georges day and we cannjot wave the flag as it is deemed racist by the libtards and the PC correct Mob.
March 19, 2021
We won’t hear from the BBC that Biden is following former President Trump’s policy of ‘Make America Great Again’.
We need a similar urgent determination here for us and to pay no attention to what powers the EU has been allowed to retain over us.
March 19, 2021
Very sensible to have a high degree of self sufficiency, or at the very least a guaranteed supply from a stable Country Not least for security of supply, apart from the flexibility it gives.
For too long we have had Governments and economists who think they know the price of everything, but in fact have shown they know the actual value of nothing.
March 19, 2021
Von der Leyen requests Reciprocity from everyone now instead of the hardball tactics due to failed vaccine rollout. Is this a cry for help from the USA and UK too?
Reciprocity is the new watchword.
March 19, 2021
Thats a ‘help me for Christ’s sake’ plea.
March 19, 2021
Made in the USA built by immigrants
March 19, 2021
Glen
Not much is made in the USA these days, a lot of US stuff is actually Chinese, some Korean in the mix too.
I buy older British goods and renovate them as needed. I do buy some american goods but again it’s older items that were built in the USA and contain no Chinese materials whatsoever.
I stopped buying Chinese goods years ago.
March 19, 2021
‘rare earths’ are not rare they are abundant. China has just used pricing to stop others trying to aquire them
March 19, 2021
so name 10 countries out of about 190 that have abundant rare earth available?
Not 20kg’s worth – – but tons of them.
March 19, 2021
China 44,000 thousand metric tonnes (i.e., 44 million metric tonnes)
Vietnam 22,000
Brazil 21,000
Russia 12,000
India 6,900
Australia 4,100
Greenland 1,500
USA 1,500
Tanzania 890
South Africa 790 (i.e., 790,000 metric tonnes)
statista.com 02/2021 âRare earth reserves worldwide as of 2020, by countryâ
March 20, 2021
Plus Afghanistan, the finds off the coast of Japan and no doubt elsewhere.
Rare Earths are rare because they have to be separated from other material rather than occurring in seams or lumps and China is currently the largest processor. If China stops exporting then the economics change and other sources become viable while many users will switch to alternatives has has happened in the past.
March 19, 2021
Letâs consider semiconductors Not forgetting it is the UK Government that sent ARM packing, transferring all its IP and earnings out of the UK never to return. The whole of the digital world relies on their technology.
March 19, 2021
Indeed. Just another moronic act in a long line of moronic acts destined to do us down. Why DO they do it to us?
March 19, 2021
They followed and are still following the globalist dictat.
March 19, 2021
Donât for graphene
March 20, 2021
ARM does not produce semiconductors, it owns the IP for processor architectures which it licences to other companies for a royalty fee and operates an extensive ecosystem which differentiates it’s offering. In the past we did have fab houses, eg Inmos, but the government of whatever stripe decided to let that go, along with advanced aviation, electronics, space technologies and the rest.
A UK user of ARM tech via Broadcom is the Raspberry Pi Foundation which is a world leader in single board computers for education and hobbyists – the Raspberry Pi and now Pico which could replace the current mainstay, Arduino.
We are dependent on semiconductors and should have a full manufacturing capability except that short sighted politicians and the leaches in the City have let the critical mass of allied enterprises and dependent industries be relocated or fade away.
Apparently, the Raspi foundation may be floating on the LSE so if you want to support and retain good British innovation and production (boards assembled in Wales (Pencoed) , Japan and China) you might consider buying some shares – before the foreign competition does. I doubt the government will do anything constructive, they are solely focused on playing with train sets and minding their property portfolios.
March 19, 2021
Indeed, a focus on what are their nation’s own interests, which our Government would do well to emulate. However, the omens are not good. Fracking is arguably now part of the old economy, but when it was the great new thing, the US powered ahead with it, while the UK got stuck in a swamp of Greenery. It looks as if the same thing will happen to the proposed new coal mine in Cumbria, despite the fact that, assuming we still have a steel industry, if we do not have the mine here in the UK, we will simply have to buy the coal from more sensible countries abroad.
March 19, 2021
Get that new mine open and let us get back to using coal. Nothing wrong with coal except the green loonies. Plenty of technology to burn good clean British coal.
March 20, 2021
Will you be going down the mine?
March 19, 2021
“consider large battery production” Cornwall is sitting on large lithium reserves, does the UK send these abroad or allow for the value to be added to them in the UK. At the moment the Government is suspiciously quiet.
March 19, 2021
Ian @Barkham
Cornish Lithium reserves are tiny in comparison to those of Afghanistan (smell the rat ?)
Even if Cornish reserves were viable then yes you can bet your life they’ll go abroad. Just like North sea oil did.
March 19, 2021
British Lithium plc is developing a sustainable quarry & integrated processing facility to produce Cornish lithium to power 350,000 electric vehicles every year.
March 19, 2021
You only need batteries if you believe that our co2 levels are man-made rather than influenced by the sun & weather ?
March 20, 2021
Ooooh, confused, arenât you? The increase in the CO2 level might be man-made, its regional distribution influenced by the locations of sources and the weather (via the prevailing winds) but certainly not made/influenced by the Sun (but 4-D distributions of ozone, CFCs, HFCs are).
Is such a confusion because you cannot get to proper information, or because everyday you just keep on writing the first things that go through your head?
Iâm just asking because at times you can be so funny.
March 20, 2021
and they say feedback is the breakfast of championsâŠ.
March 19, 2021
The US has many advantages, the big one is they are a democracy, a sovereign independent nation. They have not had to permit the’ very stable’ un-elected, un-accountable, EU Commission to create and referee what the do internally – it is the people, the citizen through their representatives that make that choice.
March 19, 2021
Thank you Ian. That reinforces what I was trying to say about the EU being in the way still.
March 19, 2021
Don’t make me laugh. An even more absurd voting system than ours and a political system dominated by corporate money and lobbyists. Democracy! Humbug!
March 19, 2021
@Mike Wilson, how many of the EU citizens voted their ruler VdL into her position, when is the next election of this President. Not forgetting she still orders the UK around inside its own so-called area of sovereignty and threatens to use her Political Court to keep the UK in check. That system is not on the same playing field as the objectives of democracy.
What ever the flaws of the US system are they are closer to the ideals of democracy than the UK is to achieving it, as the UK is still under the yoke and whim of a foreign power
March 20, 2021
But then surely that’s true of most if not all ‘democratic’ countries?
March 19, 2021
JR, I wonder if you actually see Mr Biden for his true colours.
I hope people in Detroit read your blogs, assuming they can afford a comp. There will be no revival of US industry. Those who really run America behind the scenes have decided China is to be the global industrial powerhouse. The rest of us are to become debt fodder.
In time, people will come to realise what Donald Trump stood for, and his election loss will never escape suspicion.
Addressing the transport I have an idea: Forget about lithuim EV’s, they won’t ever successfully replace IC powered vehicles. The laws of physics says so.
‘IF’….and big ‘if’… there is a man made climate problem then better to effectively de-industrialise China, the argument would logically be that the planet cannot support an industrialised China, which accounts for roughly a third of global population. Reducing the environmental load by 30% would halt any alleged impact on the climate.
There was no climate issue before cheap labour China was industrialised by US corporates. Funny, that.
You mention semiconductors in vehicles and say their raw material supply might be an issue in the future. Your understanding is not entirely correct. The raw materials for silicon based semiconductors was never an issue before China was industrialised, take China away and there will still be semiconductors. However a way around this ‘perceived’ issue would be to take the electronics out of cars and go back to carburettors and points & coil ignition. Getting rid of catalytic converters would also be a bonus. The truth being that we are forced to have CATS for no other reason than a certain company has monopoly on the worlds supply of platinum.
One scam after another, perpetrated by globalist corporates and bent governments in thrall to them.
March 19, 2021
An excellent post Steve.
March 19, 2021
Indeed. Any greenist should be boycotting all Chinese products – otherwise we’ve just outsourced our muck making.
March 20, 2021
??? Is China not the biggest producer of silicon (4.5m tonnes/year, next producer Russia with 600,000 tones/years, then in descending order: Norway 370,000, USA 320,000, Brazil 210,000).
??? Catalytic converters use platinum, palladium, rhodium, … rare earth metals certainly but not semiconductors.
And âChina was industrialised by US corporatesâ?
And which âlaws of physics say soâ?
… âAn excellent post Steveâ? Really?
With such an intelligent comment, horse-drawn carts are the future, and when the horses get too old for the task they can be passed as âbeef-meatâ.
March 19, 2021
The world shortage of semiconductors is in large part down to bitcoin mining.
Do something about this immensely damaging craze.
March 19, 2021
Where are these bitcoin deposits?
March 19, 2021
Spoken from a standpoint of pure ignorance. Various cryptocurrencies are working on systems that will transform the cost of payments and, for that matter, credit. It’s already happening. And, of course, virtual share trading is already here. Why bother to go to the expense of buying a share (and pay brokerage fees and stamp duty) when you can simply buy a virtual copy of the share. Lots of exciting stuff going on now we are out of the EU. (Sorry, couldn’t resist).
If you want to do something about something that is really damaging – then remove the ability of banks to create money.
March 19, 2021
Please explain the link between the bitcoin mining and the shortage of semiconductors.
March 20, 2021
As Fast Company writes “…President Trumpâs trade war with China led to new rules that made it harder for Chinese companies to source semiconductors from TSMC and Samsung. With Chinaâs own semiconductor technology inferior to the industry leaders, Chinese tech behemoths such as Huawei stockpiled semiconductor chips in advance of the new restrictions in 2020, soaking up any spare capacity with large orders.
But the straw that finally broke the proverbial camelâs back was the sharp rise in bitcoin prices in early 2021. This increased the demand for the graphics processing units that are traditionally used in mining the digital currency, exacerbating the semiconductor supply issues further.
All of this has been enough to cause TSMC and Samsung to run out of capacity and significantly increase lead times to fulfil orders, leading to the drought we see today.”
March 19, 2021
So do we need to re-create the “workshop of the world”?
That is a very tough ask of course, even as we prioritize making journey times to London as much as twenty minutes shorter.
March 19, 2021
As with the UK the US has made itself hostage to foreign powers by offshoring productive capacity.
As we are even seeing with our âfriends and neighboursâ in the EU, at any point these foreign powers can press the nuclear button and prevent legally contracted supplies from reaching our shores.
Whoâd have thunk it?? Naive or what???
Letâs be nice and kind….and get kicked in the teeth!
March 19, 2021
That is what Donald Trump wanted to do to protect US businesses and employees and was hauled over the coals by Biden’s party and everyone on the left from everywhere.
So are those on the left going to give Biden the same treatment they gave Trump? I shan’t hold my breath đ
March 19, 2021
âOne of the interesting continuities between President Trump and President Biden is revealed by an important Executive Order issued from the Oval Office on 24 February. This pledges to use the full powers of the state to subsidise, grant, buy and regulate to ensure that more things are made in the USA.â
âThe Biden Plan ……..[is for] The US to cut their imports and expand domestic production in a wide range of areas where government purchasing and government policy can make a difference and tip more in favour of competitive home product……. as they seek to restore some balance to the large trade deficits they inherited.â
Sir John- Not an interesting continuity between Trump and Biden as follows
1 Biden stopped the Keystone XL oil pipeline, so the US will now have to import oil from Saudi Arabia. So this will increase the trade deficit. (For those who proffer the argument that closing the Keystone XL oil pipe will be an environmentally friendly action, one needs to consider the unfriendly result of producing the oil in Saudi Arabia and transporting it all the way to the US.)
2 Bidenâs decision to increase taxes is going to encourage US companies to manufacture overseas. (Like Ford). Trump was doing his best to persuade US companies to bring their businesses home
3. Bidden is increasing the manufacture of bombs (Shelling the Middle East has started) whereas Trump didnât start any wars during his 4 years stint.
March 19, 2021
Oh boy. I think Trump will be sorely missed in the not too distant future.
March 19, 2021
The USA should do itself a favour and buy oil from Venezuela.
March 19, 2021
American politicians – even Democrat ones – are much more patriotic and focused on the national interest than the internationalist, laissez-faire, complacent imbeciles and traitors we have in Britain. Your government is not listening to you. They are not even going after the easy, ‘low-hanging fruit’ such as Rolls-Royce’s Small Modular Reactors, which would give us energy independence and create a thriving business that could export all over the world. The government is not supporting UK battery manufacturing in any really meaningful way: BritishVolt is struggling for finance to get off the ground, the other mooted gigafactory in Coventry is just a pipedream, and our nascent Sulphur-Ion battery technology (which has many advantages over Li-Ion batteries) is being allowed to die through lack of state support through the Covid difficulties (Oxis, the leading UK start-up in this field is actually having to close down some of its operations because Covid has caused them a cash crisis and the government is doing nothing to help them).
I could go on – what about the government choosing to give a ÂŁ750 million contract to update Britain’s tanks to a German company (Rheinmetall) instead of a British one, or their failure to support British semiconductor manufacturing, even though the current global shortage is a golden opportunity for us to expand this. All it takes is a little government patriotism and funding, but no, instead we get indifference and inaction. Hopeless, utterly hopeless.
March 19, 2021
Absolutely shameful and this under the watch of a Tory government
Iâm now starting to blame the gentlemen in grey suits for allowing this situation to continue
March 20, 2021
@glen Cullen, can you really remember when we had a Tory(Conservative) Government?
March 20, 2021
no I can’t
March 20, 2021
@Nick – yes the UK taxpayer is being asked to fund a foreign domain once more instead of developing its own resources. Its like paying twice for everything
March 20, 2021
I’d be interested in hearing how much it would cost to set up a semiconductor fab house and the associated operations to make a sustainable commercial operation … from scratch. I suspect it would be billions.
March 19, 2021
Witnessing the aggression from the EU and the rise of Communist China we should firstly be ensuring we are energy independent.
The advantage of developing green energy, which includes nuclear, is not because global warming is caused by anthropological CO2 emissions or that by cutting our pitifully small CO2 contribution that will somehow save the planet but because it gives us energy security and protection from blackmail.
We need to build our strategic industries and develop a culture that repairs and mends rather than buys and bins, again to reduce our reliance on unreliable and authoritarian regimes.
We also need to stop the importation of 700K new people into the country each year and reduce our population density.
March 19, 2021
We need to follow the rules that apply to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
March 20, 2021
OR: According to ons.gov.uk âOverview of the UK population: January 2021â you are roughly a factor 2 off w.r.t. the increase in population (361,000 from mid-â18 to mid-â19).
gc: âThe continued resonance of Maslowâs theory in popular imagination, however unscientific it may seem, is possibly the single most telling evidence of its significance: it explains human nature as something that most humans immediately recognize in themselves and othersâ.
This theory is academically contested as those findings were based on surveys made in the 1940s on the healthiest 1% of the US college student population (Mittelman, W., 1991, Maslowâs study of self-actualization: a reinterpretation, J.Human.Psychol., 31, 114-135). Furthermore the original story was aimed at studying the state of health in a population but since its publication in 1943 it has been used by various groups to discuss wellbeing (a topic that the original study was not addressing, but that some present-day media are keeping on doing).
March 20, 2021
Unfortunately the plans for green energy seem to be heavily dependent on imports. Not just electricity interconnectors, which seem to fail with alarming frequency (e.g. the BritNed is again out of action since March 9th having only recently returned to service from its December 8th outage). Wind turbines need Chinese neodymium. Batteries need Chinese controlled cobalt. Solar panels are mostly made in China. China is building wind farm jackets for the North Sea.
Do you see a common theme?
March 21, 2021
Definitely we need to move to a more circular economy away from the wasteful dig it up, use a little, waste a lot, throw all of it away.
Not just repair but re-use, re-purpose and re-manufacture then recycle to maximise the material used as feedstock for the cyclic process and minimise waste. Re-manufacturing also leads to lower energy and resource requirements a with typically cheaper products.
I use re-manufactured laptops for my business activity and then repair when needed and have started recycling these and other equipment at EOL down to device and electronic components level for other projects.
March 19, 2021
I see that the NHS has opened its first women only, men are actively banned, vaccine centre. Outrageous discrimination against men.
Double and triple standards.
Madness.
March 19, 2021
You obviously don’t appreciate that in some communities a female showing a bare shoulder/upper arm would be outrageous.
March 20, 2021
I do appreciate that active discrimination against white working class boys and men has become the norm and that is not going to end well for anyone.
March 20, 2021
You confuse actual “working class” with a caricature of the attitudes and tendencies which are wrongly assumed to apply generally to such people, I surmise.
If I rejected an applicant for a public-facing position because they were apparently ignorant of required standards of politeness say, then it would be for that reason, and not for anything to do with “class”, though some would no doubt make that accusation.
March 20, 2021
What’s wrong with using screens?
Anyway I also do not appreciate our country being taken back to laws and cultures of the Middle Ages. I though we were past gender segregation and discrimination.
March 19, 2021
We know you english people are a great people but you have no soul.. somewhere along the way you have lost direction.
March 20, 2021
@Lastgasp, please don’t confuse the people, the majority, with political and chattering classes – as with elsewhere on this planet they live in a different world. All look at me and ego, is the opposite to reality.