A word from my AI friend

It seems to me that often the discussion on the energy transition lack quantities and boundaries.

So I asked an AI program to tell me how much work I would get out of 100 units of electrical energy, if I used to to generate 'green' hydrogen and then ran an internal combustion engine to supply that work.

Here's the estimate:

Here is a table summarising the energy conversion efficiencies from electricity to work in a hydrogen-powered piston engine:

Stage of energy conversion	Efficiency
Electrical energy to hydrogen production	50-60%
Hydrogen production to hydrogen storage (compressed or liquefied)	70-80%
Hydrogen storage to hydrogen delivery	90%
Hydrogen delivery to hydrogen combustion in a piston engine	37%
Hydrogen combustion in a piston engine to work	28%

Overall, the energy efficiency of a hydrogen-powered piston engine is approximately 14%. This means that for every 100 units of electricity used to generate hydrogen, only 14 units of work can be recovered in the engine. The remaining energy is lost as heat or due to other inefficiencies. 

A ping in time

 Saves nine.

The Ukraine

Well this is all going badly wrong, mostly through miscalculation.

Russia certainly has a case for the Crimea and also for Russian leaning provinces in the East.

But then Russia played outside of the rules before losing control of the Ukraine, in what was admittedly an EU/US coup - dressed up as a popular uprising.

The West did not keep to its promise of expanding NATO to the East, after the Soviet Empire dissolved itself.

However  Russia has conducted itself in ways that are hard to tolerate or forgive. Polonium and nerve agents used within United Kingdom territory ( and those are the assassinations we publicly know about ).

Also the West has put its credibility on backing the Ukraine, and whilst its possible these were not the best commitments to make they were made. ( Remember the Ukraine disarmed itself of nuclear weapons, in exchange for a great power agreement to recognise its territory ).

The behaviour of Germany, and to some extent France, is a utter disgrace born of cowardice and naked self interest, The EU - having set up the conflict is nowhere to be seen.

Instead the UK is one of the few countries willing to back its promises, even if you might question if they should have been given.

What of NATO after this ? Does anyone believe Germany will back Poland or the Baltic states now ?

And the UK has to ask itself why we should hold the line and risk everything for nations that won't defend themselves and countries like France that just vomit open hostility for narrow electoral advantage.

Will Putin invade ? It seems hard to believe he'll pass up the opportunity.

If he does this is just the start of the unwinding of the world order - they won't stop there. Iran, China, North Korea will all want to try their luck.

And the man who is US President for a few more years is focused on cultural Marxism and rigging elections.

These are going to be dangerous times.

The US needs to decide on Biden really fast

Well its not going well. Here in the United Kingdom their is despair that a defensable position has been surrendered and friends betrayed in Afghanistan.

The United States needs to decide quite quickly if it wants the 'leadership' of Joe Biden and is willing to be judged for it.

Because the impact of that judgement is going to be profound and long lasting.

Certainly in the UK we need to have a long hard look at wether the US is a reliabale partner, and if we should do thing like risk our own people to support US actions in the future.

There is a sense of deep shock here and the cynacism and duplictous betrayal of a people many have been sacrificing their lives trying to save. After the intial defeat of the Taliban it was never jjust about removing a base of operations for terrorists, it was about saving a people, especially the young girls and women.

This will take years to work through our national consiousness, and the United States should not expect that process to be positive in its outcome.

Americans, make up your mind if Joe Biden speaks for you - because you are going to be judged on his words.

Saigon 2021

Well that was 20 years of pain, sacrifice,and lose.

Many British and allied service men lost their lives in this cause.

The collapse of Afghanistan, once the US Coalition support was removed, has shown these sacrifices were mostly in vain. Worse, looking back its clear the wished for end could never be achieved in the way our governments intended.

We now have the specticple of the West being defeated by medevil zeolots, and running away as they drag that country to the hell on earth their spirtiual master so craves.

Our mistake was to fail to correctly identify the enemy, and its one we are reapeating in a number of other areas.

We should hold our political and military masters to account on this, but of course we won't.

An end to comments

I've just had a look over the new Daily Telegraph app.

The newspaper like fall is impressive, though I'm not sure I'm looking for that any more.

What is noticeable is the end of reader comments.

Given the hostility to the Conservative party line which they often express, you can see the attraction to the establishment of doing this.

Perhaps they hope that alone with me clamp downs on social media, they can put what they describe as popularism back in its box and we will go back to being told what to think.

I'm not so sure this will work for them.

One thing recent events have taught people is to stay questioning the given line.

I don't think that genie is going to be put back in its box. 

Anyone learnt anything from the vaccine debacle with the EU ?

 Well that was nearly very nasty indeed. It has ended being only a little bit nasty.

The UK, though better planning and execution, got its vaccine supply chain and manufacturing rolling 3 months before the EU.

The EU is in real trouble because it stopped other countries from organising their own supplies ( though somehow Germany did anyway - why is there so little fuss about that ? ) and it hit on trying to grab some of the UK vaccine to look better.

The problem is this means people in the UK dying so the EU can save people under its jurisdiction.

We are - after a bit on NI border insanity - now in the realpolitik section of this crisis.

Clearly the UK has given a little ground ( ie sacrificed UK citizens lives in the face of threats from an aggressive foreign power - but the govt refutes the roll out program will change, but then they would wouldn't they ). In all probability the UK has given ground ( 9 million vaccines ) in exchange for being allowed to pretend to win. ( It will be possible to work out the number of UK citizens who die as a result, no doubt someone will do this ).

So we are barely being civilised.

We are certainly all ( EU, US, UK etc ) putting nation first.

This was a mild crisis. It could have been :

• A world wide failure of harvests ( Yellowstone explodes / asteroid strike etc )
• A really nasty virus - small pox etc
• A mid sized nuclear war
• A solar flare

In all cases if you had preparation its quite clear those without will come to take yours.

Say for example the UK has food rations for a year and the EU for 2 months - the EU would demand ours, and if it didn't get it then war would almost certainly follow. We now know civilisation is 3 square meals from anarchy.

I know none of this is very pleasant - but its time to rethink where the threats lie, our preparation for them, and if we get it right how we can avoid being mugged by the European Union, and then left to bleed to death in the gutter.

The mask has slipped - we would do well to learn our lessons.

PS You notice how Germany is getting away with its own vaccine order - tells you a lot about where the power really is in the EU.

A farewell to Tweets ?

Over the last few months what is becoming grouped as Silicon Valley Big Tech has been spending a lot of political capital, whether they know it or not.

They have moved from being a platform for information, though being one that also policed for its legal obligations, though to one that picks sides.

And they all picked the same side in the recent US elections.

Before the elections we the suppression of news disadvantageous to the Biden campaign, including news that had been published by one of the oldest running news paper in the United States that was actively suppressed by various technical platforms.

The wider media saved the announcement of a successful vaccine until after polls closed.

And then, perhaps sensing the quarry was fatally injured, they put their hands on the scales more openly. Trump tweets had banners under them, and the rest of the media followed through. ( The 4th estate just refused to investigate the accusations, and various election officials moved quickly to destroy evidence ).

Recently with the Capitol trespass they have doubled down ( if you look at the video of the police just letting these guys through you have to question what really went on - but don't do it on Facebook or Twitter ). Accounts have been suspended ( or close in the case of the US President ).

Of course many Trump supporters therefore left Twitter and went to Gab or Parler.

Now Gab , to give them credit, saw this coming and built their own infrastructure, but  Parler relied on Amazon. Amazon have said they will switch  Parler off at midnight tonight ( US time ). Apple ( and Google ? ) seem to be threatening to ban their app ( again Gab  bypassed these guys with a web only system some time ago ).

So just at the time that a very sizeable number of people are switching ( remember Friends reunited, Blackberry messenger etc ? No - their users moved ) Twitter main competitor is taken out for weeks.

There will be consequences.

My guess:

1) The bifurcation of platforms. Twitter on the left/new world order. others like  Parler & Gab  on the right. The establishment will try to ignore all but its pet platforms.

2) Legislation, taxation, regulation. Silicon Valley has broken cover for the radical left. The right is going to stop the assumption of benevolence that normal goes to private sector organisations.

3) Political organisations will only trust platforms that support their objectives. Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple belong to the left. There 50% of the world to play for now.

And finally do I need to cancel my twitter account ?

One of the things I do value about it is the people I'm in contact with who take different views. My guess is they won't be coming across the Red Sea with me. I'll miss them, but this is starting to look like war.

Update:

See Darren Grimes interview Censoring Trump: Big Tech Has Gone Too Far - Sarah Elliott

How Government Helps Big Tech SUPPRESS Dissent - Victoria Hewson

Back to the blog

Well its been a while, but it now seems time to return to the blog.

Twitter isn't cutting the ice, and the censorship of big Tech is getting to be a drag.

Yes there are alternatives, Telegram, Gab, Parler - and I have accounts, but also far no traction, and anyway what I'm interested in now we approach the Brexit horizon is ideas.

Blogs are the place for those ( for us mortals ).

Eventually the opinion parts of publications, along with twitter ended the happy hunting season for political blogging, but I think that time may yet return.

Its time to think out loud again and to listen to some others who are doing the same thing.

Maybe even your blog ....