The plenary session of the seventh edition of Russia’s Energy Week happened today featuring special guest Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
You raised an important point when you mentioned steel production. You can have all the energy in the world, but if you lack the other resources needed for a modern society, you're going to have to import them from somewhere, and that 'somewhere' can make all the difference.
"Despite enjoying some of the world’s biggest deposits of iron ore, the sheer size of China’s steelmaking industry means it still needs to supplement domestic production with foreign supplies, and in 2019 the country accounted for 69% of the commodity’s global imports."
Typically metal ores are not found in the same location as the energy needed to process them, iron ore being just one example. In the case of aluminum, which requires huge amounts of electricity to produce, the smelters are often located at huge distances from the input ore (bauxite) which has to be imported from abroad. Best example of this is Kitimat, a town built in Northern BC in the 50's for the sole purpose of producing aluminum because that's where the hydro power needed to run the smelter is located. So the ore has to be imported from a distance, and the finished product likewise has to travel great distance to the end market.
I don't know if this point was raised at the conference, but it speaks directly to the distribution of global energy, which depends not only production, but on patterns of consumption. How much of the energy a nation imports is used to heat and light buildings or as a transportation fuel vs. primary production of items such as steel, aluminum, copper and the manufactured goods which use those inputs, and that can be exported to pay for the imported energy?
In simple terms, how many bananas or pineapples do you have to export to pay for a barrel of imported oil? That's the situation in many parts of the world, especially the global south. Is there a comparative advantage that meets Ricardo's formulation of equitable trade, or are some nations always going to run a deficit in order to maintain a minimum state of social well being? Do we pay more for bananas and pineapples (which nobody really needs) to support them, and what happens if people aren't willing to pay the higher price?
It's a simplistic example, but it illustrates the basic problem. Things like steel and aluminum are necessary for modern civilization, while others, like bananas and pineapples, are luxuries we can do without. Even coffee, which most people in the west are addicted to, fits that description. You don't need it to survive, but Colombia and Ecuador definitely need you to buy it from them.
This to me seems like a core issue in the program to construct a multipolar world with equitable distribution of resources. The resources themselves aren't equitably distributed, a simple fact of nature, so how do we overcome that imbalance? On a national scale we can accept the fact that some regions will always run at a deficit, but how do you expand that benevolence to include the entire world? A thorny issue, especially when cultural and political differences get in the way, not to mention the ever present corruption which is rife in the underdeveloped nations you're trying to get on board. How do you address that problem without interfering in the nation's sovereignty?
Yes, "so many questions" and problems. The major socio-cultural question that never gets asked is How do people want to live? It's presumed all humans desire the Four Freedoms (Speech, Worship, safety/security--freedom from Fear--and food security--freedom from Want), but is that true? The first two are rather easy, while the last two are more complicated. IMO, Chinese philosophy has the right idea--Humanity must treat itself as one large family and act as such, meaning to share so harmony is achieved. How to make Win-Win reality on a global basis? Here's Spock: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. Yes, I've written on this topic before. IMO, to attain those two very close philosophical goals, Humanity must evolve and get beyond its selfish nature that's at the root of Exceptionalism. And IMO, the majority of Humanity is at that point. But that only solves one part of the problem.
You would have heard my parents describe them as luxuries, but they went through the war. It's all a matter of perspective. I guess I should have called them non-essentials, but then that describes almost everything you find in a modern grocery store. I picked those two because they're imported where I live. You can't grow either in Canada. In most of the world a 'basic regular food' is potatoes, or rice, or bread.
My point was if you don't have something to trade that covers the cost of your energy imports, you will run a deficit, and the situation gets worse when people stop buying your stuff because they can't afford it. It's not a big deal for most people in the west, but it is for nations that depend on food exports to pay the bills.
Speaking of pineapples, check this out. First recorded case of a pineapple appearing in 17th Century England!
Equatorial Guinea seems to be a severely toxic sovereignty, a product of a history of imperialist pawnship, with plantations, slavery and immigrant colonialism, both by invited labour and asylum-seekers. It has entrenched systematic institutions of social inequality where the privileged few deprive and impoverish the many. Wikipedia catalogs its persistent nastiness: “Equatorial Guinea is plagued by extreme poverty brought about by wealth inequality.”, and it continues with its atrocities against its people.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is a very bad man, like his uncle, whom he violently deposed, literally a fascist.
So what can and ought the mutualist new order do about it without interfering in its sovereignty? Perhaps “concentrate efforts on building the sort of nation all the people want” won’t make much difference.
There's lots of nastiness remaining in Africa and globally as a result of the Age of Plunder, and the main engine driving that nastiness isn't through yet. There're many steps in the Decolonization process, with many African states forced to repeat the initial process several times before finally becoming free of their colonial fetters.
When Putin says : " By blocking access to its platform, the West has only spurred the development of alternative solutions, alternative logistics, insurance, international payment systems and technological innovations. Of course, this is not an easy process, it is not easy for those who are engaged in this process, but this process is going on, it is going steadily."
along with other similar comments in this and other speeches he is continually acknowledging what I have described as the New Cold War v2.0 on steroids - of the US/West acting non-stop to isolate and ostracize Russia (and brics etc) from the wealthy still powerful western world. Every action by Russia is reflecting this new reality, of where things are going. They may label it a "multi-polar" effort but the reality is one of a massive split from east to west with barriers arising in every domain. Energy being one of them. It really does not matter what the military border out comes end up being in Ukraine (or Israel) this global split into two spheres of 'influence' and two separate 'worlds' will continue unabated.
Russia's and others responses only entrenches this new reality more and more. While the elites will continue to everything they can to bankrupt Russia and destroy it as a functional state for as long as it takes. While knee-capping China at every opportunity as well.
Their only solution is the military defeat of the US and the west. Nothing short of that imo could stop or undermine the US domination or it's increasing threats against Russia etc. -- revolution social upheaval leading to a 180 in US politics and social values is far less likely surely )
They the US elites do not need to go to war with Russia to cripple it - is their ideology program. as per RAND keep on draining it by throwing new threats at it - making it respond/react as Russia has with more than doubling it's defense sector spending since 2021 - Russia 's response is to turn away completely fro the west which is exactly what they wanted it to do. The effects of Nord Stream explosions on constraining energy exports since 2021 are still being felt directly in Russia - as noted by Putin in this speech.
Who ends up the winning side long term (if any) decades from now is anyone's guess for now, imho.
Karl- "In our present Era, fuels to produce energy and its use to power development are taken as givens, but such fuels aren’t evenly distributed, nor are the technologies for their extraction or use in development."
and the rest is very true. the disinformation on this subject is off the scale imho. when I push back against the faux beliefs about energy use on climate science related forums i get shown the door and told to vote democrat. The level of wrong thinking is extreme, in all quarters, and large disagreements exist within the energy related fields including fossil fuel production. Like most human activities belief and ideology tends to override factual evidence and logical / critical thinking.
"It's the dissemination of that sort of information that makes me a target--the message can't be refuted so the messenger is shot at."
Undoubtedly you did. This is what conspiratorial paranoia and extreme self-importance look like when you see it. In normal lingo everyday down to earth people might say: "Oh man, you are so full of it." Seriously get over yourself. The world does not revolve around you nor your commentary or opinions.
You raised an important point when you mentioned steel production. You can have all the energy in the world, but if you lack the other resources needed for a modern society, you're going to have to import them from somewhere, and that 'somewhere' can make all the difference.
https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/analysis/world-iron-ore-reserves-countries/?cf-view
"Despite enjoying some of the world’s biggest deposits of iron ore, the sheer size of China’s steelmaking industry means it still needs to supplement domestic production with foreign supplies, and in 2019 the country accounted for 69% of the commodity’s global imports."
Typically metal ores are not found in the same location as the energy needed to process them, iron ore being just one example. In the case of aluminum, which requires huge amounts of electricity to produce, the smelters are often located at huge distances from the input ore (bauxite) which has to be imported from abroad. Best example of this is Kitimat, a town built in Northern BC in the 50's for the sole purpose of producing aluminum because that's where the hydro power needed to run the smelter is located. So the ore has to be imported from a distance, and the finished product likewise has to travel great distance to the end market.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_bauxite_production
I don't know if this point was raised at the conference, but it speaks directly to the distribution of global energy, which depends not only production, but on patterns of consumption. How much of the energy a nation imports is used to heat and light buildings or as a transportation fuel vs. primary production of items such as steel, aluminum, copper and the manufactured goods which use those inputs, and that can be exported to pay for the imported energy?
In simple terms, how many bananas or pineapples do you have to export to pay for a barrel of imported oil? That's the situation in many parts of the world, especially the global south. Is there a comparative advantage that meets Ricardo's formulation of equitable trade, or are some nations always going to run a deficit in order to maintain a minimum state of social well being? Do we pay more for bananas and pineapples (which nobody really needs) to support them, and what happens if people aren't willing to pay the higher price?
It's a simplistic example, but it illustrates the basic problem. Things like steel and aluminum are necessary for modern civilization, while others, like bananas and pineapples, are luxuries we can do without. Even coffee, which most people in the west are addicted to, fits that description. You don't need it to survive, but Colombia and Ecuador definitely need you to buy it from them.
This to me seems like a core issue in the program to construct a multipolar world with equitable distribution of resources. The resources themselves aren't equitably distributed, a simple fact of nature, so how do we overcome that imbalance? On a national scale we can accept the fact that some regions will always run at a deficit, but how do you expand that benevolence to include the entire world? A thorny issue, especially when cultural and political differences get in the way, not to mention the ever present corruption which is rife in the underdeveloped nations you're trying to get on board. How do you address that problem without interfering in the nation's sovereignty?
So many questions...
Yes, "so many questions" and problems. The major socio-cultural question that never gets asked is How do people want to live? It's presumed all humans desire the Four Freedoms (Speech, Worship, safety/security--freedom from Fear--and food security--freedom from Want), but is that true? The first two are rather easy, while the last two are more complicated. IMO, Chinese philosophy has the right idea--Humanity must treat itself as one large family and act as such, meaning to share so harmony is achieved. How to make Win-Win reality on a global basis? Here's Spock: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. Yes, I've written on this topic before. IMO, to attain those two very close philosophical goals, Humanity must evolve and get beyond its selfish nature that's at the root of Exceptionalism. And IMO, the majority of Humanity is at that point. But that only solves one part of the problem.
Never in my life have I heard basic regular foods, like bananas and pineapples, being described as "luxuries".
Unless you are living on the ISS?
You would have heard my parents describe them as luxuries, but they went through the war. It's all a matter of perspective. I guess I should have called them non-essentials, but then that describes almost everything you find in a modern grocery store. I picked those two because they're imported where I live. You can't grow either in Canada. In most of the world a 'basic regular food' is potatoes, or rice, or bread.
My point was if you don't have something to trade that covers the cost of your energy imports, you will run a deficit, and the situation gets worse when people stop buying your stuff because they can't afford it. It's not a big deal for most people in the west, but it is for nations that depend on food exports to pay the bills.
Speaking of pineapples, check this out. First recorded case of a pineapple appearing in 17th Century England!
https://www.rct.uk/collection/stories/public-dining-in-the-reign-of-charles-ii-1630-1685/charles-ii-presented-with-a-pineapple
I really need a ripe banana or three in the morning , if possible.
True. I can't put a banana into the gas tanks, I haven't tried a pineapple yet....
You can distill pretty good alcohol from pineapples. That will run your engine for a while.
Okolehao is what the Hawaiians produced--pineapple white lightening.
Equatorial Guinea seems to be a severely toxic sovereignty, a product of a history of imperialist pawnship, with plantations, slavery and immigrant colonialism, both by invited labour and asylum-seekers. It has entrenched systematic institutions of social inequality where the privileged few deprive and impoverish the many. Wikipedia catalogs its persistent nastiness: “Equatorial Guinea is plagued by extreme poverty brought about by wealth inequality.”, and it continues with its atrocities against its people.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is a very bad man, like his uncle, whom he violently deposed, literally a fascist.
So what can and ought the mutualist new order do about it without interfering in its sovereignty? Perhaps “concentrate efforts on building the sort of nation all the people want” won’t make much difference.
There's lots of nastiness remaining in Africa and globally as a result of the Age of Plunder, and the main engine driving that nastiness isn't through yet. There're many steps in the Decolonization process, with many African states forced to repeat the initial process several times before finally becoming free of their colonial fetters.
Mass transit in America ain't....
Being American means owning two or three cars,working overtime, and starving.
It means ScKamala shuts down your business....
You can't get anywhere in America without a car. But there is nowhere to go anyway.
The Arrogant West needs to study history and Herstory, and do better by Womanity.
America will have to stop the genocidal warmongering and cook some freakin beans....
When Putin says : " By blocking access to its platform, the West has only spurred the development of alternative solutions, alternative logistics, insurance, international payment systems and technological innovations. Of course, this is not an easy process, it is not easy for those who are engaged in this process, but this process is going on, it is going steadily."
along with other similar comments in this and other speeches he is continually acknowledging what I have described as the New Cold War v2.0 on steroids - of the US/West acting non-stop to isolate and ostracize Russia (and brics etc) from the wealthy still powerful western world. Every action by Russia is reflecting this new reality, of where things are going. They may label it a "multi-polar" effort but the reality is one of a massive split from east to west with barriers arising in every domain. Energy being one of them. It really does not matter what the military border out comes end up being in Ukraine (or Israel) this global split into two spheres of 'influence' and two separate 'worlds' will continue unabated.
Russia's and others responses only entrenches this new reality more and more. While the elites will continue to everything they can to bankrupt Russia and destroy it as a functional state for as long as it takes. While knee-capping China at every opportunity as well.
Their only solution is the military defeat of the US and the west. Nothing short of that imo could stop or undermine the US domination or it's increasing threats against Russia etc. -- revolution social upheaval leading to a 180 in US politics and social values is far less likely surely )
They the US elites do not need to go to war with Russia to cripple it - is their ideology program. as per RAND keep on draining it by throwing new threats at it - making it respond/react as Russia has with more than doubling it's defense sector spending since 2021 - Russia 's response is to turn away completely fro the west which is exactly what they wanted it to do. The effects of Nord Stream explosions on constraining energy exports since 2021 are still being felt directly in Russia - as noted by Putin in this speech.
Who ends up the winning side long term (if any) decades from now is anyone's guess for now, imho.
In the meantime there will be severe climate, agriculture and energy disruptions and disasters / poly crises to survive - most of which is flying under the radar good ref energy crisis info is https://www.artberman.com/blog/metacrisis-getting-honest-about-the-human-predicament/
Karl- "In our present Era, fuels to produce energy and its use to power development are taken as givens, but such fuels aren’t evenly distributed, nor are the technologies for their extraction or use in development."
and the rest is very true. the disinformation on this subject is off the scale imho. when I push back against the faux beliefs about energy use on climate science related forums i get shown the door and told to vote democrat. The level of wrong thinking is extreme, in all quarters, and large disagreements exist within the energy related fields including fossil fuel production. Like most human activities belief and ideology tends to override factual evidence and logical / critical thinking.
One recommended reading room is : https://crashoil-blogspot-com.translate.goog/2024/09/inventario-de-la-crisis-global-agosto.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
the energy crisis part begins near the middle.
Karl did you really say this?
"It's the dissemination of that sort of information that makes me a target--the message can't be refuted so the messenger is shot at."
Undoubtedly you did. This is what conspiratorial paranoia and extreme self-importance look like when you see it. In normal lingo everyday down to earth people might say: "Oh man, you are so full of it." Seriously get over yourself. The world does not revolve around you nor your commentary or opinions.