Fossil Fuel subsidies, current state of affairs and impact

[jstar]

Yesterday Tesla started building a plant where Megapack energy storage systems will be made. The Shanghai plant should be operational early next year. Chinese Vice President Tao Lin speaks of a milestone.

The new plant will be about 200,000 square feet and construction will cost more than $200 million. The factory is the first of its kind for Tesla outside the United States. It is planned that 10,000 Megapacks will be produced annually in Shanghai, where Tesla also has a huge factory for electric cars.

Megapack batteries are almost the size of a shipping container and can be used for wind and solar parks to temporarily store energy. A Megapack can power an average of 3,600 homes for an hour. Tesla already has a Megapack plant in Lathrop, California.

https://www.tesla.com/megapack

 

[jstar]

Translated article.

German chemical group BASF is withdrawing from a controversial nickel project in Indonesia. An isolated tribe lives on the island of Halmahera which has no contact with the outside world. Activists from the human rights organization Survival International have recently campaigned intensively to stop the project.

In 2020, BASF announced plans to work with the French Eramet to refine nickel and cobalt, won by the local Weda Bay mine. However, the extraction of these metals would threaten the survival of the habitat of the indigenous Hongana Manyawa people.

Through Survival International's efforts, the companies received more than 20,000 emails with calls to stop the plan. The organization has also lobbied with the German authorities.

A recent video, showing some members of the isolated people asking for food at a mining camp, appears to have been decisive in the campaign, the organization says. This video was shared massively on social media, according to Survival International, and prompted senior Indonesian politicians to interfere in the case.

However, BASF itself refers to economic factors as a reason for discontinuing the project. Due to the weaker demand for electric cars, there would no longer be a need to invest billions in the area. Nickel is important for the batteries of electric cars.

Survival International's director, Caroline Pearce, speaks of an important announcement from the company. But with that, the dangers for the local population have not yet passed. According to her, the work at the mine will continue for the time being. "Eramet and other companies are still destroying the rainforest."

Survival International does hope that changes are coming. Tesla recently announced to investigate “the need for a no-gozone” to protect groups without contact with the outside world. The American electric car manufacturer is very influential and has billions of dollars worth of agreements with Indonesian nickel and cobalt suppliers.

 

[jstar]

Relating to the nuclear / solar discussion in the electric motorbicycle thread…

 

[jstar]

Interesting post from Pak Tani…

Post in thread 'Electric Motor Scooters - Are they the future trend?'
https://www.expatindo.org/community...rs-are-they-the-future-trend.5920/post-106188

https://www.expatindo.org/community/attachments/1000130127-jpg.4338/

 

[jstar]

Shell Indonesia has announced that it will sell all its pom bensin in Indonesia. That involves about 200 gas stations in the country and a fuel storage in Gresik, East Java. The sale is expected to be completed next year.

A buyer has been found. It is a new joint venture between Citadel Pacific Limited and Sefas Group. Citadel currently owns Shell's trademark rights in Guam, Saipan, Palau, Macau and Hong Kong, while Sefas Group is the largest distributor of Shell lubricants in Indonesia.

Incidentally, Shell Indonesia says it will not abandon the lubricants branch in Indonesia. The company says Indonesia is a major growth market for Shell's lubricants businesses. Shell owns and operates a lubricating oil minding plant in the country with a capacity of up to 300 million liters.

In addition, the company is also working on the construction of a new lubricant factory in North Jakarta. That factory has a capacity of 12 kilotons per year.

After completion of the transfer of the petrol station operations, which is expected to be completed next year, the Shell brand will continue to exist in Indonesia through a trademark licensing agreement. Until then, the gas stations will remain operational, the company said. Even after the sale of the petrol stations, Shell will continue to supply fuel through partners, while consumers will continue to maintain access to Shell fuel products.

The decision to sell the gas station operations is part of Shell's strategy to transform the business portfolio.

 

[jstar]

Solar energy was the most important energy source in the European Union for the first time in June 2025. In total, 22.1% of the energy in the EU was generated by solar panels. Solar energy is thus kicking an old winner of its throne: coal. What was once the black gold accounted for only six percent of energy production in June 2025.

In thirteen EU countries, June turned out to be the best month ever for solar energy. The leader is the Netherlands, where about forty percent of all energy came from the sun last month.

In the first half of this year 36.7% more solar energy was generated in Belgium than in the same period last year. As a result, production in the country has almost tripled compared to ten years ago.

Spain and Slovakia announced a phase-out plan for the use of coal energy this year.

Poland and Germany, which are still strongly attached to coal for their energy production, saw their figures plummet to record depths for the first time in June. Yet the Polish energy market in particular still leans heavily on coal. Despite the sunny month of June, no less than 42.9% of Polish energy was generated by coal (batu bara) and lignite (brown coal - batubara coklat).

In total, 23.6% of the energy in the EU came from fossil fuels.

 

[Shadrach]

This is such wonderful news about Solar energy becoming so strong in the EU! Since I lived in the Mountains off grid, I Was a proponent of Solar from the beginning! I loved how it was silent, and didn't put out any carbon emissions. I know there are the People out there that will complain about the Batteries, and rare minerals needed to produce this form but of electricity, but Hey, it's far, far better than relying on Petroleum, and Coal, and Nuclear! I would love to see Solar panels on every roof in Bali, and more electric vehicles too!
It's going to be a struggle, because the Oil industry is so powerful, and has all the politicians in their pockets, that they are not going to give up until every drop of oil is gone! But, Just Imagine how wonderful it would be with all vehicles running quietly, non polluting, and all plastic made with biodegradable materials? I just can't understand how anyone would object to this? Wouldn't it be nice to clean up our Planet, and be able to swim in the rivers, and catch healthy fish to eat from them? And leave this Planet Healthy for our future generations? But Forces as Black as Coal, are out there fighting this with all their strength!

 

[Balifrog]

"At the time of the blackout in Spain on April 28th, solar power accounted for the largest share of electricity generation, followed by wind, nuclear, and then natural gas. Specifically, solar PV contributed 59%, wind 12%, nuclear around 11%, and gas roughly 5%. However, a significant drop in solar output occurred just before the outage, which may have played a role in the system's failure. "
Non pilotable, intermittent energy .....

 

[jstar]

Solar energy was the most important energy source in the European Union for the first time in June 2025. In total, 22.1% of the energy in the EU was generated by solar panels. Solar energy is thus kicking an old winner of its throne: coal. What was once the black gold accounted for only six percent of energy production in June 2025.

In thirteen EU countries, June turned out to be the best month ever for solar energy. The leader is the Netherlands, where about forty percent of all energy came from the sun last month.

In the first half of this year 36.7% more solar energy was generated in Belgium than in the same period last year. As a result, production in the country has almost tripled compared to ten years ago.

Spain and Slovakia announced a phase-out plan for the use of coal energy this year.

Poland and Germany, which are still strongly attached to coal for their energy production, saw their figures plummet to record depths for the first time in June. Yet the Polish energy market in particular still leans heavily on coal. Despite the sunny month of June, no less than 42.9% of Polish energy was generated by coal (batu bara) and lignite (brown coal - batubara coklat).

In total, 23.6% of the energy in the EU came from fossil fuels.

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Translated article:

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China installs twice as much solar capacity as the rest of the world combined​

China installed 256 gigawatts of additional solar energy capacity in the first half of this year. It is more than two-thirds of the global total. This is stated in a report by energy think tank Ember on Tuesday.

In the first six months, 380 gigawatts of capacity was added worldwide, according to the report. Compared to the same period in 2024, this is an increase of 64 percent.

By far the most capacity of solar energy was added in China. The Asian country alone accounted for 256 gigawatts, more than twice as many as any other countries added up (124 gigawatts) and more than a double compared to the first half of 2024.

New subsidy rules​

Ember points to new subsidy rules that came into force in China in June, so that developers of solar panel parks have rushed to get their projects through in the months before. "That could lead to a delay in the second half of the year," the think tank stated, which still expects that the total additional capacity in China by 2025 will exceed the record of 2024.

Outside China, the United States in particular recorded a large growth of 21 gigawatts (plus 4 percent), despite measures by the current Trump administration to reverse support for renewable energy. In India, it was 24 gigawatts, half more than in the same period last year.

Ember sees that solar energy is also starting to gain a foothold in Africa, where the number of solar panels imported from China has increased by 60 percent in recent months. "However, due to a lack of access to official installation data, the actual pace of the rollout of solar energy on that continent is still unclear," the report said.

 

[Shadrach]

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Translated article:

​

China installs twice as much solar capacity as the rest of the world combined​

China installed 256 gigawatts of additional solar energy capacity in the first half of this year. It is more than two-thirds of the global total. This is stated in a report by energy think tank Ember on Tuesday.

In the first six months, 380 gigawatts of capacity was added worldwide, according to the report. Compared to the same period in 2024, this is an increase of 64 percent.

By far the most capacity of solar energy was added in China. The Asian country alone accounted for 256 gigawatts, more than twice as many as any other countries added up (124 gigawatts) and more than a double compared to the first half of 2024.

New subsidy rules​

Ember points to new subsidy rules that came into force in China in June, so that developers of solar panel parks have rushed to get their projects through in the months before. "That could lead to a delay in the second half of the year," the think tank stated, which still expects that the total additional capacity in China by 2025 will exceed the record of 2024.

Outside China, the United States in particular recorded a large growth of 21 gigawatts (plus 4 percent), despite measures by the current Trump administration to reverse support for renewable energy. In India, it was 24 gigawatts, half more than in the same period last year.

Ember sees that solar energy is also starting to gain a foothold in Africa, where the number of solar panels imported from China has increased by 60 percent in recent months. "However, due to a lack of access to official installation data, the actual pace of the rollout of solar energy on that continent is still unclear," the report said.

This is Great News! Hopefully, I don't know if it's possible or not, but I would like to see if we could somehow harness the Magnetic Force field of the Planet? It is a constant source of Energy! Regardless of the Time of Day, Clouds, Weather, River flows, etc. Didn't Nikola Tesla have projects where he was trying to harness this power source?

 

[Balifrog]

The weather has never been so hot in Europe than this year.
This probably explains part of it.
Remember the blackout in Spain ? A high percentage of intermittent energy played a role in it.

IN France nuclear is still number 1.