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Energy, Transport & Urban Development~, Environment, Biodiversity & Planning~, Science & Technology~Leave a comment

Why China’s first solar-powered, semi-satellite drone is a big deal

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In a big step toward green development, China has built its first solar-powered large unmanned aerial vehicle. The drone successfully carried out its maiden flight on Saturday. It took off from an airport in Yulin, northwest China’s Shaanxi province and landed smoothly after 26 minutes airborne with all systems operating normally, according to a report in state-run Global Times. How does the drone use solar energy? The Qimingxing-50 (Morning Star) is the country’s first major unmanned aerial vehicle platform that is all-electric and solely powered by solar energy. It is also the first high-altitude, low-speed drone with an ultrahigh aspect ratio … Continue reading Why China’s first solar-powered, semi-satellite drone is a big deal

Energy, Transport & Urban Development~, Geopolitics & Multipolarity~, Political Commentary & Political Economy~

Europe’s self made energy crisis

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Mercouris looks at how Europe got to where it is – in a severe “energy crisis”. The sanctions imposed by the collective West on Russia over its intervention in Ukraine, have sparked a severe energy crisis in Europe which has spilled over to the global economy and global environment. The US-NATO moves may well have set in motion the irreversible collapse of Western hegemony which has blocked a comprehensive global response to tackling climate change and other environmental issues. Understanding the events leading to the crisis in Europe is therefore essential. We are therefore publishing here an edited transcript of … Continue reading Europe’s self made energy crisis

Belt & Road, BRICS, Global South~, Energy, Transport & Urban Development~, Geopolitics & Multipolarity~, Political Commentary & Political Economy~Leave a comment

Ditching Russian gas no way for EU to reach climate goals – Putin

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The EU should have been better prepared for its green energy transition, the Russian president says. The EU’s decision to slash natural gas imports while trying to reach climate goals was a mistake, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday during an environmental forum in Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East. “First, they (EU) jumped ahead, and then, after cutting off Russian gas supplies, returned everything that was reviled,” Putin stated. He emphasized that all nations are in favor of reducing emissions into the atmosphere, noting however that everything should be done in a timely manner. “And if you jump ahead, get … Continue reading Ditching Russian gas no way for EU to reach climate goals – Putin

Energy, Transport & Urban Development~, Geopolitics & Multipolarity~, Political Commentary & Political Economy~Leave a comment

NEW UN REPORTS CONFIRM NO GENOCIDE IN CHINA’S XINJIANG REGION

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The UN Office of the Commission for Human Rights released a document this week that completely exonerates the leadership of the Chinese region of Xinjiang from accusations of genocide or use of slave labor.Wait, you say. That’s not the summary … Continue reading NEW UN REPORTS CONFIRM NO GENOCIDE IN CHINA’S XINJIANG REGION

Belt & Road, BRICS, Global South~, Geopolitics & Multipolarity~, Political Commentary & Political Economy~Leave a comment

Brazil Becomes China’s Main Investment Destination

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Investment by Chinese companies in Brazil more than tripled in 2021, returning to pre-Covid pandemic levels and making the country the main destination for Chinese capital last year. After a lukewarm performance in 2020, operations such as Tencent’s investments in fintechs and startups such as Nubank, QuintoAndar and Cora, as well as billionaire investments by Chinese oil companies in the Santos Basin have increased. Also noteworthy was the purchasing of the power transmission company in Rio Grande do Sul by State Grid and of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Iracemápolis (SP) by Great Wall Motors. According to a report by the … Continue reading Brazil Becomes China’s Main Investment Destination

Agriculture, Rural Development & Heritage~, Belt & Road, BRICS, Global South~Leave a comment

BRI participant Pakistan issues climate reparations demand

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First world countries are the main polluters, but it’s the poor who foot the bill, the Pakistan climate minister said. Pakistan’s minister for climate change described global warming as “the existential crisis,” adding that Pakistan has contributed less than 1% to greenhouse gas emissions. She also accused the first world countries of breaking their promises on fighting climate change. “We all know that the pledges made in multilateral forums have not been fulfilled”, she stressed. Sherry Rehman, climate minister Rich countries, which are responsible for the bulk of greenhouse emissions, should pay reparations to developing economies as the latter bear … Continue reading BRI participant Pakistan issues climate reparations demand

Environment, Biodiversity & Planning~, Marxism & Eco-Socialism~, Science & Technology~Leave a comment

A New Environmental History of Socialist States

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Review of: Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, Socialist States and the Environment: Lessons for Ecosocialist Futures (London: Pluto Press, 2021), 288 pages, $26.95, paperback. Starting in the late 1970s, a narrative emerged about the extreme levels of environmental damage in the Soviet Union and, by implication, most state-socialist countries. The explosion and initial cover-up at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 did much to crystallize this image of the environmental record of socialist states as being worse than those of their capitalist counterparts. Instead, over the past twenty years, environmental historians of the Soviet Union have largely come to the opposite conclusion. As … Continue reading A New Environmental History of Socialist States

Belt & Road, BRICS, Global South~, Energy, Transport & Urban Development~, Political Commentary & Political Economy~Leave a comment

China to maintain climate change strategy

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The English-language website of China News Service reports: – China’s special envoy for climate change, Xie Zhenhua, speaking at an official forum on 30 August in Beijing, that China will maintain its climate change strategy and continue to promote carbon … Continue reading China to maintain climate change strategy

Energy, Transport & Urban Development~, Science & Technology~Leave a comment

China is building world’s first commercial land-based Small Modular Reactor

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China is building the “Linglong-1,” a small modular reactor (SMR) in the country’s southern island province of Hainan. It’s the world’s first of this type of reactor to be approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and it intends to … Continue reading China is building world’s first commercial land-based Small Modular Reactor

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US security agencies control American social media: Maria Zakharova

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Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova published a post on her Telegram channel which claimed FBI and other US security agencies secretly control American social media giants. The claim follows a recent interview with Mark Zuckerberg, in which the Facebook CEO acknowledged such influence in recent appearance on The Joe Rogan podcast.  “if the FBI come to us and tell us we need to be on guard about something, then I want to take that seriously” [Mark Zuckerberg] According to the Russian diplomat, Facebook’s CEO recounted how FBI operatives had visited him ahead of the 2020 US presidential elections, asking … Continue reading US security agencies control American social media: Maria Zakharova