Free Republic

Germany will support the European embargo of Russian oil, marking another significant turnaround in the nation’s position as the invasion of Ukraine continues. Ambassadors will reportedly table the proposal at an ambassadors summit in Brussels on Wednesday, with expectations to approve the embargo by the end of next week. Germany has resisted such an embargo, but government sources told German news agency dpa on Sunday that Chancellor Olaf Scholz will back the embargo. Scholz previously urged caution against any outright ban over concerns of the consequences, which he believed would prove devastating to Germany’s economy and the continent as a...

Poland has been preparing to give up Russian gas fuel for a long time, so Gazprom's decision to turn off the tap did not surprise her. Rather, the inevitable has accelerated. Poland's energy security should not be jeopardized, but the gas turmoil may again have an impact on Poles' bills in a few months. The former president of PGNiG draws attention to one important element of the entire gas puzzle. On Wednesday at 8.00, Gazprom will officially suspend gas supplies to Poland under the Yamal contract . The day before, journalists reported that gas fuel transmission from the east fell...

Russia decided to make "unfriendly nations" pay for its gas in rubles after the Western countries and their allies imposed harsh sanctions on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine.Gazprom, major Russian gas company, is to suspend supplies to Bulgaria starting from April 27, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Tuesday, citing a statement from the Bulgarian economy ministry. The ministry announced that the country’s state-owned company Bulgargaz and the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) assessed the possibility of implementing the new two-stage payment procedure proposed by the Russian government and said it “does not comply with the contract valid until...

You have to admire the sense of humor on display by the editorial board at The Wall Street Journal some days. Their article from Friday carried the simple but amusing title, “John Kerry Says the Darndest Things.” They’re referring to a recent interview that Biden’s “climate envoy” did with Bloomberg TV. In it, despite only recently saying that natural gas could be a “bridge fuel” until we have more wind and solar capability, Kerry declared that he was only giving the gas industry “no more than ten years” to find a way to capture and eliminate carbon emissions or we’re...

Fuel Cell Being Tested The new fuel cell being tested in the lab. Credit: Imperial College London Imperial researchers have developed a new hydrogen fuel cell that uses iron instead of rare and costly platinum, enabling greater use of the technology. Hydrogen fuel cells convert hydrogen to electricity with just water vapor as a byproduct, making them an appealing green alternative for portable power, particularly for vehicles. However, the expense of one of the primary components has impeded its broad adoption. The fuel cells rely on a catalyst made of platinum, which is expensive and scarce, to assist the reaction...

"The coldness of outer space is also an extremely important renewable energy resource," a researcher says. Solar panels sit under a night sky. Researchers have designed solar panels that can generate electricity at night. It likely goes without saying, but of all the energy solar panels generated last year, none of it was produced at night. New research is showing that doesn't have to be the case. Researchers at Stanford modified commercially available solar panels to generate a small amount of electricity at night by exploiting a process known as radiative cooling, which relies on, no lie, the frigid vacuum...

Spain has informed the European Commission that a joint price reduction plan with Portugal may entail restricting energy sales to France, El Pais reported. Madrid is its northern neighbor’s largest single supplier of imported electricity, and the potential restriction comes as the entire EU grapples with soaring energy costs. Spain and Portugal agreed in late March to cap the price of gas used in electricity generation to the equivalent of 30 euros per megawatt/hour ($32.50). While Brussels granted both countries an exception to its normal rules and allowed this arrangement to go ahead, Madrid and Lisbon then delivered some bad...

<p>Ukrainian President Zelensky stated European countries that continue to buy Russian oil "earn their money in other people's blood".</p><p>Germany and Hungary block effort to embargo energy sales, which Russia stands to make £250bn ($326bn) this year.</p><p>"Some of our friends and partners understand this is a different time now, no longer an issue of business and money, but an issue of survival."</p>

The Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Moscow’s demand to pay for Russian natural gas exports in rubles, the German energy minister said Monday. Robert Habeck told reporters that “all G-7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts.”

Call Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator. Call him an autocrat. Call him a totalitarian. Call him whatever you want, but make sure you understand he is serious. He also knows the West is not. He has brought war to the West's doorstep. On Dec. 5, 1989, Putin was running a KGB office for the Soviet Union in Dresden, Germany. The Berlin Wall had fallen, and East German mobs were ransacking Stasi headquarters. They came for the KGB in Dresden. Putin called out to the approaching mob that he and his men would open fire. The mob held off. Putin...

It’s a certainty that Marie Antoinette never said “Let them eat cake,” when she heard about France’s peasants starving for lack of bread. However, it’s the absolute truth that, even as 82% of Americans are paying above sticker price for cars, while the last year has seen them struggle with rising fuel prices, Biden chose to announce that he’s going to buy a whole new fleet of cars for federal workers—600,000 cars, to be precise—all of them electric. The past year has been a tough one for Americans. Inflation has rocketed, with three primary causes: the government’s non-stop money-printing presses;...

What if the demand for electricity significantly exceeds the supply over the next decade? We’d have soaring prices and rolling brownouts. That crisis could easily be triggered by the electric vehicles (EVs) Biden’s administration is pushing.

Morgan Harper [D] and Josh Mandel [R], two U.S. Senate candidates in Ohio, faced each other in a debate Thursday moderated by Cassie Young, managing director at Matter News, a nonprofit news organization, and Daniel Wolvin, state director at Awake America Ohio, a religious organization focused on politics. The debate, which was held at North Columbus Baptist Church, started energetically as the candidates discussed hot topics involving the environment, the natural rights of American citizens and racial equity, among other topics. When the candidates received a question about the growing fossil fuel industry, Mandel expressed his support for that movement....

Former San Luis Obispo mayor and climate change activist Heidi Harmon attempted to “do the right thing,” and travel to a rally in San Francisco in an electric car. After multiple attempts to find a working charging station in San Jose, Harmon realized charging the car would take up to seven hours and there was no way she could make the rally. Harmon posted multiple videos about her difficulties in traveling in an all-electric vehicle. She discusses calling the police or asking someone to send a helicopter to rescue her. Harmon spearheaded an effort last summer to enact a city...

BY ALEX LAUER @ALEXLAUER After a winter storm left hundreds of motorists stranded on Interstate 95 in Virginia earlier this month, many for over 24 hours, we were left with plenty of questions. What went wrong on a governmental level that led to this? How could similar traffic shutdowns be avoided in the future? What should we be carrying in our cars in case of an emergency like this? The most perplexing question of the bunch was a hypothetical one: what would have happened if all of these cars — stuck on icy roads in the snow in temperatures that...

Unfortunate and very costly damage to a Ford Mustang Mach-E battery from a tow truck was recently reported on the MachEforum.com. While it's just an example case, it's worth noting so that we all can avoid similar problems. Electric cars are still new and relatively rare, which means that there are plenty of inexperienced technicians. In this story, a Mach-E driver on the route from Canada to Florida was forced to stop the car due to a "Pull over Safely" error message and lack of power. Through Ford Road Side Assistance, a tow truck was dispatched to take the car...

A Chevrolet electric vehicle owned by Vermont state Rep. Timothy Briglin recently caught fire while charging in the politician’s driveway, according to Vermont State Police. The fire is the most recent to highlight an ongoing concern of automakers and vehicle safety watchdogs as companies release an influx of new EVs.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Blue and White) spoke Tuesday morning with US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, who congratulated him on his continued term as Defense Minister within Israel’s new government. In a statement, Israel's Defense Ministry said that "the two continued the discussion begun in Washington concerning the imperative to strengthen and fortify Israel’s security vis-v-vis external challenges." "They further discussed the continued need to halt Iranian nuclear plans as well as the current opportunities to advance regional peace and expand normalization agreements. "Gantz thanked the Defense Secretary for his and the administration’s support of Israel and...

A fire at a bus depot in Hanover caused millions of euros in damage. According to fire fighters, the fire broke out on Saturday afternoon at the Üstra transport company where electric buses were parked, According to Üstra spokesman Udo Iwannek, the fire caused damage running in the millions. Five e-buses, two hybrids and two combustion engines were destroyed, as were also the building and the charging station. According to the European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE), Hanover’s administration wants to run only e-buses in the city center area by 2023 and is purchasing 50 new vehicles in a...

Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think I know, you probably haven't even driven one yet, let alone seriously contemplated buying one, so the prediction may sound a bit bold, but bear with me. We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in motoring since Henry Ford's first production line started turning back in 1913. And it is likely to happen much more quickly than you imagine. Many industry observers believe we have already passed the tipping point where sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will very rapidly overwhelm petrol and diesel cars. It is certainly what...