Monthly Archives: May 2021

By operating in Hungary and Greece, two countries negotiating access to the EUs Just Transition Fund, HUI hopes to accelerate deployment of the waste-to-energy technology. Source: Cristian Palmer on Unsplash

Powerhouse Energy, a British sustainable hydrogen company, has agreed to sign a contract with UK-based technology company Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI) for the licence of Powerhouses Distributed Modular Generation (DMG) technology, which will convert waste plastic into energy, including hydrogen, across Greece and Hungary.

DMG is a new type of recycling technology, which produces a clean syngas used for power generation or as a source for hydrogen. The technology takes end-of-life plastics, which are introduced into a chamber at high temperature with an oxidising agent. The thermal conversion chamber operates in the absence of oxygen, so there is no burning as the plastics gasify.

Powerhouse Energy executive chair Tim Yeo says: The process is controlled according to the feedstock to produce a clean syngas, generally free of contaminants. The syngas is further cleaned and then used to create electricity. Hydrogen is separated and we then have a fuel that can be used by HGVs. Two tonnes of hydrogen can be produced per day, which can fuel 60 lorries to travel 250-300 miles. Heat is also created in this process.

The use of the DMG technology can provide a closed loop solution within local level communities for non-recyclable plastic waste, cleaning up oceans, and helping to accelerate the clean energy transition.

By operating in Hungary and Greece, two countries negotiating access to the EUs Just Transition Fund, HUI hopes to accelerate deployment of the waste-to-energy technology.

The Just Transition Fund will provide financial support to EU member states as they move towards net-zero emissions, helping the EU become climate neutral by 2050.

Yeo said: We are pleased to extend the countries in which it is intended HUI to help deploy our DMG technology to include Greece and Hungary. This is part of our long-term vision for rolling out sustainable hydrogen technology internationally. We believe this will accelerate the clean energy transition in Hungary and Greece and provide both countries with a solution to end-of-life plastic.

Based on their population ratio, HUI will acquire exclusive agreements for Greece and Hungary for $304,300 with a 10% deposit.

Hydrogen Utopia International CEO Aleksandra Binkowska said: It is my delight that the alliance between Powerhouse Energy and HUI has become stronger with acquiring rights to Greece and Hungary. Since our first agreement in November, our mutual work has been as successfulas one can possibly imagine.Now having three territories under our umbrella, I believe that the DMG system rollout will be even faster and more aggressive than we have ever anticipated.

The Polish Centre of Hydrogen is still our main target, but we are more than pleased to have new opportunities in new markets to ensure that the expansionof DMG will be more than satisfactory to both Powerhouse Energy and HUI.

The development follows a non-binding Heads of Terms Agreement for the application of its technology in Poland that Powerhouse Energy and HUI signed in November 2020.

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Plastic waste-to-energy tech is being unrolled in Hungary and Greece - Power Technology

Powerhouse Energy (PHE) is set to roll out its hydrogen technology internationally with the signing of an exclusive, non-transferable licence with Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI) today (May 10) for the application of its technology in Greece and Hungary.

The UK-based energy groups unique technology provides a solution to non-recyclable plastic and produces a clean fuel that can help improve air quality by replacing diesel with hydrogen as a transport fuel.

By targeting Hungary and Greece, two countries which are negotiating access to the European Unions Just Transition Fund, HUI hopes to accelerate deployment of PHEs DMG technology.

Powerhouses technology aims to be used at a local level providing a closed loop solution within the community for non-recyclable plastic waste, cleaning up our oceans and helping to accelerate the clean energy transition to reach the target of net zero emissions by 2030.

Read more: Powerhouse Energy and Hydrogen Utopia International sign agreement

Read more: Powerhouse reports great progress at its waste-to-hydrogen site in Poland; looks for future expansion opportunities

This follows the non-binding Heads of Terms which PHE signed with HUI in November last year for the application of its technology in Poland.

Tim Yeo, Executive Chair of Powerhouse energy, said, This is part of our long-term vision for rolling out sustainable hydrogen technology internationally.

We believe this will accelerate the clean energy transition in Hungary and Greece and provide both countries with a solution to end-of-life plastic.

Aleksandra Binkowska, CEO of Hydrogen Utopia International, said, with having three territories under our umbrella, I believe that the DMG system rollout will be even faster and more aggressive than we have ever anticipated.

Polish Centre of Hydrogen is still our main target, but we are more than pleased to have new opportunities in new markets to ensure that the expansion of DMG will be more than satisfactory to both PHE and HUI.

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Powerhouse's waste-to-hydrogen technology to roll out in Greece and Hungary - H2 View

China is planning to land a spacecraft and rover on Mars this month.

If it succeeds, it will become just the third nation to safely touch down on the Red Planet after Russia and the United States.

China's Tianwen-1 orbiter joined spacecraft from five other space agencies circling Mars in February.

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Since then, Tianwen-1has been mapping thesurface of Mars and getting ready to land its first rover, Zhurong, named after an ancient god of fire.

While the exact landing date is unclear, i's likely to be mid this month,according to reports from Chinese state media.

China'sMars exploration program may beless mature than NASA's, but the Tianwen-1 mission will makea significant contribution to the science community, saidDavid Flannery of Queensland University of Technology, who works on NASA's Perseverance mission.

"It is a capable mission that has some really ambitious science goals," hesaid.

It's also an important stepping stone to more sophisticatedmissions, in the same way that early NASAmissions such as Pathfinder, which landed the first rover Sojourner in 1997,paved the way for the US Mars program, he said.

Supplied: CNSA

All going to plan, Zhurong willjoin three other spacecraft from NASAincluding Perseverance, which landed in February.

But landing on Mars isnotoriously tricky.

"Landing isthe most technically challenging part, it's where most missions fail," Dr Flannery said.

Weighing about 240 kilograms,the car-sized rover has six wheels and is covered by four solar panels, making it look like a "blue butterfly".

Reuters: Tingshu Wang

Onboard are six instruments, including cameras designedto map the terrain, sensors that analyse the chemistry of soil and rocks, ground-penetrating radar that will search for signs ofice water beneath the surface, a weather station, and a magnetic field detector.

While most of these instruments are analogous to those found on NASA rovers, the magnetic field detectorcouldyield some exciting new science, Dr Flannery said.

"This is the first magnetometer sent to the surface of Mars," Dr Flannery said.

The magnetometer on the rover will work with the magnetometer on the Tianwen-1 orbiter to measure Mars' magnetic field.

"One of the big questions in planetary science is, 'What happened to Mars in the past? Why is it so desolate?'" he said.

"One of the ways you can answer that question is by measuring the magnetic properties of rocks that recorded the state of the planetary magnetic field as they were deposited."

The spacecraft will land somewhere in the southern part of a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia.

The 3,300-kilometre-wide plainis the largest impact crater on Mars.

Viking 2, one of NASA's earliest missions, landed in the northern part of the craterin 1976.

NASA/ABC

The region is one of the easiest places on Mars to land, Dr Flannery said.

"The way to reduce the risk is to choose a landing site where you have very few objects that would cause a problem to land on," he said.

The southern part of Utopia Planitia is mostly flat and smooth with a few sand dunes and boulders.

Supplied: CNSA

The plain is also one of the lowest areas on Mars, so there is more atmosphere to help slow down the spacecraft as it descends.

But a safe entry is not the only reason to target this region.

There may also bevast amounts of water ice under apartof the plain, according to mapping by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

"This is essentially a site that would be suitable for China's first human mission to Mars," Dr Flannery said.

Landing on Mars is known as the "seven minutes of terror" for a reason.

Remnants of China's biggest rocket crashinto the Indian Ocean, with the bulk of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere, according to media reports.

The spacecraft is on its own from the timeit enters the thin Martian atmosphere travelling at supersonic speeds, until it reaches the surface seven minutes later.

The time delay between Earth and Mars means no-one knows whether it has safely touched down or crashed aka terrabraked until after it hashappened.

NASA recently landed its latest rover Perseverance on the Red Planet using a series of choreographed steps and technologies that included parachutes, rockets and a sky crane.

But China's landing sequence will be slightlydifferent.

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For a start, it is detaching from an orbiter 70 kilometres above the surface (Perseverance didn't have an orbiter).

Protected by a cone-shaped heat shield, it will hurtle towards the surface at supersonic speeds before deploying a giant parachute to slow it down.

Then the final stage will rely on rocketsto lower it to the ground, and a system of cameras andlidar navigationto try to avoid obstacles as it's coming in.

Technology used in the landing is based on China'ssuccessful human spaceflight and lunar missions, space journalist Andrew Jones said.

The heat shield and parachute technologiesare used in their Shenzhou space flight program, which has sent six crewed missions into space since 2003.

The enginesand navigation systems are similar to those used in its three successfulChang'e lunar missions.

"They haven'ttested this altogether, but they have had the experience of dealing with these technologies," Mr Jones said.

Getty Images: Barclay Media

If the spacecraftsurvives the landing, then the plan is to roll theZhurong rover off the lander a few days later so it can begin its 90 (Martian) day trip across the surface.

Releasing the rover and navigating across the Red Planet is"no trivial task,"Dr Flannery said.

Meanwhile, the orbiter will continuecircling Mars, acting as a communications relay station for at least one Martian year.

When it comes to Mars, there are no guarantees.

While NASA has successfully landed six spacecraft and a helicopteron Mars since 2003,other spacecraft such as the European Space Agency's (ESA) Schiaparelli lander have failed.

Even though this is China's first attempt to land on Mars, it's already proven it has technological clout when it comes to space missions.

It's the only nation to havelanded on the Moon three times in the past decade, and to have pulled off a complex mission to bring backthe firstrocks from the Moon's surface in more than 40 years.

"What they are doing is extremely challenging and impressive," Mr Jones said.

But even thoughmany of the technologies have been tested for lunar missions, Mars presents different challenges: it has a thin atmosphere, a different gravity field, is much further away, and there isa lag in communications of between 12 and 20 minutes.

"They are dealing with something they haven't dealt with before," Mr Jones said.

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If something does go wrong,there is no backup rover, he added.

"I was wondering if there was going to be a backup mission to this rover, just like there is normally a backup to the lunar missions, but it turns out there isn't, so this is their only chance."

But even if things don't go to plan, they will still learn valuable lessonsfor future missions, such as a planned sample return in 2028 or 2030, he said.

"Even ifthe landing fails, they will learn a lot about what it takes to land on Mars."

For example, he said, the ESA has used data from the failed 2016 mission to inform the Rosalind Franklin rover mission that's due to launch in2022.

"It wouldbe a disappointment [if the landing fails], but I don't think it wouldbe a major blow," Mr Jones said.

"It's very challenging, so I don't think their Mars exploration plans are dependent on this landing."

Get all the latest science stories from across the ABC.

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China's Tianwen-1 mission getting set to try and land Zhurong rover on Mars - ABC News

To the editor:

As our country divides ever farther apart we see the impact of this oppressive ideology, which is not about addressing social justice and overcoming systemic racism. Set aside their narrative and examine the underlying history of this movement to better understand the radical agenda that seeks to undermine our country.

Cultural Marxism was born out of Marxs economic theory that the working class would eventually rise up and overthrow the hated bourgeoisie. The global worker uprising never happened, except in Russia, which never became utopia, only a murderous dictatorship.

Italian Antonio Gramsci and Hungarian Georg Lukacs (both Communists) theorized that Western values were too deeply entrenched and Christianity too strong, so Western culture and religion had to be destroyed. Their ideas appeared in the 1920s, arguing that the rise of a successful Communist takeover necessitated undermining the pillars of society including Christianity, family, truth, law, patriotism and national unity, sexual restraint, language and tradition, among others.

A group of German Marxists, influenced by this thinking, established the Institute for Social Research, popularly known as The Frankfurt School. The group relocated to New York with Hitlers rise to power, taking positions at Columbia University. The term Critical Theory was first used in 1937, a social theory that harshly criticizes a culture, brutally and unremittingly, in order to change it. After WWII, most of this group returned to Germany, but Herbert Marcuse stayed in New York, becoming a powerfully influential voice of the left over the following decades. Stoking grievances would unite disaffected groups into a powerful, angry force. In his 1965 essay, Repressive Tolerance, he argued for toleration of all leftist ideas and movements while prohibiting ideas and movements from the right. Sound familiar?

Success in this long march through the institutions requires destruction of said cultural institutions, opening the way for political takeover. This began with academia and the media. Radical students in the 1960s moved into teaching and journalism. By the 1980s, critical theory dominated higher education, and this philosophy now infects big business, government, public employee unions, K-12 education, and even the military. In our post-modern era, truth is one of the pillars they redefined, claiming it is rooted in historical and social conditions, based on narrative and feelings, not objective facts. How else could adherents defend 2+2=5? Political correctness describes a method of controlling social discourse in order to shape the culture.

Just as Hitler used race as a key fault line to stoke grievances and build hatred, race is exploited in our country for the same end. Identity politics brings other groups into the fold based on gender, sexual orientation and others. Vocal and sometimes violent proponents of this movement include Antifa, which traces its roots to German Communists in the 1930s, and Black Lives Matter, founded by trained Marxists. Today, Antifa fights against liberal democracy and capitalism. The latter group has scrubbed some of the more offensive notions from its website to disguise their real mission of upending society. Do not be misled by lofty platitudes of these groups and others. The endgame is an oppressive socialism.

This destructive ideology is best shown by the countless examples of CRT nonsense brought into public and even some private schools. For example, Philadelphia Public Schools now teach kindergartners that America is built on a pyramid of hate culminating in genocide. Really? Parents and grandparents, be aware of indoctrination that may be taking place in schools and speak out against it. Red flags include descriptions such as diversity, equity and inclusion or similar phrases. If, on the other hand, you believe all white people are racists and 6-year-olds should be taught they are either an oppressor or oppressed, you support these initiatives.

Don Stuart, Nashville

Send letters to newsroom@bcdemocrat.com by noon Thursday before the date of intended publication (noon Wednesday on holiday weeks). Letters must be signed by the author and include the writers town of residence and a contact method in case of questions.

Letters are the opinions of the writer. They are not verified facts.

Only one letter every two weeks, per writer, to allow for diversity of voices in the opinions section. Please be considerate of sharing space with other letter-writers and keep your comments concise and to the point. Avoid name-calling, accusations of criminal activity and second- and third-hand statements of fact.

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Letter: 'Origins of wokeness/critical race theory (CRT)' - Brown County Democrat

Its happening. America is reopening, and like a sprawling field of bright red poppies the post-Covid consumer is bursting with a renewed self-expression and ready to dance again experts say. Which is great news for the economy and business owners, except for one thing, finding willing workers is tough right now.

Back to the Future office

As the massive U.S. Covid-19 vaccination roll-out campaign to date has already inoculated more than 100 million Americans, Harvard Business School Online sponsored a recent survey which asked 1500 home-bound workers how they felt about going back to the office after one year (March 2020 March 2021). Turns out the results didnt surprise anyone. 81% said they prefer a hybrid schedule or not going back at all. And only 18% said they wanted to return to the office full time. Thats less than 1 out of 5. Why? Too many workers adjusted to a life working from home, and they like it. And many simply dont want their old jobs back. At least not the old way and are asking themselves: Why risk going back, getting sick when Im safer at home and still getting paid?

But its still not a utopia. Rumblings can be heard and widening cracks seen in the stay-at-home castle wall fortress. Lack of social interaction among peers, reduced networking options, and Zoom fatigue are among the growing issues that have only recently given some restless home-gamers second thoughts, and thus willing to hear a good back-to-the-office pitch.

To make matters worse adding to the widespread labor shortage are millions of laid off cave-dwellers suffering from the same maladies. Paid more at home collecting pandemic unemployment and stimulus checks, these unemployed hordes have shown little interest in getting back to work while the free money rolls in. And its expected to stay that way unless employers can grab their attention.

So, what do workers want post-Covid?

For starters they want every employer to recognize and have adapted their business practices to take every reasonable safeguard and precaution to protect employees from Covid. Anything less is a non-starter bringing into focus for employers a resounding obvious truth to a post-Covid workforce. After a year at home, employed or unemployed, workers need some serious motivation. And if youre an employer desperately in need of staffers to service increasing sales post-Covid the message is loud and clear, go big or go home. Sound familiar?

In January 1914, in an all-out effort to stem worker turnover at the plant in Dearborn, Michigan and to incentivize new workers to join the payroll, Henry Ford doubled his automobile assembly line workers daily wage from less than $2.50 to $5.00/day. A shocking increase at the time. But it worked. Fast forward a hundred years later in April 2021 Jack Flanigan owner of the famous Crab Shack restaurant near Savannah, Georgia is so desperate for workers as the local news there reports that hes offering new staff a $3,000 sign-on and stick around bonus. They need workers he says. And its working. In fact, new sign-on bonuses are popping up everywhere, on job boards too. ZipRecruiter for example saw a 50% increase in April topping 2.5 million help wanted listings with the search title: Covid sign-on bonus. SimplyHired saw a similar increase in the last 30 days.

With countless more Covid incentive stories emerging each day, pulling together the latest insights suggest that having the right new incentives can help motivate a growing restless home-bound couch-dweller back on his feet and rearing to go if you need one. But as every situation is different youll have to find your sweet spot by experimenting in what specifically works for your business model and the competitive landscape. Nevertheless, according to my research some companies are pulling out all the stops, while others are still asking employees what they want. The resulting middle ground incentive programs being tossed about by employers to lure workers back will give you some idea of what youre up against:

Essentially, employers will need to throw a lot of money at workers in the short term. Trouble is for some industries like food, hospitality and travel that already report being hit hard by lockdowns and worker shortage problems simply cant afford to pay more in wages and benefits. Pre-Covid pressures to increase minimum wage levels across many states to $15/hr aka to a living wage was tough enough. Couple that with a new return-to-work post-Covid additional cash bonus requirement and the resulting double whammy may be the final straw and force many companies to cut hours, or shutter permanently.

As of now, finding enough workers is a growing challenge across all industry segments and may get worse before things settle back down in 2022 economists forecast. And hopefully not because of a recession. Until then it makes sense to stay well informed and act decisively. If you need workers now, be creative about how to attract them. Also be sure to consider often over-looked employee candidates including those with minor criminal offenses (background check exceptions), immigrants that require employer-sponsored work visas, and older workers. By contrast these are each among the eager prospects, able and willing.

When the music stops

Alternatively, you could try and wait it out, because you figure, at some point when the music stops and the Covid cash machine runs dry millions of current consumer couch potatoes, like hibernating bears after a long cold winter, will need to find work if they want to eat, consequently flooding the job market in mass. And thus, this begs the final question; how can we get a better sense of when the gravy train will actually run out of steam and compel these sleepy bears to re-enter the labor force in America?

A quick look at the free stimulus cash flow checks distributed to families and workers since the pandemic began may provide the answer. To-date as of May 2021 Americans impacted by the virus have received 3- waves of stimulus checks from the government worth trillions of dollars.

The first wave of $1,200 checks per adult (more with dependents) was sent out April 2020 after the CARES act passed. This followed by the second wave of $600 checks for adults starting in December 2020. And finally, most recently on March 10th 2021 Congress passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, a third wave of Covid stimulus payments of up to $1,400 per adult earning less than $80,000/yr.

While state unemployment checks keep rolling in

Adding more money to the mix significantly each state is currently piling on the unemployment benefits to millions of workers impacted by Covid. Normally unemployment benefits last for 26 weeks. But many can apply for a Pandemic Unemployment Assistance extension which can add an additional 29 weeks. All told collectively given federal and state assistance workers have about one year of paid time off with many earning as much or more at home than they earned at work. So, when will it end? Lets do the math.

If workers were laid off last summer in 2020, and the cash runs out roughly 12 months later they might need to jump back into the job market very soon. In fact, recent weekly jobless claims dropped to a new record pandemic low, suggesting that workers are slowly coming back. Something to think about as employers consider which re-hire or new-hire incentives will catch their eye.

What to do now

My advice is simple. Pay now or pay later. But dont just sit on your hands. If you need more staff now and you dont offer any incentives at all, how will your employees respond to a market awash with grass-is-greener temptations from other employers? Still. At some point within the next 12-24 months labor markets and back-to-work hybrid models which are running by trial-and-error right now will identify key trends and best practices including which incentives do work and which dont. Until then, re-define post-Covid what your company will need to win the day, not just today but in 3 years post-Covid time. Paying up now for the best people who can demonstrate a strong commitment to your companys mission and passion for quality customer service is always a good thing. These workers are an investment, not a transaction. Make that clear and you will attract better long-term workers, not the ones looking for flashy over-the-top car-dealer bonus incentives to get off the couch and drag themselves back to work. Remember. What comes around goes around.

Make sense?

Written by Rick Andrade.

Read more:

Where is Everybody? Are Big Incentives the Only Way to Attract Good Workers Post-Covid? - CEOWORLD magazine