Not Rocket Science At All -- January 14, 2019

Presidential tweet: "Dems in Puerto Rico as shutdown hits day 24."

They must be reading the blog: EIA tweets the status of ISO New England this morning. 

Groningen: later this week, January 17, 2019, a Dutch court will rule on whether natural gas production from this field should be halted.

Saudi Arabia: from John Kemp this morning --

Something puzzles me reading the news (as a bear of very little brain) Saudi Arabia short of cash and borrowing on international capital markets Revenues insufficient to meet budget commitments At the same time, multiple stories about the country investing overseas I'm confused.

Confused: Saudi will be a net importer of oil in less than twenty years. The "movers and shakers" tell us that the price of oil will not recover; the future is in renewable energy. Saudi Arabia sees the writing on the wall. The kingdom has no choice but to invest overseas. Not confusing at all. And if you don't have enough cash flow / revenues to meet budget commitments, there's not much choice but to borrow. This is not rocket science.

Rhetorical: I'm sure John was making a rhetorical comment, or he had not yet had his first morning cup of coffee.

Air conditioning: this is Saudi's problem. This article is nonsense, but this is what "movers and shakers" are telling Saudi Arabia. From oilprice:

As the earth gets hotter, energy demand will increase significantly along with global temperatures. Now a team of researchers in China has determined in a recent study that by the end of this century, peak energy demand in China will increase by a minimum of 72 percent. For every degree Celsius that the global mean surface temperature (GMST) increases, average Chinese residential energy use is projected to raise 9 percent, while peak electricity use will increase 36 percent per degree Celsius.

It is projected that the mean surface temperature of the earth will be 2-5 C hotter by 2099. Calculating based off of current consumption patterns in China, this means that the most conservative estimates show average Chinese residential electricity demand would rise by 18 percent. At the high end, average Chinese residential electricity demand would rise by a whopping 55 percent. Meanwhile peak usage, on the low end, would increase by at least 72 percent.

These findings will have major implications for energy grid planning and other infrastructure in China, where energy use has already been booming thanks to a rapidly expanding middle class. As Chinese incomes increase, even without the added impact of climate change, the electricity consumption of the average Chinese household is expected to double by 2040.

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The Wall Street Journal Headlines

The news today:

• PG&E prepares for bankruptcy. Just one of many headaches the new governor will face
• After sparking at least 1,500 California fires, PG&E faces collapse
• Apple rattled markets with China warning. Who's next?
• Shutdown pinches economic growth: let's see -- a small segment of US government employees and contractors have gone two days without paychecks and we're already seeing an effect on economic growth? What's wrong with that picture?
• Denise Mueller-Korenek shattered land-speed bicycle record: 184 mph. Data points:
  
  • WSJ video now, but I'm sure it will be on YouTube soon, if it's not already
• Bonneville Salt Flats
• no toe clips
• previous record? 1995, Fred Rompelberg, 167 mph 
• Shea Holbrook: pace car driver
• main sponsor? KHS -- I have to check; I think I have one or two KHS bikes
• two chains
• video looks like something out of Hunter S Thompson's / Johnny Depp's Fear and Loating
• in fact, in one scene, a timing official appears to be channeling Hunter S Thompson
• Fred Rompelberg Bicycle Holidays, Mallorca: sponsor of the pace car
• I did not see any EVs in the video
• a flat tire at 175 mph would be a disaster
• two-mile board: 157 mph
• three-mile board: 163
• 176.633
• wow, almost out of control
• pretty incredible
• ticker tape -- 186 on the last mile?
• came back in a Toyota pickup -- I was hoping for a Nissan Titan
• so, what's next? 200 mph?