Atlantic Crossing Redux?…
Russian atrocities in Ukraine are exceeding the wildest imaginations. And Putin’s ruthlessness and unbound viciousness toward civilian population — have left western democracies shaken to the core.
In just a few weeks, the EU, UK, and NATO have realized how brutal and dictatorial Putin’s regime can be. And the European peace has not been so unceremoniously shuttered since the end of WWII.
Sooner or later, people all around the world will sadly realize that the new Emperor of Russia has no clothes. And Putin will be exposed standing naked before humanity and spitting out his venomous and bizarre doctrines — like a true mad man infected by rabies…
The 80 years of European security evaporated in a matter of weeks. And once more, Europe has come to a harsh realization that it needs help… fast.
Learning From History
According to Wikipedia: “The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. As a small island country, the United Kingdom was highly dependent on imported goods. Britain required more than a million tons of imported material per week to survive and fight.
In the last few weeks, the entire world awakened to the harsh brutality of the deranged megalomaniac from Russia. And the push to revamp energy, food, manufacturing, and defense supply chains in Europe and North America — is the strongest it has been in generations.
But first things first. Nowadays Europe is not starving yet, but it might freeze to death this winter if the Russian energy supplies are completely cut off. So, the short-term priority to secure energy supplies needs to be addressed, immediately.
All the other issues should be dealt with shortly after — at the end of this winter. Simply put, there is no more luxury of embracing “long-term planning”. The economist John Maynard Keynes said it the best: “In the long run, we are all dead” — and in just a few weeks the meaning of his statement gained renewed relevance.
EU Energy Supplies
As a result of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the EU and North America must act in unison to wean Europe off Russian oil and gas — and to help the EU escape the Russian yoke. Hence, there is a new meaning to the ancient adage of Hillel the Elder — and his 3 most important questions of the last 2000+ years:
· “If not now, when?”
· “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”
· “If I am only for myself, what am I?”
However, Hillel gave us also yet another rule to follow but it seems to me that Putin never received this memo. I am referring to Hillel’s Golden Rule, which says: “Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want others to do to you — the rest is commentary”…
So, what can be done to help the besieged Ukraine? According to the iea, a 10-Point Plan for reducing reliance on Russian supplies boils down to the following:
1. Do not sign any new gas supply contracts with Russia. [Impact: Enables greater diversification of supply this year and beyond]
2. Replace Russian supplies with gas from alternative sources [Impact: Increases non-Russian gas supply by around 30 billion cubic meters within a year]
3. Introduce minimum gas storage obligations [Impact: Enhances resilience of the gas system by next winter]
4. Accelerate the deployment of new wind and solar projects [Impact: Reduces gas use by 6 billion cubic meters within a year]
5. Maximize power generation from bioenergy and nuclear [Impact: Reduces gas use by13 billion cubic meters within a year]
6. Enact short-term tax measures on windfall profits to shelter vulnerable electricity consumers from high prices [Impact: Cuts energy bills even when gas prices remain high]
7. Speed up the replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps [Impact: Reduces gas use by an additional 2 billion cubic meters within a year]
8. Accelerate energy efficiency improvements in buildings and industry [Impact: Reduces gas use by close to 2 billion cubic meters within a year]
9. Encourage a temporary thermostat reduction of 1°C by consumers [Impact: Reduces gas use by some 10 billion cubic meters within a year]
10. Step up efforts to diversify and decarbonize sources of power system flexibility [Impact: Loosens the strong links between gas supply and Europe’s electricity security]
It doesn’t really matter how much oil and gas flows to the EU from North America via the Atlantic, or from Norway. And EU would be wise to complement the North American supplies with resources coming from Saudi Arabia via Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.
I, for one, would gladly advise the EU leaders how to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy… by the order of magnitude. As I wrote in: “Green Hydrogen — More Than Meets The Eye”…
The debates between the pros and cons of GREY vs GREEN HYDROGEN (GH2) are intense. But the fact remains: massive renewable energy generation requires massive energy storage solutions that can store the intermittent energy for months and/or years — and not just for a few hours.
Only GH2 can deliver such long-term renewable energy storage to grid operators and offer unmatched revenue streams from wholesale price arbitrage, curtailment avoidance, frequency/voltage regulation, etc.
Moreover, the already EXISTING legislations in the US and Europe will soon have the greatest impact on Net Zero Buildings (NZB) — as such will have to deliver more energy to the grid than they consume. And all such buildings will have no choice but to rely on Fuel Cell generators using GH2 to meet the NZB regulations.
And I will gladly help the EU to deploy the largest amount of renewable energy in the shortest amount of time possible — as my solutions can be deployed TODAY anywhere around the globe. And with my help, the EU will use renewable energy to produce and use GH2 — not only to “green the grid” but also eliminate… natural disasters.
While others focus on developing new climate change mitigation technologies, I focus on developing the most innovative business models — to deploy them. Our strategies are all about creating massive revenue generators — using predictable and explainable growth engines. If it can’t be replicated at a very large scale — it doesn’t cut.
EU needs Existential Moonshots not only to escape the political blackmail from Russia but to fight Climate Change, too. However, Climate Change moonshots are prohibitively expensive…
Hence, we designed Climate Change Moonshots with such solutions in mind. But instead of flying the rich to the moon, we are bringing the moonshots down to earth…
In conclusion
Putin is not a new Napoleon, a new emperor, or a new Stalin. Deep down, the Russian oligarchs, have no desire to go back to the communist era and have the new KGB comrades hover over their shoulders.
Moreover, a great number of freedom-loving Russians already show a heroic resistance to Putin’s madness and demonstrate on the streets of Moscow and beyond. Some, are even jumping in front of the Russian TV cameras and interrupting the onslaught of mass media fabrications — knowing full well about the dangers of doing so.
And who knows, perhaps with all the closures of fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, the Putin-lovers will soon have to eat the nesting Russian dolls (“Matryoshkas”) instead of hamburgers. And no amount of vodka or the samovar tee — is going to make the wooden taste of Matryoshkas any better…
What Putin didn’t expect and badly miscalculated is the effect of the Ukrainian invasion on boosting European unity and solidifying transatlantic ties. But there is much more to it. He also reversed the trend in Silicon Valley and at many heart-bleeding liberal campuses across North America — resenting any collaboration with the military and defense industry.
To all such naïve and misguided generations, I say the following: the freedom and the liberty you enjoy today are dependent on your country’s military and defense industry. Just turn on your TV sets for 10 minutes and see the real threat to democracy and freedom — in action.
So, it is time to turn the page. The EU and North America need strong National Security. And the tech industry and the universities need to support it.
I am convinced that the economic opportunities behind such revivals are unprecedented and enormous. And smart set-aside rules can further boost local manufacturing and ensure SMB’s participation, too…
For More Information
Please see my additional posts on Linkedin, Twitter, Medium, and CGE’s website.
AI Boogeyman
You can also find additional info in my book on amazon: “AI Boogeyman — Dispelling Fake News About Job Losses”, and on our YouTube Studio channel… Thank you.
“BODs Serve Investors, Advisory Boards Are CEOs’ Best Friends”
• By definition, entrepreneurs… solve problems. And I’ve been solving a lot of problems over the last 30+ years.
• Some problems thought me the most effective ways to expedite customers’ “buy-in” by solving the so-called “DO NOTHING” decision-making and the bias of the “STATUS QUO”. So, I wrote about it in my LinkedIn post: “The Curse Of Doing Nothing”.
• Other challenges made me realize how to deal with ambiguity and make decisions despite the insufficient data — please see: “The Power Of The OPPOSITES”. And since imitation works best in karaoke bars, not in business, I join Advisory Boards to unlock Radical Innovation.
• Good advisors help increase REVENUES & reduce COSTS. Great ones, turn COST into PROFIT centers — so I deliver the right KEE (Knowledge, Experience, and Expertise) to do so.
• Warren Buffett once said: “predicting rain doesn’t count; building arks, does”. So, while in the past, I helped thousands of Cleantech companies to succeed — now, I design & deploy our own organically grown startups.
• We launch organically grown moonshots — but instead of flying the rich to the moon, we bring the moonshots down to earth…
• Moreover, I am convinced that Digitization, IT, and Artificial Intelligence are causing the greatest disruption of the last 50 years. I welcome such ambitious transformations and my goal is to help progressive entities to embrace BusinessAI™ advice.
• As a founder of Canada Green ESCO Inc. (CGE), I used BusinessAI™ strategies in Cleantech — focused on fighting Climate Change & utility-scale Environmental Risks. In total, CGE raised $1B+ in project finance linked to solar, wind, geothermal, Waste-To-Energy (WTE), energy efficiency, and more.
• Now, I help maximize returns also in Fintech and other sectors. And I apply the same structured finance expertise I acquired through financing Cleantech projects.
• My pattern recognition abilities allow me to see what is still missing & how to maximize business offerings & profitability. And as a coach & mentor, I bring unparalleled business savvy to separate the wheat from the chaff…
• What I learned over the years is that it is not just technology innovation that makes all the difference. Business Model Innovation is as disruptive as Technology Innovation and yet I see too many companies focused on pushing their product out the door — while losing ~70% of untapped revenue streams…
