US moves ahead on massive Africa power bid

Google – AFP, Shaun Tandon (AFP), 27 February 2014

Electricity wires reflect the sun light at sunset in Mokopane, 60kms southwest

of Polokwane, South Africa, on June 21, 2010 (AFP/File, Daniel Garcia)

Washington — US lawmakers broke through a logjam Thursday on a plan to bring electricity to 50 million Africans, in what Washington hopes will be its next major initiative for the continent.

During a visit to Africa in June, President Barack Obama announced a US drive to improve power for the two thirds of Africans who lack a reliable supply.

But legislation in Congress, which is more concrete and ambitious than Obama's initial statement, had been held up by a dispute on whether to support electrical plants that produce large amounts of carbon blamed for climate change.

The bill, approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sets a goal of installing 20,000 megawatts of power in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 and reaching at least 50 million people who do not have electricity.

The funding would come from the private sector, using government-backed credit guarantees.

Representative Ed Royce, who chairs the panel, hailed the Electrify Africa Act as a way for the United States to contribute to the continent's development, as lack of power impedes everything from education to health care.

Royce, a Republican who worked on the bill with members of Obama's Democratic Party, said that the plan would also help American companies tap into a growing consumer market and show US engagement in the face of China's rising presence in Africa.

The bill still needs approval from the full House of Representatives and Senate, but the committee vote indicated broad support.

However, the legislation came under fire from Representative Mo Brooks, a conservative Republican from Alabama who said that the United States was not financially sound enough to be "building power plants and power lines in Africa."

"I very much appreciate the altruistic motivations that I've heard in support of this legislation, but quite frankly, I don't believe America's financial condition is such that it supports spending money that we don't have on these projects," Brooks said.

Lawmakers from both parties countered that the US-backed financial institutions involved in the initiative -- the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, or OPIC, and the Export-Import Bank -- do not spend taxpayer money and in fact create US jobs by boosting economic activity.

Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly denounced Brooks's view as "dangerous" and said of the act: "It's not just 'altruism,' it's enlightened self-interest."

"I don't want to be the person who has to answer the next generation, 'Why is Africa-Chinese trade the dominant trade in that part of the world and we don't even have a slice of it?' And the answer is because somebody, somewhere, 20 years before said we can't afford it," Connolly said.

- Climate change battle diverted -

Obama had promoted electricity as the next big goal for the United States in Africa after his predecessor, George W. Bush, worked with Democrats to fight diseases including HIV/AIDS and former president Bill Clinton helped jumpstart trade.

But the bill had been held up as corporations pushed to ease existing requirements that OPIC steer clear of carbon-intense projects. General Electric said it supported renewable energy but that efforts in Africa also needed other sources, such as gas.

In a compromise, the bill does not address the issue. The fight was partially diverted as Congress took up OPIC funding when drafting the $1.1 trillion spending bill for fiscal year 2014.

Environmentalists argued that major fossil fuel projects have proven to be a failure in much of Africa and that US investment could encourage more innovative clean energy in a continent expected to be hard hit by climate change.

One, the anti-poverty group co-founded by U2 frontman Bono, pressed for passage of the legislation.

Tom Hart, the group's US executive director, said that the bill "shows the best face of America."

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

".... The Illuminati

One more. "Kryon, what about the Illuminati?" OK, I'll tell you, for these things are already known by many.

Everything you thought about the Illuminati of the past is correct. This was not conspiracy, but fact. However, in the light of what I just said above, it could not sustain itself in an energy where everyone talks to everyone, and has since gone dormant.

The Illuminati was based in Greece, and it started by controlling the most potent economic attribute that could manipulate the strings of commerce on the earth - shipping. Once they had control of shipping, what followed was financial markets. This, then, worked its way to insurance, world stock markets and banking. This was prevalent for decades, right up to the mid '80s.

I have a question for the elders in the room. Look back in your lifetime, dear ones. What was the stock market like when you were younger? If you remember, you will say it had incremental changes up and down, except for occasional major shifts - which, by the way, were also controlled. It was steady, up or down. It didn't vacillate wildly, with hundreds of point-shifts from month to month. It never did. That's what a controlled market looks like. Now take a look at your current stock market. Does it look controlled? It is not! It is free-wheeling and it can go wherever it is driven by normal financial activity.

This should tell you something, dear ones. The Illuminati is no longer in control. It lost in banking, in tobacco, and it's about to lose in big pharma and insurance because awareness lets people know what is controlled and what is not. Awareness of truth will trump any other energy, and integrity will win some major battles.

So, did the Illuminate die? No. They simply lost their method of control.

The Future of the Illuminati

Now, I want to tell you something that you didn't expect and something I've reported only one other time. What about all of the money that the Illuminati has? There are trillions and trillions of euro in banks, under their control, waiting. What are they going to do with it and where are they going to use it? It's still here. They're waiting.

This group is waiting for something to happen that they know is going to happen, for they see it coming as much as I do. However, I would like to tell you something that they don't expect. With awareness comes generational shift. Those in charge of this money will not always be elders. The indigos eventually will have it.

They are waiting for something to happen in Africa - the building of a new civilization, a continent that has nothing to unlearn. Once Africa is cured, once it's ready, a new civilization can be created from the ground up. Africans will be ready to learn everything about building a foundation for the most advanced civilization ever and will do it with the most modern and inventive systems available. Eventually, this new continent will even beat the economics of China.

This is the prediction and always has been, and the Illuminati's money will fund it. Did I say the Illuminati will fund it? [Kryon laugh]The Illuminati's money will fund it, but there is a difference from the past, dear ones. The ones who inherit the positions in the Illuminati will be a different consciousness. Listen, they are not suddenly going to be the ones who have the good of everyone in their hearts - hardly. They want to make money, but what they will see instead is a way to make a great deal of money through this investment. In the process, it will automatically help hundreds of thousands, and they will be at the beginning, the foundation, that builds the new Africa. The new African states of unification eventually will create a continent stronger than any of the others, and it will have one currency. The resources alone will dwarf anything in the world.

"Wow, Kryon, how long is that going to take?"

The Humans in the room control that and those listening later and reading. When you leave this room, what are you going to do? Go home, report this, rub your hands together, and wait for it to happen? It won't. For the Humans in the room and the old souls hearing and reading have got work to do, and I've told you this before. You've got work to do.

There's an alliance that you're going to have to create with one another and with another group - the young people of Earth. The youth of this earth are changing the way things work. Can you see it? You're not supposed to sit around and watch them either, because they need you, old soul.

It's time for you to align with the indigos and the concepts of the youth of the planet. Do not think for a moment that their age shows their wisdom. These two attributes are not commensurate with one another; they're not linear. These young people may be older souls than you are! Don't think that because they've got technology that you don't understand that you can't be one with them. Their technology is social networking, the very thing we are talking about, where everyone can talk to everyone. The new consciousness on the planet starts in two areas - the children and the old souls. ..."

Japan digs deep for alternative energy

Deutsche Welle, 7 February 2014

Three years after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan's nuclear plants remain mothballed. But as Tokyo struggles to cover the costs of imported oil and petroleum, companies have set their sights on geothermal energy.

The announcement in January that Japan suffered a record trade deficit in 2013 caused consternation in Tokyo, with analysts pointing to the need to import fossil fuels as the biggest single factor in the nation's economic slump.

The annual deficit spiked to 11.47 trillion yen (112.07 billion US dollars), up 65.3 percent on the previous year, due in large part to the demand from industry and households for crude oil and liquefied natural gas, all of which have to be imported.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says it is committed to restarting nuclear reactors idled since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and weaning the country off energy imports. But with the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant still fresh in local residents' memories, there is little likelihood of the nation's 50 reactors being switched back on in the near future.

Adversity into opportunity

Face with this situation, Japanese companies have discovered that times of adversity can also present a window of opportunity. And with the public unwilling to countenance a return to nuclear power - at least for now - a number of firms want to tap into an underdeveloped, virtually limitless and environmentally friendly energy source that literally lies beneath Japan's feet.

PM Shinzo Abe is committed to
restarting nuclear reactors in Japan

Chuo Electric Power Co. has announced that its new geothermal plant in Kumamoto Prefecture will start generating power in April, becoming the first new geothermal facility in 15 years.

A second project, developed by Orix Corp, and Toshiba Corp., is scheduled to go online in early 2015. The two companies see the plant in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, as a test site for further facilities in Hokkaido, Tohoku - the region devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami - and on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu.

Another 10-company consortium, headed by Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Inpex Corp., has similarly announced plans to develop Japan's largest geothermal plant, in the Bandai-Asahi National Park in the Fukushima Prefecture. With an anticipated output capacity of 270,000 kilowatts, the developers are hoping to have the plant operational in the early years of the next decade.

Oil, gas exploration firms

"Inpex are getting involved as they are an oil and gas exploration company and obviously have experience and know-how in the area of drilling, so a project like this is perfect for them," Tom O'Sullivan, an independent energy consultant and founder of Tokyo-based Mathyos Japan, told DW.

Projects to harness Japan's geothermal resources lag behind the solar sector, he agreed, "but the potential is enormous in a country that sits atop the 'Ring of Fire'" - the meeting point of tectonic plates around the Pacific Rim that is infamous for seismic activity, volcanoes and naturally heated water rising from deep within the earth's crust.

"All of Japan is colored in red on the University of Tokyo's seismological map," O'Sullivan said. "The potential is just remarkable." An estimated 70 gigawatts of geothermal energy lie directly below Japan, sufficient to supply more than one third of the nation's power needs, O'Sullivan said.

Japanese companies want to tap into the underdeveloped energy source
which lie under the country's feet

But there are also hurdles. In the same way as people in other countries are protesting the exploitation of shale gas deposits, many in Japan are resisting the deep boring that is required to access geothermal energy. Even the operators of the nation's famous "onsen" hot spring resorts are concerned that the power industry will deprive them of the resource they rely on.

High development costs

Development costs are also high, critics point out, with a 20 megawatt geothermal plant requiring an initial 7 million US dollars to assess and then a further investment of between $20 million and $40 million to complete the drilling.

The typical seven years from discovery to commercial operation of a geothermal plant is another concern for potential investors. A solar farm, for example, can be returning an income in as little as 12 months, O'Sullivan points out.

Japan's first geothermal plant (article picture) opened on the island of Hachijojima in 1999 and, to date, geothermal projects here have been relatively small-scale affairs, in part to ensure the support of local residents.

Since the Fukushima disaster, however, the national government has introduced a feed-in tariff system to encourage investment in the geothermal sector and a further 20 sites across the country are presently being assessed for the suitability for projects.

Rival energy sources

But Yoko Ito, a senior researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics Japan, believes that more attention is still being focused on other potential sources of renewable energy.

"The feed-in tariffs were introduced in July 2012 as the government believed they would help to increase the amount of geothermal energy being supplied, but the total amount that has been added so far is disappointing," she said.

The 17 plants currently in operation provide a modest 520 megawatts, although this puts Japan in eighth place in the world in terms of geothermal electricity, according to the Geothermal Energy Association.

"Many of Japan's projects are quite small, for a limited local area and not suitable for commercial operations," Ito said.

Supporters of alternatives to Japan's reliance on nuclear energy or polluting fossil fuels hope that small-scale geothermal projects will eventually encourage investors to sink their money into larger schemes that may make the most of the nation's underground opportunity.

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"Connecting The Dots" - Feb 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version) 

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”