Japan to limit financing of overseas coal power plants

Yahoo – AFP, Natsuko FUKUE, July 9, 2020

Protesters wearing masks of world leaders including Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe demonstrated against climate change and coal during the G20 summit in
Osaka in June 2019 (AFP Photo/Pak YIU)

Japan said Thursday it would tighten rules for investment in foreign coal-fired power stations on environmental grounds, but stopped short of ending government funding for projects.

The move comes with the world's third-largest economy under fire for financing projects to build coal plants at home and abroad -- notably in Southeast Asia.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama told reporters the government "has decided to tighten" the rules for supporting investment.

Countries seeking investment would be required to change their "behaviour" towards decarbonisation, Kajiyama said, but added that the new policy was not about cutting back funding.

"There are developing nations in the world that can only choose coal as an energy source," he said.

Further details were not immediately available.

The government currently provides funding to Japanese companies if their projects meet certain criteria -- such as when a foreign country has no options but to choose coal due to economic reasons.

Major decision

The Global Energy Monitor watchdog said last year that Japan accounted for over US$4.8 billion in financing for coal power plants abroad -- particularly in Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Kimiko Hirata, international director of the environmental NGO Kiko Network, said the new investment decision was a "major decision."

"The coal-fired power stations were the pillar of infrastructure exports for Japan," she told AFP.

But Greenpeace criticised the decision as falling short, saying it showed "no clear policy".

Last week, the government promised to study ways of phasing out older, more polluting coal-fired power stations by 2030, following reports it plans to mothball around 100 ageing plants.

Japan has some 140 coal-fired power stations, providing nearly one-third of the nation's total electricity generation, and second only to LNG-fired plants.

But there are more than a dozen projects underway to build more plants -- despite efforts to phase them out in many other parts of the world.

The appetite for coal-fired plants increased significantly after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident following the 2011 tsunami.

Japan wants nearly a quarter of its energy needs to be met by renewable sources -- including wind and solar -- by 2030, a figure critics describe as unambitious based on current levels of around 17 percent.

Meet Thailand's secret weapon in climate change battle

Yahoo – AFP, Dene-Hern CHEN, March 8, 2020

Architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom made her name showing how the effects of 

climate change can be mitigated by ensuring the issue is at the heart of city 

planning (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

Bangkok's future hangs in the balance.

Rising sea levels, unchecked development, groundwater extraction, and rapid urban population growth has left millions vulnerable to natural disasters -- scientists warn the city itself may not survive the century.

New analysis by the Nestpick 2050 Climate Change City Index says the Thai capital could be hardest hit by global warming.

And while it is not alone facing such a threat -- Venice, New Orleans, and Jakarta are predicted to be underwater by 2100 -- it does have a secret weapon in its battle to negate the impact of a hotter planet: renowned architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom who preaches mindful development over mindless construction.

"We are talking life and death in this situation," says the 39-year-old who is hoping to bring Bangkok back from the brink, as scientists warn extreme weather -- flooding and droughts -- could ravage the city, leaving as much as 40 percent submerged in the next decade.

Kotchakorn says: "I don't want to face it with fear. At this moment we have a chance to make change... We have to do it right now to show the coming generations that this is possible. It is not about sitting and waiting and doing the same thing."

No one can accuse the Harvard graduate of resting on her laurels: She made her name showing how the effects of climate change can be mitigated by ensuring the issue is at the heart of city planning.

Kotchakorn rails against Bangkok's unchecked development (AFP Photo/Lillian

SUWANRUMPHA)

She and her firm Landprocess created the internationally acclaimed Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, an 11-acre (4 hectares) space in central Bangkok, which tilts downward at a three-degree angle, allowing rainwater to flow through the flanking grass and wetlands.

Water that's not absorbed by the plants runs down to a pond at the base of the park, where it can be stored and filtered for use during dry spells or released gradually. In cases of severe flooding, the park can hold up to a million gallons of water.

Global rising star

Kotchakorn rails against Bangkok's unchecked development -- more than 10 million live in the metropolis packed with skyscrapers, factories, malls and hotels -- warning that an "addiction to growth" at all costs is jeopardising its ability to thrive.

"We think about how we're going to have more growth in our annual development... What if we shift the orientation from growth to really consider our actions on the environment, listen to the land more," she says.

"It doesn't mean I am against development but I want it to be very meaningful, very mindful, and at the right pace -- so we don't actually kill our future."

Today her ideas have been embraced at home, and abroad -- she gave an acclaimed TED talk in 2018, and last year TIME Magazine included her in its "100 Next" list of global rising stars.

Convincing clients, authorities, and other businesses to see the big environmental 

picture has not been easy in a mega-city obsessed with economic targets and 

expansion (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

But convincing clients, authorities, and other businesses to see the big environmental picture has not been easy in a mega-city obsessed with economic targets and expansion.

Driving change as a woman in a patriarchal society has been an additional challenge, but Kotchakorn insists there is "power" in being different, particularly in an industry dominated by older men offering only "conventional ways of thinking".

Many of her ideas were initially dismissed, but she held firm, explaining: "I feel that was based on their fear. But it's not my fear."

"Women offer different kinds of judgement, different kinds of attitude towards problems... We have to bring that diversity to the table and create better decisions," she adds.

Things must change

A turning point came in 2011, when Thailand endured its worst floods in half a century, which left more than 800 dead nationwide with hundreds of thousands displaced. Bangkok, built on once-marshy land and surrounded by natural waterways, was hard hit.

Then came the World Bank warning that 40 percent of it would be inundated by 2030.

It was clear then things needed to change, says Voraakhom, who grew up in the capital and says air quality has deteriorated rapidly, as has food quality and security because of the heavy use of pesticides.

Hailing her late mother as her inspiration, and her 11-year-old daughter as her 

motivation, Kotchakorn hopes her work will solve problems for generations to 

come (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

In 2018, she created Asia's largest rooftop farm, which mimics the region's famed rice terraces where run-off travels down layers of crops, conserving both water and soil. Winding around the 22,400 square-metre (241,000 square-foot) rooftop is a jogging path and a lawn.

Later this year she will unveil plans to transform a vast, unused bridge crossing the Chao Phraya river into a park with bicycle lanes, bringing more green space to a place with precious little of it.

"If you just do a normal building, it's just going to be the same. It's just another building. But if you create (something new), you actually could touch and change their way of living, their way of eating, their way of understanding of sustainability."

Kotchakorn has even greater ambitions for the city she grew up in -- she wants to "reclaim" the more than 1,000 canals that snake through Bangkok that are currently used for sewage.

"Canals have so much life, so much potential to be public green space and a skeleton of the whole city," she explains.

Hailing her late mother as her inspiration, and her 11-year-old daughter as her motivation, she hopes her work will solve problems for generations to come.

She says: "Being a mother is really helping to push me to create hope and solutions for the next generation. You see that the things you build will last after your life."

Tokyo 2020 unveils Olympic 'plaza' made from donated wood

Yahoo – AFP, January 29, 2020

The Village Plaza will be a key part of the Athletes' Village and is constructed
largely from wood donated by municipalities across Japan (AFP Photo/Behrouz MEHRI)

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic organisers on Wednesday unveiled the "Village Plaza", a key part of the Athletes' Village that is being built from wood donated by municipalities across Japan.

The facility will be a gathering place for athletes and their teams, as well as the site of welcome ceremonies and press briefings during the Games.

The unusual structure is made mostly from wood, with the floors, walls and parts of the roof using timber including larch, Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress.

The vast complex nods to both modern and traditional elements.

The Village Plaza nods to traditional Japanese wood buildings, but incorporates 

novel structures, including an arch frame structure (AFP Photo/Behrouz MEHRI)

"It's based on Japanese traditional wood buildings, but not on any specific building in particular," said Nariki Makihara, Tokyo 2020 senior manager for venues sustainability.

Novel features include columns made by laying wooden planks at inclines against each other, and roof beams made by weaving planks into a latticework.

The wood has been donated by 63 municipalities across the country, and the facility will be dismantled after the Games, with the timber returned for re-use, a model organisers tout as part of their commitment to a sustainable Olympics.

Snag-hit new French nuclear power station delayed by further 3 years

France24 – AFP, 26 July 2019

Construction of the plant at Flamanville began in 2007 and was initially
due for completion in 2012 AFP/File

Paris (AFP) - A new-generation nuclear power plant in northern France that has been hit by huge cost over-runs and manufacturing problems will not be ready before the end of 2022, French power group EDF said Friday, pushing back the date by three years.

Construction of the new plant at Flamanville on France's Channel coast began in 2007 and was initially due for completion in 2012.

The latest problem concerns welds inside the reactor.

"The time that we will need to prepare the repairs, carry out the repairs, test the repairs and get everything checked by (regulator) the ASN and then have the whole plant tested again and prepared to be launched ... that will lead to delays of more than three years," EDF chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy said.

"So we don't think it's possible to commission it before the end of 2022," he added.

The Taishan 1 reactor in China became the first next-generation nuclear plant based on EDF technology, known as the European Pressurised Reactor or EPR, to reach the operational stage last year.

In May, a second reactor, Taishan 2, carried out its first chain reaction.

Related Articles:

Construction of two nuclear power plants in US halted

"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…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Corrosion hits geothermal heat projects, inspectors promise new rules

DutchNews, January 21, 2019

Drilling for geothermal heat. Photo: Depositphotos.com

Underground leaks are threatening all 23 projects using geothermal heat to keep Dutch homes warm, the mining inspectorate Sodm has told Trouw. 

Salt water deep underground is corroding the metal pipes which are used to pump up warm water from depths of at least one kilometre below the earth’s surface, the agency says. 

This is allowing dirty and slightly radioactive substances in the earth’s crust to leach into the upper areas. Three projects have now been halted for repairs and other drilling companies are trying to prevent the leakages with ‘anti-leak chemicals’, Trouw said.

‘This is not a sustainable solution,’ director Theodor Kockelkoren told the paper. 

The agency has now said it will come up with toughnew rules for drilling companies to remove risks to the environment. ‘It is crucial that this process takes place safely,’ the agency said. 

Geothermal heat is seen as one of the mainstays of the government’s plans to cut natural gas usage in the Netherlands – it envisages hundreds of pumps supplying homes, greenhouses and factories with clean heat by 2030. 

The location of the drilling is also crucial and needs to be studied carefully to remove the risk of earthquakes, Sodm says.

Related Article:

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Dutch civil engineering group BAM buys majority stake in Tidal Bridge

DutchNews, May 29, 2018

Illustration: Tidal Bridge

Building group BAM has acquired the majority stake in Tidal Bridge of Eindhoven from construction company Strukton, BAM said in a statement on Tuesday. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Tidal Bridge designs and builds floating bridges equipped with tidal turbines which generate power. The turbines are powered by the ebb and flow of the tide. 

Tidal bridges are ideal in remote areas where they can serve as stand-alone power plants. The company is active in Indonesia, a country of 17,000 islands, most of them requiring electricity plants. 

Tidal Bridge started a feasibility study last year for the construction of a $225-million floating bridge on the Indonesian island of Flores known as the Palmerah Tidal Bridge project. Turbines beneath the bridge will generate up to 30 megawatts from the tidal movements, providing electricity for over 100,000 people in the region. 

The share transfer is related to a strategic decision by Strukton to discontinue its activities in the Indonesian market. 

BAM International, which has been active as a construction and infrastructure contractor in Indonesia since 1970, is seen as the ideal partner for the realisation of the Palmerah Tidal Bridge project as well as the international dissemination of the Tidal Bridge concept, the Financieele Dagblad said.

Related Articles:

Dutch firm to help build world’s biggest tidal energy plant

"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…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Two million Dutch homes to be gas free by 2030, as energy transition takes shape

DutchNews, March 26, 2018

Income from gas was down considerably. Photo: Depositphotos.com 

The Dutch government has set a target of ensuring one in four Dutch homes no longer relies on gas for heating or cooking by 2030, according to Diederik Samsom, the former Labour party leader who is part of the team charged with negotiating the energy transition.

Instead, homes will be heated via geo-thermal pumps or sustainable city heating networks which either generate heat directly or use excess heat from industry, Samsom says. 

Samson has been asked by the government to reach agreement on the necessary measures with business and interest groups. In an interview with Trouw he describes the target as ‘realistic and ambitious’. 

In the first year of the project, 50,000 homes should be cut off from gas and the rate of transition ramped up in the following years. In addition, no more new homes should be connected to the gas network, Samsom says. 

In Amsterdam, for example, two new residential districts are being built without gas and some 70,000 homes in the city are already on district heating networks. 

Relatively new, well insulated homes can start running on heat pumps and electricity – preferably green energy from wind turbines and solar panels. For older districts that will often be expensive and complex, says Samsom. With some extra insulation, they should switch to large-scale heat networks using clean geothermal energy. 

The government said earlier it wants housing to be completely gas free by 2050.

Dutch coalition MPs back gas-free homes to speed up energy transition

DutchNews, January 26, 2018

Income from gas was down considerably. Photo: Depositphotos.com

MPs from the four coalition government parties – VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie – plan to introduce draft legislation which will remove the requirement that all new homes be connected to a gas supply from the statute books. 

Instead, new homes should be connected to alternative sources of heating, such as geothermal systems or city heating schemes using warmth generated by industry, the parties say. 

The aim is to speed up the switch to alternative sources of energy and reduce reliance on gas from Groningen, in an effort to reduce the risk of earthquakes. 

The MPs say that new homes should only be connected to the gas grid if there are ‘heavyweight reasons’ for doing so, such as the cost to residents. City heating schemes have come under fire in the past for being expensive. 

The new coalition wants to ensure that all six million homes in the Netherlands are cut off from the gas supply by 2050. 

The MPs hope the draft legislation would come into effect in 2019.