How Russia Is Cashing In on Climate Change

 

"While governments across the globe may be racing to head off the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change, the economics of global warming are playing out differently in Russia.

Arable land is expanding, with farmers planting corn in parts of Siberia where it never grew before. Winter heating bills are declining, and Russian fishermen have found a modest pollock catch in thawed areas of the Arctic Ocean near Alaska.

Nowhere do the prospects seem brighter than in Russia’s Far North, where rapidly rising temperatures have opened up a panoply of new possibilities, like mining and energy projects. Perhaps the most profound of these is the prospect, as early as next year, of year-round Arctic shipping with specially designed “ice class” container vessels, offering an alternative to the Suez Canal.

Across the Russian Arctic, a consortium of companies supported by the government is midway through a plan to invest 735 billion rubles, or about $10 billion, over five years developing the Northeast Passage, a shipping lane between the Pacific and Atlantic that the Russians call the Northern Sea Route. They plan to attract shipping between Asia and Europe that now traverses the Suez Canal, and to enable mining, natural gas and tourism ventures.

The more the ice recedes, the more these business ideas make sense. The minimum summertime ice pack on the Arctic Ocean is about one-third less than the average in the 1980s, when monitoring began, researchers with the Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Center said last year. The ocean has lost nearly a million square miles of ice and is expected to be mostly ice-free in the summertime, even at the North Pole, by around mid-century.

 

Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear company that is coordinating investment in the shipping lane, said the initiative benefits from climate change but will also help fight it by reducing emissions from ships sailing between Europe and Asia by 23 percent, compared with the much longer Suez route.

 

The trip from Busan, in South Korea, to Amsterdam, for example, is 13 days shorter over the Northern Sea Route — a significant savings in time and fuel.

 

Ship traffic in the Russian Arctic rose by about 50 percent last year, though still amounting to just 3 percent of traffic through the Suez Canal. But a test run last February with a specially reinforced commercial vessel provided proof that the passage can be traversed in winter, so traffic is expected to rise sharply when the route opens year-round next year, Yuri Trutnev, a deputy prime minister, told the Russian media.

“We will gradually take transport away from the Suez Canal,” Mr. Trutnev said of the plan. “A second possibility for humanity certainly won’t bother anybody.”

Money has been pouring in for Arctic projects. Rosatom in July signed a deal with DP World, the Dubai-based ports and logistics company, to develop ports and a fleet of ice-class container ships with specially reinforced hulls to navigate icy seas.

 

The thawing ocean has also made oil, natural gas and mining ventures more profitable, reducing the costs of shipping supplies in and products out. A multi-billion-dollar joint venture of the Russian company Novatek, Total of France, CNPC of China and other investors now exports about 5 percent of all liquefied natural gas traded globally over the thawing Arctic Ocean.

 

Overall, analysts say, at least half a dozen large Russian companies in energy, shipping and mining will benefit from global warming." 

 Notify Patriarch Landsbergis immediately. Russia must not be allowed to benefit here. Urgent Reverend Landsbergis and the fascism-inclined women who elect Conservatives have to take off their underwear and push out strong streams of gas to keep the climate cool.

 

 

„Mesa Air“ ruošiasi išbandyti pristatymo dronus

„„Mesa Air Group Inc.“ teigė, kad planuoja iki metų pabaigos išbandyti maisto ir gėrimų pristatymą į namus per dronus Nevadoje, nes mano, kad bus teikiamos šios paslaugos visos šalies mąstu.

    Šios regioninės oro linijų bendrovės konkurentai yra dideli elektroninės prekybos žaidėjai, įskaitant „Amazon.com Inc.“ ir „Alphabet Inc.“ „Google“ padalinį, taip pat dešimtys naujų įmonių, siekiančių pristatyti bepiločius orlaivius buitiniams vartotojams. Visi susiduria su iššūkiu užtikrinti reguliavimo institucijų patvirtinimą ir skatinti vartotojų pritarimą, nes prekių pristatymo į namus paklausa ir toliau auga.

    Naujų oro transporto technologijų, tokių, kaip bepiločiai orlaiviai ir taksi, kūrėjai prisijungia prie nusistovėjusių aviacijos kompanijų, įskaitant oro linijas ir sraigtasparnių operatorius, kad padėtų užtikrinti reguliavimo institucijų palaikymą.

    Jie susiduria su panašiais iššūkiais, ypač kaip juos galima saugiai valdyti miesto teritorijose. Rėmėjai teigia, kad jie yra pigesni ir draugiškesni aplinkai, nei automobiliai ir taksi, net jei įprastas pristatymas ir važiavimas išlieka daugelį metų.

    „Mes nežinome, kas veiks ir kas ne“, - sakė „Mesa“ generalinis direktorius Jonathanas Ornsteinas.

    „Phoenix“ įsikūrusi „Mesa“ planuoja pradėti nuo keturių bepiločių orlaivių, kuriuos pagamino „Flirtey Inc.“ iš Reno, Nev., ir per ateinančius ketverius metus gali pasiūlyti papildomus 500, kad išplėstų paslaugą JAV ir Naujojoje Zelandijoje.

 

    Keturių rotorių „Flirtey Eagle“ elektriniai dronai skraido autonomiškai. Bendrovė tikisi, kad jie bus valdomi iš restoranų, sumažindami pristatymą 60 pėdų linija iki vartotojų slenksčių, prieš grįždami į bazę.

 

    JAV reguliavimo institucijos rengia taisykles, kaip integruoti komercinius bepiločius orlaivius su esamais oro erdvės naudotojais, pavyzdžiui, orlaiviais. 

 

Didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas dronų kvalifikacijai skristi komerciniais tikslais, kai operatoriai jų nemato. „United Parcel Service Inc.“ padalinys yra vienintelė įmonė, kuri iki šiol gavo licenciją.

 

    „Mesa“ skraidina keleivius trumpesniais maršrutais vežėjų, įskaitant „United Airlines Holdings Inc.“, vardu, tačiau P. Ornsteinas sakė, kad tokio eismo augimas sustojo. Bendrovė paįvairino visus krovinius skraidančiaiss reaktyviniaiss lėktuvais ir planuoja naudoti oro taksi ir mažus elektrinius orlaivius, kai technologija subręs ir reguliavimo institucijos pasirašys.

    Pristatymo dronai artėja prie rezultatų. „Flirtey“ 2015 metais atliko pirmąjį skrydį, patvirtintą Federalinės aviacijos administracijos, kuri taip pat leido „Amazon“ ir kitų pilotines programas.

    Ponas Ornšteinas sakė, kad bandymas mažiau tankiai apgyvendintose Reno dalyse siekia pateikti operatyvinius duomenis, kurie padėtų platesniam diegimui visoje šalyje ir užsienyje. Ponas Ornsteinas sakė, kad saugus ir operatyvus patyrimas taip pat padėtų sumažinti kai kuriuos esamus reguliatoriaus reikalavimus.

 

    „Flirtey“ dronai turi žmogaus stebimą kamerą, kuri užtikrina, kad, pavyzdžiui, picos nebūtų nuleistos ant kažkieno galvos. Bendrovė tikisi, kad laikui bėgant tai bus galima pakeisti jutikliais, taip pagerinant darbo jėgos pranašumą prieš kitas pristatymo galimybes.

 

    „Flirtey“ generalinis direktorius Matthew Sweeny sakė, kad rinkoje esantys dronai pristato per 10 minučių 3 mylių spinduliu. Dronai gali nešti iki 8 svarų, tai atitinka keturias dideles picas. Jis sakė, kad pradinės išlaidos bus panašios į įprastus pristatymo būdus, tačiau pigesnės, kai operacijų mąstas bus padidintas.

 

S. Sweeny atsisakė nustatyti galimus maisto paslaugų teikėjus. Jis sakė, kad pastaraisiais metais „Flirtey“ atliko bandomuosius skrydžius, kad pristatytų paketus su „Domino's Pizza“ franšizės gavėju Naujojoje Zelandijoje ir su „7-Eleven Inc.“ parduotuve Reno mieste. “[1]

 Visi tie su dviračiais zujantys dideliuose miestuose prekių pristatytojai liks be darbo

1. Business News: Mesa Air to Test Delivery Drones
Cameron, Doug.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 22 Oct 2021: B.6.   

 

Mesa Air to Test Delivery Drones

"Mesa Air Group Inc. said it is planning to test home delivery of food and beverages via drones in Nevada by the end of the year, as it considers the potential for nationwide service.

The regional airline's move comes as big e-commerce players including Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google unit as well as dozens of startups pursue drone delivery to household consumers. All face the challenge of securing regulatory approval and stirring consumer acceptance as demand for home delivery continues to boom.

Makers of new air transport technology such as drones and air taxis are joining with established aviation companies including airlines and helicopter operators to help secure backing from regulators.

They face similar challenges, notably how they can be operated safely over urban areas. Proponents maintain they are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than cars and taxis, even if routine consumer deliveries and rides remain years away.

"We don't know what's going to work and what's not," said Mesa Chief Executive Jonathan Ornstein.

Phoenix-based Mesa plans to start with four drones made by Flirtey Inc. of Reno, Nev., with options on an additional 500 over the next four years to expand the service in the U.S. and to New Zealand.

 

The four-rotor Flirtey Eagle electric drones fly autonomously. The company expects them to be operated from restaurants, lowering deliveries on a 60-foot line to consumers' doorsteps before returning to base.

 

U.S. regulators are developing rules to integrate commercial drones with existing airspace users such as aircraft. The biggest focus is on qualifying drones to fly commercially when operators can't see them. A unit of United Parcel Service Inc. is the only company so far to receive a license.

Mesa flies passengers on shorter routes on behalf of carriers including United Airlines Holdings Inc., but Mr. Ornstein said traffic growth has stalled. The company has diversified with all-cargo flights on jetliners and plans to operate air taxis and small, electric aircraft when the technology matures and regulators sign off.

Delivery drones are closer to fruition. Flirtey in 2015 made the first flight approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has also allowed pilot programs by Amazon and others.

Mr. Ornstein said the trial in less densely populated parts of Reno aims to provide the operational data to support a broader rollout across the country and overseas. A safe, operational record would also help lower some of the regulator's existing requirements, Mr. Ornstein said.

Flirtey's drones have a human-monitored camera to ensure that, for example, pizzas aren't lowered onto someone's head. The company hopes over time that this can be replaced by sensors, improving its labor-cost advantage over other delivery options.

 

Flirtey CEO Matthew Sweeny said the market sweet-spot is 10-minute deliveries in a 3-mile radius for its drones. The drones can carry up to 8 pounds, equivalent to four large pizzas. He said initial costs will be similar to conventional delivery modes but cheaper when they are scaled up.

 

Mr. Sweeny declined to identify potential food-service providers. He said Flirtey had conducted test flights to deliver packages in recent years with a Domino's Pizza franchisee in New Zealand and with a 7-Eleven Inc. store in Reno." [1]

 All those bicycle delivery people in big cities will be left without work

1. Business News: Mesa Air to Test Delivery Drones
Cameron, Doug.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 22 Oct 2021: B.6.