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Amazon chose Catalonia to develop a pioneer project in renewable energy. Until he ran into politics

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The Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia had on the table a decree that could mark a before and after in the deployment of renewable energy in the territory. Among its beneficiaries were one of Amazon’s most innovative projects worldwide: the installation of a self -consumption wind turbine in its logistics center of El Far d’Empordà (Girona). However, the norm has fallen a victim of the political struggle. A last minute withdrawal. Last Wednesday, the Government chaired by Salvador Illa (PSC) decided to withdraw the decree of the Plenary Seaching of the Parliament in the absence of sufficient support. As the country has collectedthe Minister of Territori, Sílvia Paneque, the decision was due to the objective of “exploring ways of a greater consensus.” But the reality is that the rejection of ERC and the Commons left the initiative without the possibility of moving forward. As detailed by Public DiarioThe Communs argued that the text should be processed as a bill to allow substantial modifications, such as strengthening local participation, passing the Sectorial Territorial PLA per to the implantation of renewable energy (plater) and shielding the public energy company. In parallel, ERC harden its position after the cooling of negotiations with the Government of Spain on tax assignments, such as IRPF management, which resulted in a vote against. The immediate consequences. The fall of the decree has put on the energy sector alert, especially companies with in progress. Such as The country has indicated in a reportAmazon expected the norm to facilitate the development of a pioneering infrastructure in its BCN4 center in Girona, where it employs more than 1,700 people and has invested more than 5,000 million euros in recent years. The project contemplates the installation of a wind turbine of 126 meters and 2.2 MW of power, in addition to photovoltaic plates and a storage battery system. With the withdrawal of the decree, the multinational faces an uncertain regulatory framework, since the local urban regulation – in this case, of the municipality governed by ERC – does not always contemplate this type of infrastructure. The decree provided for these projects of higher public interest, which would allow to overcome municipal obstacles and expedite licenses. The General Directorate of Energy had already granted administrative authorization, but now the project is exposed to possible delays. It was a decisive step. Beyond the Amazon case, such as The avant -garde has explainedthe text included technical measures such as storage regulation through electrical batteries, with 4,000 MW in pending connection projects. The expansion of the power threshold for industrial and cooperative self -consumption, from 100 kW to 500 kW. The transmission of authorizations between companies, unlocking about 800 MW in paralyzed projects. And, finally, the possibility of considering certain projects of higher public interest, overcoming administrative resistance. Model in dispute. However, the decree also aroused the rejection of citizen entities that denounce an energy model imposed from above. The Xarxa Per la Sobirania Energy (XSE) and the Xarxa Catalan per to a fair energy transition warned that the norm opened the door to expropriations of agricultural soils and cut deadlines for public participation and allegations by municipalities, according to public newspaper. For its part, the entity Renovem-us He stood out at the forefront that the extension of the industrial self -consumption threshold would have allowed to unlock “hundreds of projects of cooperatives and energy communities” that now continue in limbo. Look in September. That is the next window to relaunch the decree, although nothing guarantees that the new attempt will prosper. Meanwhile, investments cool and the perception of regulatory insecurity is consolidated. As The country explainedthe Amazon project was not only the first of its kind in Catalonia, but also the first worldwide for multinational with these characteristics. A replicable pilot, a step towards corporate energy self -sufficiency and a powerful message from Empordà to Europe. Catalonia leads in electric production, but goes to the tail in renewables. Just the 15.7% of its consumption is covered with clean sources. If the projects are still stuck, the territory will continue to lose ground compared to other regions that already advance with a firm step towards the energy transition. Image | Unspash and Unspash Xataka | Catalonia has a problem with renewables: it is the most backward community despite being the most produced

When the British wanted to terrorize the Nazis during World War II, they chose a peculiar weapon: pump rats

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Think about the Second World War is to think of large -scale battles, tremendous operations and epic skirmishes. And, although it is true that there were imposing deeds, we are also tremendously influenced by cinema and video games. Because doing one spy movie or a ‘Save Soldier Ryan‘is’ easy’, but … and one above the inflatable tanks or of pigeons piloting missiles? That is more complicated. Because, In a moment of despaireverything goes. And if the Americans gave them to devise a bomb -loaded bomb To set the Japanese houses, the British be occurred Something that looks like a joke, but that made a lot of sense: filling rats with plastic explosive and waiting to be triggered in Nazis facilities. The Germans They were caught at firstbut far from being a fudge, it turns out that discovering the pump rats was what made the operation a success. Exploding Kittens Rats 1941 was a key year in the Second World War. The Nazis gave the green light to the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war officially and began the Mass deportation of Jews to the extermination fields. There were too many open fronts and the war had just become a global phenomenon, but the British wore years fighting the Nazis. The first quarter was crazy, with bombings of the British to German possessions and intense German bombings in English territory, attacking cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and, above allLondon, who for almost two months He suffered night bombings. Apart from in the air, the war was fought on land, and one of the plans of British intelligence revolved around the industrial sabotage. Damaging the factories, Germany would lose war power, it is evident. Thus, the British Special Operations Office, or SOE for its acronym in English, devised a strategy which would consist in wasteing pump rats near German infrastructure. They would not put a “backpack” pump to the rat and leave it free out there, no: the plan It consisted In getting dead rats, open them on the channel, empty them, fill them with plastic explosive, place a detonator that would come out for what would be the anus and strategically locate each animal near the boilers of the factories and key buildings of the Nazis. The goal? That when a worker found a rat, he directly threw it into that boiler, turning on the wick and causing the structure to fly through the air, interrupting the Nazi war machine. That said, the truth is that it was a brilliant plan because it was easy to think that workers would not bury the animal or throw it out there, since it could spread diseases, that cremation in the boiler being as fast. And they got with a hundred of them. There was a problem: the Nazis intercepted the first sending of explosive rats before they were deployed. Far from thinking that the plan failed, it turns out that The caught was much more effective that what they could have achieved if the rats had managed to be thrown into the boilers. And the reason is obvious: the Nazis, when discovering the Artimañathey wondered how many explosive rats before that interception they could have placed the British. That sowed a more explosive doubt than the rat itself because the Nazis launched campaigns to search for similar devices and, if they found a dead rat, began to tremble. Would it be a rat or a pump? Although any exploded, the operation was never considered a psychological success for the general paranoia that caused in the German ranks. The possibility of such unconventional sabotage forced the Nazis to divert resources to counteract similar threats. In the official SOE archives, they detail that the device “caused considerable problems to the enemy, but not quite in the way it was intended.” In the end, it was an effective form of psychological war because there were Germans trying to counteract a non -existent threat. As concluded Soe himself, “the problem that rats caused to the Nazis was a much greater success for us than if the rats had really been used.” Today is an anecdote or an object of collecting, like the main image rat, sold In 2017 for more than $ 1,800. Also as a much less crazy idea than those of those pilot pigeons … or that of the incendiary bats. Images | Charles Merrell, The National Archives, Bonhams In Xataka | 80 years ago the US threw a bomb in Japan that nobody agreed again. He has just exploded at an airport

The Japan telepeage system had a 38 -hour blackout. Japanese drivers chose to continue paying equally

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Japan is a Country of contrasts. On the one hand, it is a society in which the Machines of vending With used pantieslabor situations close to slavery wave extreme surveillance. On the other, they are obsessed with cleanliness and they have a strong value system in which the norms are not contemplated to skip. But what happens if you go with your car on a highway, the Toll system It doesn’t work and the barrier is raised? Would you pay? Well, the same thing happened recently and thousands of people opted for what seemed most correct: pay. Short. It was on April 8 when the company’s electronic toll collection system NIPPON EXPRESSWAY CENT. (Nexco Central) He stopped working. This implies that cars with telepeaje could not carry out the payment automatically in those positions in which there is no personnel -something that Do not abound at this time in Japan– And obviously the barrier did not get up. As you can imagine, it was an important problem because They generated great traffic jams. The problem began at night, but was expanding for 38 hours in which 106 tolls were unusable, causing chaos on 17 routes, including those that go to Economic heart of the country, Tokyo. Huh, pay. The company acted by sending personnel to the toll stalls in which charges could be made manually, but between others it was impossible for the infrastructure and that they could not send operators to all the points, they made the decision to raise the barriers in the affected points. It was the first time that the system failed at this scale from the privatization of Nexco Central in 2005. Vehicles could pass freely and was the best decision to Avoid bottling during the peak of the next day. What else did Nexco do? Tell the drivers that they will use a form on their website to pay deferred. Interestingly, the drivers who aimed how much they had to pay based on the sections traveled that day and sent the relevant applications are counted by thousands. The calculations. They were not all, much less. It is estimated that about 960,000 vehicles passed through those tolls during the 38 hours of fault and 3.8% of them They requested Deferred payment. It may seem like a ridiculous figure, but we are talking about some 36,000 drivers who, voluntarily and without any duty, decided to request the option to pay for the “service consumed” that day. Absolution. All this showed that the TV system It is vulnerable because, when a failure occurs on a scale like this occasion, it could not be react and the only solution was to lift the barriers to avoid major evils. The president of the company, in a very Japanese way, apologized Publicly and promised something: reimbursements and a total of 1,200 million yen, about seven million euros, which stopped entering during error time. All those who paid would receive the reimbursement of their money in a cordial gesture from the company to ensure equity with those who decided not to pay, but a thing was also remembered from Nexco: although the system fails, drivers They should pay. And there is the most questionable side in history. The error was due to a Failure in a software update of the teleping system that caused traffic jams and delays at first and, despite being the fault of the company, they wanted users to pay equally. Images | The Japan Faq In Xataka | Japan’s economy depends more and more on a very Japanese phenomenon: fans absolutely delivered to its idols

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