Europe

Iran has just crossed the great energy red line. Türkiye is the first victim of a blackout that is already looking at Europe

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We had been holding our breath for weeks, accepting the logistical tension in the Strait of Hormuz as the new normal. However, the war has crossed an irreversible red line. We have gone from a trade blockade to the physical destruction of the world’s energy engine, and the consequences are already being felt in the global economy. The impact was so immediate that the price of natural gas in Europe skyrocketed by 35%. Global interdependence has caused the first major domino to fall to be thousands of kilometers from the epicenter: Turkey has become the first country to suffer a gas supply cut, marking the beginning of a chain reaction. The blow to the energetic heart. It is not just any objective. As explained Deutsche Welle, South Pars is the largest natural gas reserve in the world – shared with Qatar, which calls its part North Dome – and contains enough gas to supply the world’s needs for 13 years. It is the basis of Iran’s energy survival. The response from Tehran was withering and expansive. As detailed in the Wall Street JournalIran did not limit itself to responding to Israel, but attacked vital infrastructure in neighboring countries, launching missiles against the gigantic Ras Laffan industrial complex in Qatar (the largest liquefied natural gas facility in the world) and refineries in Saudi Arabia. In the midst of this war chaos, Iran turned off the tap: Tehran suddenly paralyzed its natural gas exports to Türkiye. Türkiye in the eye of the hurricane. The cutoff to Türkiye is not an anecdote, it is the symptom of a systemic crisis. According to the data provided by BloombergLast year, Ankara imported around 13% or 14% of its total gas needs (about 7 billion cubic meters) from Iran. To the gallery, the Turkish government tries to project calm. How to collect ReutersTurkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has categorically assured that “there are no supply problems” and that the country’s storage facilities are at 71% of their capacity. Furthermore, the minister insists that oil dependence of the Middle East is a “manageable 10%” and they are already accelerating diversification agreements with giants such as TotalEnergies, Exxon and Shell. The markets are not optimistic. The experts consulted by Middle East eye They point out that Turkey has alternatives – such as increasing the flow from Russia or Azerbaijan – but the closing of the Iranian tap will force Ankara to compete fiercely in the international market for emergency shipments of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Panic reaches Europe. And this is where the domino effect hits us directly. As Türkiye goes on a desperate hunt for LNG ships, the pressure on prices becomes unsustainable for the Old Continent. The day after the start of the conflict, the price of gas rose 55%. However, in the midst of this European chaos, one country is resisting the challenge much better than its neighbors: Spain. Thanks to a massive deployment of solar and wind energy, our country manages to cushion the initial blow by sinking prices during daylight hours. But the transition is painfully incomplete and we are not invulnerable. As analyst Antonio Aceituno, from Tempos Energía, warns, the Spanish balance is broken when evening falls. When the sun disappears, gas combined cycles begin to cover demand, returning tension to prices. It is empirical proof that, without massive batteries to guard the sun, at eight in the afternoon we are still at the mercy of what happens in the Strait of Hormuz. As the expert Gerard Reid reflects in Euronewsit is preferable to depend on China to import a solar panel once every 25 years, than to depend on gas from the Persian Gulf every day. Broken diplomacy. Arab governments are “furious” because they feel the US-Israeli strategy has put a target on their backs. For its part, Qatar has called the attacks on its facilities a “dangerous and irresponsible step” and a direct threat to its national security. In the midst of this powder keg, Washington’s role is erratic. President Donald Trump took to social media to deny prior knowledge of the Israeli attack on South Pars. However, Trump did not hesitate to issue a brutal ultimatum to Tehran: if it attacks Qatar again, the United States will “massively blow up the entire” Iranian oilfield. The scars of a systemic war. As my colleague Miguel Jorge analyzes well,the dynamic that has been activated is dangerously reminiscent of the 1991 Gulf War. It is no longer about destroying military capabilities or political pressure; We are facing a war against the very infrastructure that supports the states. The apparent lightness with which this conflict has developed has dragged us into a dead end. Iran has shown that it does not need to win a conventional military war; It is enough for him to set the energetic heart of the planet on fire. Even if a ceasefire were signed tomorrow, the material reality is inescapable. Charred refineries and dry pipelines to Türkiye are not rebuilt with signatures on a piece of paper. The scar on the world’s infrastructure will take years to heal, and the crisis that we had been avoiding for months has already detonated irreversibly. Image | Hamed Malekpour Xataka | The red lines are ceasing to exist: the fear of the US and Qatar in the face of Iran’s attacks on basic infrastructure

Europe is within your reach, including Spain

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A ballistic missile can reach speeds greater than Mach 10 and travel thousands of kilometers in less than half an hour, even leaving the atmosphere before falling back towards its target. That combination of speed and height is what has made this type of weapon one of the pillars of military strategy since the mid-20th century. Europe enters the map. A few days ago, Iran crossed a line that had been theoretical for years. The launch of missiles towards Diego Garcíaabout 4,000 kilometers away, was not only a military movement, it was a full-fledged strategic message. This distance is approximately equivalent to that between Iran from many European capitals. For the first time, range has ceased to be a hypothesis and has become something demonstrated in combat. Because although the missiles failed, the gesture changes the board, and Europe is no longer out of reach conflict potential. What really happened. Iran fired two long range missiles towards a joint base of the United States and the United Kingdom in the Indian Ocean. One failed during flight and the other was intercepted by American defenses. The attack did not achieve the desired impact, but it did demonstrate a capacity that until now had not been shown clearly. It is not so much the result that matters in this case, but the fact that Iran decided to use that type of weapons. In other words, the step indicates a change in your strategy and your willingness to escalate the conflict. The jump to 4,000 km. Until now, Iran had defended that it limited the range of its missiles to about 2,000 kilometers, a range that covered the Middle East but left out Western Europe. However, the attempted attack suggests it can operate at much greater distances, close to 4,000 kilometers. That figure places cities within its potential radius, for example, like London or Paris. Also to a large extent from southern Europeincluding Spain in certain scenarios. The key is not whether you can do it accurately. The thing is that distance is no longer a clear limit. Diego Garcia How these missiles work. Ballistic missiles continue an arc path after being launched by a rocket. The larger the scope, the larger it should be rocket size and the technical problems are more complex. The reason: increased vibrations, heat on re-entry and navigation errors. There are “tricks”, for example, to gain distance weight can be reduced of the explosive charge, but that limits its destructive capacity. Additionally, accuracy worsens the longer the flight. Therefore, reaching a distant objective is not the same as doing so with real military effectiveness. More psychological than operational. The results of the attack itself they point to their limits. Only two missiles were launched, and one missed and the other was intercepted. This suggests, a priori, that Iran does not have of large quantities of this type of weaponry nor high reliability at these distances. Furthermore, Western defense systems are designed precisely to intercept this type of threats. In a real scenario, the missiles would be few, inaccurate and faced with advanced defenses. The military impact would be limited, while the political impact, on the other hand, would be much greater. Europe, with Spain, within the calculation. If you also want, the important change is not technical, but rather strategic. Until now, Europe viewed the conflict as something very distant. With this movement, enter of range calculationalthough the immediate risk is low, because being within the potential radius changes perception security. In that sense, Spain, due to its geographical position, is at the extreme of that theoretical scope. It is not an immediate objective, much less probable. But stop being off the map. And so, in strategic termsit is already a relevant change. The message in the middle of war. In short, everything indicates that the main objective of the launch It was not so much destroying the base, but send a signal. Demonstrate capacity, surprise your adversaries and increase international pressure. At a time when Iran is under severe military and economic pressure, showing that it can expand the conflict is a form of brutal deterrence. Also a message to the United States, to its allies and to all of Europe. And as in many phases of war, the psychological effect it may be even more important than the material result. Image | Ballistic Missile, Google Earth In Xataka | If the question is whether the US is going to invade Iran, the answer right now is 3,000 paratroopers on their way to the Gulf In Xataka | Iran has drones and ballistic missiles: Iran’s enemies apparently have the ability to steal its rains

If you want to travel through Europe with your pet, there will now be something more important than the suitcase or the tickets: your passport.

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If you walk around a park or square in any Spanish city, you’ll probably notice a curious detail: it’s easier to come across people walking dogs than parents with children. Logical. The number of pets far exceeds to that of babies. It happens in Spain and in many other nations. Against this backdrop, Brussels has decided to reinforce the rules that pet animals that want to cross community borders must comply with. And that means something new. starting in April. What has happened? What Brussels has updated the rules that pets (dogs, cats, ferrets and pet birds) must comply with if they want to enter European territory from other countries or cross borders, going from one nation to another in the community club. The goal: harmonize EU rules. This is not a bureaucratic endeavor, but rather a matter of reinforcing laws that try to prevent the spread of diseases. It’s nothing new either. The latest changes are based on the regulations that Brussels has been approving in the last decade. Why is it news? If you have a pet, it is likely that in recent days you have come across news that talks about “rule changes” or one disturbance of the standards. The reality is more complex and less radical. To understand it, you have to go back at least to June 2013, when the Regulation (EU) 576/2013 of the European Parliament on the movement of pets. This regulation replaced a previous one from 2003 and is basically the one that has been governing the movements of pet animals in the EU in recent years. The reality is that the 2013 law was not the last law approved by Brussels on the subject. In fact, years later the regulation was repealed by a later standardmore focused on “animal health” and which (in order to facilitate its application in different countries) included a transition period. That is the key to making the topic news now. This adaptation period will end in less than a month: April 22, as the European Commission (EC) itself recalled at the beginning of this year, when it published the regulation which will govern from now on the movements of pets made for any reason other than commercial. And what does the regulation say? The document It covers 35 pages in which the Commission details the regulatory framework and legislative precedents, as well as describing the different scenarios in which a dog, cat, ferret or bird can travel through the EU. For example, the details of the ‘photo’ may vary depending on whether we are talking about pets from “third countries”, outside the Union, animals that are simply passing through the EU (on their way to their final destination) or others that move between nations of the community club. Your age also influences. From the outset, the regulation makes it clear that it does not represent a full stop, nor does it break with the previous framework. On the contrary. Its guidelines “largely reproduce the rules currently established in the EU.” The objective is not so much to completely change the framework as, the Commission legislators clarify, to “update” the regulation “taking into account the experience acquired” over the years. One of its greatest novelties in fact focuses on the ‘European pet passport’a document that is not far from new and with which the Spaniards who have dogs and cats they have been around for a while familiar. What is the most important thing? He new regulationpublished by the EC in January, above all emphasizes three requirements that pets (pet dogs, cats and ferrets) who want to travel between member states must meet. All this, let us remember, as long as the trips are made without commercial purposes. The first obligation of the EC is that the animal must be individually identifiable, something that is basically guaranteed through a chip. The second, that you have to be up to date with your vaccines, specifically with the rabies vaccine. The regulation is very clear in this regard: the animal must “have received a complete primary vaccination against rabies at least 21 days before the date of movement or have been revaccinated, in accordance with the established validity requirements.” If we also talk about a dog that will move to an EU area free of Echinococcus multilocularis (a species of tapeworm that can infest humans) must first undergo special treatment. Of course, to guarantee that it is ‘clean’ the animal must have gone through this procedure between 120 and 24 hours before arriving in its destination country. Are there more requirements? Yes. If the pet is a puppy less than 12 weeks old and does not yet have the rabies vaccine, the photo changes. Its owner will have to present a signed statement ensuring that the pet has not been in contact with other animals suspected of being infested. However, the main requirement contained in the community regulation has to do with the ‘baggage’ that the animal must carry with it. Just as we always travel with documentation, our furry companion must also go with “an identification document in the form of a passport.” What is that document like? “Such passport must meet the following conditions: be signed by the owner of the pet and have been duly completed and issued in the Member State in which the owner of the pet usually resides”, clarifies the regulations European. That is, the passport is an obligation. That is the main requirement included in the standard, along with which it clarifies that the animal must be vaccinated against rabies and have undergone, if necessary, internal deworming in the last five days. All of the above translates into something very simple: when you travel with your pet, it will no longer be enough for you to book tickets and hotels. You will also have to take care of the animal’s management. Is it that big of a change? Yes. And no. It is important to the extent that it updates community … Read more

MG reveals the secrets of MG SolidCore Battery, the first semi-solid batteries for electric cars that will arrive in Europe

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Without the light effects that precede a big announcement but with the security of someone who knows they have something good on their hands. MG met us in Frankfurt, met us on the outskirts of the city and put it before our eyes. The car and its tools. The weapons to continue gaining ground in a battle that seems long. Because with a quick presentation and a talk with its managers, the Chinese company revealed the two great advances with which it intends to continue gaining ground in the European automobile market: a new hybrid system and, above all, its semi-solid state batteries that will arrive with the new MG4 Urban EVa kind of evolution of the current MG4 Electric with which it will coexist in the market. In 2025, MG was the brand with Chinese capital that achieved the best results in Europe. Also in our country, where it reached 45,163 registered units. The formula for success has been based on the launch of vehicles for the access range. Cars at low prices, very spacious and equipped. But, above all, very competitive if we compare them with the competition. The strategy is paying off. Both in vehicles with combustion engines, where the brand does not have to pay tariffs, and with the MG4 Electric, which became among the best sellers in many European countries. The recipe at that time was simple: attractive price, good interior space and versions with a lot of power. Now, MG seeks to take a qualitative leap. Continue convincing and gaining ground in those who are undecided. But, above all, they bring technology that is currently not available to any other brand. Some semi-solid batteries to capture the market Our gazes, therefore, were pointed at the stage where the brand representatives were passing, but what was truly important was behind us. There, behind a curtain, the new MG4 EV Urban, a compact electric car that wants to position itself as the most advanced electric car of the moment. At least if we pay attention to its battery. At 4.44 meters long, the new MG electric car is a canonical compactor, of those that continue to triumph in the European market. To test it we will have to wait a few months but we were able to sit in it for the first time and see first-hand that we are facing a qualitative leap in quality in the interior. The car does not represent an aesthetic revolution on the outside and, of course, is less striking than the current MG4 Electric. But packaging does win. Inside, materials have improved and the perception of quality has risen. The screens are accompanied by physical buttons to control the climate and volume with wheels and controls that offer good touch. The sound of the speakers surprised me with their good quality (yes, I have to say that I don’t have the best ear among the staff). Xataka). And it has interesting details such as the controls that we already saw in the MGS6 EV on the steering wheel or a slightly rough mobile phone wireless charging surface so that the phone does not move. The new MG4 We will talk about all this in greater detail when we can get our hands on it to taste it in motion. Until then we will delve into the technology with which they want to hit the table with batteries that they already mass-produce. They are called “MG SolidCore Battery”. Because the MG4 EV Urban will be the first electric car in Europe to use semi-solid state batteries. With the promise that the car will not face a superlative extra cost. On the contrary, they told us that it will move in figures similar to the current ones. At the moment, the MG bestseller is around 38,000 euros but with the brand’s aid and discounts it is currently below 28,000 euros. What are these semi-solid batteries? It is the first step before jumping to solid batteries, the great promise of the electric car. They are energy accumulators that improve each and every one of the current aspects of LFP or NCM batteries, the most common on the market. Currently, these batteries use electrolytes that use liquid electrolytes to move lithium ions between the electrodes and thus generate electricity. With each discharge, lithium ions travel from the anode to the cathode through the liquid electrolyte. There the electricity is produced that is used by the motors. With recharging, the electrolyte takes the opposite path. Solid state batteries promise to forget about this liquid. This will allow, if the technique advances sufficiently, to have batteries with very ambitious ranges (more than 1,000 kilometers are targeted), in a reduced size and with more powerful charging and discharging capacity. And maintaining their security. The semi-solid state battery is the intermediate step. MG claims that the electrolyte liquid takes up around 20% of a conventional battery right now. With its new batteries, that liquid barely reaches 5%. Solidifying that space allows them to increase the nominal voltage of the battery and therefore also improve energy density. MG points out that these new batteries reach a density of 400 Wh/kg. Part of the secret is that the mobility of lithium ions increases their possibilities, they go from moving in a one-dimensional (LFP) or two-dimensional (NCM) to three-dimensional movement using the solid electrolyte. What does this translate into? The batteries of the new MG4 Urban EV will be smaller but will be able to travel the same number of kilometers as the current model. Although no specific figures have been confirmed, the leap forward should be qualitative because It is an evolution that feeds on itself.. If the battery is denser, it can be smaller to travel the same number of kilometers. At the same time, the weight of this accumulator is lower and the car is more efficient, resulting in better consumption data and, therefore, autonomy. But it also has other types of advantages such as less … Read more

All about Lepas, the new Chery Group brand that arrives in Spain with Chinese cars designed specifically for Europe

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Spain is experiencing a flood of Chinese brands in the automobile market. Manufacturers from this country have considered that Spain is a perfect country for their entry into the European market. Their reasons: key ports to unload cars and a customer who values ​​the quality/price/equipment ratio above brand loyalty. This is candy for Chinese companies. These brands have the challenge of winning over the customer with new models whose added value is, as a general rule, a very attractive price compared to the offer of Western vehicles, always with the same size, equipment and/or technology. With all this in mind, the Chery Group has started in Spain with Omoda and Jaecooin addition to Ebro Although it is a brand with Spanish capital, it uses the models that arrive in kits to Barcelona to build its own cars in our country. To these companies is now added Lepas. Chery will have a third own brand in Spain as a first step in an expansion that should continue throughout Europe soon. The objective is to put on the market a car that begins to target the premium market. This is your plan. What is Lepas and where does it come from? Lepas will be the third brand of the Chery Group to arrive in our country and is the youngest company of the automobile conglomerate since it was created in 2024. It must be taken into account that Chery already sells the Omoda and Jaecoo brands in China but also Jetour, iCar or Exeed. The name, they point out, is the mixture of “Leopard” and “Passion” and aims to position itself as an alternative company created specifically for Europe. It must be taken into account that Chery Group was founded in 1997 and has been exporting cars outside of China for more than 20 years. Its main market, until its arrival in Europe, was South America, but the objective is to continue expanding its borders in the coming years. With this roadmap in mind, Lepas will position itself as a brand designed by and for Europe. Its cars will be Chinese but the brand assures that it is about “responding to new customer profiles in different markets”, so the differentiation with Omoda and Jaecoo should be evident in the next launches. Omoda is, right now, the most youthful brand in Chery’s catalog. The conglomerate has positioned this company as an attractive bet for the most urban client, with a striking aesthetic and somewhat more aggressive or sporty shapes. Jaecoo is committed to the more rural market, with more or less mild offroad ambitions and a somewhat more country aesthetic. Lepas will occupy a slightly more refined position. The shapes of their cars, we assume seeing their first launch, will be softer and less aggressive. Everything indicates that Chery wants to have in Lepas an alternative with a slightly more premium character than its two previous brands. We are not talking about fighting with Audi or Mercedes but we are talking about playing in a league superior to the general league, halfway between both worlds. Lepas L8 Lepas L8, his first car For now, the Lepas landing comes with the Lepas L8. This car is an SUV 4.68 meters long, 1.87 meters wide and 1.69 meters high with a clear family vocation thanks to a trunk capacity of 507 liters. As a plug-in hybrid, it promises a range of up to 1,300 kilometers following a scheme that is common in other models of the group: 1.5 TGDI engine with dedicated DHT hybrid transmission and offers 205 kW (279 HP) of power and 365 Nm of torque. The promised electric range is up to 100 kilometers supported by an 18.4 kWh battery. Interior of the Lepas L8 The car is built on a multi-energy platform that allows plug-in hybrid versions to be put on the market, like this case, and completely electric or extended-range electric options. The latter is a type of car that works the vast majority of the time as an electric car and has a small gasoline tank to generate electricity and support electrical technology in case of emergency. The interior of this Lepas L8 has a steering wheel similar to that of the Omoda 9 so we found soft plastics and attractive design of the steering wheel, with only two horizontal spokes. It has wireless charging for your mobile phone and a large vertical screen. It is a differentiation from the Omoda options, whose screen is horizontal. Some functions with physical buttons are also maintained, although the air conditioning is carried out on the screen. The company points out that the car will arrive with more than 20 ADAS driving assistance systems, including adaptive cruise control, parking assistant (with remote parking) or “540º panoramic camera.” In the future In addition to this Lepas L8, the company’s roadmap involves continuing to send cars to our market. We are talking about the Lepas L4 and L6. At the moment, we know very little about these two cars. Yes we have confirmed that the Lepas L4 is an urban SUVof about 4.30 meters that will help the company to lower the price of entry to the brand. We are not clear, however, what the technology will be and if it will be based on exclusively electric specifications or will add options with combustion engines. The little progress that the brand has made is that the car is already being manufactured in Wuhu, where the Chery Group headquarters is located. As for the Lepas L6 we find ourselves in the same situation but this time we are talking about a compact SUV. We will know the details throughout the year. If we talk about its launch. The company’s roadmap involves putting the first cars on the market at the end of this first half of 2026. Therefore, all the details of the Lepas L8 and the first contacts should arrive shortly before the summer. In the coming months we should know all the … Read more

The new Xiaomi SU7 is much more than an improved version. It is confirmation that China runs while Europe walks

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Frantic. This is how we could define Xiaomi’s calendar in the automobile market. On Thursday, December 28, 2023Xiaomi publicly presented the Xiaomi SU7, its first electric car. He did it with a presentation as the occasion deserved. Hours (literally) breaking down each and every detail that made his first electric car unique. The brand turned the industry upside down. And his car directly attacked Tesla and Porsche. Its promises were to perform the same as any of the two reference electric cars for its market (Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan) for a fraction of its price. We could think that it was just another coming out. An important one, yes, because it is not every day that a “mobile brand” becomes part of a new industry, let alone the automotive industry. But the thing is that the Xiaomi SU7 was already beginning to get ahead of all of us who live outside of China, who work and live at a different pace there. Today, with the renewal of the Xiaomi SU7 we have confirmation of what, indeed, was already more than confirmed. The boiler of the Chinese electric car If the Chinese electric car were a boiler, we could say that it is operating at full capacity. So high that it seems about to explode with the number of cars that are feeding it. In the traditional industry, what we could understand as the European automobile industry, it had been accepted that work was done at very specific rates. Generally, a car had two or three years of development. It was launched on the market and sales supported it for two or three years. After this time, commercial life began to languish, the brand introduced a purely aesthetic redesign to boost sales more or less in the fourth year after launching the car on the market and the public’s embrace responded slightly to, once the seventh year arrived, it introduced a new generation to the market. These times vary slightly. Advance a facelift to three years if the car was not performing as expected or extend it to five if there was no replacement on the way or sales are going at a good pace. Thus, there are cars whose commercial life can last eight or nine years. Waiting longer for a new generation is a real rarity. China has blown up these times. The best example is Xiaomi, although it is by no means the only company that is involved in an infernal maelstrom of launches. As we said, on December 28, 2023, Xiaomi presented the SU7. Today, 812 days later, it has presented its renewal. In less than two and a half years. And before two years have passed since The first units reached customers in April 2024. The calendar takes away the hiccups: In five years, Xiaomi has announced that it was entering the electric car market, it has presented two vehicles and a special and sporty version of one of them. It has just announced the renewal of the first of them. The new Xiaomi SU7 perfectly fulfills that of “more and better”. On the outside, the details are minor. The grille and new wheel designs focus attention. Inside, the car is renewed to, according to the brand, improve qualities with greater use of soft plastics. In addition, the design is more similar to that of the Xiaomi YU7 that has led the way in this case. In addition, the seats are changed and ventilation and heating are standard on all models. There are also minor improvements such as changes to the rear seats or the refrigerator that is incorporated into the rear seats. Mechanically, the Xiaomi SU7 is improved with the HyperEngine V6s Plus engine, which can now reach 22,000 rpm and allows the car to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.08 seconds. The maximum speed is limited to 265 km/h. The battery has also been improved and now has the following maximum ranges according to the Chinese CTLC cycle: 720 kilometers of autonomy for the standard. 902 kilometers of autonomy for the Pro. 835 kilometers of autonomy for the Max. It must be taken into account that the Chinese CTLC cycle is more optimistic than the European WLTP but Xiaomi is already talking about recovering 670 kilometers in 15 minutes with an improvement in charging power. In addition, the adaptive suspension has been improved, which is now faster and has a wider range of movement, and the brakes that, according to the company, can withstand up to 40 emergency brakings from 100 km/h without fading in the Max version. The less ambitious ones also have larger brakes than It had been one of its negative points. New interior of the Xiaomi SU7 In terms of software and driving assistance, the Xiaomi SU7 includes the evolution of its assisted driving and parking systems that are now smoother and safer, according to the company. Besides, the infotainment system becomes Xiaomi HyperOS now so the integration with the rest of the devices is better and more fluid, one of the great attractions of the Xiaomi YU7. The renovation of the Xiaomi SU7 is, therefore, much deeper than what is seen at first glance. It is also an example of the pace at which the electric car industry works in China. Renewal times are very short and sales of the Xiaomi SU7 had already plummeted while waiting for a new version. As we said, it is by no means the only company that plays with very short cycles. BYD has put so many cars on the market and announced improvements at a rate that has made its own cars obsolete. It is the result of covering the great advances of the competition with a new function, improvement or, directly, launch that can overshadow them. The result is an industry that responds to customer needs extremely quickly. It is even something that we have noticed in Europe that, as how we count in Xatakahas received … Read more

There is a Russian bomb floating in the Mediterranean coming from Ukraine. And Europe trembles because it can explode at any moment

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It is a fact that most of the world’s trade moves by sea. This means that every day thousands of ships cross key routes very close to European coasts. In this constant traffic, a single out-of-control incident is enough to put entire ecosystems in check and force several countries to react at the same time. The war in Ukraine has just ended activate one of them. A bomb adrift in the heart of Europe. The situation is the following: in the Mediterranean right now there is more than just a damaged ship, the Arctic Metagaz is a latent threat that mixes war, energy and environmental risk in a single point. We are talking about a loaded Russian tanker with gas, fuel and diesela ship hit by a drone attack from Ukraine that sails uncontrollably, with structural damage and a real risk of explosion. Not only that. It appears to have no crew, is leaking and catching fire, and is moving slowly between European waters and North Africa. What makes it especially disturbing is not only its condition, but its origin: It is one more piece of the war being fought in Eastern Europe that has ended up floating in the Mediterranean, moving the conflict directly to the doors of the entire continent. It’s not just the front anymore. The episode confirms something that was already intuited for some time: that the war between Russia and Ukraine is no longer confined to the Black Sea or the land front. Ukraine has expanded its radius of action by attacking Russian ships on much more distant routes, including those that are part of the called “ghost fleet”key to avoiding sanctions and financing the Kremlin’s war effort. These increasingly frequent attacks turn ships into de facto military targets, even if they are sailing through international waters or near European territories. The result is an extension of the conflict that blurs borders and places Europe in an uncomfortable position, because it is not a direct part of these attacks, but its potential scenario. Arctic Metagaz Ecological risk and implications. The immediate danger right now it’s pretty obvious: an explosion or massive spill in an area of ​​high ecological value could cause lasting damage in the Mediterranean, affecting protected ecosystems and coastal economies. But the problem goes beyond the environmental impact. These types of incidents also reveal to us the fragility of the maritime system in times of hybrid war, where poorly maintained, aging ships, with opaque structures and no safety guarantees, They circulate on key routes. The combination of sanctions, evasion and attacks turns these ships into risk vectors that can trigger crises at any moment. Europe and the threat. The European reactionwith Italy and France along with several EU members warning of the imminent risk, reflects a growing concern: countries have asked a coordinated response facing a problem that is not only specific, but structural. The difficulty in intervening (whether due to weather conditions, the location of the vessel or legal issues) also represents a capacity and governance vacuum in nearby waters. While Russia he ignores of incident management and points to coastal states as responsibleEurope faces a rather complex dilemma: managing the consequences of a war in which it neither controls the origin nor the evolution. Symbol of a new phase. If you also want, the derived from the Arctic Metagaz summarizes like few elements the evolution of the current conflict: a war that no longer only dynamits infrastructure on land, but is capable of turning the sea into a space constant riskwhere each asset can become a threat. It is not just, therefore, an accident or an isolated episode, but the proof (one more) that the conflict has acquired an unpredictable dimensionwhere an action in Ukraine can end up generating a crisis thousands of kilometers away. And that is precisely what it has of the nerves to Europe: not knowing when or where the next impact may materialize. Image | war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua In Xataka | While we all look at Iran, in Ukraine they continue doing their thing: robot against robot battles where humans only watch In Xataka | Ukraine has become the world’s leading specialist against Iranian drones. And he won’t share his antidote

Spain has the cheapest wholesale energy in Europe in the midst of the Hormuz crisis

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The outbreak of war in Iran on February 28 and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have plunged the world, overnight, into an energy crisis of alarming proportions. In the midst of this global chaos, a European country is resisting the challenge much better than its neighbors: Spain. A shield in front of the market. To understand why electricity in Spain has not become more expensive at the same rate as in the rest of the continent, it is essential to look at how the electricity market works. The European system is “marginalist”meaning that the most expensive technology needed to meet the demand for a given day (usually gas) is what dictates the final price of all electricity. The day after the start of the conflict in the Middle East, the price of gas rose by 55%, according to Euronews. However, the impact on Spanish bills is being cushioned, thanks to the fact that the share of clean energy in the country’s generation mix already exceeds 60%. Since 2019, Spain has added more than 40 GW of renewable capacity, doubling its wind and solar farms. Added to this structural deployment is a key seasonal factor: a solid spring “hydraulic cushion”, with the reservoirs located at 82.6% of their capacity. The data of the Iberian exception. The x-ray of the European wholesale markets, reflected in the records of Energy-chartsconfirms this gap in a very visual way: The Spanish daytime miracle: Spain’s graphics during February and March They show almost absolute dominance of renewable generation and hydraulic pumping. This massive injection sinks prices from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., becoming free, or even registering negative prices, because many plants find it more profitable to bid at zero price than to assume the very high costs of stopping and restarting their machines. The fossil condemnation of Germany and Italy: The European contrast is devastating and explains the asymmetric impact of the war. German market data for the same period reveal a heavy dependence on non-renewable sources, illustrated by a thick gray strip of fossil generation that sustains their system. The case of Italy is even more illustrative about the dangers of depending on foreign gas: its graphs show a huge constant load of non-renewable generation, which condemns the transalpine country to maintain a systematically high and flat price curve throughout the day. The “green shield” night fissure: However, we are not invulnerable. As analyst Antonio Aceituno, from the consulting firm Tempos Energía, warns, in Europa Pressthe Spanish balance is broken when evening falls. When the sun disappears, gas combined cycles begin to cover demand, returning tension to prices. This explains why in March the monthly average It woke up abruptly to 64.05 euros/MWh, with nighttime peaks of up to 247.15 euros/MWh. It is empirical proof that, no massive batteries to save the sunat eight in the afternoon we are still at the mercy of what happens in the Strait of Hormuz. Furthermore, time is against us. Antonio The Tempos Energía analyst warns that our precious “hydraulic shield” could begin to give way at the beginning of summer if the conflict becomes entrenched. In the worst case scenario, the June bill could jump above 100 euros per MWh, reaching the feared 120 euros between July and August. A halfway transition. The current energy crisis has left an irrefutable lesson: renewables are our best social shield. The deployment of recent years has prevented Spain from suffering the same financial drowning as its neighbors. As energy financing expert Gerard Reid reflects, in Euronewsit is preferable to depend on China to import a solar panel once every 25 years, than to depend on oil and gas from the Persian Gulf every day. But the transition is painfully incomplete. As long as lack of storage forces us to turn on gas plants when the sun sets, our pockets will continue to be hostage to global volatility. Whether due to a military drone over the Strait of Hormuz or due to political retaliation in the Oval Office, Spain’s true energy independence will not come until we are able to massively save the sun and wind that we have left over. Image | Photo by Alexis Presa on Unsplash and Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki on Unsplash Xataka | Skyscrapers are full of glass, so some Spanish researchers have had an idea: let them serve as “solar panels”

Europe has just measured how much wind potential Spain has left. The answer is an overwhelming first place

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If we look at the sky and our plains, the country is an undisputed giant. According to official data from the Wind Business Association (AEE)wind energy is already the first source of electricity generation in our country, covering an impressive 24% of national demand. With more than 31,600 megawatts (MW) of accumulated power distributed in 1,412 wind farms, Spain has consolidated itself as the second country in Europe (only behind Germany) and the sixth in the world in installed power. However, behind this success of “emptied Spain” a broken bridge hides. The wind blows and the blades turn, but we lack the cables to bring that clean energy to the cities and factories where it is actually consumed. And right now, when bureaucracy threatens to suffocate the sector, Europe has just put on the table a report that shows that what we have built to date is just the tip of the iceberg: the margin for growth that Spain has left is not only large, it is overwhelmingly higher than that of the rest of the continent. An overwhelming first place. The confirmation has come directly from Brussels. The Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission has just published the second edition of the report ENPRESSO 2. This scientific document does not make estimates on the fly: it measures the feasible technical potential of onshore wind energy in Europe with a very high geographical resolution of 1 square kilometer. The results position Spain as the leader of the entire EU by a very wide margin. As the expert Joaquín Coronado explains:the figures are stratospheric. In the reference scenario, Spain reaches a technical potential of 183.9 gigawatts (GW) of installable capacity and 415.4 TWh/year of generation. More than double that of Romania and Sweden, the next in the ranking. If we cross this with our current capacity, the conclusion is stunning: the ceiling is very far away. How do we lead with such advantage? The merit of this first place is even greater if we understand how it has been calculated. The European Commission report has applied very strict filters For an area to be considered suitable: the mills cannot be more than 5 kilometers from a road, nor more than 3 kilometers from the electrical grid, and must respect minimum distances from population centers (1 km) and protected areas such as Natura 2000. After passing all these demanding filters, 5.8% of the Spanish territory is available and suitable to house wind turbines. As Coronado explainsour low relative population density in those areas where it is windier gives us a brutal competitive advantage. We are much less sensitive to changes in separation distances (so-called “setbacks”) than densely populated countries such as Germany, France or Poland. Even if Europe forced us to move 2 kilometers away from towns (the most restrictive scenario), Spain would still retain 52.8 GW of potential. It’s not all lights. The energy expert warns of a purely internal problem: “regulatory heterogeneity.” While national regulations establish a separation distance of 500 meters for populations, there are autonomous communities such as the Balearic Islands, Navarra or Valencia that require 1,000 meters, and others such as the Basque Country or the Canary Islands that request 400. This regulatory fragmentation means that the real potential varies drastically depending on which side of the autonomous border the wind blows. The bureaucratic infarction of a “full” network. At this point in the x-ray, it is time to address the elephant in the room. As we have explained in Xatakathe Spanish electrical system suffers a serious administrative “thrombosis”. The network is not physically collapsed, but administratively “full” and underused. Panic broke out when the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) was forced to delay the capacity maps until May because 90% of the nodes appeared in red. Faced with this bottleneckthe CEO of Red Eléctrica, Roberto García Merino, defends himself by remembering that they have 1.5 billion ready to invest, but the paperwork delays works that barely require a year of physical work for up to a decade. As if the internal traffic jam were not enough, we come across France’s external plug, whose pyrrhic interconnection (2.8%) isolates us and forces us to throw away cheap energy to protect its nuclear industry. The risk of dying of success. Spain finds itself at a historical crossroads. We have the climate, the soil, the wind and the endorsement of the EU. If we add to this wind potential the 19 GW of reversible hydraulics already in the pipeline, Spain has in its power to develop the most competitive emissions-free electricity mix in all of Europe. But to achieve that future, heat maps and reports from Brussels are not enough. It is necessary, as experts point out, to homogenize legislation between communities, compensate local populations and, above all, urgently expedite permits to build the network. As a summary from the sector: “The plans are very nice, but they have to be built.” Image | Carlos Teixidor Cadenas Xataka | Macron believes that Spain has “a problem” with renewables. What it really means is that they are “competition”

Data centers have run out of “plugs” in central Europe, so they are migrating north and south

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The insatiable appetite of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is redrawing the map of Europe. Historically, the European data center market has been dominated by a handful of metropolitan areas known in the industry as the “FLAP-D” markets: Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin. The main attraction of these cities was their proximity to large demand centers, which allowed extraordinarily fast data transmission. However, current forecasts indicate that this historical dominance is beginning to crumble. Technology developers are packing their bags and the reason is purely physical: there is not enough energy. The collapse of the giants. The driving force behind this technological exodus is the sheer congestion of the electrical grid in the traditional epicenters. Unlike a conventional factory, data centers present a brutal challenge for any infrastructure: they are huge, hyper-localized loads that operate tirelessly and have the ability to skyrocket their consumption faster than almost any other industry. The local impact of these installations is astonishing. According to Greenpeacein 2023 data centers consumed between 33% and 42% of all electricity in cities such as Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt. The most extreme case is that of Dublin, where they accounted for almost 80% of electricity consumption. The situation became so critical that Ireland was forced to impose a moratorium de facto to new data centers in its capital until 2028. The exodus to the North and South. As a direct consequence of this bottleneck, the proportion of installed capacity in FLAP-D markets will fall from the current 62% to just 51% by 2035. according to a report by Ember. This drop marks the beginning of a new era in which developers flee from bottlenecks. The new map would look like this: The big winners: The Nordic countries top the expansion list. They offer some of the least congested networks in Europe, low electricity prices, minimal carbon intensity and cold climates that reduce the need for cooling. Demand is expected to increase 4 or 5 times in this region. The awakening of the South: On the other side of the continent, countries such as Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain also project explosive growth, driven by their potential in renewable energy. The laggards: There are nations that, despite having strong economies and plenty of IT talent, are falling behind. Poland and Czechia are the best example. As detailed by Paweł CzyżakDirector of the Europe Program at the analysis center Embertheir electrical systems are still tied to coal and gas (Poland emits about 600 gCO2/kWh and the Czech Republic about 400 gCO2/kWh). With no clean energy to offer, investors prefer to look to their greener neighbors. Don’t underestimate the south. While the north squeezes the Scandinavian cold, Spain faces this exodus from a privileged position, breaking daily renewable generation records. However, its electrical network suffers a serious administrative “thrombosis”: There is plenty of clean energy, but there is a lack of cables to transport it, leaving 130 GW trapped in a bottleneck. Faced with the avalanche of data centers that threatened to collapse the system, the Government and the CNMC They have applied emergency surgery. The solution involves pioneering “flexible access permits” – which allow these plants to use residual capacity by accepting outages in emergencies – and the non-negotiable requirement that they withstand “voltage gaps” to shield the electrical stability of the entire peninsula. Planning and more planning. None of this happens by chance. In places where the network flows smoothly, there are years of work behind it. The Norwegian operator, Statnett, has been preparing the ground for some time to assume three times the electricity demand from data centers by 2030. In Denmark, Energinet began building high-voltage substations in 2017 in anticipation of precisely this scenario. Beyond the cables, the internal technology dictates the sentence. The key indicator is the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness), which measures the technical efficiency of each installation. Paweł Czyżak points out in your newsletter that the difference is abysmal: the leading centers consume 24% less electricity and emit four times less CO2 than an average plant. Google has the best student in the class in Fredericia (Denmark): it averages a spectacular PUE of 1.07 and runs on 91% clean energy. The technological paradox. There is, however, a fascinating irony in the background: the same Artificial Intelligence that today saturates the cables could be the salvation of the electrical system. According to calculations by the consulting firm Deloittethe efficiency improvements that this technology will bring will save more than 3,700 TWh globally by 2030. Put into perspective, the deployment of these algorithms will save almost 4 times the energy consumed by all the data centers on the planet combined. Examples from other latitudes support this theory: in Southeast Asia (ASEAN), It is estimated that integrating AI in the management of its electrical systems it will save more than 67 billion dollars and avoid the emission of almost 400 million tons of CO2 between now and 2035. Infrastructure decides the future. At the bottom of this complex puzzle of cables and algorithms, what is at stake is pure and simple economic competitiveness. They are not minor figures. In the Netherlands, the data and cloud sector already attracts 20% of all foreign direct investment. In Germany, estimates calculate that the contribution of these centers to GDP will jump from the current 10.4 billion euros to more than 23 billion in 2029. The warning for legislators and regulators is clear: the technology giants have no patience to wait for new cables to be buried. They will move their billions to where the network already has space. As Czyżak saysthe country that wants to seduce the industry must guarantee clean energy in abundance and plugs ready to use. In the frenetic race to dominate the technological future, having a ready electrical grid is no longer an advantage; It is the only entry ticket. Image | İsmail Enes Ayhan on Unsplash and IRENA Xataka | Iran is directing its attacks where it knows it hurts the West: energy and data centers

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