plant

We thought catnip was cats’ favorite drug, there is another plant that they like more. And it’s not because of the high

by

Cats love catnip, just look at the shelves of any pet store full of toys with catnip. They sniff it, bite it, roll on the floor and even drool, as if they were entering a kind of trance. We believed that this herb was our kitties’ favorite “drug”, but researchers have discovered that there is another plant that attracts them even more. The experiment. A group of Japanese researchers set out to discover which plant attracts cats the most, catnip or matatabi (also known as silvervine). To do this, they combined three trials: free cats in a garden with fresh plants, free cats with a brick impregnated with the extract of both plants and cats in captivity with impregnated papers. The researchers recorded on video the episodes of self-anointing, which is when they rub each other and make “croquettes” near the different plants. The matatabi wins by a landslide. All groups of cats that participated in the experiment showed a clear preference for matatabi. In the case of free-ranging cats that had access to both the plants and the impregnated brick, almost all self-anointing episodes occurred with the matatabi. Among the captive cats, 15 responded only to the matatabi, three to both, and three sniffed a little but did not rub against them. The curious thing is that the chemical analysis revealed that catnip was much more powerful (it contains much more nepetalactone) than matatabi, but despite this the cats had a very clear preference. Masao Miyazaki, project leader, states in Phys that One might expect that a plant containing more active compounds, and compounds that clearly work in laboratory tests, would trigger a stronger behavioral response under free-choice conditions. But that’s not what we observed.” The Overwhelmed Smell Theory. The authors’ hypothesis is that catnip, especially when fresh, releases an excessive amount of these compounds and makes the smell too intense, hence cats prefer matatabi because it is milder. This fits with an anecdote in ‘The Gardeners’ Dictionary’ published in 1789, which observed that cats preferred catnip when it was wilted rather than fresh, which reinforces the idea that it can saturate their senses. A biological reason. Rubbing against these plants is not simply to get high, it also hides an evolutionary purpose: it acts as a defense mechanism against mosquitoes and other parasites. When you rub your face and body with the plants, they become impregnated with the substances (iridoids) that they release, acting as an insect repellent. The reason they prefer matatabi would be because it offers more reliable protection as it produces a more complex mixture of iridoids, especially when they nibble on the plant. That is to say, it is much better against mosquitoes. Image | Sergey Dvorkin, Pexels In Xataka | We have been vaccinating our dogs and cats every year all our lives. Science is seeing that it is not the most correct

A drone has set fire to the perimeter of the first Arab nuclear power plant

by

During the war between Iran and Iraq in 1982, a missile accidentally hit near the plant Iran’s Bushehr nuclear when it was still under construction. The incident sowed such concern international that for decades civil nuclear facilities in the Middle East were surrounded by a kind of unwritten taboo even in the midst of the region’s toughest conflicts. A drone and a border that no one wanted to cross. For years, Gulf monarchies assumed that their large energy infrastructures could be vulnerable to missiles or attacks on refineries, ports and pipelines. But there was one psychological line that seemed to remain intact: nuclear power plants. The fire caused by a drone in the perimeter of Barakah, the first nuclear plant trade of the Arab world, has changed that. Although there was no radioactive leak or damage inside the reactor, the simple fact that an unmanned aircraft reached the immediate surroundings of a nuclear facility in the middle of the war between Iran, the United States and Israel has opened a completely new scene for regional security. The Gulf has just entered unknown territory: it is no longer just about protecting oil and gas, but about defending civilian nuclear facilities against cheap, difficult to intercept and politically explosive attacks. Much more than electricity. The Barakah central It occupies a particularly sensitive place within the Emirati strategy. Built with South Korean technology and operational since 2021, it provides around of a quarter of the country’s electricity and represents the great project with which the Emirates tried to diversify its energy economy and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. That is why the attack has a symbolic burden enormous even if the damage was limited. Hitting the Barakah perimeter means demonstrating that no strategic infrastructure is completely out of reach of the drone war that already dominates the Middle East. Also launches another disturbing message: Civilian nuclear facilities are beginning to enter the risk map of modern regional conflicts. The Gulf War no longer revolves only around oil. The truth is that the evolution of the conflict is profoundly altering the security logic of the entire region. Since the start of the war, Iran has launched thousands of drones and missiles against the Emirates and other Gulf countries to increase the economic and political cost of the campaign led by the United States and Israel. Until now, much of the concern has focused on Hormuz, energy exports and maritime traffic. But he Barakah incident expands the problem into another, much more delicate dimension. An attack against a nuclear power plant, even if it is peripheral, immediately forces international alarms to be activated, involve the International Atomic Energy Agency and propose scenarios that until recently seemed unlikely in the region. The real problem. The most uncomfortable thing for the Emirates and its allies is that the attack proves again a reality that has already been seen in Ukraine, Russia or the Red Sea: even extremely rich and protected countries have enormous difficulties in stopping relatively simple and cheap drones. According to the Emiratesthree aircraft penetrated from the western border and one of them managed to reach the external electrical generator of Barakah despite the existing defenses. The scene perfectly sums up the current imbalance of modern warfare. A small drone can force the activation of nuclear protocols, trigger diplomatic tensions and generate global concern at a negligible cost compared to the gigantic air defense investments of the Gulf states. An increasingly fragile truce. The attack also arrives in one of the most tense moments since the ceasefire between Iran and the United States. Donald Trump has toughened his speech against Tehran (a few hours ago he even said he was about to attack Iran before to stop the operation), Israel speculate again openly with a resumption of the war and the Emirates has become the Arab country more aggressive against Iran during the conflict. Abu Dhabi directly accuses to Iran or its regional allies for having crossed an extremely dangerous line. The problem is that the Barakah incident demonstrates the extent to which the region has entered a phase where escalation can occur. through ambiguous attackscheap and difficult to attribute with complete clarity. And that makes every downed drone (or every drone what gets through) now has the potential to trigger a much larger crisis. Image | Store N., Wikimedia In Xataka | Iran is about to inaugurate in Hormuz a concept that has the shape of a global nightmare: the underwater toll In Xataka | Dubai has come to the same conclusion as Russia. To protect your oil from drones there is something better than missiles: giant cages

AI is ruining the plant world

by

AI is infiltrating everything, even the most specific and least technological niches. Crochet fans They know it very well, but they are not the only ones, the community of plant enthusiasts is also living (many times, rather suffering) the effects of AI. Impossible plants, meaningless care advice and entire unions against it. Welcome to another new episode of AI ruining things. Fake plant scams We already talked about the hobby of collecting rare plants. The ones that tend to succeed the most are variegated plants, which means that their leaves have patterns with spots of different colors, and also hybrids between different varieties. In this context, AI arrives and, as it could not be otherwise, a whole wave of advertisements appear selling rare plants. Too rare. In the cover image you can see some examples of this type of ads. Plants with butterfly-shaped leaves and fluorescent color, purple, blue or pink leaves, alocasias of monstrous size… The amount of AI-generated plant photo scams are overwhelming and we have found them all on Etsy, although there are also on other platforms such as Facebook Marketplace or eBay. We already talked about how Etsy had been filled with AI-generated images posing as real illustrations. With plants we have confirmed what we already saw: Etsy is a market of AI scams without any type of control. What you ask for vs what you get. Image: Etsy Searching for “rare plant” numerous accounts appear that sell seeds and bulbs of plants that do not exist, all generated with AI and also in a very noticeable way, without any disguise. Since what they send are the seeds, if someone complains they can always use the excuse of “wait for it to grow”, but many users already realize that Those seeds do not correspond to the advertised plant. Some positive comments from various accounts. We have also found numerous positive comments on some of these stores, but they were as fake as plants. The first is because of the language and the use of emojis, very typical of texts generated with AI, but also because none of these accounts were normal users. One of them was another AI plant shop and the other three were newly created accounts, which only followed AI plant shops. Seeing this I immediately thought of the theory of the dead internet. I have reported one of these stores to Etsy and it has caught my attention that they only allow it to be noted that the items are not handmade or that it is adult content not labeled as such, no scams or AI content. I will update the article if I receive a response. To avoid being scammed with one of these impossible plants, it is best to look for information about that variety of plant specifically. There are plants with leaves that may look fake or painted, such as Begonia Ferox, Caladiums or some Calatheas. If it exists, you will find information online. AI as a plant “doctor” There is another aspect in which AI is very present in the world of plants and that is care. Many hobbyists turn to ChatGPT and other chatbots to ask what’s wrong with your plantshow much they should water them or if they should transplant them. In addition to the chatbots themselves, there are a lot of apps to take care of our plants which have built-in AI functions. We have already seen that AI tends to be complacent and agree with usregardless of whether your answer is wrong and with the advice on plants it was not going to be different. Hallucinations also happen in the plant universe. To no one’s surprise, many times the advice is anything but reliablefrom recommending home remedies that have no scientific basis (such as watering plants with milk), to explaining in detail how to propagate a plant from the tip of a leaf (spoiler, you can’t). To a user on Reddit recommended using thrips as a natural predator to control pests, the problem is that thrips are a pest. The ‘PlantMom’ experiment. Image: Liam Kloppers Another striking case was the experiment carried out by Liam Kloppers which he called ‘PlantMom’in which he set up an AI system based on Google’s Gemma 3 model and put it to take care of a chili plant. The system included light, temperature and soil humidity sensors, along with a grow light and water pump. The result was that the AI ​​misinterpreted the sensor data, turned off the grow light and watered when it was not needed, causing the plant to almost drown. Another use of AI in this world has to do with plant identification. There are specific apps for this and we can also upload an image to a chatbot and have it do the identification. Of course, we must keep in mind that AI always prioritizes giving a response, so If you don’t know a plant you won’t admit itbut will identify it with another different species. At least in this the consequences do not necessarily imply the death of the plant. Cover image | Etsy In Xataka | Asking Claude for advice on your love problems sounds great. Until he gives it to you

Gibraltar has never had a wastewater treatment plant. So they have been throwing them into the sea for decades

by

In 1999, after centuries of dumping its sewage into the bay of Algeciras, Gibraltar transposed Directive 91/271/EEC urban wastewater treatment. It was something historic, something unprecedented, something that would mark the future of the region. Immediately afterwards, the Government of the Rock did something totally unexpected: absolutely nothing. Now, an investigation by Rachel Salvidge for The Guardian has revealed something that everyone in the area knew: that a few months after the entry into force of the EU-United Kingdom Treaty, the city is not prepared to comply with European environmental obligations. Nor does it seem like it will be. Wait, how come it doesn’t have a purifier? That is to say, how is it possible that a strategic point as important as Gibraltar does not have a basic infrastructure that any European municipality of 40,000 inhabitants would have more than resolved? The answer is curious. On the one hand, due to technical problems: unlike any standard infrastructure, the flat network use sea water for toilets and toilets. It is not the only place where this occurs (places like Hong Kong or the Californian island of Santa Catalina also do it), but the reality is that it complicates biological treatment quite a bit. On the other hand, it’s not like they haven’t tried. In the last 25 years, Gibraltar tried to put in place two awards that failed to be executed. Furthermore, as if that were not enough, the last attempt (financed by the European Investment Bank) coincided with Brexit and left the project without funds. Furthermore, the problems are not limited to Gibraltar. In fact, the Commission also has opened files along the Línea de la Concepción, making it clear that the waste management problem was on both sides of the fence. However, Spanish efforts have improved the situation on this side: Gibraltar, beyond a screening and roughing system, has not been able to. And all this is worrying because the impact is concentrated in one of the most unique areas of the western Mediterranean: the only corridor with the Atlantic, an irreplaceable habitat for common dolphins, bottlenose and common porpoises and a key seasonal migratory route for marine ecology. And there is no solution? As of June 2025, another project is underway, but the company had five years to get it started. In other words, in the best of cases the systems are not even close to being operational: and no one has any idea if, with the entry into force of stricter European regulationsthe plant will be able to meet the standards. Meanwhile, Punta de Europa will continue as before: being a natural paradise that hides a pipe full of waste from more than 30,000 people. The race against the clock, in reality, has just begun. Image | Michael Mrozek In Xataka | If the Strait of Hormuz is a conflict, imagine that of Gibraltar: Spain has found 134 shipwrecks off Cádiz

In 2014 it was inaugurated as the largest solar thermal power plant in the world. 12 years later they want to close it after incinerating birds

by

The huge Ivanpah solar thermal power plant, opened in 2014 in the Mojave Desert, was almost closed after just 11 years of operation. An end accelerated by its history of technical, economic and environmental problems that, however, was paralyzed in January of this year after the agreement of all those involved. Context. Concentrated solar thermal energy, once considered one of the most cutting-edge technologies for clean electricity generation, is not going through its best moment. Especially in Nevada, where the Crescent Dunes fiasco was already very public. The concentrating solar thermal system uses thousands of mirrors, or “heliostats”, that follow the path of the sun to concentrate its light on central towers. In these towers, the extreme heat is used to heat water and produce steam, which drives turbines connected to electrical generators. The Ivanpah case. The Ivanpah plant was built with an investment of $1.6 billion in loans from the U.S. Department of Energy and long-term contracts from major electric companies. It was the largest solar thermal power plant in the world until the inauguration of Port Augusta in Australia. 11 years after its inauguration, the enormous solar thermal plant began to close after failing to meet its initial expectations. The lack of profitability condemned it, at least a priori. A succession of rulings and complaints from environmental groups about its impact on wildlife accelerated its end, approved by the US Department of Energy. Continuity. However, the decision was reversed in January 2026 by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Ivanpah will remain open. Their argument is that uncertainty in federal renewable energy policies forces us to prioritize the reliability of the current electricity supply. In addition, the commission seeks to prevent the enormous investment in infrastructure already made from being lost, despite the high operating costs and the serious environmental impact on local fauna. The measure ignores the previous agreement between the companies to close the plant and save money for users. A priori, it will remain open until its contract expires in 2039. A complex technology. One of the main problems has been the difficulty of keeping the mirrors precisely aligned. The technology, which requires exact tracking of the sun, has proven to be unstable and unreliable in practice, says a CNN report. The maintenance of the complex mechanisms and the management of the turbines in turn generate high operating costs, which has caused concentrated solar thermal to lose competitiveness compared to other renewable technologies, especially photovoltaic solar, whose prices have plummeted. A bird cremation machine. The criticism is not limited to the technical aspects. The Ivanpah plant has been questioned for years for its environmental impact, especially on desert wildlife. Environmental groups denounce the irreparable damage to the habitat of species such as the desert tortoise. But also the death of birds that are incinerated by the intense rays concentrated by the mirrors. A second Crescent Dunes. The case of Crescent Dunes, also occurring in Nevada, reinforces this image of failure of solar thermal energy. This project, which was intended to be one of the milestones in innovation and energy storage using molten salts, ended up becoming a multimillion-dollar waste. Developed by the Spanish group ACSpromised continuous production of electricity, even during hours without light, thanks to thermal storage in salts. In practice, Crescent Dunes never managed to deliver the promised amount of energy and ended up going bankrupt due to engineering and management problems. In the shadow of photovoltaics. In short, the rapid fall in prices of photovoltaic technology and its lower impact on wildlife have made concentrated solar thermal obsolete. While solar panels have been gaining efficiency and reducing their installation and maintenance costs, solar thermal plants have lagged behind in terms of competitiveness, which has led investors and electricity companies to reconsider their bets on this type of projects. In Xataka | The first central tower solar plant to be commercially exploited is in Seville: a pioneer that has survived other more ambitious ones In Xataka | Chile has one of the most valuable skies on Earth. Renewables are putting it on the ropes In Xataka | China’s largest solar park is doing much more than generating energy: it’s greening a desert Image | Pexels

This is the nitrogen plant that will shield electric mobility

by

Extremadura is ceasing to be solely a heritage and agricultural reference to consolidating itself as a new strategic pole on the map of the international energy industry. The latest confirmation of this metamorphosis comes from China: the multinational Jinhong Gas. This Chinese giant has chosen the regional capital to take the leap and install its first factory in all of Europe. In short. As stated in a resolution of the Official Gazette of Extremadura (DOE)the Government of Extremadura has been released to public information the request for Unified Environmental Authorization (AAU) for this project. With this movement, a legal period of 20 business days is opened so that any person or entity can consult the technical file and present the pertinent allegations before its final approval. More in depth. In fact, to protect this operation, the Asian corporation has already formally established in the city the commercial company ‘Jinhong Gas (Spain) SL’, injecting an initial share capital of 100,000 euros. In economic and logistical terms, the main objective of this nitrogen plant is to directly supply the future gigafactory of materials for cathodes for electric vehicle batteries promoted by its compatriot, the Chinese company Hunan Yuneng, and which plans to mobilize 800 million euros and create around 500 direct jobs. The basis of the project. The DOE provides a technical x-ray exhaustive. The factory will be built on plot I-18 of the Expacio Mérida business park, occupying an area of ​​12,000 square meters. Its forecasts are massive: operating about 8,000 hours per year, the facility will have the capacity to produce up to 100 million cubic meters of nitrogen per year (17,000 Nm3/h). The industrial process, according to the official documentwill use cryogenic air separation technology. This means subjecting the air to a complex circuit that includes compression using 1,250 kW turbines, purifying drying to eliminate CO2 and humidity, and extreme cooling using pumps that operate at -196 ºC. All this happens in a “Cold Box” where the air is distilled to obtain nitrogen with a purity greater than 99%. At a logistical level, the production will be sent in gaseous format through direct pipelines to the final consumer (like neighbor Hunan Yuneng). The rest will be stored in a liquid state in two monumental vertical cryogenic tanks, 4 meters in diameter and 250 cubic meters in capacity each, for sale to third parties. To maintain this production rate, the project estimates an annual consumption of 36.8 GW of electrical energy and 96,000 cubic meters of water. The thirst for megawatts. Like the Extremaduran gigafactories, the technological giants that land in the country share the same need: an inexhaustible thirst for stable and cheap energy. And this is where Spain has the resources to lead the continent. Thanks to an unprecedented photovoltaic and wind deployment, the country has earned the right to dream of being the great “Europe battery”. This immense renewable potential is the perfect magnet for the new electro-intensive industry and is what drives us in the race to be the great hub of data centers in southern Europe. To pave the way, the Government is already making moves to shield these macroprojects from electrical costseliminating anachronistic barriers such as the obligation to consume at night (the old off-peak hours), a requirement that does not make sense when our solar energy overflows the meters at noon. Kilometer zero of the new industry. With earthworks already started in ExpacioMérida and environmental procedures in their public exhibition phase, Extremadura takes an irreversible step. The ancient Roman capital embraces the 21st century, assuming a leading role. It is no longer just about attracting Asian multinationals, but about demonstrating that Spain can combine reindustrialization with clean energy, establishing itself as the perfect ecosystem for the mobility and technology of the future. Image | jh-gas Xataka | The war with Iran has made energy a problem. The United Kingdom believes it has a solution: solar panels

China is giving an overwhelming lesson in nuclear power plant construction to the rest of the planet

by

The time it requires the construction of a nuclear power plant From the moment the concrete is poured until the moment it is connected to the electrical grid, it takes between 15 and 19 years in the West; between 7 and 9 years in Asia and the Middle East; and 6 to 10 years in India and Russia. And the total cost of the project usually ranges between 24,000 and 60,000 million dollars. Barakah 4 nuclear power plantin the United Arab Emirates, has four nuclear reactors, took 9 years to build and cost $24.4 billion. On the other hand, the nuclear plant Hinkley Point Cin the United Kingdom, clearly illustrates the execution problems faced by some Western nuclear projects. After several delays Its first reactor will come into operation at best 13 years after the start of construction of the plant. And its final cost will exceed 50 billion dollars. At an intermediate point, Vogtle Unit 4 is established, in the US, which has taken 11 years to be operational and has cost about 35 billion dollars. As can be expected, the number of reactors and the technology they use have a profound impact on the cost of the plant and the time that needs to be invested in its development. Even so, as we have just seen, construction costs and time vary greatly from one region of the planet to another, especially if we introduce China into the equation. And in this scenario the country led by Xi Jinping is unbeatable with a average construction time of 6 years per nuclear plant and a cost of $2,500/kW compared to the 10-year average and almost 8,500 dollars/kW for the rest of the planet. China’s recipe is the most competitive Shangwei Liu explains clearly in the article you published on the website of the Roosevelt Institute what is the strategy that China has devised to reduce the cost and time invested in the construction of its next-generation nuclear power plants. Its plan is based on two pillars: the reconstruction of the supply chain and economies of scale. To a large extent, China’s success is due to the fact that it has managed to create a national supply chain that is immune to the ups and downs and instability of the international market. In addition, it has a lot of qualified labor in all links of its supply chain. There is only one country on the entire planet capable of approaching China’s numbers in this complex and demanding scenario: South Korea. On the other hand, the economy of scale that has given China so much joy in a very wide range of markets also has a place in the production of the components required by nuclear plants. Furthermore, when replacing components manufactured abroad by local elements This Asian country managed to drastically reduce costs during the first decade of this century, and stabilize them during the last decade. However, there is another factor that works in China’s favor and that we cannot ignore: its coordinated industrial policy and stable regulatory framework allow it to carry out long-term planning. There is only one country on the entire planet capable of approaching China’s numbers in this complex and demanding scenario: South Korea. Its latest nuclear plant projects show a cost of between 3,500 and 4,500 dollars/kWwhich places it close to China, with 2,500 dollars/kW, and well below the average of 8,500 dollars/kW for the rest of the planet. This achievement is the result of approaching nuclear energy as an industrial assembly line and not as a set of isolated engineering projects. Again, economy of scale makes the difference. The US numbers are much less favorable. And the total cost of its latest nuclear plants exceeds $15,000/kWalthough presumably this figure will moderate until it barely exceeds the $10,000/kW in future projects. If Western countries want to drastically reduce their costs and moderate the time it takes to construct their nuclear power plants, they will necessarily have to look towards China and South Korea. The reconstruction of their supply chain is essential, and, in addition, they will have to resolve the crossroads posed by the commitment to large reactors, or by compact modular reactors. At the moment there are no other options on the table. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Roosevelt Institute In Xataka | The future of energy is floating in the Arctic: Russia’s ace up its sleeve is a nuclear plant

a walk to the heart of the Michelin plant in Vitoria

by

“Here we all know someone who works at Michelin. Most stay but others go to Valladolid for a few years, others to Lasarte… others even come and go to Lasarte, although less so.” Five minutes of chatting with colleagues from the local press is enough to confirm the impact of Michelin in Vitoria, a company that directly employs 3,500 people. The province is the most industrialized in Spain. The city seems chiseled by the idealists of sustainable mobility. The facilities of Michelin and the city center are separated by 15 minutes by bus, “it would have taken eight minutes by tram,” another of the colleagues who attended the presentation points out. It almost sounds like a joke, a city where a good part of the direct and indirect jobs are created by Mercedes and Michelin has experienced a reconversion that is the envy of Spain and an example in Europe. Before, Michelin tires that they manufactured themselves passed through their urban area. Now too, but bicycles ride them and not cars. Those same cars that will soon be able to wear the Michelin Primacy 5 Energy and the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 Energy, the two premium compounds that the French company will soon launch. The first are already beginning to be manufactured in Vitoria. The seconds have not yet been awarded but the Basque plant is one of the best positioned. Tires with a chip and million-dollar figures 60 years have passed since Michelin opened the doors of its factory in Vitoria. So, on the outskirts of the city. Today, the avenue that leads to its facilities is a continuous flow of cyclists who ride calmly between well-designed bike lanes. Vitoria does not have much to envy of Amsterdam. In fact, to live there, nothing to envy if we take into account the tourist explosion of the dutch city. “How are you able to live in a nice city?” I joke with the locals longing for a fraction of the photograph I have in front of my eyes for Madrid. That’s where we are when we cross the doors and Bibendum greets us next to a gigantic tire. It is by no means the largest manufactured there. The latter weighs 5.7 tons. The one in front of us will only weigh a couple of them. But this time we have not come to learn about heavy transport tires. This time we are here to learn about Michelin’s new premium compounds. The Primacy 5 Energy are already manufactured in Vitoria and if everything goes as it should, 200,000 tires will be manufactured before the end of 2026. The Michelin Pilot Sport 5 Energy, at the moment, are being finalized but in a few months they will begin to be manufactured here or in any other plant that the company has throughout Europe. In both cases they are summer tires but with clearly different approaches. The latter are designed for sports cars and more aggressive driving. As an example, the performance of its prototype version during the test that Mercedes carried out with its Mercedes Concept AMG GT XX in Italy: a week at more than 300 km/h without rest. With extraordinary results, it must be said. 25 world records broken in one fell swoop. Those that are manufactured are the Primacy 5 Energya tire that replaces the e-Primacy, which was a range designed to improve consumption without sacrificing performance. According to the company, these tires are now quieter, improving braking by 8% both new and with used rubber. And, they defend, they offer 30% better grip than their main rival. Of course, it was not revealed who they consider to be the main competitor. What is irrefutable is that the tire has earned a triple A on the efficiency label used by the European Union to determine the performance of rubber. That is, it has obtained the best grade in the wet grip, consumption and noise tests. To reach our cars, the manufacturing of these tires begins within the Vitoria plant. There, the company shapes the rubber as if it were kneading industrial bread. The materials are crushed and heated until they are malleable enough to cover the first layers of the tire. A structure that also uses textile fibers to give rigidity to the final product. The process progresses between robots and operators who are mere spectators at best. Its function is to control that the highly mechanized process works correctly and that the type of compound that a central unit requires is manufactured at all times, anticipating a possible stock out. Between robots and conveyor belts, the rubber bands advance and are structured. Step by step they reach the coating with the outer rubber, the layer that treads on the ground. A very high temperature firing process reveals the final design. It is time to let it cool and check with machines that apply thousands of light flashes if the quality is correct. The last workers check with their hands and eyes that everything has gone as it should. It is the most artisanal part of the production. The most digital one occurs in between. The company is already including small chips in its wheels in RFID format. At the moment they only have detailed information on the type of compound and its dimensions. Manufacturers only need one reading device to store the rubber bands correctly in the shortest possible time. This novelty is not a whim of the company. We must remember that Europe’s intention is to get serious about wheel contamination so it could be used to control the traceability of the product. In the absence of defining the latter, what is certain, they explain to us, is that in 2029 all tires sold must have this system. Vitoria aspires to become the first factory in the world to implement these chips in all manufactured tires this year. If this happens, eight million tires will leave their doors with this control system. And this is the … Read more

We have been avoiding the definitive energy crisis for months. Iran’s missile at Qatar’s largest gas plant threatens to detonate it

by

We had been holding our breath for weeks, assuming the logistical tension in the Strait of Hormuz like 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 has been immediate. The price of natural gas in Europe (the TTF reference contract) has shot up 35% in a matter of hours, resurrecting the worst ghosts of the Ukrainian crisis of 2022. The magnitude of the disaster is such that Susan Sakmar, a professor at the University of Houston, warns in Bloomberg that this attack could be “a turning point for the LNG sector, similar to the attack against Nord Stream or perhaps even worse”, as it is a sudden interruption with no signs of a short-term solution. The chronological climb. To understand how we got here we have to look at the chain of events of the last 48 hours. The original trigger, as revealed The Wall Street Journalwas an attack by Israel against the South Pars field, the jewel in the crown of the Iranian energy industry, with the aim of suffocating the sources of financing for the Revolutionary Guard. And it is not just any objective. The analyst Joaquín Coronado emphasizes that South Paris (shared with Qatar, where it is called North Dome) is the largest natural gas field in the world, hosting 10% of global reserves. 70% of Iranian domestic consumption gas comes from there and generates 80% of the Qatari State’s income. A withering response from Tehran. As pointed out Financial TimesIran launched ballistic missiles against the giant Ras Laffan industrial complex in Qatar, the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in the world and home to key infrastructure such as Shell’s Pearl GTL plant. State-owned company QatarEnergy confirmed “extensive damage” and fires at its facilities. Panic spread throughout the Persian Gulf. According to Reutersthe Iranian Revolutionary Guard issued public evacuation orders, declaring vital energy facilities in Saudi Arabia (such as the Samref refinery and the Jubail complex), the United Arab Emirates (the Al Hosn gas field) and Qatar as “legitimate targets.” Shortly afterward, Riyadh intercepted missiles aimed at the Saudi capital. The market has felt the blow. Oil prices have gone crazy. As detailed oil price, a barrel of Brent surpassing the barrier of 110-113 dollars, which represents an increase of almost 60% in this month of March. However, the real problem goes beyond the daily price. Martin Senior, of Argus Media, warns of a “new level of impact”. It is no longer just about the logistical closure of the Strait of Hormuz (through which 20% of the world’s oil passes); The problem is that the time to repair these destroyed facilities could last much longer than the war itself. And the worst omens already have figures. As has revealed exclusively in Reuters CEO of QatarEnergy, the Iranian attack has knocked out 17% of the country’s LNG capacity for a period that could last up to five years. The domino effect. This situation is taking third countries on their way. As explained CrownedIraq has suddenly lost 3,100 megawatts of electricity due to the Iranian supply cut, while Türkiye will be forced to compete fiercely for emergency LNG shipments. In Europe, the panic is evident: the bulletin Europe Express of the Financial Times reveals that war has blown up the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, where debate on how to improve competitiveness has been completely overshadowed by fear of energy bills and domestic pressure on the emissions trading system. Geopolitics to the limit. Diplomacy appears broken and America’s allies are losing patience. According to the Wall Street JournalArab governments are “furious” because they feel that the US and Israel strategy has put a target on their backs. For its part, Al Jazeera includes the statements of the Saudi Foreign MinisterPrince Faisal bin Farhan, who has warned Iran that the Gulf’s patience “is not unlimited” and they reserve the right to take military action. Qatar, for its part, has expelled the Iranian diplomats, giving them 24 hours to leave the country. In the midst of this chaos, Washington’s role is erratic. President Donald Trump went to social media to deny prior knowledge of the Israeli attack on South Paris. However, how to collect WSJ, Trump issued an ultimatum to Tehran: if it attacks Qatar again, the US will “massively blow up the entire” Iranian oilfield. Faced with rising prices, the White House is seeking desperate measures. The column of Javier Blas in Bloomberg reveals a controversial plan of the US Treasury: to intervene directly in the financial markets by betting on the downside (shorting) in oil futures to artificially make gasoline cheaper before the elections. An idea that experts such as the CEO of CME Group describe as a “biblical disaster” that would destroy confidence in the free market. The peripheral context. To get the full picture, you have to look beyond the explosions. Verisk Maplecroft Analyst warn in Reuters that the greatest danger right now is that the attacks will extend to Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline or to Red Sea ports. These were the only viable alternative routes to avoid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil normally transits. In an attempt to cushion the blow domestically, the Trump administration has temporarily suspended the century-old Jones Act (Jones Act) for 60 days, allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and gas between US ports to reduce costs. The dead end. The panorama is bleak. As they reflect on Five Daysthe 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 war; It is enough for him to set the energetic heart of the planet on fire. Even if a ceasefire were signed tomorrow and ships sailed freely through the Strait of … Read more

is building a 2,100 MW mega hydroelectric plant in Tibet

by

China has put the turbo into the energy transition towards renewables and for example, a button: only in 2025 will it install more wind electric capacity that the United States throughout its history. That same milestone but with solar panels He achieved it in 2023. But renewable energies have their problems and one of their critical points is storage: what to do with that surplus on a sunny and/or windy day? The answer normally (if there is no storage system) it’s wasting it. But China is also a specialist in mega-constructions, due to its colossal size, its blazing speed of construction or even for setting up facilities in places as inhospitable as a solar park on the tibetan plateau. If we combine these two ingredients we have the next great Chinese recipe: a mega hydroelectric plant in the middle of the Tibetan plateau. The project. Two years ago, the state-owned Yalong River Hydropower Development Company laid the foundation stone for the future Daofu hydropower plant, in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in Sichuan (southwest China). This plant will have a total installed capacity of 2,100 MW and its infrastructure will consist of two reservoirs, a forced conduction system, an underground plant excavated in the rock and a surface substation. When operational, it will be the highest-altitude pumped hydroelectric power station in the world, surpassing by 700 meters the record-holder, the Yamzho Yumco Lake Pumped Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Xizang Autonomous Region. how to explain Xinhua, China’s official news agency. Why is it important. Fundamentally, because it solves the main bottleneck of renewables. Daofu is integrated into the Yalong River clean energy ecosystem, with a current operational capacity of 21,000 MW between hydro, solar and wind and with plans to reach 78,000 MW in 2035. Without mass storage, a significant part of that energy would be wasted or destabilize the network. On the other hand, it shows that it can be built in extreme conditions and its technical advances will serve to accelerate projects with similar characteristics. Finally, and hand in hand with the global energy transition, China takes a giant step in the global race for storage: it closed 2024 with 58 GW of installed pumping capacity, as the absolute world leader, and plans to overcome 120GW in 2030. Context. The production of renewable energy is becoming increasingly more affordable and simpler thanks to the democratization and evolution of technologies, but the Gordian knot continues to be storage: not wasting energy when more than necessary is produced and, conversely, how to cover demand peaks when there is no wind or sun. Storage is essential for a real energy transition and few countries are interested in it going well like China, which is the largest consumer of energy of the planet and world leader in renewable electricity production. Batteries are a growing solution, but pumped hydroelectric storage remains the technology with the highest cumulative installed capacity in the world and the most convenient to store large volumes of energy for hours. In figures. We have already glimpsed some of the overwhelming data of this mega-construction, but it leaves our jaws open: 2,100 MW of installed power, distributed among six reversible turbine-generators of 350 MW each. A quick comparison: Daofu represents almost 7% of all the wind power installed in the Spanish statebut concentrated in a single installation. 12.6 GWh of daily storage, which according to Xinhua meets the needs of two million households in Sichuan. 3 TWh of electricity generation per year, combining charge and discharge cycles. Between the upper and lower reservoir there is a difference in level of 760.7 meters, according to the construction company PowerChina Chengdu Engineering Corporation. The project investment is 15.1 billion yuan (at current exchange rates, about 1.84 billion euros). What is it like to build at 4,300 meters. At that altitude, the air available to breathe can cause hypoxia (less oxygen available) and temperatures plummet beyond freezing, a challenge for both working personnel and machinery. On the other hand, building in such remote areas represents a logistical challenge in terms of a lack of infrastructure, something to take into account when moving heavy material such as steel or concrete. Or to manufacture it there. As Yu Chuntao, project director of the PowerChina project, explains, to Global Times“The design, construction and manufacturing of electrical equipment for the Daofu project is highly exploratory and challenging” and that the advances made there “will greatly boost the design and manufacturing of pumping station equipment in China.” In Xataka | China needed space to power millions of homes, so it installed 2,934 huge solar panels in the open sea In Xataka | Germany has had a crazy idea to solve one of the problems of renewables: covering a lake with solar panels Cover | CGTN

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.