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Radical Uncertainty

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  Perhaps you will agree that doing business in a society which is being disturbed by geopolitical conflict is not easy. When circumstances, rules, regulations can change overnight or geographical shifts are probable, long term commitment to or investments in alternative energy sources may be unwise. When you are following my columns, you will understand that I always ask Aristotle’s question: ‘seek knowledge of cause’. Uncertainty in information theory is also understood as the ‘information we don’t have’. Basing investments on information we don’t have causes uncertainty. At this moment I am observing that long term commitment into development of the Hydrogen bubble (I believe that would be the correct nomenclature) are gradually decreasing. An hydrogen hub connecting Rotterdam with the German Ruhr Industrial Area has been postponed.   Automakers don’t invest fully in cars running on hydrogen and already are rethinking investing in electrical vehicles, because of uncertainty about th
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A Crisis of Perception

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  A recent book by Peter Oborne titled The Assault on Truth (2021) describes the cognitive failures of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, who believe that lying gets them ahead: “Johnson was 23 when he was first sacked for lying”. This book features a listing of events, talks, political turmoil and societal effects caused by information deficit, which demonstrates that Fritjof Capra’s observation of a crisis of perception is correct. This insight is therefore of crucial importance as it offers an unusual view on the certainty by information and the uncertainty by disinformation which can be achieved by man if he or she is open to learn.   The Performance Probability Pattern of disinformation (lying, deceit) is negative because the performance of any system that seeks less information rather than ‘optimal’ can’t function fully. Entropy (disorder) can also be observed as the information we don’t like to have. This is called negative interdependence, which means that a goal can only be
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Tank Terminals Sustainability: can information theory help us reach our goals?

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  The question is no longer; is it sustainable? But; how can we ensure non harmful functionality? StocExpo is back in 2023 with two separate conference streams, one exploring big picture tank storage, and the other on health & safety and the practicalities of terminal operations. On day two of the Terminal Operations and Safety conference stream, Arend Van Campen, founder of the Tank Storage Sustainability Initiative and Tank Terminal Training, will talk on how tank terminals can realistically minimise their social and environmental impact using information theory. Here’s a taster… It’s incredibly hard for the tank storage sector to minimise its impact on the environment in a significant and wholesale way. There are different levels of regulation, infrastructure, and desire to tackle the environmental impact of tank terminals country to country.  But even on an individual level, sustainability represents a huge challenge to terminal operators. This is partly because mos
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Is information the primary substance in the Universe?

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Information is a word that has never been easy to pin down. In its most familiar sense, information today is news, intelligence, facts and ideas that are needed and passed on as knowledge. But a more active and constructive meaning as something that gives a certain shape or character to matter, or to mind; a force that shapes behaviour, trains, instructs, inspires and guides. Information gives form to the formless, DNA codes are information and form human thought patterns. In this way, information spans the disparate fields of space computing, classical physics, molecular biology and human communication, the evolution of language and the evolution of man. Nature can no longer be seen as matter and energy, but must be interpreted as matter, energy and information. (Campbell, Jeremy, 1982) The universe is a physical system that contains bits of information. Every elementary particle carries bits of information. Electrons carrying information interact in a systematic way to perform a quan
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Marine Terminal Particulars Questionnaire 2 Release update Nov. 2021

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  MTPQ2 Release   The Ship-Shore Interfaces Expert Group are pleased to announce the release of the new MTPQ2 templates into production on 22 November 2021.   This release includes the following changes:   A separate Port Index has been created to reduce duplication against terminal particulars and provide a central source of Port data, providing an index of terminals at each port. The reduction in questions is designed to reduce the management burden upon terminal operators and to reduce the duplication of questions now included in the Terminal Information Booklet. The Vessel-Berth Comparison Tool (VBCT) has been developed that compares jetty published MTPQ2 data uploaded within MTIS, to vessel’s published HVPQ data from the SIRE database and provides a comparison
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Vroeg Waarschuwing Systeem om risico's te voorkomen

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 Als ik de controlekamer van een terminal bezoek, zie ik vaak dat er een whiteboard aan de muur hangt waarop bijvoorbeeld informatie over noodzakelijke reparaties wordt genoteerd, zoals defecte kleppen, de telefoon op steiger 5 werkt niet, regenwater van drijvende daktanks als gevolg van geblokkeerde dakafvoeren of apparatuur die buiten bedrijf is, enzovoorts. Deepwater Horizon; als je de film bekijkt zie je dat diverse apparatuur niet functioneerde. Die informatie werd genegeerd, de rest is geschiedenis. Landtanks op de Cilacap raffinaderij, Indonesië stonden deze week in brand. Ik heb daar gewerkt en begrijp dat een tekort aan informatie door slecht onderhoud de oorzaak kan zijn geweest. De informatietheorie en de cybernetica bewijzen dat informatie fysisch is. Bits van informatie zijn de fundamentele bouwstenen van de werkelijkheid. Inzicht in deze verbazingwekkende wetenschappen is van cruciaal belang voor de levensduur, de continuïteit, de veiligheid en de duurzaamheid van t
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An Early Warning System for our Industry to prevent risk.

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  When I visit a terminal’s control room I often observe that there is a whiteboard on the wall where, for example, information about needed repairs such as faulty valves, the phone on jetty 5 doesn’t work, rain water of floating roof tanks due to blocked roof drains or equipment out of operation, etcetera are recorded. Deepwater Horizon; when you watch the movie you’ll notice that various equipment was not functioning. That information was ignored, the rest is history. Shore tanks at the Cilacap Refinery, Indonesia were on fire this week. I worked there and understand that information deficit due to poor maintenance could have been the cause. Information theory and cybernetics prove that information is physical. Bits of information are the fundamental building blocks of reality. Understanding what can be done by these amazing sciences is crucial for the longevity, continuity safety and sustainability of tank storage and refining operations. Marine Storage Terminals and Refiner
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