Hey guys, I'm Alex and this is the new Platinum LED Bymax 600. I've got a really quick mini review, a teaser review as such while I finish editing my full deep dive review on this product. So what I want, what you need to know about this new panel, it is $899 using discount code Alex. It will save you 5% so you can get it for $854. It has 5 wavelengths, 630nm, 660nm, 810nm, 830nm and 850nm, so you're getting both red and narrow for red light, 203W LEDs and it's putting out some massive power. In fact I've tested this with my spectrometer and some of the numbers that came up on this device were insane. I can tell you now the readings were the highest I've ever seen so you're going to want to see my full review which will be published shortly to learn more about that. What do you need to know about this panel? Well it has been upgraded internally compared to the first generation Bymax. You are seeing improved internals, improved components inside, more power like I just mentioned and best of all you're seeing a brand new control panel on the side. This is a touch screen control panel which makes it easier to use and yes it does make it easier to use. It's not one of those confusing control panels with lots of menus. It is nice and simple but best of all there's a feature in there that allows you to change the level of power going to specific LEDs. So if you want all the power going to red light but only 10% going to narrow for red you can do that now which is very very cool. You can take the power right down to 1% so it's great for background, red light, you know lighting up a room for instance. Remember the first generation Bymax 600 won my 2019 body panel of the year so this is the new and improved more powerful version of that so it should be better right and I can tell you now based on the tests I've been doing over the last few weeks it is quite impressive. So what do I not like about this panel? Well unfortunately the hotspots are still there. You're still seeing those hotspots that concentrate the light at the 6 inch mark. As you go further back 18, 12 inches you get a more blended panel which is good. The thing is though you get a lot more power coming from this panel so you can stand further back and still get the same meridians and not worry about the hotspots so that is good to know. As for what I like about this panel, well like I said there's more power. You get newer tech, you get newer control panel, you get the same tidy design. You're getting the options to buy both horizontal and vertical stands. You get the modular capability and daisy chain. You can daisy chain them in and control it from one panel and plus you can for a really good value. I mean this price, the price point for this particular unit is $855 or $854 after using discount code Alex. When you current to the numbers and you break it down for $1 per LED or $1 per wattage output, this is, it's an exceptional value. It's a really good value. I haven't tested all the panels in the market yet. I will be doing that so be sure to hit subscribe below but I think it's going to stack up pretty well compared to some other panels on the market. I will be testing this, the bigger brother version of the Bymax 600, the Bymax 900. I will be including that in the upcoming 2021 comparison series so be sure to hang around to see how that goes. But most importantly, in a couple of days I will be posting the full review of this panel where I take a deep dive into it so be sure to subscribe and leave your comments below and give me a thumbs up as well if you liked this video. Alright guys, bye.


As a welcome back to the Independent Investor channel, I've got on the onset of this video a couple of charges for you guys. There's quite a robust following for this Hylian Opportunity and it's ironic now with the depressed stock price, how robust the following is. I can only suggest that when this stock price starts to catch a little bit of momentum and catch a little bit of fire, it is going to be gangbusters. I'm going to need the core audience of not only the Independent Investor channel, the Hylian Opportunity far transcends my small channel that can be. I only look to reach the people that I am capable of reaching from a week to week basis and I feel fast on sharing this mission right now and what I feel is absolutely the best time to be looking at this with all of the stock market volatility, the exacerbated sell-off. Hylian has really held in nicely while equities have really been taken about. There has been no place to hide in this current stock market and it has really been a drag for all equities. There has been really no place to hide at all in the current stock market and each and every one of you guys that monitor stock market knows that but I need each and every one of you guys to do me a big, big favor. I need each and every one of you guys who are at least interested in this company, both from a bear and a bull perspective, to kick over to Hylian.com and I need you to read the website. What I mean by that is if you've ever wondered what due diligence is, okay, I need you to go tab by tab and I need you to go through each and every presentation. I need you to read every single comment on there. I need you to absolutely look because here's the thing of the last two years I have been intimately covering this company and I've reviewed the progress that this company has rolled out silently, I might add, and I've been a very, very staunch critic of the information that has been made forthcoming by Hylian and here cumulatively I have just come to a complete revelation on the progress of this company on too many fronts for me to even offer through a 60-minute video and I get scrutiny for that. I get scrutiny for not coming out with a 14-minute video and telling you what you need to do to fall and trip and fall blindly into your Lamborghini. I don't do that for full disclaimer. I am a share owner in the company I have been and I will be into the foreseeable future as we march toward an inevitable march to scale up and we're going to talk about some things that I picked out of my re-review. I've read the website many, many times. I feel like the Hylian Discord is the best source of information. I would please ask anybody that's leaving a comment, if you want to leave a prudent comment, please leave the link into the Discord group directly from my videos. Please do that. You have my full permission. You're not going to irritate me. Just share that information. Get those folks that are interested in getting into the Hylian Discord group that information directly. They can do it as a conduit through my channel.  You're not going to irritate me by using my channel to help share an awareness piece on Hylian Holdings because this company needs to be shared and I've had too many people hit me up and ask me for that information. Rick, please, if you're viewing this in the top five minutes, please share the Discord. If you share the Discord, you will win the pinned comment. I will pin that to the very top of this video and look to get as many people into this opportunity because I can tell you once this thing starts to take off, guys. I've been doing this a long, long time and when Momentum sets in here, we are not really at a time where I think that Hylian is as prepared to take on Momentum as they will be in around 15 short months, which is right around the corner. It is right around the corner from a lot of immeasurable catalysts for this company. We are marching toward that end. We do have the luxury of time. I do actually award Hylian the luxury of time in allowing these supply chain issues to kind of dampen themselves out. They can get a round turn on that, get control of it, get a real opportunity to continue on those ride and drive opportunities with their hyper truck ERX fleet, which is where I'm going to start the discussion this week on Hylian, which I want to kind of express and put into context what I think this hyper truck innovation council means to Hylian, even though a vast amount of orders have been garnered outside of the council, which I think is just a double whammy in meeting what I feel like could be that those minimum production goals to profitability, which we talk about all the time. What are those numbers? What are they going to look like? Where are the orders going to come from and how quickly can they get there? We're going to kind of revolve around some of the numbers here. Another shot out to silent alert. Guys, silent alert. If you're part of this community, hit the subscribe button, hit the follow button, start to follow some of these cats. It's going to cost you nothing. Okay. And the amount of information through social media and the grandeur internet is absolutely amazing. And if you're not on board with these opportunities and the source of that said information, you are behind the curb. Okay, you might get lucky and fall into one of my videos and indeed I will anoint you lucky because you've probably stumbled upon one of the greatest investment opportunities of this decade with the transition to renewable fuels and EV space in general. It is absolutely at the precipice, not necessarily stepping into that real excitement phase of mass scale up and development. But you've got companies like Nicola who have gone from plant dirt to inception to production of their units in a very, very short time. Why do you think that is? It's because the industry as a whole, this $1 trillion addressable industry that we are marching toward is demanding of these companies to come forth with a product. Now each of these companies, Nicola Heizen, Hylian Tesla and others are bringing product to bear in drastically different measures. Okay. And it is the very subsurface application that you need to have that delineate between these different opportunities. Okay. It is incumbent upon the investor, even if you're looking for a side hustle, even if you're looking for a side hustle or a project or even a hobby to look at the EV space right now and what's going on very exciting times. There is a perfect storm brewing in the EV space and it is absolutely a beautiful time to be looking at the EV space. If you're interested in the space, subscribe to those messages because guys like Silent Alert are coming out and they're actually way more forward thinking than me and they're kind of finding information that is looking to speculate on where this opportunity could go. And I think it's a beautiful thing. I think the connection between what's going on with the fleets and Walmart and Amazon alike and how potentially green path could fit into this and the discussion and the domino effect that I think as well, this is where we agree is going to fall suit. I just typically look to address what's going on right now. Silent Alert does a great job. I find myself looking for his tweets because they're super insightful, super smart guy as well as a lot of different smart minds. Andreas and Rick, they do a great job in running the Discord group. Put your feelers out, but my tasking of you is very, very simple. Go to highlyon.com and read the website. That's it. Read the freaking website. The information is there. I can say it a thousand different ways, but I would love for you to re-review that information because I picked up on some things that I'm going to share with you in my detailed read of highlyon.com in the goings on of the company right now and how it's shaping up to be an interesting forthcoming 15 months as the company evolves. The highlyon hyper truck innovation council. Our latest orders of NFI is only proof that they want to set these initial baseline orders to introduce strategic routes into their fleet with the highlyon solution. Great news. It's lovely. The stock price continues to be depressed and is not, again, reflecting the opportunity. We're just not at that catalyst just yet. You can say it should be or it shouldn't be. That's not how stock market investing works. It'll get there if it's destined or it is inevitable that it gets there. If it's inevitable that it doesn't get there, then it won't get there. That's stock market investing. But they cannot continue to march toward that end and expect that the stock price is going to remain where it is right now. Once the stock price starts to move and it starts to move from these quantifiable catalysts into the future, it's going to be gangbusters. But a key takeaway on the hyper truck innovation council is that the council in and of itself, all 11 entities on the council represent 100,000, 100,000 class 8 trucks within the council itself. Now take a step back just a second. Ask yourself what this could mean for highlyon. Does it mean nothing? The bears would say that it means nothing. I beg to differ. Access to a fleet of information of 100,000 trucks would suggest to me a couple of things. Now, are they going to sell 100,000 trucks to the hyper truck innovation council? I would suggest not. But can they garner 5%? Let's start there. Let's just suggest that 95% of the hyper truck innovation council is untouchable. They will not touch that. Highlyon will not penetrate that market. Now, mind you, mind you by 2025, the OEM mandates would suggest that 25% of the total overall carbon footprint, the footprint must be reduced. Now, the question for these companies is what of that 25% makes up or is consumed by the transportation sector within each of these respective businesses? And I would go so far as to suggest, and I got this from the Budweiser rep, that they cannot reach their mandates without looking very, very hard at the transportation percentage of that total overall carbon emission score. In other words, why would it not be incumbent for them to do the entire transportation sector? 100%. All of it. Because they know that they have to capture that 11% to reduce the carbon score, full well knowing that it may be more difficult to actually reduce the carbon emission score in some of the other areas of their respective businesses. That's why the transportation sector is so applicable and so ripe for the picking for this. Because fleets are going to be taking a hard look at how they can supplement that transportation sector within their respective businesses with a low carbon emissions or a neutral carbon emissions, or dare I say, a net negative carbon emissions output profile. Now, if they start to think about every unit that's added to reduce that, let's say 11%, and I'm using the 11% because that's what Budweiser has in their fleet. They're staring down a mandate of 25% must be reduced by 25%. How do they get there? And they've got to look at their entire business. And if they look at, let's say transitioning 100%, which again, I think is a pipe dream. If we did that, we would be talking about $1,000 stock here in Hylian, which is all possible, is stock market investing, baby. This is how it works. They are going to be looking at viable solutions that can be used to be applied in those different categories to reduce the score. How attractive would that be on those lines that can actually put RNG, renewable natural gas, and utilize that bio waste being put fluid through existing infrastructure to even further reduce in that category to a net negative profile. Now, that negative integer can be used in other applications, guys. So if you can actually reduce the transportation sector to an extent where certain factors or certain units can drive that down to a negative integer, then that can be applied toward that total overall 25%. I think it's an absolutely game changer for where we are stepping into the future. We are on the forefront of the wave, guys, which is a place that I like to be in investing. This is the forward thinking application when I look at a tweet from Silent Alert when he's talking about these fleets are panicking right now because they have to make this transition and they have to make this transition whether or not it's economical or not. Economics do not play into the factor. Hylian is the only one, the only one, out of any of the others that I've talked about. Nicola, Heizen, maybe a little bit closer to Hylian, but not even close, and Tesla in looking at the economic viability and the TCO, the total cost of ownership for each of these fleets and what it could mean for these companies adopting what it is that their solution brings to bear. Is it an all EV type of an application? Is it a renewable natural gas type of an application? Is it a hydrogen fuel cell application? I think there's some real deficiencies and real disconnects between reaching that. I think they'll benefit because I think fleets are going to have to integrate, they're going to have to play ball one way or the other, but I think Hylian is going to be that one to where I'm looking at the fleet trials as a real tell for me. In other words, if they put this into play and they're like, not only can this kick some ass in the long haul, but man, we love the truck so much, we're going to integrate it on our short missions as well. Why wouldn't they? Why wouldn't they? If it's efficient and they get more total cost of ownership to the bottom line, it reduces their reliance upon a diesel dominated present, and it allows them to supplement their transportation nexus and reduce their carbon footprint. Why wouldn't that be in the discussion? I'll leave that rhetorically to the group, but I think the momentum here as we step toward this is amazing. So the breakdowns of this is, could they get 5% of the Innovation Council? That's 5,000 units. Now remember, 5,000 units has kind of been that earmark of a figure, could be a little less, could be a little more. I think it's probably less likely that it's more than five, because I think we're looking at it very, very conservative when we look at that 5,000 as reaching that kind of point of covering cost to operations and looking at actually realizing profit with this company for the first time. And to talk about it now, a lot of people would say, Ryan, you're crazy. I mean, this company's going to render maybe $3 million on the high side in 2022. Excuse me, 2022 is a loss. It's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It's absolutely futile to sit there and say because they've made money in 2022 to such an anemic pace that therefore it's not going to make more money into the future is an escape from thinking. With the amount of momentum, I think Hylian is their worst enemy. I think Hylian is where this rests. I think Hylian is the one that is going to either define whether or not they make it or break it into the future because the opportunity, it's there. It's there for the taking and they know it. And the solution has been built to actually segue and actually integrate with what's going on right now. One of the reps, I believe it was Schneider. It was the Schneider rep, which on the Innovation Council has been nothing short of anemic. We haven't heard anything from them except for the video that's offered on Hylian.com. And they said this is the only solution that we can buy now and put into play tomorrow. I didn't say it. He said it. How much more clear can I suggest? And if you don't believe me, no problem. Go over there. I'm biased. Full disclaimer, I'm a share owner in the company. It's no problem. I'm fascinated by the opportunity. My stock ownership is just disclaimed.  So I try to double down on the source so they can go on there and see where these fleets are where their loyalty lies. Are they getting out of the hyper truck ERX and they're irritated at the experience? No, it's the contrary. They all love it. They all love it. You don't need to hear it from me. Who am I? I'm just an insignificant nobody on YouTube. All right? So I'll connect you with where it is that you need to hear this information and the best validation that we get through our community is the truck drivers who frequent my opportunity, right? I'm not one. I'm not one. It's okay. I'm very good at what I do. I don't drive trucks, but I can only presume that by driving a hyper truck, ERX, that it's a quieter, smoother experience, which is what Bobby Sherion said was the very takeaway from the ride and drive and has continued to be the theme throughout. It's smooth. There was one report that came back that suggested that it's actually smoother and quieter than a regular passenger vehicle. Are you kidding me? With more power.  All right? So when we look to really quantify this opportunity, you have to understand and get a good pulse of what's going on. That's what I'm good at. I'm good at sharing what I perceive to be the pulse. People will disagree with me on the other side of the spectrum. It's totally fine. They could be 100% right. I could be 100% wrong, okay? But you'll choose where your loyalty lies, okay? That's what investing is all about, okay? Putting your chips where you feel like the most momentum exists and the most opportunity exists, not necessarily to be validated now, but to be worth more in the future. That's investing 101, baby. That's what it comes down to. Have a little fun with this deal. I have fun when I review the Hylian website. I have fun when I cover the company once a week. And again, I do it with no appreciation, zero. The only appreciation that I get are the very patrons that receive this message every single week. And that's why I do it. That's why I do it. And you get my undivided attention while I'm delivering this 60 minutes on Hylian every week, okay? So very, very important, man. When we're talking about what the hyper truck council means for the Hylian opportunity, but I want to leave you with this. What are all those fleets out there that are ordering the hybrid unit as well as the hyper truck that aren't even part of the innovation council, okay? Second, what is the hyper truck innovation council fleet knowledge mean? Remember, we may not garner even close to 50%, 40%, 30%. My example was to suggest that maybe we garner 5% of the total overall fleet. But what about the knowledge that exists and have been crafted over decades? NFI is a 90-year-old family-owned fleet that's been passed through multiple generations. You don't think that there's learnings there, that if they do go into business with Hylian and never order another truck beyond their 10, that they're not going to look to share that information, at least from a one-way to one-way perspective with Hylian to embolden their own specific hyper truck. In ERX, I would do that. It would provide me a strategic edge in my fleet. Why wouldn't I do that? Hey, we think that it's going to work better this way. Can you do this to this and this to our truck? You bet we can, right? That's between you and the OEM, right? Exciting stuff when those learnings from those fleets can be incorporated in the ERX again is why I come back to that ride-and-drive, not the ride-and-drive, but the fleet demo phase that we're looking to step into back half of 2022 and into the start of 2023, okay? I want to mention the driver retention again. This is something that if you do heed my call to go and re-review the Hylian.com website, that you're going to find that under the hyper truck ERX video, if you don't want to read the website, at least watch the hyper truck ERX video. It's at the bottom of the page. Click start, put your earphones on, and watch the content. It's incredible. It covers all of the fleets, Schneider, Budweiser, which we haven't heard a lot from, even Ryder, which I thought was going to be a lot more vocal up to now. There's probably a reason for it, okay? And it's probably positive, okay? But to hear the comments from those industry leaders is incredible, and that video tells a lot. But the driver retention piece is key. There's an enormous lack of, there's a driver shortage right now. There's a labor shortage going on right now, okay? Which would suggest a couple of things, okay? Either there really aren't any workers, okay? I yield. Or the job in and of itself is not attractive, right? And there's just not a lot of people out there that are interested in going and driving a tractor trailer right now. I don't know. I would defer to the truckers in the independent investor community to maybe take that mole about it, chew on it a little bit, and spit back to me a little bit of a refined explanation as to why that is. But is it too far to suggest that a quieter, more comfortable rig, one that deploys artificial intelligence and machine learning in the driver tendency, in the driver health and experience, it isn't more attractive to a would-be driver that's looking to step into the profession. There's folks that have 30 years of experience that get behind the wheel of this rig and they love it. That is very, very rare, very rare. I've dealt with this in my personal career where change is very, very difficult to place upon somebody who's been accustomed to over the years a certain type of output. They know what the machinery will do. They know what those sounds sound like. They know when something is off when they're listening to the engine idle or they know something's off when they're under tow or in this case underway with freight. They know when something's wrong and it's just that experience that you can't supplement for. But when they're looking to attract new talent into the industry, driver retention is a huge piece to this gig and it's something that does not get talked about at all. These pundits that come on and want to slam highly on all the time, they don't talk about any of this stuff. And it's not just me, guys. It's not just me generating the churn on this conversation. This was the rep with Ryder. Ryder is a player in the industry. Again, it's not me. I don't want this to be about me. I want this to be about me doing my very best to connect you to the information that I found so valuable in taking up a position in the company. Okay. Don't do it because I said to do it. Again, I'm an insignificant nobody. All right. I'll continue to be an insignificant nobody. But the cool thing about YouTube for 60 minutes is this is my gig. This allows me my voice. Okay. That is significant. And it's extremely significant and that I'm not coming on and cheerleading for a company. I'm not. I'm merely trying to suggest that the information is out there on topics that are not being discussed within the industry, except for by the people that matter. The freaking people that matter are the very industry that Eileen is looking to serve. That's it. Pundits that don't know squat about this company or know that there's been people who have suffered from the digression and the stock price or are knowing that it is a hot topic right now and that people are going to read the article, no matter how crappy it is. Right. I leave that stuff to Tobin. Tobin's a stud at this. He's really good at it. I suppose he's made a ton of money at doing that. I don't make money for coming on and doing this and my product is one of the best out there. It is one of the best out there in talking about highlyonholdings.com. And again, I do it from my island. I do it from my island. The next thing about driver retention as well is the no idling and the APU unit that actually allows the rig to run off of the batteries and not have to keep the diesel engine going. This speaks to the reduction in the potential for pollution. And it talks about the total TCO benefit to the bottom line for the companies not burning that fuel and allowing them to rest upon the system itself and allow the driver to get more restful of sleep. A couple of things that stuck out to me that I didn't really catch before and I'm continuing to dig on this company. Due diligence never stops. People say I've done due diligence on this company. Well, really? When was the last time you visited the website? That's why I charge you to go back there. I don't care who you are. Rick, you got to do it too. Go back there. I want everybody to be steadfast on the facts. I want, if somebody comes to you and asks you about this company that you're like, oh, yeah, I've heard of them. Absolutely. Visit the website highlyon.com. It's good. Share the message, man. Share the message. I say it at the end of every one of my videos, man. The whole point is to share it with your friends and family out there. Is this an opportunity of a lifetime? I don't know, man. I could think of a whole different Bayley Wicca things to spend $100 on or $300 on for 100 block of shares than buying a 100 share block of highlyon right now for your family. Yeah, yeah. You want to go buy Hubba Bubba? For those of you who caught my live stream, go buy 100, 350, $355 worth of Hubba Bubba.  But once that's all chewed up and done, you can be rest assured that that investment is going to lose 100% of value for you, 100%. All right? The question when we're evaluating this opportunity is what is the downside potential and what is the upside potential? Okay? Where are we now in this opportunity? Is the company on the upswing? Is the stock on the upswing, downswing, stabilizing? I would suggest that it's in the stabilizing phase right now. And driver retention is one of those things that I really want to bring to y'all's attention as being kind of a piece to this, not necessarily an overall driver, but I think drivers fit a critical piece to this and they've got to be happy in the truck. It's that simple. Drivers love their Peter built. This is just a quieter, more powerful version of it. Seems like a no brainer to me. Okay? A net carbon negative solution with the renewable natural gas and the bio waste. I talked about how that can fit in with the carbon score and the additional factors that can play into reducing that carbon score. Not going to talk any more about that. Something that I picked up on, the intelligent electric powertrain, this is going to give you performance and environmental data. I've always suggested, and for people who have been with me a long, long time, Hylian is a lot more than just the mechanical and electrical application. It is also, also about the artificial intelligence, right? The machine learning that exists with gleaning data off of the truck as it's provided data on the performance of the machinery, its output in performing at the level that it is rated to perform at. Yes, wouldn't that be lovely? Wouldn't that be lovely for not only the driver to get to monitor that, but the fleet itself to monitor it back at the logistics hub? Wouldn't that be great to know how efficient their fleet is being in real time, right? All of that data is being extracted and pulled into the cloud only to be churned and turn out recommendations for a more efficient fleet. Is that amazing? So we're starting from a baseline here with the Hylian technology, right? Only to grow and evolve that technology into the future makes for a pretty sticky client, doesn't it? When on the onset, Hylian is able to provide these fleets with quantifiable information that was never made possible before. Remember, when you buy a Cummins diesel engine, you're given an owner's manual that thick, okay? And they give it to you and they say, here you go, follow it for optimal performance. No need to do that stuff anymore, guys. There can be sensors applied. There can be data extrapolated right from the truck in real time, not only performance data in real time, but how the truck performed over time, how perhaps maybe even some of the equipment may have degraded over time and what type of change outs or maintenance can be applied to get the maximum efficiency out of said mechanical application. It's insane. It's insane. So I've always suggested that Hylian is building a smarter truck.  These guys are on the cutting edge of this, okay? It's been suggested by a couple of fleets. I believe it was Monet in a presentation that might have suggested that Hylian knows more about their fleet than they do. And that's the disconnect that I speak of. The traditional means of understanding trucks is to understand what best practices go into maintaining the trucks, how often oil changes need to be affixed, how often fluids need to be changed out, how often cylinders and fuel pumps need to be renewed, and all of the above to get the maximum efficiency. These have all been best work practices to be referentialed against the manufacturer's owner's specifications. So these are the learnings and this is where the industry has evolved to. We're looking to take that concept and almost automate the concept. There doesn't need to be time wasted on that stuff. It's going to change the idea of the mechanical necessity or the mechanic necessity to fix trucks, rather than what Thomas Healy suggests to be more of kind of a module change out in that we'll understand when it is time to renew those batteries, pull the bank, insert a new bank, and we're good to go. We're off and running again. Very, very simple. Those batteries go back, the cores go back to Hylian for renewal and they're ready to go again. Those components are easy to change out. It's not like a mechanical application in that it actually becomes a little bit more efficient once it's broken and then it starts to degrade over time only to be partially maintained by the recommended maintenance over that machinery. That's how it works, but no machinery works forever and machinery is always susceptible to catastrophic failure. I will suggest that diesel has been an extremely reliable piece of technology. I will call it that. It was an invention that revolutionized the industry. Every single application that I go on right now is all diesel dominated. Right now, they're burning fuel that is more environmentally friendly, but those very engines that they're being run in, they're all diesel applications. The idea here is that maybe potentially segueing into something a little bit smarter as we step into a cleaner future and not have to rely on such low sulfur. I know the engineers out there just pulling their hair out because that machinery is being asked to run different grades of fuel, some very, very dirty with maybe heavy fuel oil, and then down to your cleaner low sulfur. Now, the low sulfur stuff, of course, comes with a premium, right? That's passed on to the company. But the question is, is that machinery set up to run both as efficient? The answer is no. It's really hard on machinery when you're asking the engine to run at different potentials with different fuels when it was designed to run at certain parameters constantly. See what I mean? That's the difference between the Hyalion application is you're just not dealing with, you're not dealing with diesel anymore or the divisions within diesel. You're dealing with clean, compressed natural gas and renewable natural gas. That's where the industry is headed, when and where and how we get there. Whether or not Hyalion will have a big or small or no chunk of that, I don't know. But this is why we footstomp this discussion so people can understand the holistic opportunity made possible by this company. Reduce cost of ownership, guys. This is insane. This is insane. When you cross compare, which I don't typically like to do because there's no comparison at all, but here's the comparison between the hyper truck Yarex that runs on 100% renewable natural gas can save up to 35% total cost of ownership over the life of that tractor. What I just said would be enough to go by the stock alone in and of itself. Availability of RNG, I get it. New feeling stations are coming online, leveraging existing compressed natural gas pipelines right now to make available RNG, as we said, but it is not readily available. But it is becoming very, very popular. I'm not sure if it's being pursued as aggressively here in the United States as it is abroad, especially in Europe, where the Europeans get it. We as the United States, we get it within the fleet, absolutely. But from a bureaucracy perspective, it's going to slow our pace to that end massively. In other words, the Europeans will and have and are now beating us to the mark. If Hylian is looking to penetrate the domestic market, it is no surprise to me whatsoever that it's taking a little bit longer to understand and maybe integrate and penetrate the market that we know best because of the deficiencies and the barriers that exist within our domestic market as opposed to the markets abroad. But when you're talking about less than diesel, 35% total cost of ownership. Guys, that is enormous cost savings when you opt for one unit multiplied by the number of units that you buy within the fleet. The improved payload, and this in comparison is huge. You've got a generator that weighs less without batteries. The necessity to carry batteries to run full EV, that battery weight, the proponents of Tesla, it almost seems like they operate on blind faith. And when you challenge somebody who's looking at the Tesla opportunity in the Class 8 space, and you talk about the battery weight that cannot be overcome to even get half of the range of a diesel truck or even the hyper truck ERX is rated at 1,000 miles, which is comparable to the range of what they could get. Therefore, there's no range lost by opting for a solution like Hylian, whereas there's half the range that's lost when you're looking at the payload. But the payback, if you're able to carry more freight over the life of that truck, it speaks to the bottom line profit that can be realized over the course of running that. Now, that's just with payload alone, okay? Yeah, you get the 35% bonus too. This is just talking about the additional payload, or at least a comparable payload comparable to diesel, right? Maybe they don't want to work the machinery hard. I don't know. Maybe it's a tough route. Maybe by nature of the weight, they can only carry 80,000 pounds, okay? Which is a fully loaded compressed natural gas truck. They don't want to overload that and go for overweight tickets in that application, okay? Because they don't want to tear up the machinery. They find that by nature of their information that there is an optimal payload. And this is another thing that the data can suggest. If they do incur deficiencies over the course of the life of that machinery, then that data can be integrated into future technology. And they can say, look, the maximum payload on this might be 78,000. And you might say, well, we were able to get more than that with diesel. Yeah, but how did you know what was efficient? You weren't tracking that, right? How many times did the diesel break down when you were taking that 80,000, 85,000, 90,000 payload run, and that data was lost, right? And we just continually put the rigor on that machinery when all the while the data could have been there and is now, might I suggest, available to fleets to extrapolate and maybe take a little bit off the payload side with the balance of understanding that there is such a huge payload, excuse me, a huge payback on the fuel side of the house that it works reducing some of the payload to suggest that we get more longevity out of the tractor itself. This is going to be the balance as we step into more of an efficient future. And people say, sure, Ryan, yeah, more efficient. Yeah, what do you mean by that? That's what I mean. Starting the baseline of data capturing now so we can understand how we can get more out of the technology, more not take a step back. I think some of the offerings out there actually take a step back on efficiency. Yeah, absolutely. It's going to be green. But when has just solely going green been enough for these industry players to say, yep, no problem, we're going to surrender all efficiency and we're going to go strictly to go green. We are going to wave the flag of green. We are going to tell our customers that we're going green. We are going to run our fleets at 100% of green energy, right? It doesn't matter how efficient we are. It doesn't matter how much downtime we have at the charging station. It doesn't matter how much our drivers hate the trucks. It does not matter about this and that how much less payload and 45 minutes at the charging station. It doesn't matter that our maximum range caps out at 400 miles in range. None of that matters. What only matters is the fact that we can meet these mandates because the government says jump and we say, okay, government how high, right? No, no. The industry has proven many, many times and if you don't think that there's lobbying organizations that would curb those types of initiatives before they even get close to coming down the pike, you are sleeping with thy head in the sand. You have no idea how things actually work and that's why people out there that are looking at this one-sided and saying, this is the best green solution. The technology and the science behind hydrogen fuel cell is absolutely the best. You might be right in theory, but you are certainly not right in the real world and you're definitely not right when you have failed to go to the very industry that you are charged with serving and asking them, is this something that you can actually see as not only being the best green solution? Yes, I will yield. The technology does exist, but to be able to at least maintain, not improve, maintain the same level of efficiency within your fleets. I'll leave that to you guys in your deliberation of each of these respective opportunities out there, but it is fascinating and it's going to be to see how this thing unfolds and see how the industry sees it my way, sees it the trucker's way, right? Sees it Hylian's way, who in my assessment has really taken a concerted effort and this is coming from Warner directly. Listen to their customers.  Warner suggests that Hylian does something that all the other players are not doing and that is listening to their customers. Listening, what is the point of coming out with the solution if you cannot deliver what your customers want? Oh, wait, that's it. That's where we're at. Okay. Infrastructure, this is another piece that I just don't get in cross comparison, right? This is huge. This is what I took. This is all off of Hylian.com. I'm not making this stuff up. Okay. People will say, Ryan's this and Ryan's that and Ryan's this and Ryan's this. I'm a lot of things and when I'm away from this Hylian 60 minutes, I'm a lot of cool things that don't have anything to do with Hylian.com. But once a week, I find it prudent to come on and address what it is that I feel like are the governing issues surrounding this company. And what I feel like is an hourglass, a neon green hourglass that is turned upside down right now. And the sands of time are falling through said hourglass, counting down the 15 months to mass scale up an integration. And there is going to be catalysts along that way, guys. I will be there for the ride. I will. And I will share, I will interpret, I will extrapolate, and I will share my reaction with each of those catalysts as they come. But 15 months to that inevitable promise of OEM scale up and fleet demos actually understanding where the solution could fit into their fleet. Are they going to garner a thousand orders per hyper truck fleet? I don't know. I don't know. That's pretty incredible. They don't need to 500 each. Boy, wouldn't that get them to their mark quickly, wouldn't that? Incredible. Wouldn't that be just like a skyrocket of momentum for this company? Because here's the thing, guys. I keep talking about break even and covering the cost of operations. And because we are below that, it is somewhat unsettling for investors. Myself included, it's very real. The burn rate is real. The revenues right now that they're making are immaterial to use Sherry Baker's words. They don't mean anything. They don't mean anything. It's unsettling. But here's the thing. From zero revenues, which we are above that, to that cost of break even, cost of doing business, 135 to 145 million a year, from there until there, there is going to be a break point in that the stock market is going to acknowledge that they will inevitably reach that break even and the stock will take off. And it will take off in a capacity that nobody will be able to foresee it unless you own the company and then you're in it. Or it will take off to a point where it will leave a ton of people behind. And people will not be able to catch this opportunity. They will have to FOMO the stock. And that's exactly what typically happens is very, very few people have the hindsight to buy the stock when it is conducive to buy the stock. And we are on that time right now. And everybody finds it convenient to disagree with me. That's totally fine. They can disagree. They'll agree with me when it's a time when it's less conducive to agree with me. And they'll say, you know what, Ryan, you're right on that, man. That's incredible.  It's not magic. It's investing. Okay. I don't believe in magic. I don't breathe in ghosts. I don't believe in voodoo. I don't believe in any of that. However, I do believe in fundamental investing. Okay. This is possible to look at a company like this and set your investment now at a time where it's conducive to do so with the idea that it will be worth more into the future. And that's where we are now, guys, but the existing infrastructure. But I read it in a little different way. Existing service network. What do they mean by that? Existing support. Maybe logistics hubs, et cetera. Do you think Schneider maybe has a logistics hub? I don't know. That can help support, you know, routes that are being compromised in the field, downtime, machinery breakdowns, the need for servicing hubs and depots. Do you think Nicola is going to have as much access to these repair facilities as highly on? Thomas Healy, I think, laughingly uses the example of the bumper, which is the number one casualty that truckers incur is hitting a deer and knocking the bumper off. Do you think that you get to go to mom and pop service station down the line and have the bumper reaffixed? That's not how it works, folks. Let me introduce you to a small word called liability. It has to go to an approved servicing facility. And you might think for something as crazy as a bumper, that's how crazy the industry is because if something happens to that said bumper and mom and pops didn't put that last lag bolt in it and it fails and it falls off and it pops all 12 of the tires on that big rig, right? Who's going to be to blame? It's going to be the logistics company, not Mr. Mom and Pop that was looking to help you out and take that $2,500 bill from you because that was the fattest check that they've had roll through the front door in six months to work that way has to be an approved facility. That's how it works. And these are the very servicing networks that they're going to be able to to plummet to. And finally, the operational networks, operational networks, you mean to tell me that a highly on is able to integrate. That's the key integrate. Nicola is looking to reinvent. Highly on is looking to integrate. Nicola is looking to reinvent. Highly on is looking to integrate. Put your loyalty where you will. Okay. But to be plumbed in to the existing service networks, just talked about them, the support networks and the operational networks, why? Because they endorse the very products that they run off of. Kenworth, Peterbilt, International, Volvo, right? They have existing infrastructure in place. The idea is that by nature of segueing in with and providing the oomph to the truck in such a capacity to improve the areas of the truck that need improvement and leaving the rest of the truck alone, that bumper that I speak of can still be subject to repair if the hyper truck ERX just so happens to run into a beer, which is the most problematic of all trucking as they're going up and down hills across this great nation. All right, they smack into a deer, they damage the bumper, they got to get it fixed. Boom, they got to plum themselves in. They've got to call back to the operational network. Is Nicola going to have the same front door type of handshake agreement with Kenworth to call back to the logistics department say, Hey, I'm a Nicola truck driver out here. I'm a little bit stuck on the road.   Where's the closest servicing facility that I can go to to have my Nicola truck fixed?  Please help me out. I'll wait. Paul, please help me understand. It's amazing that these companies have gotten so far along the line with their inability to address these very real issues. Why? Because they have not gone to the customers that they have been pledged to serve and pledged to serve, right? I hear a lot of they're going to integrate and we're going to put them at the sales depots and oh, people are just going to buy them. Really? What guarantee do you have that that's going to happen? Because people are so intimate about falling all over themselves to go hydrogen fuel cell right now, when they don't even have a place to fuel their rig, when you haven't asked them if hydrogen fuel cell is going to be the solution of choice on that specific route. Come on. Come on. Wake up and smell the coffee, man. Good grief. The fueling stations already exist for the Hylian product. That's going to make them that much more eligible to sit down on the fleet demo piece, not the ride and drive. Remember, the ride and drive is actually rendering some orders now. Once those ERX's are delivered, then they can be introduced to the fleet and they can start to pull some of that data and start the fleet demos. I believe that the fleet demos is going to be kind of an ongoing thing. I don't think it's going to be a start and stop. I believe it's the start of something that is going to be inevitable and it's going to be ongoing and it's going to evolve. I believe it is the segue into fleet integration in understanding what the fleet needs and looking at each and every route. Thomas Healy said this on this hyper truck ERX and it's very, very telling. The most intelligent people that I've ever, ever met in this life speak in very, very few terms and you have to really listen to what they say because they're not going to repeat it twice. He says this very, very thing. He says it's very, very important. Go to hylian.com and check that out. It's very, very important for you guys to understand that by leveraging the already existing infrastructure and getting with the fleets and looking at each and every route, this is really the inevitable outcome of the hyper truck ERX council is to look at every single route and evaluate what the potential of the hyper truck is and whether or not it's a good fit for that said route. Smartest thing he said, he said a lot of smart things, a very capable CEO, but that was a real tell for me and just a takeaway that I wanted to share with you guys. All right. The last thing I will mention, we'll start to wrap up the video. This has been one for the ages. A lot of people liked last week's. This was my best highly on video that I've come out with and I make a few notes on the side, but I never really know that the message is being conveyed in the way that I wanted it to. I dug deep on this one. This was a good one. There was a few key moments in this live, in this video that really, really helped explain the holistic reason why this opportunity needs to be, it's so exciting and it needs to be looked at and it needs to be monitored and it needs to be celebrated, to be honest with you. And again, if you're one of those highly on holdings or followers of myself out there, I would suggest you should take me up on my charge and kick over to .com. Please do that. Rick always catches all of my videos and thank you for that, Rick. Please share the discord link from now on. If you do share it, I'll take it. I can pin it in my comment or I can pin yours alone. Makes no problem with me. I don't have an ego about this. I don't care. I don't do that for these reasons. I do that because the time is now and there's only so many opportunities in this life to come across the game changing opportunities for you and your family. I've already discovered the opportunity. I'm good. I'm happy. And so far as I can pay that forward every single week with you guys to help you understand that opportunity as well. But driver familiarity is something that I speak about. It's something that I joke about. It's something that I joke about from the perspective of the driver who's driven the Peterbilt for 25 years and now all of a sudden is being asked to remove themselves from that Peterbilt and drive this nickel, this funny looking spaceship looking thing called a Nicola Tray. And is only able to drive certain routes, not of which the driver has been accustomed to, but those routes where they can get hydrogen fuel to these trucks to run the route. I think driver familiarity is going to coupled with driver satisfaction going to be one of those things that's going to be talked about more and more as the highly unopportunity unfolds itself. And I think once those validations come through from the trucking community and I've had a few of them through my channel actually quite a bit of a handful that is like Ryan, you're right on the money. I appreciate you admitting you're not a truck driver, but I like to pulse in with those truckers that are truck drivers. And dare I say, do no trucking, right? They know it. And they say, you know what, this is an interesting idea here and the ability to keep that Peterbilt, just give them the new technology so the company and the driver can integrate their mission priorities and align what it is that everybody, myself, investors, Hylian, Heizen, Nicola are trying to do. And that is clean up a transportation industry that is right now dirty. And customers are demanding it. They are at the end of their rope. They know technology exists. The government is on board with the mandates. And now is the time. Now is the time. And how it unfolds over the foreseeable future is going to be fun to watch. I will chronicle it throughout the journey of said evolution. And we're going to live to fight another day, guys. Really appreciate you tuning into this Hylian video. This was a good one. Leave your comments at the bottom on some of the things that I've said, maybe some of the things I missed, some of the things that you agree or disagree with. I know I've got my haters. I invite the trolls to come on and continue to demonstrate their loyalty to me. I wouldn't be me if it wasn't for you. And so I thank you for that. Your continued devotion to my demise. I really appreciate that and making for a dirtier world out there. So I really want to invite you guys to come out from behind your rocks and out of your caves and continue to throw your stones. You're welcome as much as anybody. I don't block comments. Subscribe to the message. Like the message. Hit the notification bell on future videos that I put out. Guys, thank you so much for tuning into this video and good luck in your investment future.


This paper presents a novel approach for programming photonic integrated circuits using a shellcogenide material called SB2S3. The material has been used to create a wide band gap PCM which can be programmed quickly and efficiently. This material has been shown to have low loss, high extinction ratio, high cyclicality, and 5-bit operation. Additionally, it can be programmed through on-chip silicon pin diodes, resulting in a programming energy density of 917,210 fj Nm3. Furthermore, the material can be programmed into fine intermediate states by applying multiple identical pulses, allowing for controllable multi-level operations. Finally, dynamic pulse control was used to reduce random phase errors in a balanced Mach-Zender interferometer. This article was authored by Rui Chen, Shuo Ran Fang, Christopher Perez, and others.


Those are your questions. R Cabinet secretary, Derek Mackay. To ask the Scottish Government how its budget will take account of promoting regional policy. Cabinet secretary, Derek Mackay. Whilst I am obviously constrained in what I can say today, I can confirm that the draft budget will respond to the challenges presented by the EU referendum and UK Government austerity. We will deliver the positive steps set out in the programme for government to build a nation with a dynamic approach that is going to embrace the safety of the EU and to make the balance of our trade today. will deliver the positive steps set out in the programme for government to build a nation with a dynamic, sustainable and inclusive economy that supports all of Scotland's regions. Richard Lochhead. I very much look forward to the cabinet secretary's statement, and I'm sure he'll agree that we need a renewed focus on Scotland's regional policy as Brexit fast approaches, given that many regional funds flow from Europe. Although I recognise that city deals for Aberdeen and Inverness and Ellsworth along with the islands initiative are big steps forward, does he agree that we also need bespoke measures for places like Murray that I represent and Ellsworth that are not covered by those initiatives but face similar challenges? In terms of future budgets, will he support efforts in Murray to persuade the UK Government in particular but also speak to him and his own colleagues in the Scottish Government to deliver a Murray city deal, especially given the enormous revenues generated by the space-side Scottish whisky sector for the UK's coffers? Finally, we should also be looking at other measures in promoting regional policy such as locating civil service jobs, especially new ones, in places like Murray and Ellsworth around the country. That was quite a comprehensive bid for the budget tomorrow, but taking each issue in turn, we should recalibrate our economic policies and light of circumstances to support every part of Scotland. On the issue of continuity of EU funds, I have guaranteed the continuity of EU funds, including following through from the UK guarantees to the Scottish Government. On city deals, I am happy to work with Murray Council to look at any specific request that may emerge, and the economy sector also deals with the city deals, and it will be happy to engage. On civil service deployment, it is the case that we have around 70 offices across the country, not just in the central belt, but we consider the deployment of our resources and civil servants. We will ensure that it looks at opportunities in every part of the country, but optimising the quality of service and, of course, best value staying in mind. Yesterday, Fraser of Allander, in its most recent economic commentary, said the following. The scope of a city to invest in productive infrastructure, skills and land redevelopment is essential to its ability to shape and manage population and economic change. The OECD observes, says Fraser of Allander, a strong correlation between fiscal decentralisation, prosperity and productivity, and there is mounting evidence that fiscal devolution or financial empowerment of cities creates an incentive framework that ultimately improves the economy and productivity. Does the cabinet secretary agree, and if so, could he point to the Scottish Government policies that are designed to assist the realisation of those policy goals? Cabinet Secretary, I have a great deal of sympathy with that proposition around how the metropolitan district, how the cities are drivers for the economy and regional growth. The one example that I will point to, as requested by Mr Tomkins, is the Glasgow city deal. I was a signatory on behalf of the Scottish Government when I was the local government minister, and we are happy to talk further to local government and COSLA about further empowerment and economic packages that stimulate economic growth along the lines that were suggested. Runa Mackay, I think that it was Rachel. Did you not wish to ask a supplementary? I beg your pardon, yes, sorry. Despite their claims, it would appear that the Tories are the only party obsessed with independence. Is this the wrong question? That's why I was confused. I think that we will move on to question 2. Gillian Martin To ask the Scottish Government what was discussed at the last meeting between the finance secretary and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce. The cabinet secretary and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce meet to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to continue work with businesses and business organisations to build a fairer and more prosperous Scotland. I last met with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce on 1 December as a guest at their annual event. The First Minister, also in attendance, announced that the Scottish Government will provide up to £400,000 to the chambers to support new business-led trade missions and forge new trading alliances between Chambers both here and abroad. That will boost the resource that is already committed by the Chambers network, complement the work of the Scottish Development International and contribute to our shared efforts to increase exports and internationalisation. Gillian Martin In my area of the north-east of Scotland, we have energy, innovation and technology that has the potential to be exported worldwide. How important is these international grants going to be given to the Chambers of Commerce in terms of helping businesses to export particularly in the light of Brexit? The First Minister I certainly know that the Chambers of Commerce appreciated that grant, which will support their work on internationalisation, building stronger networks, helping to do deals that will export our produced and indeed intelligence and improve our productivity, as well. Clearly aligned to our trade and investment strategies to support manufacturing and support for the low-carbon sector, and to encourage companies to export. That is a very worthwhile partnership for us at the Chambers and will complement the work of the SDI. Jackie Baillie Having a more international outlook for exporting is indeed welcome. Although we have seen an expansion of hubs to encourage exporting, they are in Europe and not in the rest of the world. Can the cabinet secretary tell me when will we see this investment in hubs in Europe matched in emerging markets across the world? Jackie Baillie Jackie Baillie raises a fair point that our work on internationalisation must reach beyond Europe, but it is a very important market. Our overall strategy around trade, investment and internationalisation can cover every part of the world, including the emerging markets. There will be an increasing focus on growth opportunities wherever they exist, but the Chambers appreciate the support that we have given them along the lines that I have suggested, trying to support our international efforts. Liam Kerr In September this year, organisations including CBI Scotland, the Scottish Whiskey Association and the Institute of Directors, wrote to the finance secretary to urge him to reverse the decision to double the rate of large business supplement in Scotland, which will affect one out of every eight commercial properties and add a further £6 million to those business rates bills in the current year. Who is right? Business groups of the SNP. Liam Kerr I look forward to presenting the Scottish budget tomorrow and I look forward to the on-going engagement with the business community. Following the receipt of that letter, I met with business organisations and I said that I would consider their propositions. I look forward to a package of measures that will support the business community when I outline the budget to Scotland tomorrow. Kenneth Gibson To ask the Scottish Government what impact its forthcoming budget will have on Ayrshire. As I referred to in earlier answers, tomorrow I will bring forward my tax and spending proposals. The people of Ayrshire, indeed people across Scotland, will benefit from our commitments to expand early learning and childcare, raise standards in schools and close the attainment gap, protect police budget in real terms and increase the health budget. The draft budget will also progress our ambitious infrastructure investment programme, set out in the programme for government, including significant investments in affordable housing, digital energy efficiency and transport and health. That includes further progress on the A737 Del Rye bypass and continued support for Glasgow Presswick Airport. Kenneth Gibson I thank the cabinet secretary for that very positive answer. We were how vital the Ayrshire growth deal is to Ayrshire's future prosperity. A deal that requires much-needed improvements to our infrastructure and investment of over £350 million. While I am delighted that the SNP Government has already agreed to work with all parties concerned, does it agree that the chancellor's autumn statement was a missed opportunity to propose a matching commitment from Westminster and that supporting the Ayrshire growth deal will not only be good for Ayrshire, but it is Scottish and UK economies and will the SNP Government therefore lobby the chancellor to reconsider, share our vision and back the Ayrshire growth deal in next year's spring budget? Kenneth Gibson Yes, I do believe that it was an emission from the UK Government. We will continue to pursue it with the UK Government and the economy sector will support us in taking those steps to support the Ayrshire growth deal. John Scott The cabinet secretary is well aware of the proposed Ayrshire growth deal, so it is dependent on more than one budget, as is outlined by Mr Gibson in his line of questioning. Does the cabinet secretary agree that expanding the existing but now full enterprise zones in Prestwick and Irvine, as well as perhaps creating a new one in East Ayrshire, is strategically important to job creation and business development across Ayrshire? Will that be a priority in his budget tomorrow and, if not, at the next budget? John Scott Mr Scott makes a valid point about a package of measures that can be involved in any growth deal—a package of levers to support economic growth and that package of measures on infrastructure support and business rates in other areas. I am sure that Mr Scott will welcome my budget when I present it to the Parliament tomorrow. Colin Smyth The Scottish Government's figures show that, since 2007, 800 jobs have been axed to East Ayrshire Council, 600 at North Ayrshire Council and 800 at South Ayrshire Council. That is 2,200 job cuts on this Government's watch. Given that the cabinet secretary refuses to use the powers of this Parliament to stop the cuts to local councils, can he tell the chamber how many more jobs will have to be axed in Ayrshire as a result of his forthcoming budget? Does he think that those job cuts will be a price that is worth paying for families in Ayrshire? Colin Smyth's position on the use of those powers is not accurate. I do not support the proposition that has been put across, and I would simply ask the member to reflect on the fact. As understood by the independent audit agency, local government has essentially had an equivalent reduction to their budget that the Scottish Government has. It is the case that local government has had fair and reasonable settlements from the Scottish Government. Ben Macpherson To ask the Scottish Government what was discussed at the recent meeting between the finance secretary and the chancellor. The First Minister and I met the chancellor of the Exchequer on 1 December and discussed a range of issues, including the economic and fiscal uncertainty that is resulting from the EU referendum and the need for the UK Government to do more to support the oil and gas sector to secure its long-term sustainability. We also discussed the iniquitous treatment of Scottish Police Authority and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with respect to VAT, an unacceptable situation that is estimated to cost the bodies around £30 million per annum. Following the meeting, the chancellor committed to providing further details of his plans to adjust the UK budget and autumn's statement timetable. Those details will be of significant interest to the joint working group that has been established to look at the Scottish budget timetable following the passage of the Scotland Act 2016. Ben Macpherson I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. In regard to the VAT point, I wondered if he could outline what progress was made at that meeting in regard to introducing changes to VAT legislation through the finance bill that would enable our Scottish emergency services to recover VAT. Ben Macpherson The chancellor said that he will consider the matter further, and I hope that when he considers the matter further, he will realise that this is an unfair situation, that Police Scotland is the only police authority in the UK that is unable to recover that. That is not fair now. I would welcome the fact—I do not know why the Labour Party supports the Tories on this position—that the Tory party, through its chancellor, may well reconsider its position. It would be a very welcome and fair move if it ensured that we could reclaim our VAT, and that would be right for Scotland. Murdo Fraser Thank you, Presiding Officer. Was the finance secretary and his colleagues not well warned in advance of the creation of a centralised single police force that VAT would be irrecoverable, but they went ahead nonetheless? Ben Macpherson The excuse that the UK Government uses for this is because the money is not coming through local government resources, but there are a range of amendments that the UK Government has made to its agencies to ensure that they escape VAT. However, it does not seem to apply to Scotland why the unfairness—presiding officer—the Tories can fix this in Westminster and ensure that we get parity in Scotland for our valuable emergency services. Neil Findlay When we met with the chancellor today, he discussed public infrastructure funding. Today, the Guardian newspaper and the Ferret Online have exposed how the Scottish Government's failure to correctly interpret EU rules will result in £932 million lost to public investment. At the same time, private financiers are profiteering from the taxpayer via sky-high interest charges. At a time when interest charges across the western world are at a historic low, is it now not abundantly clear that NPD is now just another financial scam and that the only people who think that it is a good idea are members of the Scottish Futures Trust and people around them who are going to make fortunes out of this scheme? Will the cabinet secretary join me in calling for a committee of this Parliament to investigate the whole issue of NPD financing of our public services? Michael Matheson You would never know that PPP—in fact, it started off with the Conservatives' PFI—was the worst regime possible. Then Labour had PPP. What we supported by the Labour Party totally in office, our model was much better in terms of profit capping. What we have been able to do is accelerate capital infrastructure investment to build schools, hospitals and community facilities and infrastructure that has been welcomed across Scotland. We have also been perfectly transparent on how that is delivered and will continue to be transparent on how that is delivered. I will say more about infrastructure tomorrow in the budget, but, of course, we will make wise decisions on our capital spending and infrastructure projects, but we will continue to pay for the legacy of borrowing and profiteering that we inherited from first the Conservatives and then the Labour Party. Maree Todd To ask the cabinet secretary if he has received any communication from the Chancellor of Exchequer regarding his three specific asks for the oil and gas industry. Those were improved access to decommissioning tax relief, urgent clarity and the use of loan guarantees and measures to stimulate exploration, which were completely ignored in the autumn statement. Cabinet secretary, it is the case that those requests were ignored by the Chancellor. I have reinforced the point when I met him and I will continue to reinforce the point, because I think that it is important to the wider Scottish economy and specifically in the north-east, and maybe the Chancellor will revisit his position in the spring budget. Rachael Hamilton To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there is constitutional stability. Without a shred of self-awareness. Membership of the EU is fundamental to the structure of devolution settlement in Scotland. The UK vote to leave the EU therefore has profound implications for our current constitutional arrangements. That uncertainty is compounded by the apparent attention of the UK Government to pursue a hard Brexit and take the UK and Scotland out of the single market. The Scottish Government is clear that the future constitutional arrangements of Scotland must reflect the views and choices of the people of Scotland. The people of Scotland voted clearly to maintain our relationship with the EU. The Scottish Government will therefore be publishing shortly proposals to achieve that end and for further devolution to this Parliament to protect the interests of the people of Scotland on the UK leaving the EU. Rachael Hamilton The cabinet secretary for that answer. Former First Minister Alex Salmond said, a constitutional crisis might be an extremely good thing for Scotland. It would seem that he seeks to encourage a constitutional crisis to block Brexit, which SNP MSP Alex Neil has pointed out. Many SNP voters support, including himself, and to link Brexit with a second independence referendum as a formality. When will the Scottish Government start listening to Scottish voters and acknowledge that Scottish independence is not wanted? Cabinet Secretary? Not only are the Tories obsessed with Scottish independence, they are now obsessed with the two Alexes. It is the position that the ball is in the court of the UK Government. We will put forward proposals that reflect the democratic interests of the people of Scotland, respecting and listening to the people of Scotland who voted to remain within the European Union. If you focus on nothing else, surely it should be the single market that the Tories once believed in. We will put forward that proposition and the ball is in the court of the UK Government to respond positively. I hope for the sake of a number of matters, including constitutional certainty, that the Tories take that proposal seriously and help us to provide further stability, which is what is required at this time. Question 6, Daniel Johnson. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Features Trust regarding school rebuilding in Edinburgh. Government officials met with the Scottish Features Trust regularly to manage the delivery of the schools for the future programme, which includes four new school projects in Edinburgh. The Scottish Government is currently providing significant investment of £62.6 million to the City of Edinburgh council through the programme, with the council being the third-largest beneficiary from the programme. Daniel Johnson. Thank you for that answer. I hope that conversations continue between Edinburgh City Council, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Government to ensure that the way for schools such as the Liberty High School and my constituency are rebuilt. However, revelations in today's guardians that the NPD is to be investigated by auditors is both awkward, but will certainly give parents and teachers no confidence that the money is on its way. So what impact will that have on projects such as the Liberty High School and others across Scotland? Cabinet Secretary. Can I say first of all, in relation to the Liberty High School, that it is a very sensitive matter specifically, and we should all reflect on that. However, on the more general political point of school building at the hands of the Scottish Government, 651 school building projects have been completed during the last nine years. That is 2007-08 to 2015-16. By comparison, that has almost doubled the amount of schools. That was 328 completed over the preceding eight years. That Government has invested substantially in the school building and refurbishment programme, and we will continue to do that in dialogue with local government right across Scotland. Thank you very much. We are going to move on to economy jobs and fair work questions now, and we will start with that. Question number one from Willie Coffey. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to remove the barriers to employment for people with a disability. Minister, Jamie Hepburn. In a fairer Scotland for disabled people, our delivery plan published in 2 December. We announced a range of actions to support disabled people into work, including the long-term ambition of setting a target for reducing the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people, both in the private and public sector, the use of new powers over employability to support disabled people into employment, our transitional service from April 2017 through Work First Scotland will allow us to take a fairer approach to that support and help. 3,300 disabled people are commitment, effective immediately for modern apprenticeships to include the highest level of funding of disabled young people at the age of 30, and building an SCV on inclusion in Scotland's pilot programme by providing disabled people with 120 employment opportunities in the third and public sectors and in politics between 2017 and 2021. Willie Coffey. Can I thank the minister for that answer? Does he agree that supporting disabled people into work not only helps them as individuals, but benefits the whole economy and businesses themselves too, and stands in sharp contrast to the treatment of disabled people by the UK Government, described by a UN committee as systematically violating the rights of disabled people? I absolutely agree with the fundamental point that Willie Coffey makes in terms of us missing out on much talent by not ensuring that more disabled people are involved in the labour market. We are missing out on their ingenuity, their creativity, their innovation. Clearly, greater participation would be good for the health and wellbeing of such individuals, but we also know that it would be good for employers and our overall economy. In terms of his latter point about the different approach that we might be able to take here in Scotland, I have set out very clearly that we are taking a very different approach with our devolved employment programme as opposed to what we have seen at the hands of the UK Government. I have already set out the range of action that we are taking to try to improve the participation of disabled people in the labour market. Annie Wells Thank you. In Scotland, the statistics rates for disability unemployment very substantially across the country, whereas in the Shetland Islands, the disability employment rate is nearly 88 per cent, and in Glasgow it is less than 25 per cent. What action will the Scottish Government take to address those vast differences? I have set out a clear direction of travel in terms of our ambitions, and we will continue to pursue that. I tell you what we would not have done, and it is very telling that Annie Wells pointed out the significant proportion of those who are disabled and unemployed in Glasgow, the city of Sheeret Resents. If we had control of a job centre plus, we would not be shutting job centres down in that city right now. Bob Doris Thank you, Presiding Officer. On that specific matter, minister, I met with the PCS union on Monday, along with MP colleagues. They tell me that they are particularly worried about the future for ESA claimants that job centres of those eight job centres do, including my constituency in Glasgow, Maryhill and Springburn, the job centre in Maryhill road. The DWP told the PCS crazily that forcing vulnerable constituents with mobility issues to travel longer distances will be an incentive into work. It is just crazy. Can I ask the minister whether the Scottish Government supports calls that have been made to halt the process and to have a fundamental rethink by the DWP? Let me say—I know that this is an important issue to Bob Doris, given his constituency interests—that we have interests to all Glasgow representatives. I have been able to make contact with Damien Green, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. I have been keeping MSPs and MPs who represent Glasgow up-to-date in relation to that correspondence. On the point that Bob Doris made about those changes acting as an incentive for people into work, I think that that tells us more about the DWP's attitude to human beings than it does anything else. I would absolutely agree with Bob Doris's point about the impact on those service users that I met with PCSL today to discuss that. There is also another point in terms of the Scottish Government's position here, Presiding Officer, because the Smith commission spoke of increased joint management for the Scottish Government of our job centre plus. In that matter, we had no prior notification, no meeting, no letter, no call, no email over this matter. I will be meeting with Damien Green at the joint ministerial group for welfare in January, along with Angela Constance. That will certainly be a matter that I will be raising. According to the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability, the number of unemployed adults with learning disabilities known to local authorities is over 50 per cent. What will the Scottish Government do, rather than what it will not do as it responds to Annie Wells, about that? Does the minister agree that the figure is just too high? Yes, I agree that the figure is too high. I certainly concur with that point from Mr Johnson. Indeed, I think that the wider employment rate for those with any disability in Scotland is too high. I think that we need to be doing it rather better on that regard. I have already set out the actions that we propose to take as part of the Fair of Scotland for disabled people. People are delivery planning, but I can also tell them right now that we have the open doors consortium, which provides specialist in-work support for a range of people. That works with organisations such as Action and Hearing Loss, the Scottish Association for Mental Health, RNIB and, crucially in respect to those with learned disability, it works with the navel as well. We are undertaking some actions just now. We will continue to take more on Mr Johnson. Indeed, any other member has innovative suggestions. We will always be happy to hear them, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the impact on the Scottish economy of the UK Government's Brexit strategy. Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown. The UK Government's Brexit strategy, in its loosest possible sense, has increased the chances of a so-called hard Brexit. The Scottish Government analysis that was published on 23 August drawing on a research base of a range of external organisations suggests that, under a hard Brexit, Scottish GDP could be up to £11.2 billion per year, lower by 2030 than it would be if Brexit did not occur. It is such an adverse shock to our economic performance that we would reduce earnings, tax revenues and, in turn, the funding that is available for public services. George Adam. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. The cabinet secretary will no doubt agree with me that, with the Tory Government and Westminster currently having no strategy in Brexit, seen as this is the festive season and the hope that there can be a Christmas miracle, wouldn't it be good for the Scottish economy if there was at least one idea provided of strategy being undertaken by the Westminster Government? I think that Mr Adam is a very good point. If you see the hardening of attitudes among the other 27 members of the EU, you can see the effects of not putting forward any proposals. The economic evidence is clear that the hard Brexit outside the single market is the biggest threat to the economic prosperity of Scotland, including Paisley and, indeed, all of the UK. Despite repeated calls from the Scottish Government, the UK Government has yet to provide any transparency over its Brexit strategy, creating uncertainty for businesses across the country. For our part, the Scottish Government is clear that remaining in the single market is the best option for Scotland and for the UK as a whole. As such, we will very shortly present our proposition focused on keeping us in the single market. Dean Lockhart, what specific actions the Scottish Government is taking to capitalise on the opportunities arising from Brexit and how much money has been provided to Scottish business from the 500 million growth fund that was announced by the Scottish Government over three months ago? In parliamentary answers, if Dean Lockhart cares to check them, he will see the progress that we are making towards the establishment of the Scottish growth scheme. In addition to that, he will also have seen announcements from the Scottish Government whereby we are increasing the representation of SDI over coming months to make sure that we have a stronger representation throughout the EU and also with the hubs in London, Dublin and in Berlin, and in response partly to the point that was made by Jackie Bailey previously. Ministerial visits to Abu Dhabi supporting up to 80 Scottish companies interested in oil and gas and other industries as well. In relation to India, for example, we are talking to 100 CEOs there. A substantial amount of work has been done, but hardly a day goes by without one study or another showing that we expect to have increased costs, poorer employment prospects, poorer investment prospects and poorer confidence by people other than this Government, saying that they think that Brexit is very bad both for Scotland and for the UK. I just wonder how long it can be before the Brexit deniers that we have in a Conservative party start to realise that they have now moved well to the right of Thumbargoot Thatcher and that having been toxic for 35 years are about to experience the prospect of being toxic for a very long period because of their hard right attitudes and the economic self-harm they are doing to Scotland and to the UK. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what information it provides to employers regarding apprenticeship accreditation. All Scottish Government-funded modern apprenticeship frameworks must be approved by the modern apprenticeship group before they are available for delivery. They are developed through strong consultation with employers, reflecting sector needs as defined by employers. When frameworks are approved, they are communicated to employers via direct engagement with them, the training provider network and to other sector bodies involved in the development. The information is also published in Skills Development Scotland's website. Sandra White. I thank the minister for that reply. The minister will know that there are certain careers that are not apprenticeship accreditation. For example, to two artists, although they do a two-year apprenticeship, I therefore ask the Scottish Government if they would consider looking at the apprenticeship of this type to be accredited under apprenticeship schemes. Presiding Officer, we will always be very willing to consider such matters. I should reiterate the point that I set out in my initial answer to Sandra White. Any modern apprenticeship framework has to be approved by the modern apprenticeship group. I am aware that many employers will deliver their own apprenticeships if they want to see that approved as part of our modern apprenticeship offer. They should first of all engage with Skills Development Scotland, but Sandra White wants to pick up in this specific point with me directly and be very happy to speak with her. Thank you. A recent Scottish Government consultation on the apprenticeship levy found industry support for using the extra funds to support its target of 30,000 modern apprenticeships. A few weeks ago, I visited a score group in Peterhead, who has the largest private modern apprenticeship programme in Scotland, and they reiterated that point. Will the Scottish Government use 100 per cent of the apprenticeship levy funds from the UK Government to invest in apprenticeships, and when will we hear on their proposed policy to ensure that funds are used at approved regional training providers and not just colleges? Let me say that I am rather surprised to see Mr Kerr raise the matter of the apprenticeship levy. At all, it is well seen that he is hiding up the back of the chamber, Presiding Officer, because even he must be a little ashamed to have raised this, because it was only a few weeks ago that we heard from the Conservatives that the levy was going to see £300 million worth of funding come to the Scottish Government. Well, we know that that is not the case, because there are additional £79 million. We also saw when it was announced that the £221 million, the UK Government failed to set out that it is largely replacing existing expenditure. They also saw them fail to point out that it is going to cost the public sector some £73 million, which reduces the Scottish Government's spending leeway by some £30 million. Mr Kerr is quite correct that we did engage in a consultation on how we respond to the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, which is rather more than the UK Government did when they introduced it in the first place. They spoke to no one, including the Scottish Government, with our responsibility for delivering apprenticeship policy, and they spoke to no one who will be paying the levy, Presiding Officer. When we are taking something forward, we do things rather differently. Question 4, Mary Evans. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the Aberdeen city region deal. Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown. The Scottish Government, the UK Government and regional partners signed the Aberdeen city region deal on 21 November 2016. Signing of the Aberdeen city region deal and the release of funding allows the deal to move on to the delivery stage and make proposals a reality. The Scottish Government has committed to investing up to £125 million over the next 10 years. The city region deal funding will support investment in innovation, internationalisation, digital connectivity and infrastructure across the city region. Mary Evans. Two major infrastructure projects were named within the Aberdeen city region deal, within my constituency of Angus North and Merns. That included rail improvements at Uzin in Montrose and the Lawrence-Curt junction. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update and more detail on the options for rail improvements at Uzin, given that it acts as a bottleneck and is restricting capacity in the northeast? Can he also outline and explain the processes to be followed, leading up to the construction of the Lawrence-Curt junction? If a number of constituents contact me who are concerned at the 2021, the earliest possible construction date for that and an explanation of the process would be very helpful. Happy to do so, I should say that those two projects that are mentioned by Mary Evans are not actually part of the city deal. The Scottish Government wanted them to be part, but the UK Government balked at the size of the contribution. They would have to pay towards additional elements of the city deal, so they stand outside the city deal, but they were, as Mary Evans rightly says, mentioned at the same time. That is a further £254 million, I think, in investment from the Scottish Government, over and above the £250 million that we will jointly share with the UK Government. Transport Scotland is currently taking forward design development work for improvements to the A90 at Lawrence-Curt, with the preferred option expected to be identified in 2018, leading to publication of draft orders in 2019. Progress there, of course, is dependent on the level and the nature of representations received in response to the published draft orders. Subject to, of course, no objection being received, it is estimated that the earliest construction could commence in 2021. As Mary Evans knows, I have conversed with her on this subject this morning in committee and I have undertaken to provide further written accounts of what I have just said, and I am happy to do that. The development of rail infrastructure options are on-going, and those include consideration of opportunities to increase capacity on the single-track section between Montrose and Usain. Our focus, however, remains firmly on maximising the benefits for rail passengers in Aberdeen. The timescales for delivery remain in line with the previous commitments, with implementation from the next rail control period, starting in 2019. Liam McArthur Thank you, Presiding Officer. The cabinet secretary has outlined the benefits that will be delivered to this particular city region deal. We have seen similar benefits in relation to Glasgow and Clyde, also in Burness and Highland, who are pursuing their own agenda in this regard. Will the cabinet secretary be able to highlight or update the chamber on the progress that is being made in relation to an island deal, where similar benefits can then be rubed by Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles? Liam McArthur I should say that discussions have taken place, but we have to proceed in relation to city deals with the partners that we anticipate being part of those deals, with the UK Government and the relevant island authorities. As was mentioned previously by my colleague the cabinet secretary for finance, I asked the UK Government through Andrew Dunlop, Lord Dunlop, who is the lead on those things to ensure that the Ayrshire growth deal was mentioned in the Chancellor's statement during the autumn statement and was very disappointed that it was not. I think that Liam McArthur will be aware that there is a timeline or sequence for the deals that have been discussed so far, so the ones that were mentioned in that statement were the Stirling and Clotmanusure deals, as well as Edinburgh and the Tays cities deals. Further discussions on deals will require all those parties to be involved in that. The Scottish Government has made clear that we are willing to discuss city deals with anybody, bringing forward proposals. Those things are best done if we can maintain that partnership with the UK Government. Subject to the sign that they are also interested in doing this, we will continue to work with them. I should say, and we have made plain to the Ayrshire authorities—I know that that is not the subject of Liam McArthur's question—but it does, because of the sequencing that I mentioned, impact upon further discussions with the islands. If it is the case that the UK Government starts to draw back from that, we will see what we can do jointly working with those Ayrshire authorities. To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs are directly or indirectly linked to the pub sector in Scotland. According to the 2015 Business Register and Employment Survey, published on 28 September of this year, approximately 30,000 people are employed directly in the public houses and bar sector in Scotland, according to approximately 20,000 full-time equivalent employees. Applying the food and beverage services employment multiplier from the latest published Scottish Government input-output tables, it is estimated that there are further 2,400 FTE jobs across full-time or part-time roles that are supported in the supply chain for the sector, producing an estimated total of 22,400 FTE direct and indirect jobs in the Scottish economy. I thank the minister for that answer. Reform of the tied pub sector is crucial to protecting jobs in the pub industry. Many in the sector such as Camra and the Scottish Licensed Trade Association have expressed serious concerns that the recently published Scottish Government study commissioned by the previous minister on this issue is of extremely limited value. The concern that featured only 25 pubs, only 10 pubs of which were fully tied and none of which were free of tie tenanted pubs. The minister is aware that I am proposing to bring forward a member's bill on tied pubs. Would the minister agree that it would be wrong for the Government to rule out legislation in this area until a full and robust consultation is taken place? Would he agree to meet with me to discuss the issue of pub sector reform? I recognise the importance of the study and the evidence base to be established in deciding policy going forward. The independent study that Neil Bibby refers to by a CGA strategy into the pub sector was published in 6 December this year on the Scottish Government website. We are planning to engage with the pub sector interests to discuss the findings of the research and how we can work together to create a more successful sector going forward. We have not come to a view on the issue yet and that is why we are following the findings of the research and intend to meet with a wide range of stakeholders and interests to take their views. I am very happy to meet Mr Bibby to hear his points in regard to the research, but I also want to stress that the Scottish Government is still open to taking empirical research and evidence where that can be provided to help to inform the discussions on the issue.