Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Technologies News

The future EU energy chief says he will speed up the end of Russian gas imports

Dan Jorgensen wants to end the EU's dependency on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible, he said at a Tuesday parliamentary hearing. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has given Jorgensen the task to lower energy prices in order to restore Europe's competitiveness as an industrial powerhouse. She also wants to decarbonise Europe's economy and stop the remaining Russian energy imports.

TotalEnergies executive: Trump unlikely to undo Biden’s IRA climate law

TotalEnergies, a French oil company, does not believe Donald Trump will pull the U.S. from the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and undo the Inflation Reduction Act legislation if he becomes president of the United States again. This was stated by the strategy director on Monday. Aurelien Hamelle said this while presenting Total’s energy outlook, which forecasts global demand scenarios up to 2050.

US regulators reject amended agreement on interconnect for Amazon Data Center

A filing on Friday showed that U.S. Energy regulators had rejected an amended agreement to interconnect an Amazon datacenter directly with a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members said that the agreement to increase capacity of the Talen Energy Susquehanna nuclear generating plant's data center could affect grid reliability and raise electricity bills for consumers.

U.S. regulators consider the issue of data centers in power plants

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held a technical meeting on Friday to discuss the reliability and cost concerns associated with the growing trend of building data centers that are energy-intensive on the site of U.S. nuclear power plants. The technology industry is racing to build data centers to support technologies such as generative artificial intelligence. However, accessing…

Wall St. ends lower than expected as Meta and Microsoft highlight AI costs

The major U.S. indexes ended lower on Thursday, after Microsoft and Meta Platforms pointed out that artificial intelligence costs could impact their earnings. This dampened the enthusiasm for megacaps which have been driving this year's market rally. Microsoft and Meta Platforms, which own Facebook, saw their shares fall despite the fact that both companies beat earnings expectations in results announced after Wednesday's bell.

TerraPower has held informal discussions with Turkey and other countries about small reactors

TerraPower, the Bill Gates backed company that is looking to build small modules reactors for nuclear power, has held informal discussions with several countries in Europe including Turkey. A company spokesperson confirmed this on Thursday. In an earlier report, it was reported that Turkey has been drafting a new law to encourage the construction of SMRs as a complement to plans to build nuclear power plants.

Linde is optimistic about clean energy projects despite reducing its full-year outlook

Linde, world's biggest industrial gas company, announced on Thursday that it is confident in its clean energy projects, despite reducing its full-year outlook due to a decline in the end markets, including mining, metals, and healthcare. Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of Sanjiv Lamba Technologies said in a conference call that he was "pretty confident" about the 8-10 billion dollars for investments in hydrogen over the next several years.

What are the differences between Trump and Harris' energy policies?

Both Donald Trump, a Republican, and Kamala Harrias are Democrats. They both want to increase production while keeping prices low for consumers. The main difference is that Harris wants to favor clean energy technologies that are crucial in fighting climate change. Trump, on the other hand, would roll back green regulations which hinder oil and coal drilling. Next Tuesday, voters in…

Norwegian infrastructure fund Aker to launch 1 billion euros in 2025

The head of the Infrastructure unit at Industry Capital Partners, a Norwegian investment fund for energy transition, backed by Aker ASA industrial group, said that it plans to launch a 1 billion euro ($1.08 billion), inaugural fund in 2019. Christian Rynning Toennesen, the head of ICP Infrastructure in Oslo said that they were working on energy projects onshore. He added that the projects were mainly for onshore winds…

Net zero target needs $3.5 trillion in annual green energy investment, Wood Mackenzie says

Wood Mackenzie's report on Tuesday said that the investment in green energy must double every year to $3.5 trillion if we are to reach the Paris Agreement goal of net zero emissions by the year 2050. The consultancy's report said that, in addition to the investment gap, global efforts to switch to cleaner energy are under pressure due to concerns about energy security and tariffs and barriers to trade, which are stunting the electrification of growth globally.

The Globe and Mail reports that Canada is proposing to support the carbon-capture projects of oil-sands companies.

The Globe and Mail reported that Canada Growth Fund, the federal funding agency of Canada, has proposed to fund a multi-billion dollar carbon-capture project by Pathways Alliance. The Alliance represents Canada's largest oil sands producers. According to a report published on Sunday, which cited sources familiar with this matter, the CGF's offer is likely to start further negotiations.

Sustech, a Japanese startup, has seen its valuation soar to over $800 million in the latest funding round

Sustech, a Japanese energy technology startup, is expected to raise $50m from investors. This will value the company at over $800m, according to people familiar with the matter. The Tokyo-based company wants to tap into the fast-growing global demand for cleaner energy. Sources said that the valuation of Sustech, which is 124 billion Japanese yen (816 million dollars), in its fourth fund-raising round, represents a 3.5 times increase from 35 billion yen last year.

Australia and UK join forces to support clean energy technologies

The leaders of Australia and Britain announced on Friday that they plan to collaborate to increase the deployment and use of renewable energy technologies such as green hydrogen, offshore wind and other forms of renewable energy to help decarbonise the world. In a joint press release, Australian Premier Anthony Albanese said that the transition to net zero will create new jobs for both countries and strengthen their industrial base.

Statkraft CEO: Statkraft will sell assets in 3 countries

Statkraft's CEO announced on Wednesday that the Norwegian utility, Europe's biggest renewable energy producer and Statkraft's state-owned subsidiary, would sell assets in India as well as Croatia and The Netherlands, to concentrate the group's investment on fewer markets. Statkraft announced its strategy in June and cut its growth goals for solar, battery storage, and onshore wind, as well as their offshore wind and hydrogen ambitions.

A group of armed men claims to have taken control of the rare earth mines in Myanmar

A group of rebels fighting Myanmar's ruling army has claimed control of a mine hub, a major supplier to China of rare earth oxides. This will likely disrupt shipments of materials used in clean technology and other technologies. In Kachin State, around the towns Panwa & Chipwe and adjacent to Yunnan Province in southwestern China, rare earth mining is concentrated. Naw Bu, the spokesperson for Colonel Kachin Independence Army…

Baker Hughes exceeds profit forecasts on international drilling demand

Baker Hughes, a drilling equipment and oilfield technologies company, beat Wall Street's third-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday. Oilfield Services Companies have been able to offset some of their declines in North America due to the robust activity on several international markets. Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Lorenzo Simonelli Group, said in a press release that he was confident about achieving the midpoint for EBITDA.

Southeast Asia must increase investments by five times to achieve climate goals by 2035, according to the IEA

International Energy Agency stated on Tuesday that Southeast Asia must increase its clean energy investment to $190 billion by 2035, or five times current levels, to achieve climate goals. The IEA stated in a recent report that increasing energy investments must be accompanied with strategies to reduce emissions at the relatively new fleet of coal-fired power plants. The report also…

Chubu Electric, Japan, plans to increase its investment in renewable energy and SMR overseas

A company executive revealed that Chubu Electric Power, Japan, plans to invest further in overseas decarbonisation projects, such as renewable energy, small-modular reactors (SMRs), or carbon capture and storage (CCS) to fuel the future growth of the company. Chubu, the major regional electric utility in Japan, announced a long-term plan for 2021. This included a plan to invest 400 billion yen (about $2.7 billion) by the end of this decade on overseas assets…

IEA: 'Age electricity' will follow the looming peak of fossil fuels

International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the world is at the cusp of a new era of electricity, with the demand for fossil fuels set to peak before the end of this decade. This could lead to an increase in investment in green energy due the surplus of oil and gas, it added. It also highlighted a high degree of uncertainty, as conflict engulfs the Middle East and Russia that produce…

Russia replaces foreign gas turbine technology with its own high-capacity, Russian-developed gas turbine

The Russian government has developed its own alternative technologies to Western technology that it cannot import. Vladimir Putin inaugurated the new unit of the Udarnaya Power Station in southern Russia via video link, during a ceremony broadcast on state television on Wednesday night. Putin stated that it was important that "we have new production plants and that we become independent, technologically sovereign, at least in the segment," he said.