BUSINESS
An OPEC for solar power isn’t going to work
Geological advantages are perpetual, but technological advantages can quickly become obsolete
BUSINESS
Nuclear power investors are holding back a revival
If you want less fossil fuels, use the uranium rather than buy and hold it
BUSINESS
US Steel takeover by Nippon Steel is weighed by the past
Clinging to a vanished history won’t save blue-collar workers from their date with destiny
BUSINESS
China’s wasted coal stockpiles could power the US
A vast mountain of coal suggests we’re turning the corner on rising global emissions
WORLD
Australia, US don’t listen to the Pacific Islands so they turn to China
Island leaders want to see allies that will address their priorities, such as climate
BUSINESS
Burn more fuel to stop air travel cooking the planet
There’s a simple way to reduce climate damage from aviation: avoid flying through the cold, humid parts of the sky where contrails form
BUSINESS
US trying to kill Chinese tech only makes it stronger
China trails behind the US on R&D. But it is getting a phenomenal bang for its buck
INDIA
Delhi Heatwave: India’s record-high temperatures prevent decarbonizing
It could prevent the world’s most populous country from building the economy of the future
BUSINESS
Copper barons are blocking clean energy’s switch
Securing the metal that will get us to net zero requires economies of scale
BUSINESS
A clean technology trade war shows how empires fall
US hegemony may be hard to maintain. It will be all but impossible if it retreats into an isolationist shell
BUSINESS
The Fed choked clean energy. It’s about to start reviving that
Higher rates have held back green power. As central bankers take their foot off the brake, investment momentum will be unstoppable
BUSINESS
US junks 200 years of economics to block China clean tech
The Treasury secretary is rejecting fundamental principles to justify a policy of restricting public access to affordable and clean technology. Her plan is a protectionist disaster that will impede the path to net zero
INDIA
India’s most innovative cities are running out of water
Tech professionals are fleeing a drought in the IT hub of Bengaluru. Fixing the issue means confronting the country’s two most sensitive industries: agriculture and power generation
BUSINESS
China’s EV and solar boom is a capitalist win for communism
The economy is awash in easy money from state banks; its renewable manufacturers are undercutting rivals everywhere else in the world; ergo, China’s comparative advantage isn’t scale, cost efficiencies or innovative prowess, but the availability of cheap government subsidies
BUSINESS
Is Egypt ready for its next energy crisis?
Egypt’s special talent is in announcing bold megaprojects with the nation-building potential of the Suez canal, El Dabaa nuclear plant, or its new capital city outside Cairo, and then frittering the opportunity away amid counterproductive regulations, corruption and cash shortages. Paradoxically, what Egypt and the planet might need this time around is a bit less ambition
INDIA
China: Why metals will shrug off history’s greatest property crash
China's hunger for metal is so voracious that plans for mining the materials needed for the energy transition stand or fall on whether the current real estate crash will allow millions of metric tons of copper, aluminum and nickel to be diverted from apartment fittings toward solar panels, electric cars and wind farms
BUSINESS
It’s too late to China-proof the lithium supply chain
There plans to cut Chinese dependency are coming nearly a decade too late. If rich democracies wanted to build a clean-energy industry free of Beijing’s influence, they should have had their checkbooks out when miners and processors were starved of cash during the 2010s. The global lithium industry is so interwoven with Chinese capital now that it’s going to be impossible to unpick
BUSINESS
Solar success is a curse for China’s manufacturers
Half of manufacturing capacity could go unused this year and next. Module costs have already fallen by more than half over the past two years. The current excess suggests further price declines are to come, which is great news for consumers, but terrible for manufacturers
BUSINESS
How India's struggle to meet renewables target is firing up its coal sector
The government now expects coal demand to increase by about 50 percent between now and 2030, when it’s set to hit 1.5 billion metric tons. If renewables don’t get built, that may be the only way to avoid blackouts and meet India’s inexorably rising demand for power
ENVIRONMENT
China’s growth ambitions will erase the world’s climate gains
If China held its carbon emissions reduction target steady — or brought it down further, in the manner of fellow high-income countries whose pollution is now at a 50-year low — then the world’s climate footprint would have shrunk by about 155 million metric tons, instead of growing by 410 million tons. China's greenhouse footprint boils down to three factors: its economic growth, energy intensity of that growth, and carbon intensity of that energy
BUSINESS
India's EV revolution is spreading from autorickshaws to motorbikes
Unlike the US where luxury cars are electrifying first, India is moving in the opposite direction. Electrification of conventional cars and SUVs is still moving at a snail’s pace, winning just a 2% share of four-wheeler sales last year. E-rickshaws aren’t just cleaner and quieter — they’re more profitable, too, and sales are exploding. By 2030, batter-powered two-wheelers could account for 60% of sales. When the EV revolution arrives in India, it will come from the bottom up
BUSINESS
Nickel and Copper: A tale of two metals will determine the future of energy
Slumping prices for nickel and lithium mean that electric vehicles have far better prospects than the current gloom in the market would suggest, as materials costs fall and encourage wider adoption. Copper has the opposite problem. Current prices are great for miners — but they make every product that will drive the decarbonization of our economy a little more expensive
BUSINESS
Detroit makes the same mistake on Chinese EVs it did with Japan
Detroit can only really defend itself against Chinese EV-makers if it develops products that can compete and undercut them. That’s the lesson it failed to learn when confronted with Japanese rivals half a century ago. The only way to win this race will be to start competing with the next wave of Asian imports, rather than trying to disqualify it
ENVIRONMENT
Is India scorning the energy bounty that transformed China?
If renewable energy falls short, coal is going to make up the difference, either with — or more likely without — Carbon Capture and Storage. Rather than depending on an unrealistic and unproven new technology to lock away pollution, India must give renewable energy developers certainty and policy backing. The best way to decarbonise the coal sector isn’t to bury its emissions — it’s to bury the industry as a whole
