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☆ Here's how the project to develop one tractor might revolutionize the farming and automotive industries in the UK
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Sponsor Post | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A special cover is used on a farm's waste collection areas (known as slurry lagoons) to catch methane emissions that would otherwise escape into the air. CNH IndustrialThe potential of the methane tractor extends far beyond the farm. Industry leaders pulled together to work on the projectThe success of the methane tractor project is testament to the power of collaboration. Beyond the agricultural sector, the methane tractor project holds promise for transforming the entire automotive sector. By demonstrating the viability of alternative fuel technologies in heavy-duty vehicles, this initiative paves the way for a more sustainable future in transportation.

Persons: Andrew Damant, CNH, Derek Neilson, Eminox, David Phillips, Neilson Organizations: UK's Department for Business and Trade, Advanced Propulsion Centre, Eminox, Mobile, Automotive Transformation Fund, Advanced, Industry, Insider Studios, UK Department for Business, Trade Locations: Cornwall, Europe, CNH, New Holland

Europe's largest economy shrank 0.1% in the July-to-September quarter as inflation eroded people's willingness to spend, Germany's statistics office confirmed Friday. The downbeat figures come as the country's budget crisis raises the possibility of deep spending cuts next year. A court ruled last week that previous spending violated constitutional limits on deficits, forcing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to put off a final vote on next year's spending plan. The court said the move violated rules in the constitution that limit new borrowing to 0.35% of annual economic output. He termed the uptick in the Ifo survey of business managers as “a bottoming out” rather than a rebound.

Persons: Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, quarrelsome, Christian Lindner, ”, Carsten Brzeski, Brzeski Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Finance, ING Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Russia, Ukraine

☆ German budget crisis will haunt economy for years
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The German government is working hard to demonstrate the foolishness of the country’s iron-clad ban on large budget deficits. The budget crisis will cripple the economy for years to come, for three reasons. The debt brake, which limits structural budget deficits to 0.35% of GDP, has only been suspended for this year’s budget. Public net investment has been negative for 20 years, Marcel Fratzscher, head of the German Institute for Economic Research, has pointed out. The country is not on the cusp of a debt crisis.

Persons: Carsten Brzeski, That’s, Marcel Fratzscher, Christian Lindner, Lindner, George Hay, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Constitutional, Organisation for Economic Co, Development, ING, German Economic Institute, Public, German Institute for Economic Research, German, Germany’s, Thomson Locations: Europe, Berlin

☆ Every country needs an Inflation Reduction Act
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMELBOURNE, Nov 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Lawmakers in South Korea blasted the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act as a betrayal. Yet concerns about market distortion from the policy intended to stimulate investment in the energy transition and signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022 are easing. The Biden administration’s willingness to negotiate on its package of $370 billion of tax breaks and other measures has helped. Reuters GraphicsTrouble is, governments also need to show that they will be fiscally responsible stewards of the energy transition in the short term – especially with inflation still a threat and budgets under pressure. In a speech on Nov. 2 about enabling Australia’s energy transition, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that “incentives like the type we’ve seen in the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States can be part of an answer but they’re not the whole answer”.

Persons: David Brockwell, David Gray, Australia’s Fortescue, FMG.AX, Joe Biden, Biden, –, Goldman Sachs reckons, ’, Uncle Sam, Fumio, Jim Chalmers, they’re, Chalmers, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: REUTERS, Rights MELBOURNE, Reuters, Australia, Washington, European, of America, Labor Energy Partnership, U.S, Canberra, Climate Energy Finance, Climate Capital Forum, Deloitte, National Australia Bank, quicken, Thomson Locations: Lake George, Canberra, South Korea, United States, Seoul, European Union, U.S, Japan, Washington, EU, Australia

☆ Listen Now: OpenAI’s boardroom drama is far from over
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Breakingviews category · November 24, 2023The German government is working hard to demonstrate the foolishness of the country’s iron-clad ban on large budget deficits. It now says it will suspend the “debt brake” after the Constitutional Court forced it to cancel some 60 billion euros worth of fiscal spending that it had included in a 210 billion euro climate and transformation fund. But the welcome relief is only temporary, and the harm is done. The budget crisis will cripple the economy for years to come, for three reasons.

Organizations: Constitutional

☆ German industrial projects in steel, chips, batteries at risk from court ruling -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Steel coils are waiting for delivery at the storage and distribution facility of German steel maker ThyssenKrupp in Duisburg, Germany, November 16, 2023. That put numerous projects in key areas for Germany's industrial competitiveness at risk, the sources, who declined to be named, warned. In the steel industry, businesses planned to invest 6 billion euros ($6.54 billion) in decarbonised steel production, directly and indirectly employing around 20,000 people. Investments in microelectronics were bundled into the KTF, totalling 31 projects relying on an estimated 4 billion euros in government funding. Numerous projects along the battery supply chain were submitted as outlines for funding applications, the sources said, with an investment volume of around 20 billion euros.

Persons: Wolfgang Rattay, Markus Wacket, Victoria Waldersee, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Transformation, Investments, RIC, Infineon, Intel, Thomson Locations: Duisburg, Germany, Dresden, Magdeburg

☆ German budget crisis tests limits of its 'debt brake'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The ruling has sent budget talks into disarray and sparked calls within Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition to suspend a constitutionally enshrined "debt brake" that sets legal limits on borrowing. WHAT IS THE DEBT BRAKE AND WHY WAS IT INTRODUCED? HAS GERMANY SUSPENDED ITS DEBT BRAKE BEFORE? Some analysts say the debt brake is ripe for reform and a more flexible fiscal policy would let governments take on more debt to fund much-needed investments. The government is still weighing options, including suspending the debt brake or curtailing spending.

Persons: Kai Pfaffenbach, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Angela Merkel's, Christian Lindner, Carsten Brzeski, Philippa Sigl, Robert Habeck, Riham Alkousaa, Holger Hansen, Matthias Williams, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Finance, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, GERMANY, Ukraine

The economy and finance ministry declined immediate comment. "So the ruling could have a negative impact on economic growth," the source added. Last month, the economy ministry predicted 1.3% growth for next year. Although the Greens want additional spending, the Free Democrats (FDP), which heads the finance ministry, reject additional debt and higher taxes. "There is a clear political decision in favour of Intel and nothing has changed yet," said an economy ministry spokesperson on Friday.

Persons: Liesa, Olaf Scholz's, Christian Lindner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Joerg Kraemer, Robert Habeck, Habeck, Friedrich Merz, Christian Haase, Commerzbank's Kraemer, Maria Martinez, Andreas Rinke, Holger Hansen, Christian Kraemer, Madeline Chambers, Matthias Williams, Clarence Fernandez, Gerry Doyle, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thursday, Greens, Free Democrats, Transformation, Intel, U.S, Christian Democratic Union, ESF, Economic, Stabilization, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, Europe's

☆ German Court Says Government Cannot Shift Covid Funds to Climate Projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It Matters: A Restraint on Germany’s Green Ambitions. The Climate Transformation Fund has €212 billion dedicated to projects from 2024 to 2027. The court ruled that it must now be reduced by €60 billion, the money added from unused pandemic funds. Heart of the Issue: Germany’s ‘Debt Brake’Germany is the only leading industrial economy to have a so-called debt brake written into its constitution. “The circumvention of the debt brake is becoming increasingly absurd,” said Marcel Fratzscher, head of the German Institute for Economic Research, a Berlin-based think tank.

Persons: ”, Marcel Fratzscher, — Organizations: €, German Institute for Economic Research, Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats Locations: Germany, Berlin, Ukraine

☆ Germany earmarks 20 billion euros for chip industry in coming years
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, July 25 (Reuters) - Germany plans to invest around 20 billion euros ($22.15 billion) in the semiconductor industry in the coming years, the economy ministry said on Tuesday, amid growing alarm over supply chain fragility and dependence on South Korea and Taiwan for chips. The money will be drawn from the Climate and Transformation Fund from 2024 onwards, the ministry said, adding that it could only give funding for individual projects after European Commission approval. It said Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC (2330.TW) expressed interest in investing in a semiconductor production facility in Germany and that the ministry was in close contact with the company over an investment decision. Last month, Berlin agreed subsidies worth nearly 10 billion euros with the U.S. chipmaker Intel to build two facilities in the eastern city of Magdeburg. ($1 = 0.9029 euros)Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: TW, Riham Alkousaa, Friederike Heine Our Organizations: Transformation, U.S, Intel, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Berlin, Magdeburg

☆ Grenada's passport-selling boom offering rich Russians a Caribbean shortcut to US visas could be over
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Grenada runs a "Citizenship by Investment" program, offering a "golden passport" from $150,000. Demand for the program surged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russians called up as part of the partial mobilization go through military training in Rostov on October 21, 2022. But Grenada has flip-flopped on its decision to allow Russians to take part in the program. The office for the Grenada Citizenship by Investment program did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Persons: Richard Hallam, —, Arkady Budnitsky, Irina Batrakova Organizations: Investment, Service, Privacy, Transformation Fund, Bloomberg, Grenada's Ministry of Finance, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Batrakova, Grenada Citizenship Locations: Grenada, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Russians, Rostov

Berlin's ruling coalition last month agreed that almost all newly installed heating systems in Germany should run on 65% renewable energy from 2024, both in new and old buildings. Houses could also use heat pumps that run on renewable electricity, district heating, electric heating or solar thermal systems as acceptable alternatives to fossil fuel heating, according to the bill, which was seen by Reuters. Such a shift could cost Germans around 9.16 billion euros ($10 billion) annually until 2028, the draft bill showed. Germany's push to phase out gas in heating became more urgent after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine prompted Berlin to halt Russian fossil fuel imports. Heating uses up more than 40% of Germany's annual gas consumption as almost half of the country's 41 million households heat with natural gas while almost 25% use heating oil.

Experts estimate that about half of the German electric vehicles registered in the United States are leased. While the scale of the U.S. subsidies has attracted most attention, the EU has large potential resources of its own. THE REAL PROBLEM"The amounts of subsidies in Europe are in line or even more than those in the United States, that is not the problem," said one senior European Union official. "The real problems are the incentives to make firms move production to the United States," said the official, referring to the local content requirements. To ensure Europe can compete with the United States, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed measures including loosening EU state aid rules and repurposing existing EU funds.

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