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☆ Nigeria is the world's biggest cassava producer. So why doesn't it make money off exports?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Korey Isbell | Victoria Barranco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Nigeria is the globe's biggest producer of cassava, or yuca. It could stand to earn billions from exports of flour, sorbitol, bubble tea, and ethanol.

☆ Ted Cruz accused JD Vance of empowering 'the radical Green Movement' by aligning with Democrats on a bill to prevent rail disasters like the East Palestine crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, proposed the Rail Safety Act in March. "All of us were moved by the testimony of the witnesses" from East Palestine, Cruz said. "We cannot undo the psychological, economic, and physical toll of the derailment in East Palestine," Vance noted, but "there will be another East Palestine in this country if we do not pass the Railway Safety Act." "I earnestly hoped that we would reach a bipartisan consensus," Cruz said, but "this bill is overly and needlessly prescriptive." Nonetheless, Cruz doubted the bill would pass the Senate with 60 votes, let alone the House.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File PhotoNEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. government could delay a decision on giving electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers tradable credits under a renewable fuel scheme, due to concern about legal challenges to the plan, two sources familiar with the matter said. Most credits generated under the RFS are for blending liquid fuels such as ethanol made from corn into gasoline. Adding credits for power generated from renewable gas and then used for charging EVs would take the program in a new direction. The EPA initially proposed adding EVs to the program when it outlined the mandates for blending biofuels for 2023-2025. The delay in finalizing the EV credit program may mean more volume is available for other renewable fuel pools under the 2023-2025 mandate, including blending for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

IRACEMAPOLIS, Brazil, April 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's ability to produce and sell hybrid cars that can run on 100% ethanol is a huge asset for its auto industry as global economies push for decarbonization to tackle climate change, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin told Reuters. Alckmin on Thursday attended the opening of a factory by Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor Co Ltd (601633.SS) that will produce hybrid cars, including a flex-fuel pickup called Poer. Brazil has one of the world's largest ethanol industries, and most cars in the country can run on 100% biofuel made from sugarcane or corn. He highlighted the export opportunities hybrid cars manufactured in Brazil can bring for the country as it pushes for re-industrialization, a process in which he sees the auto industry playing a key role. "It is very important because it is an industry of cutting-edge technology, with semiconductors and the whole decarbonization area," said the vice president.

☆ House passes GOP debt limit bill, as McCarthy tries to draw Biden into negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Christina Wilkie | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — A Republican bill to raise the debt limit and slash government funding passed the House on Wednesday, after 11th hour changes won over a group of holdouts within the GOP caucus. The vote was a victory for embattled House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., capping off a 24-hour sprint that saw party leaders work past 2 a.m. Instead of viewing the provisions in the 320-page bill as future laws, per se, House Republicans view the plan more as a symbolic opening bid in the negotiations McCarthy will hold with President Joe Biden later this year over the debt limit and federal funding. The White House sees things very differently, however. House Republicans must take default off the table and address the debt limit without demands and conditions," the White House said.

☆ Republicans want to cut billions of dollars for energy projects as part of their legislation to raise the debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

House Republicans want to strip billions of dollars in funding for energy projects as part of their debt ceiling bill. These latest changes are part of a last-minute effort by Republican leadership to get their members on board with a debt ceiling vote. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy insisted on Wednesday morning that the House will vote on the debt ceiling limit on Wednesday, despite several GOP House members publicly voicing their opposition to the legislation. In exchange, it would increase the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, or through March 31, 2024, whichever comes first. Whenever Republicans manage to pass their debt ceiling legislation, it'll be just a first step in negotiations with the White House, which is demanding to raise the limit without conditions.

The country's IPCA-15 inflation index eased to a 30-month low of 4.16% from 5.36% in the previous month, government statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday, coming in below market consensus of 4.20% in a Reuters poll of economists. The latest data comes a day after central bank Governor Roberto Campos Neto ruled out an imminent interest rate cut, saying in a Senate hearing that the current rate was appropriate to address inflation concerns. "Will RCN and his team wait for current inflation to reach 3% before starting to cut interest rates?" William Jackson, Capital Economics' chief emerging markets economist, said he doubts policymakers will pivot to interest rate cuts imminently, considering that core inflation remains strong and the central bank has been striking a hawkish tone. "All told, the inflation picture continues to improve in Brazil," Pantheon Macroeconomics' chief Latin America economist Andres Abadia said.

☆ Kids under 6 ingesting illicit substances rose after Covid-19 outbreak, study shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Madeline Holcombe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The outbreak of Covid-19 presented many dangers for children, and a new study suggests increased illicit substance ingestions were among them. Those numbers grew by 1.8% more per month than they did before the pandemic, the study said. The results could be skewed if health care providers were on the lookout for ingestions, Dodington added. There was no association between medicinal or recreational cannabis legalization and the rate of cannabis ingestion encounters, according to the study. Safer storageIngesting drugs and alcohol are particularly dangerous for young children, Dodington said.

☆ Toyota to invest $338 mln in new hybrid, flex car in Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, April 19 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Wednesday it will invest 1.7 billion reais ($337.68 million) to manufacture a new hybrid, flex-fuel compact car in Brazil, which will run on both gasoline and ethanol in addition to its electric engine. Toyota's announcement came at an event attended by the firm's local head, Rafael Chang, and Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas. Part of the investment - roughly 1 billion reais - will come from tax credits Toyota had with the state. "Toyota believes in the Brazilian market and continues to invest in technology and innovation to meet consumer needs," Chang said. The car is set to be launched in Brazil in 2024 and sold in 22 Latin American countries, it added.

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, VF Corp, Deere, Netflix, Rivian, Nvidia & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Amazon as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the stock. "Our Buy rating is based on: 1) positive feedback from our proprietary Sleep survey that points to healthy underlying US volumes, 2) lingering pent-up demand due to US staffing shortages." William Blair reiterates Charles Schwab as outperform William Blair said it's standing by its outperform rating on the stock heading into earnings next week. Barclays reiterates Disney as equal weight Barclays said it sees slowing streaming growth heading into Disney earnings in early May. " Stifel reiterates Microsoft as buy Stifel said it's standing by its buy rating on Microsoft heading into earnings later this month.

☆ Brazil inflation seen staying high in March on rising gasoline costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Gabriel Burin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 10 (Reuters) - Brazil's inflation likely stayed high in March on rising gasoline bills, reigniting cost of living problems in the country's stagnant economy and probably stoking more disagreement over policy, a Reuters poll showed. Consumer prices cooled in the second half of 2022 in reaction to an aggressive tightening campaign by the central bank. But inflation pressures reemerged after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office at the start of this year. This would stand very close to the 0.84% rate in February, which had been the quickest in 10 months. A 0.77% inflation rate in March would result in a cumulative 2.2% clip in the first quarter, well on course to surpass this year's goal of 3.25% with a margin of 1.5 percentage points.

☆ U.S. trade chief Tai defends pursuit of non-traditional trade deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

She said past trade deals focused on "aggressive liberalization and tariff elimination" made the U.S. and other countries too dependent on China for critical materials. Her remarks come amid growing calls from U.S. business and agricultural trade groups for Congress to approve new "fast track" negotiating authority for USTR to pursue traditional free trade deals. These groups argue the U.S. is falling behind the growing network of free trade deals forged by China and the European Union in recent years, putting U.S. farmers and food companies at a disadvantage against many foreign competitors in key markets. Republicans in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives also pelted Tai with complaints about the lack of new tariff-reducing trade deals during hearings last month. Tai told reporters it has been difficult to explain the need to break away from the traditional vision of ever-liberalizing trade deals.

☆ BNSF Cargo Train Hauling Ethanol Derails in Minnesota
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Costas Paris | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A freight train hauling ethanol, a highly flammable and toxic chemical, derailed in Minnesota early Thursday, sparking a fire and prompting residents to evacuate the area. The derailment occurred in Raymond, a town roughly 100 miles west of Minneapolis, and there were no injuries reported, according to an official at the Raymond fire department. Residents within a half-mile of the accident were asked to evacuate.

☆ Dodge says goodbye to gas-powered muscle cars with a $96,666 Challenger boasting outrageous horsepower and 'horrible' fuel economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170.

☆ Dodge resurrects controversial Challenger SRT Demon for final year of V8 muscle cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

DETROIT — Dodge is resurrecting its controversial muscle car model, the Challenger SRT Demon, as a final special edition of the vehicle before production of the brand's current V8 engine cars ends later this year. The limited-edition drag racing car will be the fastest, most powerful version of the Dodge Challenger ever produced by the automaker. It builds upon a 2018 Challenger SRT Demon model that some criticized for being too powerful and barely street legal. Dodge says the new car will deliver 1,025 horsepower and 945 foot-pounds of torque on E85 ethanol blend fuel. The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 will start at the diabolically evocative price of $96,666 — the last three figures are a reference to the devil — but it can top $120,000 or more with fees, options and accessories, according to Dodge.

☆ Florida Gov. DeSantis attacks Manhattan DA over possible Trump charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis took aim at the Manhattan district attorney Monday over his expected prosecution of a hush money case against former President Donald Trump. The remarks came as some of Trump's allies and campaign surrogates have taken note of DeSantis' silence about the possibility of criminal charges being filed against the former president. Jason Miller, Trump's senior campaign advisor, grumbled in a tweet over the weekend about the "radio silence" from DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who launched her own presidential campaign last month. Trump slammed DeSantis over his record on ethanol at a campaign event in Iowa last week. "So DeSantis thinks that Dems weaponizing the law to indict President Trump is a 'manufactured circus' & isn't a 'real issue,'" Trump Jr. tweeted.

☆ Trump extends lead over DeSantis in new poll of possible GOP primary field
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis, who will likely start as the former president's top competitor in the 2024 Republican presidential primary if he runs, according to a poll of a potential GOP field released Wednesday. Quinnipiac University's latest survey of Republican and Republican-leaning voters found Trump winning 46% of support in a hypothetical GOP primary field, with DeSantis receiving 32%. That's a welcome change for Trump, who held just a 6-percentage-point lead over DeSantis in Quinnipiac's February poll of the prospective primary field. None of the 11 other candidates in the poll's hypothetical GOP primary field received more than 2% of the remaining support. Quinnipiac found that larger shares of registered voters have negative views than hold positive views of Biden, Trump, DeSantis, Pence and Haley.

March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. senators reintroduced a bipartisan bill on Tuesday that would allow nationwide sales of gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol year-round, as a second heavy-weight oil trade group appeared ready to back the idea. Year-round sales of E15 have been long sought by the biofuel industry and corn farmers, who would benefit from the increased market. The American Petroleum Institute (API), one of the largest U.S. oil trade groups, has supported the bill since it was introduced last autumn. On Tuesday, another top U.S. oil group, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), signaled it could support a national standard. In response to their request, the EPA in early March proposed to allow year-round E15 sales in those states.

☆ Analysis: Trump, DeSantis offer stark contrast in first Iowa forays
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on education as he holds a campaign rally with supporters, in Davenport, Iowa, U.S. March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstDAVENPORT, Iowa, March 14 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis descended upon the same Iowa town in recent days, putting the differences between the potential Republican presidential rivals in stark relief. "I don't think you're going to do so well here," Trump said of DeSantis, "but we're going to find out." Leaving Trump's event, Iowa City voter John Schneider, 69, said he has supported Trump in the past but now will be eyeing DeSantis and other potential contenders as they barnstorm the state in the coming months. Reporting by James Oliphant in Davenport, Iowa Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Huge City Polluter? Buildings. Here’s a Surprising Fix.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Carbon dioxide from these boilers wafts up chimneys and into the air, one of the city’s biggest sources of global warming emissions. “And we expect that it won’t be the last.”The boiler releases carbon dioxide. The remaining carbon dioxide was then chilled to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit and turned to liquid. The system currently captures about 60 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted by the Grand Tier’s boilers, Mr. Asparro said. While they’re paying for the carbon dioxide, they are not charging a premium for their blocks.

☆ Trump says DeSantis will 'beg for mercy' in Iowa after he once voted to kill a prized ethanol mandate
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump slammed Ron DeSantis for previously moving to kill a federal mandate prized by ethanol producers. As Insider reported, DeSantis supported legislation in 2017 to kill the Renewable Fuel StandardTop editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. DeSantis, Trump concluded, would "beg for mercy" in Iowa. The standard requires specific percentages of renewable fuel to be blended into the nation's fuel supply. The ethanol industry closely protects the mandate since it effectively subsidizes the industry.

☆ Mercuria leads funding round for engine tech firm ClearFlame
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Simon Jessop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A flag with the logo of Mercuria commodity trading house is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, October 11, 2016. ClearFlame, whose technology allows diesel engines to run on more climate-friendly fuels, said the Series B round was also backed by WIND Ventures, the venture arm of Chile's COPEC (COPEC.SN), and existing investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures. To help accelerate the shift to a low-carbon economy, ClearFlame modifies the engine design by switching out 10-15% of the engine parts to allow it to run on a variety of fuels, including ethanol and ammonia. Diesel accounts for around 26% of carbon emissions from the transport sector, ClearFlame said, and is also responsible for particulates and black soot. Mercuria's Boris Bystrov said in a statement that its investment reflected a belief that ClearFlame's technology can "economically decarbonise the heavy-duty industry".

Some living above Navigator's proposed sequestration site are also worried that carbon dioxide stored 5,800 feet underground could seep upward and contaminate their groundwater with carbonic acid, which is formed when carbon dioxide meets water. This came two months after a senior ICC engineer recommended that the commission deny the company's application because it had not secured the necessary sequestration site, the commission's docket shows. The company did not share the number or percent of easements it has secured over its proposed sequestration sites. The two other major carbon pipeline projects are working to secure underground carbon storage space. Summit has negotiated easements with landowners for more than 85% of its sequestration site in North Dakota, the company told Reuters.

☆ U.S. senators reintroduce bill to pressure OPEC oil producer group
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - A group of bipartisan U.S. senators on Wednesday said they have reintroduced legislation to pressure the OPEC oil production group to stop making output cuts. The so-called No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels, or NOPEC, bill was reintroduced by Senators Chuck Grassley, a Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, as well as others on the Judiciary Committee. The bill passed the committee 17-4 last year after the OPEC+ producer group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day but moved no further. Klobuchar said, "Current law has made the Justice Department powerless to stop the 13 largest oil-producing countries from manipulating prices and driving up costs." Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US senators reintroduce bill to pressure OPEC oil producer group
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Timothy Gardner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - A group of bipartisan U.S. senators on Wednesday said they have reintroduced legislation to pressure the OPEC oil production group to stop making output cuts. The so-called No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels, or NOPEC, bill was reintroduced by senators Chuck Grassley, a Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and others on the Judiciary Committee. The bill passed the committee 17-4 last year after the OPEC+ producer group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day. OPEC has continued with the 2 million bpd cut, setting a floor on global oil prices, with the Brent international benchmark trading around $82.60 per barrel on Wednesday. Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington Editing by Mark Porter and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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