DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ U.S. solar panel imports from China grow, alleviating gridlock, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] John Podesta, the White House senior advisor for clean energy, delivers a speech during the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Callaghan O'HareMarch 6 (Reuters) - U.S. imports of solar panels from Chinese suppliers are increasing as customs officials have clarified rules around complying with a new law banning goods made with forced labor, a White House official said on Monday. Trina Solar Co Ltd (688599.SS), a major Chinese solar manufacturer, told Reuters that more than 900 megawatts of solar panels has cleared U.S. customs in the last four months, with less than 1% of those products being detained for examination. Trina rival Jinko Solar Holding Co Ltd (JKS.N) has also had shipments released from detention, a source close to the company said. Reporting by Richard Valdmanis in Houston Editing by Chris Reese and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden's clean energy factory jobs may elude U.S. union workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Right to work laws allow employees to work in union-represented workplaces and be covered by collective bargaining agreements without joining a union or paying dues. American products, he vowed, would be made with union labor. Union labor. Many of the jobs created will be union jobs, the official added. "It's not a favorable environment, but we can still organize," Samantha Smith, senior adviser for clean energy jobs at the AFL-CIO, said in an interview.

The effort comes as the United States seeks to sustain its liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exports to Europe to displace Russian fuel, while also promoting efforts to fight global warming. A credible market for certified natural gas could help it tackle both goals at once. Crabtree said he hosted a workshop in October with gas industry representatives, including a new industry group called the Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council (DGCC), to discuss standards for certified gas. While gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels, its main component is the powerful greenhouse gas methane, which can leak into the atmosphere from drilling, processing, shipping and distribution. Palti-Guzman said certified gas could also be key to securing a longterm role for U.S. LNG in Europe where carbon prices last month hit a record 100 euros per tonne.

☆ Factbox: Willow oil and gas project in Alaska sparks green opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

March 3 (Reuters) - Environmental and climate activists are rallying online against ConocoPhillips’ proposed Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska as the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden weighs whether to greenlight the controversial plan. Here are some details about the project:WHAT IS THE WILLOW PROJECT? The Willow project is a $6 billion proposal from ConocoPhillips' (COP.N) to drill oil and gas in Alaska. The Willow project area holds an estimated 600 million barrels of oil, or more than the amount currently held in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the country's emergency supply. The Biden administration has also been urging U.S. oil companies to invest in boosting production to help keep consumer energy prices in check.

☆ Factbox: What is the Willow project in Alaska, and why do green activists oppose it?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The sun sets behind an oil drilling rig in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File PhotoMarch 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Monday announced it would approve a trimmed-down version of ConocoPhillips' Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska, triggering angry reactions from climate activists. Here are some details about the project:WHAT IS THE WILLOW PROJECT? The Willow project is a $6 billion proposal from ConocoPhillips (COP.N) to drill oil and gas in Alaska. The Willow project area holds an estimated 600 million barrels of oil, or more than the amount currently held in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the country's emergency supply.

But to reach its ultimate destination - supermarket shelves - cultivated meat faces big obstacles, five executives told Reuters. California-based cultivated meat company GOOD Meat already has an application pending with the FDA, which has not been previously reported. Regulatory approval is just the first hurdle for making cultivated meat accessible to a broad swath of consumers, executives at UPSIDE, Mosa Meat, Believer Meats, and GOOD Meat told Reuters. But it will take hundreds of millions of dollars for GOOD Meat, for example, to build bioreactors of the size needed to make its meat at scale, Tetrick said. But cultivated meat companies have the advantage that they can claim their product is real meat, Tetrick said.

Despite layoff announcements and signs of a slowdown elsewhere in the economy, the labor market for clean energy jobs remains tight. said Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group. The Biden Administration has repeatedly promised that new green energy jobs would be well-paying union jobs. Some solar companies have tried to recruit veterans, saying the skills learned in military life translate well to the industry. Utility scale solar developer SOLV Energy, SunPower and Nextracker last year teamed up with nonprofit Solar Energy International to fund a women-only training program for solar installers.

☆ U.S. Department of Energy rejects initial bids to resupply oil stockpile
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy has rejected the first batch of bids from oil companies to resupply a small amount of oil to the nation’s emergency crude oil stockpile in February, according to a DOE spokesperson. “Following review of the initial submission, DOE will not be making any award selections for the February delivery window,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “DOE will only select bids that meet the required crude specifications and that are at a price that is a good deal for taxpayers,” the spokesperson said. The administration has said it wants to repurchase the oil at around $70 a barrel. Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. begins buying back oil for strategic petroleum reserve -official
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies TC Energy Corp FollowWASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department said on Friday it will begin buying back oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, the first purchase since this year's record 180 million barrel release from the stockpile. The department will buy up to 3 million barrels for delivery in February, a senior official told reporters. The sale shrunk levels in the SPR to about 380 million barrels, their lowest since 1984, raising concerns about energy security. "We'll be releasing a solicitation to purchase 3 million barrels of oil for delivery in February of next year, 2023," the official said. Contracts will be awarded to energy companies by Jan. 13.

☆ Factbox: Western governments struggle to agree on Russian oil price cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Western governments want to set a maximum purchase price for Russian oil on the world market to limit Moscow’s ability to raise money for its war on Ukraine. Here is what you need to know:WHO'S IN THE PRICE CAP COALITION? The EU had earlier agreed to impose an outright ban on Russian oil imports starting Dec. 5. The U.S. guidance further sketched out which types of companies would be obligated to participate in the cap plan. But traders point to parallel fleets that can handle Russian oil using Russian and other non-Western insurance.

☆ 'Tiny' things left to resolve for climate deal, COP27 presidency spokesman says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 19 (Reuters) - "Tiny, tiny" things need to be resolved before a climate deal is finalized at the COP27 summit in Egypt, Wael Aboulmagd, the special representative to the COP27 president, said on Saturday. "We're doing our best. Tiny, tiny things to work out," he told Reuters when asked whether a deal was near. Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] A general view of the entrance to the Sharm El-Sheikh International Convention Centre grounds, during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 19, 2022. Kunal Satyarthi, a negotiator for India, said he thought the loss and damage deal would "certainly" pass, and thanked other countries for their flexibility. Norway's climate minister, Espen Barth Eide, meanwhile, said his country was happy with the agreement to create a loss and damage fund. But the possible breakthrough on loss and damage was significant, and "I don't think that should be lost in the mix," he said. For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.

[1/5] Climate activists take part in a protest during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 16, 2022. "There's still a lot of gaps in the texts," said a spokesperson for Britain's COP26 Presidency, which hosted last year's climate summit in Glasgow. EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said the first draft left a lot to be desired. TEMPERATURE TARGETOn limiting the global temperature rise, the document mirrors language included in last year's COP26 agreement. Temperatures have already increased by 1.1C, and are projected to blow past 1.5C without swift and deep cuts to emissions within this decade.

☆ "Stand and deliver," UN chief tells faltering COP27 climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( William James | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Negotiators at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt must overcome a "breakdown in trust" between rich and poor nations to deliver a deal to save the world from the worst of global warming, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday. "The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver." His speech was intended to rally negotiators that have become stuck on issues from whether a fund should be established to compensate poor nations for climate damage already ocurring, to language around fossil fuels use. "No one can deny the scale of loss and damage we see around the globe," he said. He also urged developed countries to deliver on a past pledge to provide $100 billion per year to help poor nations adapt to climate change and switch to clean energy.

☆ COP27:Brazil's Lula says Amazon rainforest vital to global climate security
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said climate change will have the highest profile in his government, and that he will prioritize efforts to fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. "There is no climate security for the world without a protected Amazon," said Lula in a speech at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. "We will do whatever it takes to have zero deforestation and the degradation of our biomes." Lula said he believed the struggle against global warming was also inseparable from the struggle against poverty. Reporting by Jake Spring, William James and Gloria Dickie; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A G20 declaration on Wednesday said "we will play our part fully in implementing" last year's Glasgow Climate Pact, under which countries pledged to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial times. "As things stand, the Glasgow Climate Pact is broken, but the G20 have the opportunity to fix it." MISSED OPPORTUNITYThe G20 declaration recognised the need to phase down use of unabated coal and phase out "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies. Avinash Persaud, special envoy on climate finance to Prime Minister Mia Motley of Barbados, meanwhile, told Reuters the G20 declaration missed the mark on finance. "Unfunded ambition gets us nowhere fast," Persaud said, adding he wanted G20 countries to unlock more lending from multilateral development banks they control to help climate-vulnerable countries.

[1/5] Yael Gabay, The Plant Based Treaty global co-director with a team give away free vegan burgers during COP27 climate summit in Red Sea resort at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 14, 2022. "We have to move away from animal production." "It would result in more intensive livestock production that would require larger areas of land to produce the animal feed, putting pressure on forest land," Reisinger told Reuters. THE OTHER WHITE MEATCampaigners have even protested the food kiosks at the summit selling burgers and chicken - foods they say don't belong at a climate conference. "When you enter the conference, you have the scent of grilled animal meat in your nose.

A UN study last year found "negligible" correlation between household food waste and gross domestic product, indicating most countries "have room to improve." "We do have a long way to make the goal," said Jean Buzby, the food waste liaison at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration agreed in 2018 to tackle America's food waste together. A spokesman for New Zealand's environment ministry said the country is finalizing its baseline food waste estimate so it can establish a target. SLOWEST GAZELLEIn California, which has America's most ambitious climate policies, officials are trying to ensure food waste goes to composting, not landfills.

☆ Some countries have resisted 1.5°C goal in COP27 text, U.S. says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] John Kerry, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate speaks as he attends the opening of the American Pavilion in the COP27 climate summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed SalemSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A few countries have resisted mentioning a global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the official text of the COP27 summit in Egypt, U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry said at the conference on Saturday. There are very few countries, but a few, that have raised the issue of not mentioning this word or that word," Kerry said when asked about opposition by some governments to mentioning the 1.5C target. Many developing countries have demanded the establishment of a "loss and damage" fund that could disperse cash to countries struggling to recover from disasters. Kerry said the United States would not support establishing such a fund, and instead believed existing platforms should be used.

☆ Some countries have resisted 1.5°C goal in COP27 text, US says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A few countries have resisted mentioning a global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the official text of the COP27 summit in Egypt, U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry said at the conference on Saturday. There are very few countries, but a few, that have raised the issue of not mentioning this word or that word," Kerry said when asked about opposition by some governments to mentioning the 1.5C target. Breaching the 1.5C threshold risks unleashing the worst consequences of global warming. Many developing countries have demanded the establishment of a "loss and damage" fund that could disperse cash to countries struggling to recover from disasters. Kerry said the United States would not support establishing such a fund, and instead believed existing platforms should be used.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. blocks more than 1,000 solar shipments over Chinese slave labor concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 shipments of solar energy components worth hundreds of millions of dollars have piled up at U.S. ports since June under a new law banning imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about slave labor, according to federal customs officials and industry sources. The agency would not reveal the manufacturers or confirm details about the quantity of solar equipment in the shipments, citing federal law that protects confidential trade secrets. But the companies have halted new shipments to the United States over concerns additional cargoes will also be detained, the industry sources said. The sources asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. CBP has previously said that it had detained about 1,700 shipments worth $516.3 million under UFLPA through September but has never before detailed how many of those shipments contained solar equipment.

☆ COP27: U.N. to hunt sources of climate-warming methane from space
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Richard Valdmanis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The system, dubbed MARS or Methane Alert and Response System, will build on a pledge signed by 119 countries since last year to cut methane emissions by 30% this decade, a goal scientists say is crucial to averting extreme climate change. "The Methane Alert and Response System is a big step in helping governments and companies deliver on this important, short-term climate goal," Inger Andersen, executive eirector of the U.N. "Reducing methane emissions can make a big and rapid difference, as this gas leaves the atmosphere far quicker than carbon dioxide." UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory will then share information about the leak with whoever is responsible in the hope they will find the cause of the leak and repair it. U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry, who helped spearhead the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions last year, called the new system "critical" to climate efforts.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Friday, saying the global climate crisis posed an existential threat to the planet and promising that the United States was doing its part to combat it. "The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security, and the very life of the planet," Biden said, before outlining steps the United States, the world’s second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, was taking. It came even as a slew of crises - from a land war in Europe to rampant inflation - distract international focus. "Against this backdrop, it's more urgent than ever that we double down on our climate commitments. Upon arrival, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told U.S. President Joe Biden that Egypt has launched a national strategy for human rights and is keen to develop in that regard.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden told the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Friday that global warming posed an existential threat to the planet and promised the United States would meet its targets for fighting it. "The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security, and the very life of the planet," Biden told a crowded room of delegates at the U.N. summit in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. Biden said global crises, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, were not an excuse to lower climate ambition. U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech at COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 11, 2022. "It's radio silence on loss and damage finance," Singh said, calling Biden "out of touch with the reality of the climate crisis."

☆ COP27-US targets methane in 'relentless' emissions focus
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It would also force methane emissions reductions from flaring equipment and create a system to detect leaks from "super-emitter" sites quickly so operators can repair them faster and local community residents are aware. The EPA said the stronger rules would reduce methane from the oil and gas industry by 87% below 2005 levels and would help the United States to meet its commitment under the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions economy-wide by 30% this decade. OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY LOBBYINGThe oil and gas industry had urged the agency to exclude hundreds of thousands of low-producing wells on the grounds frequent monitoring would be inefficient and costly. It dovetailed with a U.N. announcement on Friday that it will launch a global public database of methane leaks detected by space satellites to encourage companies and governments to plug them. The EPA will take public input on the methane rule until Feb. 13, 2023 and plans to finalize it by the end of that year.

Search resuls for: "Richard Valdmanis"

25 mentions found