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☆ This oil and gas VC upended his career to start a plant-based burger chain. Now, he's raised $20 million to open new restaurants with plans to steal market share from McDonald's.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Next Level Burger, which makes plant-based burgers, was cofounded in 2014 by Matt de Gruyter. Next Level Burger plans to triple in size and steal share from McDonald's, de Gruyter said. In his quest to align his career with this diet, he quit his job and launched a restaurant serving plant-based burgers in 2014. Both became early backers of de Gruyter's brand, Next Level Burger, which has grown to nine restaurants in six states. The restaurant chain announced a $20 million raise on Tuesday, led by Payne and his wife, Nicole Brodeur.

☆ It's Not ChatGBT's Time to Shine — yet. Here's Why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Within weeks of taking over, he dramatically transformed Twitter's company culture and started major projects — seemingly with one foot already out the door. Although a successful future for any technology is not guaranteed, ChatGPT feels like a tipping point for generative AI. Roomba, an automatic vacuum cleaner, took multiple sensitive photos that were shared on social media. After short-video apps like TikTok became the dominant platforms for fans to listen to new songs in 2022, music-industry execs are now setting their sights on social media as the next big money-making opportunity. Here are 15 power players using social media to shape the music industry.

While travel demand is roaring back, many hotels, airlines, cruise operators and airports are still racing to hire and train workers. That means the level of customer service will likely take a hit, industry experts say. One potential bright spot can be found at sea: During the summer, several cruise lines had to cancel voyages due to staffing shortages, but major disruptions have been largely resolved. “It’s highly unlikely your holiday cruise will be canceled due to lack of staffing,” said Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, a Tripadvisor-run travel site. “This year, I moved my annual holiday travel to earlier in December,” said Abby Rhinehart, an educational researcher in Tucson, Arizona.

☆ U.S. Postal Service to transform delivery fleet with 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Three United States Postal Service (USPS) mail trucks are parked in front of the post office in Danville. On July 20, the USPS announced that at least 40 percent of its Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs) and commercial off-the-street (COTS) vehicles will be battery electric vehicles. Postal Service said Tuesday that it intends to purchase at least 66,000 electric delivery vehicles as part of a push to transform its delivery fleet. The electric vehicles would amount to more than half the 106,000 vehicles it plans to acquire for delivery between now and 2028. The new vehicles will start to replace its aging fleet of 220,000 vehicles, the Postal Service said in a press release.

☆ EPA finalizes tougher pollution standards for big trucks and buses
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Biden administration on Tuesday finalized tougher pollution standards for heavy-duty vehicles like large trucks, delivery vans and buses starting with model year 2027. While the new rule is much tougher than current standards, environmental and public health groups have called for even more stringent standards. California’s new rule for heavy-duty vehicles, for example, is 90% stronger than current regulations. And earlier this year, state regulators in California critiqued EPA’s pollution rule for missing the bigger picture on the move to electric trucks. The agency is also expected to release new proposed light and medium-duty vehicle emissions standards for 2027 and beyond model year vehicles in the spring.

☆ Lab-grown meat could be served up for dinner soon. What does it taste like?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It has a capacity of 600 liters, or 159 gallons, allowing the company to produce 6,000 pounds of cultivated meat per year. Right now, Singapore is alone in allowing the sale of cultivated meat to consumers, having issued a green light in late 2020. Yet delivering on the promise of lab-grown meat won’t just come down to regulators. CNN“The promise of cultivated meat [is] to bring forth a taste and texture component, and to deliver sustainability,” said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner at Good Startup, a Singapore-based venture capital firm that has invested in eight cultivated meat startups. “I think the whole of the cultivated meat industry will go hybrid first,” Ivy Farm’s Dillon said.

A Culture in theCross Hairs Russia’s invasion has systematically destroyed Ukrainian cultural sites. It has also dealt a grievous blow to Ukrainian culture: to its museums and monuments, its grand universities and rural libraries, its historic churches and contemporary mosaics. This is how empires always work.” The war in Ukraine is a culture war, and the extent of the destruction is becoming clearer. Kyiv Sviatohirsk UKRAINE Damaged or destroyed religious sites Areas controlled by Russia at any time since invasion. Kyiv Sviatohirsk UKRAINE Damaged or destroyed religious sites Areas controlled by Russia at any time since invasion.

☆ Yes, electric vehicles are greener than gas cars — even when they use dirty power
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

There's a persistent myth that electric vehicles are somehow worse for the planet than regular cars. But building an EV creates more planet-warming emissions than making a gas vehicle. But mining the necessary cobalt, refining the lithium, and packaging it all into little cells that fit neatly in a larger pack creates significant greenhouse gas emissions. But zooming in on specific regions reveals how vastly EV emissions vary across the country. Electric cars that hit American roads in 2030 could have a 76% greener lifespan than gas counterparts if the US builds an electrical grid in line with the Paris Agreement's goals, according to the ICCT.

MONTREAL/BOGOTA Dec 16 (Reuters) - Latin America is drawing early investment for jet fuel produced from materials like forest residues and palm oil as emission-conscious airlines scour emerging markets for less-polluting fuel to power flights, industry executives say. While most sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, is produced in the United States, Europe, and Singapore, Latin America is emerging as a budding market. "Latin America right now is really a hot spot for Honeywell." Producing and distributing SAF in regions with faster-growing traffic like Latin America is key to meeting industry targets, said Landon Loomis, Latin America president for U.S. planemaker Boeing (BA.N). And Vibra Energia (VBBR3.SA) is working with Brasil BioFuels (BBF) to produce palm oil-based jet fuel in 2025.

☆ Electric vehicles confront the leap to the mass market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Joseph White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Industry executives and forecasters do not agree on how rapidly electric vehicles could take over half the global vehicle market, let alone all of it. In China, the world's largest single automotive market, battery electric vehicles have captured about 21% of the market. By 2029, electric vehicles could account for a third of the North American market, and about 26% of vehicles produced worldwide, according to AutoForecast Solutions, a consultancy. Electric vehicle sales likely will not increase in a smooth, ever-ascending curve, said AFS President Joe McCabe. The next few years will determine whether the 21st Century's crop of electric vehicle brands will follow a similar path.

☆ Petrobras CEO prospect pitches an expansive vision for oil giant
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Magda Chambriard, a former Brazil oil regulator, also said she does not support taking back divested oil refineries and other assets or using Petrobras' profits to subsidize consumer fuel prices. Lula, who spent time in jail over a Petrobras corruption scandal, campaigned on abandoning further privatization of Petrobras, and on investing in diversification. Petrobras has sold oil refineries, retail gas stations, power plants and gas pipelines to pay debt and boost its shareholder payouts. Like Lula, she believes the way to guarantee Petrobras' future in a world determined to cut planet-warming emissions should include developing less carbon-intensive fuels, such as natural gas. Some of the dividends Petrobras distributed this year should be redirected to energy production, including exploration of new oil and gas fields, she said.

☆ 34-year-old spent $17,000 on a tiny home in Idaho—now it brings in $49,000 a year on Airbnb: It's 'almost completely passive'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ivan Ellis Nanney listed his personalized tiny home on Airbnb in 2019. While on the tour, Nanney met a fellow Boisean named Kristie Wolfe, who turned the original six-ton potato into an Airbnb property. The friendship inspired Nanney, who dedicates six months of the year for travel, to set up his own Airbnb property. Ivan Ellis NanneyHe listed it on Airbnb in June 2019, with a plan to live there himself for six months per year. Ivan Ellis Nanney

☆ How to Clean and Care for Your Coffee Maker, According to Experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Whether you use a drip coffee maker or a pod machine, here’s the best advice from pros to keep your appliance buildup-free and running smoothly. Urnex Coffee Maker and Espresso Machine Cleaner Cleancaf Powder $23 at AmazonAffresh Coffee Maker Cleaner Tablets $9 at AmazonGiuliano likes commercial descalers as an alternative option, for their simplicity. We tried a few popular ones, and Urnex Coffee Machine Cleaning Powder came out on top. Affresh Coffee Maker Cleaning Tablets work similarly, though the tabs take a few extra minutes to fully dissolve. (Again, you can get away with descaling less often—every two or three months—if you make coffee using low-mineral water.)

Insider's experts choose the best products and services to help make smart decisions with your money (here’s how). Instead of a complete shopping ban, we decided to start with smaller spending blackouts. Get the latest tips you need to manage your money — delivered to you biweekly. I'll spend money on clothes (for myself and my family) and personal care items, such as high-end cosmetics, more often than I should. We did this strategically to save money on gas and to get a free streaming service network.

☆ Electric school buses are giving kids a cleaner, but costlier, ride to class
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( John Rosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Right now, only a tiny fraction of the roughly 480,000 school buses in America are battery-powered. Greener pasturesEnvironmental activists have been working for years to try to replace diesel and gasoline school buses with new electric models. Gander leads the World Resources Institute's Electric School Bus Initiative, a project funded in part by the Bezos Earth Fund established by Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos. The initiative works with school officials, utility companies and ESB manufacturers to try to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission school buses. A Thomas Built electric school bus in Beverly, Massachusetts.

☆ Democratic lawmakers accuse big oil companies of 'greenwashing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A pair of Democratic lawmakers on Friday accused the largest oil companies in the United States of "greenwashing" their public image and not doing enough to decarbonize fast enough to meet climate change targets. These efforts are particularly offensive, Maloney and Khanna said, because of the amount of money the biggest oil companies are making right now. Burning natural gas produces about 117 pounds of carbon dioxide per million British thermal units (a measure of heat). That's compared with 200 pounds for coal and 160 pounds for fuel oil. Equally critically, the production of natural gas results in leaks of methane all throughout the production process and methane is a greenhouse gas, too.

☆ A janitor laid off at Twitter's headquarters said one of Elon Musk's team members told him he'd be replaced by robots
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A janitor told BBC that a member of Elon Musk's team said his job would eventually be replaced by robots. Four former Twitter cleaners told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Four former Twitter janitors told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Multiple workers told the publication that they are concerned about how they will be able to pay bills in the coming weeks, particularly with the holidays coming up. "Overnight we don't have anything," Adrianna Villarreal, a cleaner who had worked at Twitter since 2018, told BBC.

☆ Big Oil has engaged in a long-running climate disinformation campaign while raking in record profits
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( René Marsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Big Oil companies have engaged in a “long-running greenwashing campaign” while raking in “record profits at the expense of American consumers,” the Democratic-led House Oversight Committee has found after a year-long investigation into climate disinformation from the fossil fuel industry. The committee found the fossil fuel industry is “posturing on climate issues while avoiding real commitments” to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Lawmakers said it has sought to portray itself as part of the climate solution, even as internal industry documents reveal how companies have avoided making real commitments. Many of their requests for internal documents were heavily redacted by the companies, which did not specify reasons for withholding the information. “These companies know their climate pledges are inadequate but are prioritizing Big Oil’s record profits over the human costs of climate change,” Maloney said.

☆ Exclusive: Canada's critical-mineral strategy aims to accelerate permitting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Steve Scherer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Critical minerals are key elements in EV batteries, electronics and solar panels and play a crucial role in the transition to the green economy. China now dominates the market for critical minerals used in EV batteries. Ottawa will seek "regulatory harmonization" with the United States on critical minerals, the document reads without elaborating, as part of the strategy. Canada has signed similar critical minerals cooperation agreements with Japan and the European Union. On Thursday, Canada said it would beef up rules around foreign investment, in the critical minerals sector and others.

☆ Exxon, Chevron to spend billions more on oil projects next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration has criticized oil companies for not raising their oil production to help lower prices to consumers. Exxon sees potential for $100 billion in surplus cash by 2027, assuming global oil prices of $60 per barrel. Chevron should generate about $34 billion in free cash flow next year, according to Jefferies equity research, twice its oil investments levels. U.S. and European producers have also been partially recovering project spending slashed during the pandemic. The five western majors posted record profits this year, and Exxon and Chevron shares have hit historical highs this quarter.

Airport workers across the country are rallying and walking off the job Thursday to draw attention to their current working conditions and legislation that could improve them. Workers at 15 U.S. airports, including ones in Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and Phoenix, plan to participate in on-site rallies. Formal strikes — which could disrupt operations — are planned at Boston's Logan International Airport, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and the Newark Liberty International Airport. The rallies are in support of the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, introduced in June by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. It would set a minimum wage of $15 for airport service workers, as well as ensure the workers have paid time off, holidays, adequate health care and other benefits.

Lignite contains several times more sulphur and ash, and five times more mercury, than black coal, and provides three times less energy. It also loosened restrictions on selling coal waste, which can be highly polluting, taking Poland back to the days before 2018, when the rules for coal were tightened to fight smog. In September, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski even told residents of Nowy Targ, the town with the lowest air quality in Poland in 2020, to burn pretty much whatever they wanted. Smog has been intense over the past days and we have a lot of children in need of intensive treatment," she said. COAL RUSHAbout 80% of the coal used by European Union citizens to heat homes is burned in Poland.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Chevron, Chipotle, Lowe's, Hershey, AT&T & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Wall Street's biggest calls on Thursday: Bank of America reiterates Chevron as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the oil and gas giant after it announced its 2023 capital budget on Wednesday. JPMorgan upgrades Vulcan Materials to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said risks for the construction materials company are already priced in. UBS initiates Shopify as sell UBS said it's concerned about increasing competition. UBS upgrades Hershey to buy from neutral UBS said it's becoming bullish on the chocolate and candy maker's long-term growth. Bank of America reiterates Lowe's as buy Bank of America said shares of Lowe's remain attractive.

☆ Corporate travel propels boom in sustainable aviation fuel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jamie Freed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SAF accounted for only 0.5% of aviation fuel in 2021, but many airlines have a target of 10% by 2030 and the industry's goal of "net zero" emissions by 2050 relies on SAF accounting for 65% of fuel. The corporate sector interest could build momentum for the SAF industry to scale up given businesses account for around 20% of air travel globally and 30% in Europe, said Denise Auclair, corporate travel campaign manager at European non-governmental organisation Transport & Environment. 'GREEN PREMIUM'Buying SAF is more costly than purchasing emissions offsets but experts say it can play a key role in reducing travel emissions alongside switches to video-conferencing and cleaner alternatives like rail. "They contract with us, they pay for the cost premium of sustainable aviation fuel over the conventional jet fuel, and then enable us to deliver sustainable aviation fuel for our partner airlines to consume," he said. Companies are able to contract directly with airlines, travel agencies like American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) (GBTG.N) and fuel providers like Neste as they look to claim SAF credits and avoid pitfalls like double claiming.

Forrest said in a statement Squadron had acquired CWP Renewables but did not disclose the price. And the more we create and deploy new renewable energy, the cheaper it becomes for every Australian and the world," Forrest told Reuters after the announcement. With CWP Renewables, Squadron would have the scale it needs to meet demand from large commercial and industrial customers for reliable green energy in eastern Australia, he said. Willoughby said CWP aimed to give the go-ahead by March 2023 to build a 400 MW wind farm, which would cost more than A$1 billion. There are literally trillions of dollars of capital looking for green energy projects," he said.

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