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For 100 of those applicants, the Energy Department has hired staff to provide business development advice and "intense mentorship," Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office, told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. Given the rapidly evolving technologies in the clean energy space, Shah said the department might shorten loan terms. If we think that that's a risk, then we just change the terms of the loan," Shah said. The LPO office would like more applications from electric utilities and oil and gas companies for projects designed to reduce emissions, as well as geothermal companies, Shah said. Commercial debt markets are "less interested in the more innovative approaches that (wind companies) are taking.

☆ Chairman of the House panel probing Covid's origins says lawmakers haven't 'seen all that we want to see' but they're following 'the breadcrumbs'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The US Energy Department reportedly said with low confidence a lab leak likely caused COVID-19. Other agencies have suggested alternative theories caused the virus, including animal transmission. The chair of a House panel investigating Covid's origins said they have more questions than answers. Wrenstrup said it's "important to find the origins of Covid" but the committee is still unclear on the cause, since different agencies have their own theories. "What we are trying to do is to follow the breadcrumbs, if you will," Wrenstrup said.

☆ China Remains the World’s Pandemic Risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Oh, good grief, whether Covid-19 emerged naturally or from a laboratory leak is not “beside the point” as even some scientists now argue. This comes as another U.S. intelligence agency—connected with the national labs run by the Energy Department—has joined the FBI in judging a lab leak to be the most likely source of the outbreak. In fact, Covid’s emergence remains so shrouded in mystery that we can’t know what lessons it teaches until we know the mechanism. But how Covid first infected a human being is probably the single most important question for preventing future pandemics given the difficulty of stopping a new respiratory virus once it’s spreading.

☆ WHO still working to identify the origins of COVID-19
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, March 3 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) is still working to identify the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, its director general said on Friday, after a U.S. agency was reported to have assessed the pandemic had likely been caused by a Chinese laboratory leak. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. "I wish to be very clear that WHO has not abandoned any plans to identify the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic," Tedros said. Four other U.S. agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still think COVID-19 was likely the result of natural transmission, while two are undecided, the Journal reported. On Friday, she urged countries, institutions and research groups that might have any information on the origins of the pandemic to share it with the international community.

☆ Japan can achieve 90% clean power share by 2035, US study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The study also finds Japan's power grid, with extra battery storage and inter-regional transmission lines, can remain reliable without coal generation or new gas-fired power plants. Resource-poor Japan faces a significant energy security risk as it imports nearly all of the fuel used in its power sector. Clean electricity - which includes generation from solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, hydrogen and nuclear sources - accounts for 24% of the total. The study finds raising the share to 90% would cut electricity costs by 6% and power sector emissions by 92% from 2020 levels. Japan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2030 versus 2013 levels by boosting renewable energy in its electricity mix to 36%-38%, double 2019's levels, and nuclear power to 20%-22% from 2019's 6%.

☆ China spent years angrily trying to shut down the theory that COVID-19 came from its labs. It failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China has pushed another theory, suggesting the COVID-19 may have jumped to humans from frozen food shipped from elsewhere in the world. Lab leak theory initially dismissedThe suspicion that COVID-19 may have leaked from a Wuhan lab has circulated since the earliest days of the pandemic. Trump sought to use the pandemic to discredit China, using the xenophobic term "China virus" to describe the disease. A group of scientists criticised the WHO for dismissing the lab leak thesis too hastily, and pointed to gaps in the report's evidence. Yet the lab leak theory has continued to gain credibility, despite China's efforts, and scientists who once dismissed it now think it's a credible explanation.

☆ FBI director says China lab leak likely caused COVID pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday the agency has assessed that a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic. "The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Wray told Fox News. His comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department has assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that the pandemic was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided, the Journal reported. China's foreign ministry, asked to comment on the Wall Street Journal report, which was confirmed by other U.S. media, referred to a WHO-China report that pointed toward a natural origin for the pandemic, rather than a lab leak.

☆ China scoffs at FBI claim that Wuhan lab leak likely caused COVID pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The FBI has assessed that a leak from a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan likely caused the COVID pandemic, director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday, a claim China said had "no credibility whatsoever". "The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Wray told Fox News. His comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that the pandemic was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided, the Journal reported. The virus was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019 before spreading round the world and killing nearly 7 million people.

Wray's comments Tuesday came after Baier noted that the Energy Department had cited the FBI's earlier findings in its report. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said earlier Tuesday that China has "always been open and transparent" about Covid. In its assessment, the Energy Department also described the "likely" laboratory-related leak as an "accident," the official added. The Energy Department is one of 18 government departments and agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said, "China obviously is very threatened by this," but "the lab leak story is not anti-Chinese.

☆ China Rejects Energy Department’s Lab Leak Theory of Covid’s Origin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Josh Chin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China’s government rejected a U.S. Energy Department assessment that the Covid-19 pandemic likely originated with a lab leak, accusing the agency of engaging in a political smear. The Energy Department, which had previously been undecided on the origins of the pandemic, recently joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The White House said there is no consensus within the Biden administration over the origins of the Covid-19 virus, a day after the disclosure of an Energy Department assessment that the pandemic most likely originated with a leak from a Chinese lab. The Energy Department, which had previously been undecided on the origins of the pandemic, recently joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Feb 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department on Monday said it will lend Li-Cycle Holdings Corp (LICY.N) $375 million as it builds a battery recycling facility in New York set to become one of the country's largest sources of lithium by next year. Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who serves as Senate majority leader, had long advocated for Li-Cycle to receive the funding. Li-Cycle's Rochester, New York, processing facility is slated to open later this year at a cost of roughly $485 million. The Rochester facility will break down that black mass into lithium and other metals. The Energy Department in the past month has agreed to lend $2 billion to Li-Cycle peer Redwood Materials and $700 million to ioneer Ltd's (INR.AX) Rhyolite Ridge lithium mining project.

☆ Lithium-ion battery recycling company Li-Cycle scores $375 million conditional loan from Energy Department for Rochester plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Pippa Stevens | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Battery recycling company Li-Cycle said Monday it's secured a conditional $375 million loan from the Department of Energy to develop a recycling facility for key battery materials near Rochester, New York. The Rochester facility will significantly expand Li-Cycle's reach. "I think of course we need both primary, meaning mine sources, and secondary…every unit counts of lithium, nickel, cobalt. I think with the overlay of the IRA and the overlay of the corporate targets around sourcing for these materials, recycling is going to be very important." Li-Cycle said it expects the loan to close during the second quarter, with the company planning to initiate commissioning of the Rochester facility late this year.

☆ US must push China to be honest about COVID origins, US envoy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns on Monday said Washington must push Beijing to be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Burns' comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment. Four other U.S. agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that COVID-19 was likely the result of natural transmission, while two are undecided, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China must be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. ambassador to China said on Monday, after reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The department made its judgment with "low confidence" in a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress, the Journal said, citing people who had read the intelligence report. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday there were a "variety of views in the intelligence community" on the pandemic's origins. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

☆ Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, U.S. Agency Now Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, in 2020. WASHINGTON—The U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress. The shift by the Energy Department, which previously was undecided on how the virus emerged, is noted in an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office.

☆ A Lab Leak in China Most Likely Origin of Covid Pandemic, Energy Department Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ A newly reported classified US government missive on the lab leak theory shows we still don't know where COVID-19 came from
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A memo suggested that the Energy Department has 'low confidence' the coronavirus came from a lab leak, per WSJ. Intelligence officials remain split on whether the virus occurred naturally or came from a lab. However, agencies have found that both theories about a natural occurrence and a lab leak remain possibilities, per the New York Times. Sullivan said there are a "variety of views in the intelligence community," but that several agencies have said they "just don't have enough information to be sure." But, right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question," Sullivan said.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, on Sunday called for "extensive public hearings" if the U.S. intelligence community conclusively determines that Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory. The committee is "reviewing the classified information provided," the spokesperson said. "There is a variety of views in the intelligence community. Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other. "But right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question."

U.S. ethics officials in recent years have warned one-third of the Energy Department’s senior officials that they or their families owned stocks related to the agency’s work, reminding them not to violate federal conflict-of-interest rules. Most held on to the stocks, a Wall Street Journal analysis of officials’ financial disclosures from 2017 through 2021 shows.

☆ Meet the GOP leaders in charge of critical House environmental committees
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Westerman, a representative for Arkansas's fourth congressional district, has a background in engineering and is a licensed forester. He's also introduced legislation to plant 1 trillion trees globally by 2050 in order to pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of House Committee on Energy and CommerceRep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) during a House Energy and Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill on April 2, 2019 in Washington, DC. "We'll be focusing on promoting innovative technologies to facilitate our clean energy transition," Lucas told CNBC. Lucas said the committee would also conduct "robust oversight" of the spending being distributed to advance the country's clean energy sector.

☆ Oil prices slide as the US says it will sell millions more barrels of oil from its strategic reserve into the global market
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Oil prices fall Tuesday after the US said it plans to sell more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Energy Department will start the sale of 26 million barrels of sweet crude in April. Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, fell 1.5% to $85.40 a barrel but was off lows of the session. The drop in oil prices Tuesday was also taking place as US consumer price inflation data showed prices eased in January, but it was by less than anticipated. OPEC, meanwhile, on Tuesday, raised its 2023 oil demand forecast by 100,000 barrels per day, to 2.3 million barrels, as China reopens its economy after strict COVID-related restrictions.

☆ The White House reportedly asked Elon Musk for help expanding electric-vehicle usage even after the billionaire's past taunts of Biden on the issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The White House asked Elon Musk for help expanding electric vehicle charging stations, the Washington Post reported. Musk's Tesla sells the highest number of electric vehicles in the country. The billionaire has taunted Biden in the past over electric vehicles, and the Post said Tesla officials made no firm commitments. Sources told the Post that Tesla officials were open to the idea of expanding its charging stations but did not make any commitments. Biden's Energy Department also granted a battery recycling company $2 billion on Thursday, which would allow it to pave the way for production of over 1 million electric vehicles each year.

Redwood Materials expects to draw down the first loan tranche later this year, Chief Executive JB Straubel said in an interview. The IRA rules are designed to shift the U.S. battery supply chain away from China, which currently produces 70% of batteries for electric vehicles. EXPANSION PLANSRedwood Materials, founded in 2017 by ex-Tesla executive Straubel, is on a path to become one of the world’s largest recyclers and re-manufacturers of battery materials, including copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel. Redwood Materials said it will supply copper foil from Nevada to Panasonic (6752.T) for battery cells produced at the Nevada Gigafactory that Panasonic jointly operates with Tesla. Redwood Materials has supply agreements with a number of manufacturers, including Ford, Toyota Motor (7203.T) and Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE).

☆ UK PM Rishi Sunak may announce mini cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may announce a mini reshuffle of his Cabinet on Tuesday and is considering breaking up the government's business department into three separate ministries, a source familiar with the discussions said on Monday. The reshuffle of ministers comes just over a week after Sunak sacked Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi over his tax affairs, and as the government has fallen further behind the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls. Sunak's office declined to comment on the possible reshuffle, which was first reported by The Sun. The government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) could be broken up to see a new energy department, with business and trade merged. The governing Conservative party is currently around 20 percentage points behind Labour in most polls.

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