Category: News

October 27 2017

We’ll All Be Relying on Congo to Power Our Electric Cars

Written by Thomas Wilson. This article first appeared in Bloomberg News. The cars of the future will depend increasingly upon supplies of an obscure metal from a country in the African tropics where there has never been a peaceful transition of power and child labor is still used in parts of the mining industry. Most […]

October 26 2017

Wind Farms of a Certain Age Eyeing Surgery to Extend Lifespans

Written by Brian Eckhouse. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Markets.  Even for wind farms, middle age is a time for nips, tucks and sometimes replacement surgery. At least 600 megawatts of U.S. wind farms have already undergone significant upgrades, primarily in California, and NextEra Energy Inc., the largest producer of North American wind power, […]

October 26 2017

BMW Makes Cars Greener by Tapping Own Wind Power, Old Batteries

Written by Elisabeth Behrmann and Brian Parkin. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Technology.  BMW AG is tapping its own wind turbines and recycled batteries to power machines that make cars like its i3 all-electric model, adding a new shade of green to its production chain. The carmaker is linking 700 “second-life” i3 electric-car batteries […]

October 26 2017

Elon Musk Was Wrong About Self-Driving Teslas

Written by Tom Randall. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Technology.  A year ago, Tesla Inc. set up a hastily organized conference call between Elon Musk and reporters. Tesla had something big to announce—big enough for the chief executive to open the floor to questions. That doesn’t happen very often. What followed wasn’t so much the unveiling of a […]

October 26 2017

Australia’s Got a Lock on Supply of the Metal Used for EV Batteries

Written by David Stringer. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Markets.  Ground zero in the global scramble for lithium is a small patch of northern Australia’s iron-ore rich outback, where work is accelerating to deliver the world’s next major mines to feed soaring demand from electric vehicle battery makers. Almost 60 percent of supply from planned […]

October 26 2017

Why Oil-Rich Gulf Arab Countries Are Turning to Renewables

Written by Fatma Abusief. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Markets.  Solar power is getting so cheap that even Gulf Arab states awash in crude oil are embracing the renewable resource. Their motive is as much to keep selling fossil fuels as it is to rein in their carbon emissions. With almost 30 percent of […]

October 26 2017

China’s Elon Musk Is Ready for His Star Turn

This article first appeared in Bloomberg News.  For decades, financial pundits in China have been placing Wang Chuanfu, the visionary green technology entrepreneur and chief executive officer of battery and electric vehicle maker BYD Co., at the doorstep of the pantheon of industrialists who dominate the global automotive industry. Nine years ago, mega-investor Warren Buffett […]

October 25 2017

Mad Scramble for Lithium Mines Stretches From Congo to Cornwall

Written by Thomas Wilson and Thomas Biesheuvel. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Markets. For evidence of just how hot battery ingredient lithium is right now, look no further than Australia’s AVZ Minerals Ltd. A penny stock until a few months ago, the mining hopeful has surged about 1,500 percent this year. The proposition: recasting […]

October 25 2017

GIP to Buy Equis Energy in Record $5 Billion Renewable Deal

Written by Ben Sharples and Chisaki Watanabe. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Technology.  Investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners agreed to buy Equis Energy, a Singapore-based developer of renewable-power projects, for $5 billion including debt, a record for the industry. The deal includes $1.3 billion of liabilities and is expected to close in the first quarter, […]

October 25 2017

Nissan Unveils an Electric Car More Powerful Than Its GT-R

Written by Jie Ma and Nao Sano. This article first appeared in Bloomberg Technology.  Nissan Motor Co. unveiled a concept electric car that’s more powerful than its iconic GT-R sportscar, aiming to put it into production after 2020 and share the platform with partners Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Renault SA. The IMx concept model is […]