Category: News

September 6 2017

U.K. Told Drafty Homes Ban May Save Power of Six Nuclear Plants

Britain could reduce its energy bills 7.5 billion pounds ($9.7 billion) by 2035 and save the equivalent of six new nuclear power plants by spurring efficiency measures, two research groups said. Government could consider a ban on selling drafty homes and requirements for more efficient appliances to reap benefits for the economy through energy efficiency, according […]

September 6 2017

Nissan Aims to Double Sales of the Leaf With New Features

Nissan Motor Co. is aiming to more than double annual deliveries of the Leaf with a new model that offers self parking and longer driving range, seeking to fend off Tesla Inc.’s entry into the affordable electric-vehicle market. The new features should boost the appeal of the Leaf, said Daniele Schillaci, executive vice president for global sales and […]

September 6 2017

Plastic Film Covering 12% of China’s Farmland Pollutes Soil

China will expand its agricultural use of environment-damaging plastic film to boost crop production even as authorities try to curb soil pollution, a government scientist said. Some 1.45 million metric tons of polyethylene are spread in razor-thin sheets across 20 million hectares (49 million acres) — an area about half the size of California — of farmland […]

September 5 2017

Evidence Mounts for Green Bonds Outperforming Conventional: HSBC

Evidence is mounting that bonds that finance environmental projects perform better than conventional ones, HSBC Holdings Plc said in a report. The U.K.’s largest bank said green bonds are trading closer to benchmarks than regular debt issued by the same entity, particularly in developed markets. This may be due to demand for the securities pushing […]

September 5 2017

Schneider Eyes Market Leadership in Third Crack at Aveva Deal

After two failed attempts in as many years, Schneider Electric SE is betting a deal to combine its industrial software business with the U.K.’s Aveva Group Plc will create a market leader in programs to design and operate power plants and factories. Schneider and Aveva unveiled on Tuesday an agreement by which the French company will […]

September 5 2017

Big Energy Backs Hydrogen Power Storage

The secret to switching the global energy system entirely to renewables may lay in the universe’s most abundant substance. Hydrogen has drawn backing from big energy companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc to Uniper SE in addition to carmakers BMW AG and Audi AG. They’re supporting research into how the element can be used to […]

September 5 2017

World’s Richest Mines Slipping From Hands of Multinationals

Outnumbered and outflanked, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson made an about-face. Only months before, Adkerson had dismissed the idea of selling a majority stake in the Phoenix-based company’s flagship Indonesian copper-and-gold mine to local investors. But, seated beside government officials in Jakarta last week, the veteran executive told reporters he planned to do just […]

September 5 2017

The Man Whose Gear Caught VW Cheating Says Diesel’s Death Is Overstated

What is the market leader in equipment for measuring automobile emissions to do if the vehicles of the future don’t spew exhaust? Japan’s Horiba Ltd., whose gear was central in exposing Volkswagen AG’s diesel-cheating scandal, believes that day will never come. Electric vehicles won’t ever make up more than a third of autos worldwide, says Chief […]

September 5 2017

How to Move a Town

Appropriately, it was the dog musher who broke trail. Sune Stralberg, 66, is a national champion musher, a maker of dogsleds, and owner of Bjorkis Hundprodukter, a one-stop shop for organic kibble, spare sled parts, and dog leads and harnesses. All of this makes him a local celebrity in his hometown of Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost […]

September 5 2017

India’s Top Oil Refiner Seeks Paths to Modi’s Cleaner Future

India’s top oil refiner is exploring the use of natural gas and electricity to power vehicles as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government envisions multiple paths toward reducing the country’s dependence on petroleum-based fuels. Indian Oil Corp., which supplies about half the oil products to the world’s fastest-growing consumer, is aiming to sell natural gas for vehicles through […]