Category: News

July 24 2017

Melted Fuel Hunt Marks Advance in Japan’s 40-Year Atomic Cleanup

Japan’s likely discovery of melted fuel inside the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant is seen as a critical step in hastening the $72 billion, 40-year cleanup of one of the worst atomic disasters in history. Images released on Saturday by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest utility and owner of the plant, showed for the […]

July 21 2017

Suzlon Climbs as India Sets More Ambitious Wind Energy Tenders

Suzlon Energy Ltd., one of India’s largest wind-turbine makers, says the record-low prices paid for power-purchase contracts through India’s wind-energy auctions will pressure margins at equipment makers but may ultimately benefit by sparking growth in the market. “Due to aggressive auction prices there will be some initial impact on margins for a year but it […]

July 21 2017

Power Giant Urges Australia to Exclude Coal in Its Clean Target

Australia’s largest power generator, AGL Energy Ltd., has urged the government to exclude coal from its planned clean energy target and said there is no appetite among private investors to fund new coal-fired power plants. AGL, which sources 77 percent of its electricity generation from coal, said including the fossil fuel in the target would send […]

July 21 2017

Swiss Inc. Shaken Up by Laws Emboldening Activist Investors

Mark Schneider, chief executive officer of Nestle SA, had a prescient message when he spoke at a German consumer goods forum last month. “Size alone does not protect you from the winds of change,” Schneider said. “Status quo is not an option.” Unbeknownst to his audience, shareholder activist Daniel Loeb was about to announce that […]

July 20 2017

Another Canadian Utility Nabs U.S. Assets in a $3.4 Billion Deal

Hydro One Ltd. has agreed to buy U.S. power supplier Avista Corp. for $3.4 billion, becoming the latest Canadian energy company to snap up assets south of the border in a search for higher returns. The merger will establish one of North America’s largest regulated utilities with assets totaling $25.4 billion (C$32 billion) and customers from Ontario […]

July 20 2017

The Fossil Fuels Project That Pits Trump’s Base Against Itself

For a landmark fossil-fuel program deep in Trump country, it’s not environmentalists who are the biggest threat. It may be Donald Trump himself. The $3.8 billion project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, would take waste from oil refining and turn it into synthetic natural gas while capturing most of the pollution emitted. Those products would be transformed […]

July 20 2017

India Approves Creating State Oil Giant in $4.6 Billion Deal

India approved the sale of a stake in state-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. to the country’s biggest oil and gas explorer, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. The move fulfills a plan, first outlined in February, to create an Indian oil giant through consolidation and mergers, forming a company comparable with international […]

July 20 2017

The New Antarctic Iceberg Is Big Enough for Runways, Water Mines, and Crazy Dance Parties

The tabular iceberg that just broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula is said to be as big as the state of Delaware. One difference is that the state of Delaware, in addition to being warmer and closer to Philadelphia, has a population of 900,000, while the iceberg has a population of zero … so far, that […]

July 19 2017

China Is Adding Solar Power at a Record Pace

China, the world’s biggest investor in clean energy, is on pace to install record amounts of new solar this year after adding 24 gigawatts of capacity in the first half amid a push by policy makers to locate electricity production near the point where it’s used. Distributed solar-power projects — the kind of solar found on […]

July 19 2017

Why Electric Cars Are Everywhere Except Here, Now: QuickTake Q&A

It might seem like there’s more news about electric cars lately than actual electric cars on the road. Tesla took a step toward becoming a mass-producer this month when the $35,000 Model 3 sedan started rolling off a California assembly line. Volvo said it will begin phasing out cars that run just on fossil fuels […]