Investment Week (March 3)
“If China fails to get ‘back to work’ and is unable to cushion the impact of the coronavirus by April the ‘global ramifications will be enormous.’” At a recent Investment Week Conference, Karen Ward, chief market strategist for EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, also urged investors to “keep an eye on figures tracking Chinese coal consumption and labour migration as key indicators of the growing impact on the country’s economy.”
Tags: China, Coal, Consumption, Coronavirus, EMEA, Global ramifications, Impact, Indicators, Investors, J.P. Morgan, Labour, Migration
Japan Today (January 20)
“Japan is in the crosshairs as it seeks both to be recognized as a leader in the climate-change debate but also supports the use of what is widely regarded as a dirty fuel.” Japanese corporations, however, are ready to break with coal. They “overwhelmingly feel Japan should shift away from its dependence on coal for power generation… a Reuters poll found, further evidence that the government is out of step with the global fight against climate change.”
Tags: Climate change, Coal, Crosshairs, Dirty, Japan, Leader
Bloomberg (October 25)
“Thanks partly to the plunging costs of renewable energy… coal is in rapid retreat all over the world.” It is “dying faster than anybody expected” and not just in America’s heartland. “The profitability of coal-fired power is plunging” in Germany and “demand is dying even in Southeast Asia, long seen as a sort of industry firewall.”
Tags: Coal, Costs, Germany, Heartland, Plunging, Profitability, Renewable energy, Retreat, Southeast Asia
Time (January 27)
“Germany gets more than a third of its electricity from burning coal,” but a government-panel “has recommended that Germany stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2038 at the latest, as part of efforts to curb climate change.” The proposal needs approval by lawmakers, but a recent ZDF opinion poll indicates strong public support: “73 percent of Germans agree a quick exit from coal is very important.”
Tags: 2038, Climate change, Coal, Electricity, Germany, Lawmakers, Public support, Quick exit
The Economist (August 4)
“Earth is smouldering. From Seattle to Siberia this summer, flames have consumed swathes of the northern hemisphere.” And humanity is not rising to the challenge. Three years following the Paris Accord, “greenhouse-gas emissions are up again. So are investments in oil and gas. In 2017, for the first time in four years, demand for coal rose. Subsidies for renewables, such as wind and solar power, are dwindling.” While “it is tempting to think these are temporary setbacks and that mankind, with its instinct for self-preservation, will muddle through to a victory over global warming. In fact, it is losing the war.”
Tags: Coal, Demand, Earth, Emissions, Gas, GHG, Global warming, Humanity, Oil, Paris accord, Renewables, Self-preservation, Setbacks, Smouldering, Solar power, Wind
Institutional Investor (March 1)
New York City “is aiming for full divestment of coal, oil, and gas from its $189 billion retirement system–but could get sued in the process” if such a move is deemed contrary to fiduciary duty. If they successfully divest the roughly $5 billion in assets linked to fossil fuel, however, “New York’s pension funds would be the first major U.S. retirement system to rid itself of fossil fuels.”
Tags: Coal, Divestment, Fiduciary duty, Fossil fuel, Gas, New York, Oil, Pension fund, Retirement
Newsweek (January 18)
“As 2018 begins, the United States has become the largest producer of gas, oil, and coal in history. Its stock market is at record levels. The economy is growing at a 3 percent rate—and unemployment may dip below 4 percent, even though some commentators have claimed over the last decade that it likely would never fall below 5 percent again. The auto, steel, manufacturing, financial, agricultural, and high-tech industries are ascendant.”
Tags: Coal, Economy, Gas, Manufacturing, Oil, Producer, Stock market, U.S., Unemployment
Washington Post (November 27)
“Japan is engaged in a national crisis over nuclear power, but the country has embraced natural gas. The United States, by contrast, is seeing a roiling national debate over natural gas and fracking, but concerns over nuclear power are muted. Each country is half right.” As countries invest in renewable energy, they “should keep their options open.” To successfully phase out the deadliest energy sources, e.g. coal, “the world needs fracking – and nuclear power.”
Tags: Coal, Crisis, Fracking, Japan, Natural gas, Nuclear, Renewable energy, U.S.
The Economist (April 16)
“Across the developing world, solar power is hitting its stride.” In 2015, “global solar-energy capacity rose by 26% last year,” with China and India accounting for much of the gain. China displaced Germany in 2015 “to become the biggest producer of solar energy, benefiting from its dominance of solar-panel manufacturing and policies to reduce dependence on dirtier fuels, such as coal.” Not content to be left behind, India is also racing ahead with plans to increase solar installations twentyfold. “KPMG, a consultancy, expects solar’s share of India’s energy mix to rise to 12.5% by 2025.”
Tags: Capacity, China, Coal, Developing world, Energy mix, Germany, India, Manufacturing, Solar power
Bloomberg (December 10)
“Investors betting that China’s near-insatiable appetite for industrial raw materials will drive global economic growth may want to skip the shipping news. For the first time in at least a decade, combined seaborne imports of iron ore and coal — commodities that helped fuel a manufacturing boom in the world’s second-largest economy — are down from a year earlier.”
Tags: China, Coal, Commodities, Global economic growth, Imports, Investors, Iron, Manufacturing, Ore, Raw materials, Shipping
