Via Metal Miner Nickel prices followed other base metals up throughout April, with a nearly 15% month-over-month rise. By late April, prices hit their highest level since September, although they subsequently began to retrace as upside momentum cooled. Overall, the Stainless Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rebounded, with a 9.58% jump from April to May. Outokumpu, Acerinox Post Q1 Results Outokumpu and Acerinox, the parent company of North American Stainless, recently released their first-quarter results. While both producers noted constrained output…

As many as 25 Republican U.S. states sued on Thursday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), challenging the Administration’s strict rules on emissions from power plants. The attorney general of the states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Reuters reports. At the end of April, EPA announced final rules on emissions reductions of power plants which would force coal-fired power plants that plan to run in the long-term and all new baseload gas-fired plants to capture…

Tokyo University of Science scientists have discovered a stable, highly conductive lithium-ion conductor in the form of a pyrochlore-type oxyfluoride. It’s an innovation addressing the need for non-sulfide solid electrolytes. All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries offer enhanced safety and energy density compared to liquid electrolyte counterparts, but face challenges like lower conductivity and insufficient electrode contact. The non-sulfide solid electrolytes, offer higher conductivity and stability and pave the way for advanced all-solid-state…

India is gearing up to tackle its most significant power deficit in 14 years this June, propelled by a decline in hydropower generation, according to government sources. With projections indicating a shortfall of 14 GW during nighttime hours, the nation's power sector faces a critical challenge, necessitating urgent measures to avert potential outages. The impending deficit is exacerbated by delays in commissioning 3.6 GW of new coal-fired plants, originally slated for operation before March. The situation underscores the critical importance of…

India is gearing up to tackle its most significant power deficit in 14 years this June, propelled by a decline in hydropower generation, according to government sources. With projections indicating a shortfall of 14 GW during nighttime hours, the nation's power sector faces a critical challenge, necessitating urgent measures to avert potential outages. The impending deficit is exacerbated by delays in commissioning 3.6 GW of new coal-fired plants, originally slated for operation before March. The situation underscores the critical importance of…

In 2023, solar energy accounted for three-quarters of renewable capacity additions worldwide. Most of this growth occurred in Asia, the EU, and the U.S., continuing a trend observed over the past decade. In this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti illustrates the rise in installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in China, the EU, and the U.S. between 2010 and 2022, measured in gigawatts (GW). Bruegel compiled the data.. Chinese Dominance As of 2022, China’s total installed capacity stands at 393 GW, nearly double that of the EU’s…

Hydrogenone Capital Growth, the investment trust focused on cash into clean hydrogen, has reported a strong performance of its underlying holdings, even though its share price has struggled. The trust’s net asset value (NAV) has grown 0.6 percent since the start of the year, and 3.6 percent since March 2023, it reported in a quarterly portfolio update today. Hydrogen companies in the portfolio Elcogen (19.4 per cent of NAV), HiiROC (15.3 per cent of NAV) and Sunfire (20.9 per cent of NAV) all gained new strategic investments in the period.…

The West African nation of Benin has blocked China’s first shipment of crude oil from Niger amid an ongoing border dispute with Niger following a coup that has put a military junta in power and shaken relations with other African nations.  China’s first imports of crude oil from Niger’s military junta arrived in Benin in three vessels but were prevented by the authorities from docking at the port.  “If you want to load your oil in our waters, you can’t view Benin as an enemy and at the same time expect your…

The West African nation of Benin has blocked China’s first shipment of crude oil from Niger amid an ongoing border dispute with Niger following a coup that has put a military junta in power and shaken relations with other African nations.  China’s first imports of crude oil from Niger’s military junta arrived in Benin in three vessels but were prevented by the authorities from docking at the port.  “If you want to load your oil in our waters, you can’t view Benin as an enemy and at the same time expect your…

The West African nation of Benin has blocked China’s first shipment of crude oil from Niger amid an ongoing border dispute with Niger following a coup that has put a military junta in power and shaken relations with other African nations.  China’s first imports of crude oil from Niger’s military junta arrived in Benin in three vessels but were prevented by the authorities from docking at the port.  “If you want to load your oil in our waters, you can’t view Benin as an enemy and at the same time expect your…

Tesla just fired the staff in charge of its recharging network? No explanation. Best explanation: recharging stations lose money. There’s a chicken and egg problem here. You can’t sell electric vehicles without them. Or perhaps this is an accounting problem. Yet fear of being stranded without a place to recharge may be the most powerful reason not to buy an electric vehicle.  Without a ubiquitous charging network, electric vehicles will remain limited in market share. Shouldn’t the developers of the vehicles underwrite recharging…

As Canadian oil sands companies pour money into optimization and efficiency, S&P Global Commodity Insights has upgraded its 10-year output for a 15% increase in oil sands production by 2030.  In a Thursday report, S&P Global said it now expected Canadian oil sands to produce 3.8 million barrels per day by 2030–or 500,000 barrels per day more than currently–due to optimization efforts.  The 15% increase compares to S&P Global’s earlier forecast that oil sands would see a 3% increase in production by 2030.…

As Canadian oil sands companies pour money into optimization and efficiency, S&P Global Commodity Insights has upgraded its 10-year output for a 15% increase in oil sands production by 2030.  In a Thursday report, S&P Global said it now expected Canadian oil sands to produce 3.8 million barrels per day by 2030–or 500,000 barrels per day more than currently–due to optimization efforts.  The 15% increase compares to S&P Global’s earlier forecast that oil sands would see a 3% increase in production by 2030.…

Barclays’ chair defended its record on climate change, saying there is “plenty of concrete evidence” it is on track to meet its financed emissions targets, at a feisty annual meeting that saw a number of protesters removed. At the bank’s AGM in Glasgow on Thursday, chair Nigel Higgins responded to a string of questions and loud heckles from climate campaigners slamming Barclays’ financing of fossil fuel extraction companies. He asked several individuals chanting phrases including “blood on your hands” and…

Amid a heatwave and reduced hydropower generation, India boosted its coal consumption to a record high in the first quarter of the year, which also drove up emissions from the power sector to an all-time high. India, which still relies on coal for over 70% of its electricity generation, saw its coal-fired power generation jump by 9.6% year-over-year to 338 terawatt hours (TWh) in the first quarter of 2024, according to data from think tank Ember cited by Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire. At the same time, total power sector emissions also…

Donald Trump has asked executives of some of the largest U.S. oil producers to raise $1 billion for his campaign to return to the White House and promised to scrap many of the Biden Administration’s environmental policies, the Washington Post reported exclusively on Thursday, quoting sources familiar with a meeting.   Trump, who was a very pro-oil president during his tenure at the White House, met with the top industry executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club in April to hear the grievances of the American oil industry, which has…

Since the mid-1990s, China’s extraordinary economic expansion almost singlehandedly drove a supercycle in key commodities prices it required to power such growth, including oil and gas. In 2013, it became the world’s largest net importer of total petroleum and other liquid fuels and, as late as 2017, its still high rate of economic growth allowed it to overtake the U.S. as the largest annual gross crude oil importer in the world. Late 2019 saw much of this activity grind to a halt as Covid hit the country, and the economic slowdown…

Western governments have been nurturing an EV market for years. They have had quite some success. But now they have to deal with lost fuel duty revenues from ICE car sales—and they have no other option but to hurt their EV markets. There are eight states in the U.S. that charge EV drivers a registration fee of $200 per year. Another 24 or more have an annual fee of $100 or more. Now, $100 per year is not a whole lot for most of the people who tend to buy EVs—but it is an additional expense on vehicles that people have been…

Oil prices have pulled back sharply in the month of May with prices posting their steepest weekly loss in three months. The front-month contract plunged to an eight-week low of $82.41 per barrel in intra-day in early trading on 7 May, good for a $5.07/bbl w/w decline while Brent for July delivery fell by $3.87/bbl w/w to a settlement of $83.33/bbl.  The oil price selloff appears to have been triggered by a return of demand pessimism thanks to last week’s report by the EIA that showed a 7.3M-barrel build in U.S. crude stocks, the…

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that invest in stocks related to the energy transition have outperformed the major funds tied to oil and gas firms over the past month as the decline in oil prices since mid-April dragged down shares of fossil fuel companies.   The rebound in clean energy ETFs has just begun. But it could stop in its tracks if investor sentiment sours again amid persistently high interest rates and the U.S. political debate and divisions over ESG investments. The rising interest rates of the past two years have been a major drag…