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The world continues to "warm" back up to nuclear, with the latest example coming out of Japan, where its Shimane nuclear power station in western Japan has been restarted for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima meltdown. Japan's long-delayed restart of the 820 MW No. 2 reactor at the Shimane plant, shut down since January 2012, raises the number of operational reactors to 14, with a total capacity of 13,253 MW, according to Reuters. Tohoku Electric Power also recently resumed operations of its 825 MW No. 2 reactor at the Onagawa plant, reducing…
Iran spent decades building the so-called axis of resistance, its network of regional armed proxies, Tehran-backed militant groups, and allied state actors. The network was the lynchpin of Tehran's efforts to deter Israel and the United States and exert its influence across the Middle East. But the fall of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Tehran, has done irreparable damage to the network, analysts say.For Iran, Syria provided a crucial land corridor to the Levant that was considered the logistical backbone of the…
Confidence in Argentina, and its economy, looks to be picking up steam. So much so that Argentine energy companies are tapping U.S. debt markets, according to Bloomberg. Shale driller Vista Energy raised $600 million in its first foreign bond sale, while Pampa Energia is planning another market return this year amid growing output in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale. MSU Energy also secured $177 million to refinance debt. It's hard to say that these efforts to access global lenders do anything but underscore Wall Street's growing confidence in President…
Climate finance is a white-hot topic right now. The COP2 delegates failed to agree on a generous enough deal for the transition in developing countries; in the U.S., project Veritas revealed that the EPA was funneling billions into climate activist organizations ahead of Trump’s presidency to ensure continued pressure on the government; and in the EU, a think tank put a price tag on the transition. The EU cannot afford it. Bruegel, the Brussels-based energy outlet, published a policy brief this week focusing on what the EU needs to get to…
Rare earth metals are a set of 17 chemically similar elements which are integral to modern technologies. From neodymium, used in powerful magnets that can withstand extreme temperatures, to beryllium, which is used to manufacture lightweight materials for fighter jets, these elements have a variety of crucial technological uses. While rare earth metals are not particularly rare, they are seldom found in pure form and are often mixed with other minerals, making them costly to mine. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, visualizes rare…
