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LyrArc brings in selected articles from many of the world's top publications.

Articles are selected by experts and you can see the gist of the important articles.


The Times Original article ›
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A quick look at the graph in this Times Report shows the carbon dioxide CO2 emissions for the US, European Union, China and the Rest of the World in 2020. For the EU it is about 3.0 billion tons of CO2 emissions, for US it is 5 billon tons, for China 10 billion tons and the Rest of the World 16.0 billion tons. What this tells us is that a lot will depend on not just China, but India and other countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia in the developing world for how much CO2 emissions can be reduced to tackle climate change and other environmental problems.  For that 16 billion tons in the rest of the world reduction will depend on renewable supply and technologies to do it, rapid growth of economies in India and other countries to generate the resources and technology initiatives to get a shift from coal. Meanwhile it is a choice between having electricity for homes in rural areas in India or not. This is where bright spots such as solar technology in India that are giving quantum leaps for renewable solar energy with new technology cutting cost in successive waves of development can play a part.  ...
BBC News Original article ›
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The title says it all from BBC China Correspondent Laura Bicker. China is listening even as it is presenting itself as a nation that is putting up with an unfair tariffs war started by DJT. It has delayed tariffs till Feb 10 says this report and put tariffs on items which Europe needs from the US such as LNG and coal which China can get from Australia, saying that it wants to come to an agreement. My Fellow Americans, Canada, Mexico and China are putting themselves as aggrieved parties when there are two issues here one about fentanyl flows where none of the three nations have taken the needed action to stop all flows and control borders. The reader will find that much of the media titles blame the US for starting a tariffs war are misleading such as one in The Guardian-"In this era of Trump shakedowns everything has a price."  Or even in a Business friendly WSJ site- "The World has Changed since Trump's First Trade War. Other Countries are Ready to Fight Back." Or in Times of London sensational "World Watches as Trade War looms between China and the US," when US demand for effective action on borders and fentanyl flows from Canada, Mexico and China has little to do with trade. In fact it is incomprehensible that these three nations as neighbors and trade partners of the US have waited this long to act on fentanyl flows and controlling their border with the US.   ...
WSJ Original article ›
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A Japanese scientist at Princeton University has done work since the 1960's to show that increased level of carbon dioxide lead to increased temperatures on the surface of the earth. Syukuro Manabe at Princeton was honored for this work with the Nobel Prize in Physics. Also honored is a German scientist Hasselmann who showed the connection between weather and climate with his own model. His research shows methods for attributing various impacts on climate of human activity and natural phenomena. Also honored is Italian scientist Parisi for his work on complex systems uncovering patterns in disordered complex materials.

Today's understanding of how the use of coal and other fossil fuels at the scale done in China, Europe, US and India is affecting the climate comes from the work of these three scientists.

WSJ Original article ›
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Greg Ip of the WSJ says a second term of former president Trump would look very different from the first. Republicans achieved their goal of tax reform in the first two years of that term. Following that trade tariffs ensued against China creating a different environment in world trade. A second term would lead to more action on trade and more tariffs. Ip says the former president could impose tariffs on all Chinese imports and this would lead to retaliatory tariffs from China and be met with EU retaliatory action in a tit for tat manner. The result would be disruption in world trade and affect the world economy. Higher inflation could also be result of such disruptions.

Wall Street Journal Original article ›
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Indonesia's commodities boom for coal, natural gas and palm oil is not benefitting the majority of the 230 million people in Indonesia's countryside, as India, China and other countries import large quantities of the commodities, especially coal for energy hungry India and China. Even with tariffs on export of palm oil these countries can absorb the added costs from exporters in Indonesia. This means higher food and cooking oil prices in a largely rural country.
WSJ Original article ›
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The coronavirus is making implementation of the U.S. China trade deal less likely as Chinese imports from the U.S. decrease and China's exports continue to grow. China's exports to U.S. decreased by $60 billion but increased to other countries by $70 billion in 2019.

As a result the Trump administration is shifting its focus to another approach. The new multilateral approach is to combine the effort with allies Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and France. This would take the shape of a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership to replace the old Obama period Trans Pacific Partnership which becomes defunct. The goal would be to build new supply chains with allies in Asia outside of China with the help of France and other countries that are wary of excessive dependence on China and have deep reservations of China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Guardian Original article ›
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China faces the problem of an ageing population as births decline and their are fewer young people to support senior citizens. The shift to a two child limit after the policy limiting children to one per couple has not accomplished the goal of restoring the birth rate. The Central Committee of the Communist Party and the president Xi Jinping have taken the decision to allow three children per family.  This comes at a time when the old policy meant a fine of 10 times the disposable income for having a third child. The law was not enforced in all regions but acted to deter larger families. Yet there is a cultural effect of decades of having smaller families that will not be easily overcome with a change in the law. In Latin America smaller families are the result of decades of cultural change towards smaller families. Young people are increasingly aware of the cost of raising and educating an additional child, and the effect on the standard of living. Experts say it is too costly to raise another child  and housing is not cheap in China.  This discussion with 3 billion comments over Weibo in the discussion of this policy in China last week, misses a more obvious point from the graph shown in this report in The Guardian. That graph shows the curve for the birth rate in 2019 dropping faster in South Korea and Japan than in China, so that in 2019 the birth rate in Japan and South Korea was lower than in China. This shows that even without a one child policy the birth rate in Chia would be closer to that of South Korea after industrialization progressed and society experienced profound cultural and economic change. Japan today has the lowest birth rate in Asia. The Latin American experience also confirms this shift to small families. ...
WSJ Original article ›
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The U.S. trade deficit with China was declining till the coronavirus hit in February. Now it is back on the way up, a warning signal for the Trump administration as it seeks to stop sending American wealth out of the country in an utterly disproportionate way of $346 billion in just 2019 after taking action on tariffs and renegotiating trade agreements.  Imports grew 11% in July to $231 billion. While exports increased but not as much by 8.1% to $168 billion in July, still well below February/s $209 billion. That leaves a trade gap of $63 billion. This is the largest trade deficit since July 2008. The U.S. trade deficit is a major issue and is watched carefully as the Trump administration sets a goal of rebalancing world trade so that the U.S. no longer runs such large trade deficits with China, and Germany, and does not shift wealth overseas. The U.S. trade deficit with China in 2019 was $346 billion, with Japan and Germany it is much smaller close to $70 billion for each country. The Trump administration goal is to all out reduce this deficit through trade agreements and other actions that stop the current outflow of U.S. wealth overseas by $1 billion a day to just one country. For this it seek a level playing field which means other countries have to face tariffs if they unfairly subsidize their industries or violate labor rights for unfair competition, or in other ways seek to unfairly gain an advantage over the U.S. including through transfer of technologies from the U.S. ...
New York Times Original article ›
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The decision of Norway's parliament to divest holdings of its $890 billion national pension fund in companies with 30% of the revenues coming from coal, is important say experts because it renews the discussion on the use of coal and its damage to health and the environment. Some endowment funds such as that at Harvard, Middlebury and Pomona College, have stated they do not see the funds as a tool for social and political changes, other investors see the moves as symbolic. At the same time the Church of England, says it will cut coal or oil sands from its $14 billion portfolio, and insurer AXA plans to cut $560 million in coal related investments from its portfolio. Norway's decision is broader than climate change, as it looks at the financial aspects as well. Svein Flatten, a member of parliament from the Conservative Party, says lawmakers are not just acting for political purposes, suggesting it could end up being a move to improve returns in the long run by reducing financial risks. The 30% threshold would cover mining companies, and the power companies with a mix of coal in their energy generation that makes them dependent on coal for 30% of their revenues. The effect of this is to nudge the shift away from coal at power companies. Bevis Longstreth, a former commissioner of the SEC under Reagan, says Norway's move is designed to shift the mixture of power generation at power companies, and in this sense is likely to be effective when combined with moves by other companies in sequence to reduce the use of coal. This process is already underway, especially where it makes a huge difference such as in China, because of the damaging effects of large dependence on coal for energy on health in China....
New York Times Original article ›
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The Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, under the Ministry of Environmental Protection, has estimated cost of pollution in a new study of the costs of environmental pollution in China. The cost is estimated at $230 billion for 2010, or 3.5% of GDP, and close to 4 times the cost in 2004, showing the rapid degradation of the environment from rampant industrialization. The first such estimates were made in 2006 and since then come out spradically from the Environment Ministry. For 2004 the Environment Ministry estimated cost of pollution was $62 billion, for 2008 partial cost estimate was $185 billion. Even the $230 billion figure fo 2010 is incomplete say researchers. Only after strong public protests over Beijing's air pollution have government officials allowed candid reporting on environmental costs. Environmental costs extend to food contamination. A report on China Central Television recently said farmers in a village in Henan province used wastewater from a paper mill to grow wheat, which was then sent to cities as farmers in the village grow wheat for their own use from well water. A Deutsche Bank report in Feb 2013 says there will be a continuing decline in the environmental degradation for the next decade under current policies, higher coal consumption and growth in automobiles....
ProPublica Original article ›
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This report in ProPublica on October 13, 2020, by Lydia DePillis was written near the end of Robert Lighhizer's term as US Trade Representative.  Bottom Line: It is human behaviour that no country, no kingdom or group will give up its money advantages secured when the opposition was weak or disorganized till the last fight is fought. The British were not giving up India, a source of financing the war against Napoleon in 1800's and then the Industrial Revolution in 1850's, the Dutch were not giving up the financial advantages of their Spices Empire in Batavia (Indonesia). History has shown this. Once gained under a state capitalism Japan was not going to give up its financial advantages gained by the 1980's when the US was weak or disorganized, till the last battle was fought.  Lighthizer who for the relentless Japanese was equally relentless till the goal of fair and level playing field for America was secured. This is true for China today on Liberation Day. This entire report by De Pillis in 2020 shows the Chinese would be relentless in 2020 like the Japanese in the 1980's, the Dutch in Indonesia  in the 18th and 19th century and the British in India in the 19th century and 20th century. China turned Mexico and Vietnam into supply routes into the US market. It continued its efforts to gain US technology in other ways. USTR older officials from the Bush Obama years of failed negotiations with China and endless hours putting together minute details of agreements including the TransPacific Agreement of Obama were not going to like the new approach of Lighthizer so stuck were they with the old approach of no clear goal and not getting an even playing field from China. ...
WSJ Original article ›
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China's GDP declines by 6.8% in the first quarter 2020 year over year, and 9.8% from the previous quarter, the first such decline since 1992, even going as far back as 1976 with the passing of the Mao era. It is not power production or coal consumption which have returned to prior levels. It is the demand from the U.S. and Europe, other countries which are in lockdowns. Estimates are that 80 million people in a population of 900 million working age people lost their jobs, with another 10 million expected to be lost, about 10% of the total. Global trade companies are hardest hit.  Consumers inside China are reducing spending. Some are using only the small government issued vouchers designed to get people to go out and spend.  The Trump administration plans to bring back some of the production lost to China in essential areas such as public health and security back to the U.S. The supply chains are already shifting to other countries from U.S. tariffs. As a result some estimates show zero growth in 2020 for China. Financial instability and prior leveraging concerns remain to prevent any serious stimulus. By contrast the U.S. is cushioning the impact with $2 trillion aid package benefitting from a strong dollar and healthy economy before the virus. ...
mint Original article ›
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Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman gives the following remarks in parliament on the White Paper presented to the 18th Lok Sabha in January 2024, describing the dire condition of the Indian economy by 2013 with mismanagement and "big ticket" corruption. India's Finance Minister Sitharaman describes the situation in three key areas by 2013 that left the economy of India in a fragile state, with projects stalled, development delayed, and capital investment not taking place. She gives as 3 main points of focus- the state of affairs at Defense Ministry, at the Environment Ministry, and for Energy supplies. At the outset she says PM Modi had suggested the need for such White Paper by 2015 so that future generations would know what had happened in India that failed the country at a time when China had already joined the community of developed nations. The issues go back to the coal scandal when coal auctions had to be cancelled by the Supreme Court for irregularities, the misuse of state owned banks leading to a large increase in non performing loans, and the mismanaged Commonwealth Games under government before 2014.  Sitharaman told parliament this had the effect of national security being compromised, Environment as a Ministry becoming a bottleneck, and the leadership failing the country. In the military there was a critical shortage of ammunition and equipment. She cites the Defense Minister at the time having the attitude that independent India has had a policy for many years not to develop the border areas, as an undeveloped border was better than a developed border. She also says Ministry stated that 92% of the Defense Budget was used up and major acquisitions have to wait for the military. Following this Sitharaman cited the scandals of that period and leakages of funds that weakend the country and failed its people. She compared capital expenditures today of 6.22 lakh crores in 2024 thre times the number in 2013 of 2.53 crores. HAL now makes Tejas jets and helicopters in Made in India production. At the Environment Ministry the delays that were 86 days reached a high of 316 days by 2013 for approval of development projects, with 355 projects pending, the nation brought to a standstill with the effects of the coal supplies to thermal power plants being wholly inadequate and Coal India in poor shape. The root of this was said Sitharaman- what everyone in Indian business knew, the term "genteel facts," as the cost of business going up. She cites the changes since then of aiming for Balance and Development- Transparency, Online Green Clearance, Standardized Environment Impact Studies, A new Department of Climate change, International Solar Alliance 2015, Mission Life 2022, Green Hydrogen, Namami Gange, Rooftop Solar. India set ambitious goals at the last Climate change Conference.    ...
WSJ Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
Shares of Adani Enterprises went up by 3000% over 5 years putting valuations at extreme levels, says this report in the WSJ. This has created a disconnect between valuations and fundamentals say some experts. Hindenburg Research is a American forensic financial research firm started in 2017 by Nathan Anderson in New York City with 5 employees. It has issued a critical report of the Adani Group companies leading to a loss of 18.5% of its valuation. Adani Group companies make up 5% of the Bombay Stock Exchange and are a big part of its renewable energy effort even though the company had major interests in coal in Australia. Adani is trying to make the switch to renewable solar and wind energy and at the same time meet India's continuing need for coal because of its large population. The situation is similar to China and is poorly understood in the US and Europe, the effort to make large investments in renewable energy even as the company provides energy from fossil fuels. Adani set up the Mundra port in Gujarat helping Gujarat become energy sufficient and making it the most industrialized part of India. The London based Financial Times took a look at the Adani Group long before Hindenburg Research in the last 2 years and concluded that Adani Group companies have grown rapidly because India's effort for industrialization requires aggressive investment and risk taking which none of the other companies including India's Tata and Reliance Group are able to do in infrastructure and energy in the same way that Adani has. Reliance Group has invested in 4G and 5G and setup Jio to create low cost access to fast internet in India. When it comes to roads, airports, coal and renewable energy Adani has invested aggressively. This has created the perception that the Adani Group has benefited from its relations with the government. As the Financial Times put it Adani Group was the only private investor willing to take up the challenge of super sized goals needed for India's rapid growth. In this sense a forensic research company based on short selling is up against a company that has already faced skepticism about its rapid emergence as a renewable energy focused company shifting from fossil fuels, a transition neither Exxon or Chevron in the US have been able to do. ...
Washington Post Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
The World Health Organization lists the world's most polluted cities with the highest level of PM2.5 particulate matter as 1. Kanpur, India     173 2. Faridabad          172 3.  Varanasi            151 4.  Gaya                  149 5. Patna                   144 6.  Delhi                    143 7.  Lucknow                 138 8.  Agra                        131 9.  Muzzaffarpur           120 10.  Srinagar                113 11.   Gurgaon                113 12.  Jaipur                     105 13.  Patiala                      101 14.  Jodhpur                     98 15.  li Subah ali Salem      94 A look at the cities most polluted shows that most of the cities are in or near New Delhi, (Gurgaon, New Delhi, Faridabad, Agra) in the state of Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra). The cities on the list that one does not expect are cities such as Jodhpur in the Thar desert, and Srinagar in the mountainous region of Kashmir. Srinagar is on the list because of inadequate sewage facilities to treat sewage. The Dal lake is polluted from houseboats and tourist hotels dumping sewage into the lake and not connecting to the sewage system. Jodhpur is polluted from auto exhaust and vehicular pollution.. The WHO says India's efforts to control pollution need to follow the steps taken by China recently. In response to citizen pressure and outrage about health conditions China has closed down polluting factories, and is shifting away from coal, away from coal stoves. India's efforts are inadequate and scattered says the WHO. This includes stopping fireworks sales that aggravated toxic conditions in Delhi. A program giving 37 million poor Indian women free gas connections helps a shift from use of dung fired clay ovens or coal ovens. Pollution kills 7 million people each year says WHO, and over half or 3.8 million people die from use of unhealthy cooking stoves which create indoor air pollution. Of cities above 14 million Delhi ranks first, Cairo, Egypt second, Mumbai, India fourth and Beijing fifth in air pollution levels.  ...
Wall Street Journal Original article ›
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This editorial says the climate change accords the U.S. reached with China in 2014 amount to little in the way of what China is required to do. China will be allowed to let its carbon emissions increase till 2030, two decades from now, and have the emissions decline afterward. This says the WSJ is what is expected to happen in China anyway because of demographic and urbanization trends. China will also have 20% of its energy come from non-coal polluting sources by 2030, something China plans to do anyway because of the high costs of pollution from coal plants. The U.S. commits to reducing its carbon emissions by 28% below 2005 levels by 2025, in place of the 17% currently set in 2009. This would increase costs of energy in the U.S., says WSJ, without any serious effort to cut emissions further in the developing countries.
BBC News Original article ›
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In this audio BBC Witness History talks with Shuji Nakamura, the inventor of the LED lightbulb in 1992.  Nakamura shows the resilience and stubborn persistence against the odds that has given the world an extraordinary invention. The LED bulb does great things for climate change action because for example Califonria uses 35% of its electricity for lighting. The LED bulb cuts this in half and this means many coal fired power plants are not needed. In India, Indonesia and China this means lighting for about 3 billion people, with lighting for children studying in remote parts of India and China, and in Africa and Latin America. Nakamura took an unconventional route. He did his PhD in Japan not by going to school which is allowed in Japan, but by writing a paper on White LED development. He made a single minded focus on this goal. Nakamura says it made him angry that no one wanted to try new ideas and he persisted for years of research. At the time GaN research was done by less than one percent of researchers. Nakamura decided to try the path less trodden and by 1992 developed a blue light emitting LED bulb. Add phospor particles and blue becomes bright white LED. ...
WSJ Original article ›
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The Big Beautiful Tax and Spending Bill in the US Congress faces close votes in the US Senate with Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both Republicans against it.  The Senate version has additional cuts to Medicaid funding. Tillis expressed concern about these cuts. Senator Rand Paul is opposed to increasing the deficit for enlarged spending and tax cuts. Republicans and DJT have close votes in the Senate and in the Congress. Republicans Murkowski of Alaska and Curtis of Utah want to change the early phaseouts of tax credits to the renewable energy industry in the Senate bill, and the excise tax after 2027 to avoid buying from China and develop American manufacturing in renewables. Senator Collins of Maine has an amendment to add $25 billion for rural healthcare and rural hospitals to offset the effects of large Medicaid cuts. Collins plan also lets taxes revert to 39.6% from 37% for married couples incomes over $50 million.  The bill then heads back to the House for changes by Wednesday, July 2, for a goal to have it on the president's desk by July 4th, Friday. ...
New York Times Original article ›
BBC News Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
Next to Uttar Pradesh 242 million population adjacent Bihar with 128 million is decisive in Indian parliament elections since 1947- 2025 state elections show BJP NDA (Modi) sweeping win with over 203 of 243. Assembly seats. Unknown to most of the world is that this region is the birthplace of Buddhist civilization and culture, that later was part of Asian culture and civilization as it spread to China and Japan. Modi plans to add to Nalanda and other seats of Buddhist ancient universities on the world map with UNESCO listings.  The Indian economy needs 15-20 years of stable government dedicated to rapid accelerated growth with full access to US and EU technologies and capital to catch up with China, the US and EU. The road to this starts with 5 regions- northcentral  region Gujarat/Rajasthan/Madhya Pradesh  (99 seats), west central region Maharashtra (48 seats), northern region Uttar Pradesh (80 seats), Haryana and Delhi region (17 seats) and Eastern region Bihar (40 seats) which together provide  seats in Indian parliament  284 seats out of total of 543 seats in the Indian parliament. For the first time with the win in Bihar the Modi government is now within reach of this goal of being able to govern in a democracy for next 15 years by delivering on infrastructure, cost of living and rapid industrialization and growth of the economy similar to Japan's and China's growth since 1950. The LDP delivered this in Japan, the CCP in China and the NDA under Modi is in the same position today. ...
New York Times Original article ›
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Ford has lagged behind other car manufacturers in entering markets in India and China. Ford now plans to increase investments in India. Ford gets 3% of its total sales from India, compared to 10% for Brazil. The goal is to generate one third of its sales from Asia and Africa. As part of this effort Ford plans to build 2 new plants in India. The two plants will be built in Sanand, Gujarat, by 2014, employing 5,000 and with a capacity of 240,000 cars and 270,000 engines. Ford's existing plant is in the south, in Tamil Nadu, with 5000 workers in manufacturing, and 5000 other office employees. Ford cited advantages of Gujarat being the port facilities for exporting cars and the pro-business climate in Gujarat. Toyota which was also slow to enter the Indian market, plans to invest $220 million to double production capacity to 310,000 by 2013.
The Times Original article ›
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With the government goal of a $5 trillion economy in the next five years, India is expected to be the fourth largest economy in the world by 2026 after the U.S., China and Japan. India moved past France and Britain and will move past Germany by 2026, making the U.S. the only non-Asian economy in the top four. Britain is holding its own and its economy is expected to be larger than France's in five years.

Wall Street Journal Original article ›
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Entergy is one of the largest energy companies. Its CEO for nine years, Wayne Leonard, talks to Joseph Rago of the Wall Street Journal. Its the No.2 generator of nuclear power in the USA, and uses coal for only 7% of its energy. He has made his name in nuclear energy, and here he talks about the government's cap and trade program and nuclear energy. He points to today's technology as far superior to the technology that was used in the Failed Three Mile plant, that put back nuclear energy plants in the USA for decades. He believes that price signals are needed for CO2, and the cap and trade program helps to do this, so he supports the cap and trade program. He admits that self interest colors perception of Entergy, compared to coal using utility producers like Duke Energy and American Electric Power. With coal only 7% in its portfolio of plants, and big in nuclear energy, it stands to gains from a cap and trade program, whereby Congress will set a ceiling on emissions, then allows businesses to sell any of its extra allowances that stand for the right to make emissions. And in doing so creating the largest commodity market, in carbon backed securiites. He and the government agree on the point that the allowances should be auctioned off, rather than given away as the companies with many coal plants believe. And the billions in new revenue from these allowances would be returned to the public. He understands that the view of companies like Duke and AEP, that use coal and would have to increase rates, and face the anger of ratepayers as they pay more for the allowances. He also thinks the bill should be written with a fine pen, so that if Congress mandates 20% of energy come from renewables. That it should specify replacing coal not natural gas as what this replaces, to get rid of the most polluting sources. He points to the real need for looking at things globally, as doing things locally, even to show responsible leadership in the world community, can lead to no progress in the global picture. The reason is that China is going ahead with the rapid construction of conventional coal plants. It has surpassed USA coal capacity, and is on track to double it sometime in the next decade. If the USA closed down every single coal plant, and all the time new coal plants are going up in China and India, then we would have ruined our economy, and it was'nt making much difference globally. And he says, if we just say lets lead and people will follow us, "its silly", because China isn't going to follow us, especially when they have $2 trillion invested in their coal plants, and they still aren't feeding feeding all their people. So how to deal with this? Develop the new technology for carbon capture for existing conventional coal plants, and help the Chinese with retrofit technology to curb emissions in a realistic manner. At this time most current funding is devoted to technology for second generation systems, that are still 10-20 years away....
WSJ Original article ›
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U.S. president Trump's executive order reversing parts of the Clean Power Plan of president Obama may extend the life of older coal powered plants, but overall it is unlikely to change the shift away from coal for the U.S. utility industry. It will do little to reverse the market forces that are leading to a shift to natural gas for the utility industry with the increasing availability of natural gas. In this WSJ report Cassandra Sweet cites Duke Energy Corp. CEO Lynn Good, who says natural gas for Duke will be the leading fuel followed by coal by 2026, and natural gas now makes up 28% of its mix with coal at 34%. He says a $11 billion ten year investment in natural gas and renewable energy will go through regardless of what the Trump administration does because of the economics- the declining price of renewables, the competitive price of natural gas. Companies are loath to base their long term plans on changes in administration as they see the economics dictated by advances in technology, and the general sense that cleaner energy is here to stay for the long run. Already in the U.S. 34% of total power supplies are from natural gas and 30% from coal for 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Department. This may change slightly as coal is used where it is economical and makes sense without the carbon rules, yet the long term trend is clearly towards natural gas. ...
NYTimes.com Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
The NYT says many of India's largest and most profitable companies are "relative models of probity," and several ranking among the world's best governed companies including companies in the software and pharmaceutical sectors. Large parts of the Indian economy have little appetite for the risk taken on by the Adani Group and are run on a financially conservative basis. Infrastructure is unique for this kind of risk taking because of decades of neglect of Indian infrastructure during the 1995-2015 period, when China was rapidly building infrastructure with large investments and India fell behind. It is that catchup mode that induced Adani Group's aggressive efforts taking on debt for outsize goals that it was willing to adopt for coal, solar and port logistics. As a result the Indian economy with companies such as Infosys and Dr. Reddy's Labs says the NYT, is largely not affected by the problems of the Adani group's debt structure.    ...

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