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These are key provisions in the biggest climate change bill in history- Tax credits that last for over a decade for zero carbon plants- these tax credits go to companies that build new sources of emissions free electricity, for wind turbines, solar panels, battery storage, geo thermal plants. Tax credits also for new technologies that capture and bury carbon dioxide from natural gas plants and industrial facilities before it escapes into the atmosphere and heats the planet. This technology is rarely used because of high costs. Incentives for electric vehicles- It extends a tax credit of $7500 for new electric vehicles. It adds a $4000 tax credit for used electric vehicles. Tax credit goes only to people earning $150,000 a year (300,000 for joint filers) for new EV's and $75,000 (150,000 for joint filers) for used EV's. Help for people to lower energy costs - $9 billion in rebates for Americans installing energy efficient electrical appliances. And a decade of tax credits for Americans installing rooftop solar, heat pumps, water heaters and electric HVAC, or electric heating, air conditioning and ventilation technologies. Investments in Domestic Manufacturing- $60 billion for investments in clean energy manufacturing in the US. This includes $30 billion for production tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and critical minerals processing. $10 billion in investment tax credits to build manufacturing facilities for electric cars and renewable energy technologies. This action is to halt the shifting of clean energy manufacturing overseas to China. $27 billion towards a green bank that would finance clean energy projects in disadvantaged communities. Cracking down on Methane- the bill places a fine on methane gas emissions from oil and gas wells and pipelines and other infrastructure. Fees of $900 per metric ton in 2024 and $1500 a metric ton in 2026 when it exceeds federally set limits.    ...

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Minimobility can be seen in some locations in the US such as Peachtree City, a town south of Atlanta where golf carts are popular. In Europe it is taking off and popular on its small streets and with its  culture of smaller vehicles. The Renault Duo, Citroen Ami, Swiss Microlino, Swedish Luvly, are electric vehicles for 1-2 passengers made at prices from $8000 for the Ami to $16000 for the Microliner. The Microliner has a range of 150 miles and max speed of 55mph. By 2030 about $100 billion of these small electric vehicles could be on the road compared to $3 billion in 2023. 

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By letting Evergrande be dismantled without government aid, the Jinping government is signalling an end to construction anfd housing as the engine of the economy. The shift is to electric cars, renewable energy, and advanced technology industries to support growth after decades of construction based growth. This is good for climate change action and for UN sustainable development growth targets which include assistance to rural and other neglected regions. A similar process is taking place in the US as large economies realign their economies after the pandemic showed weaknesses in the frameworks.

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Electricity recharging stations instead of gas filling stations that would use the existing electricity grid by extending it and use existing battery technology is an idea that is being tried by a group of companies with a $100 million investment by the Israel Corporation, and $100 million from other sources. It would also provide for swapping batteries for instant refilling. It is estimated that assuming a lifespan of 1500 battery recharges energy cost of all electric cars would be 7 cents per mile according to Mr. Agassi's company Better Place which is behind this investment.

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Nissan and NEC plan to invest $115 to produce a lithium ion battery in a 3 years project with capacity of 13,000 a year in the beginning growing to 65,000 annually by 2011, mostly for cars. Nissan has a 51% ownership stake in the new company. Nissan and NEC say their laminated cell battery uses a stable crystal structure called spinel manganese that will eliminate risk of overheating.

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A $369 billion US climate and tax package being negotiated in the Senate by Senator Schumer could put put Biden within reach of his goal to cut US carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. The package would introduce cash incentives for electric cars and spend billions for renewable energy expansion to get Biden to within reach of his goal by cutting carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.

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With China's automobile market declining for the fifth month in a row, and trade tensions rising, it now appears that carmakers such as Ford expanded too quickly in the Chinese market. Ford, Peugeot, and Hyundai appear to have poorly times their expansion in China, expanding at the tail end of the Chinese boom just ahead of the new Trump administration's efforts to challenge China's lopsided trade balance.  It has become so bad that this report shows workers at a Peugeot factory in China spending their days washing floors and attending Communist political study sessions at work. At a Ford plant workers shifts are reduced to a couple of days a month. Sales grew 3% in 2017 and declined 2% in the first 11 months of 2018, after increases of 14% in previous years taking the market to 28 million in a dizzying ride as it surpassed the U.S. sales of 17.5 million. Overcapacity is a problem in China with the aggressive expansion. There is capacity to make 43 million cars, but will produce 29 million in 2018, according to PwC, consulting firm. Ford meanwhile put in a new plant in Harbin in 2017, expanding its capacity to 1.6 million a year, but sales peaked at 1.27 million in 2016, and are down 6% in 2017, and 34% in 2018 to about 700,000. While there are no layoffs some workers are making only $220 monthly, forcing them to take second jobs as cab drivers or couriers. Suzuki decided to quit in 2018 exiting China entirely just so it would not pile up losses in what is now a market that is way overblown from the boom years. Electric vehicle production in the pipeline of about 7.5 million vehicles will compound this problem further with 32 new plants planned by 26 firms.   ...

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The German government's committee on the future of transport has proposals that call for fuel price hikes and electric vehicle quotas as Germany faces heavy European fines for not reducing transport emissions since 1990. This means the stretches of unlimited speed on the Autobahn roadways in Germany may now have speed limits. The proposals include limits of 80 mph on roadways and fuel tax rises from 2023, abolition of tax breaks for diesel cars, quotas for electric and hybrid cars that could get half of the emission cuts needed.

A series of diesel emissions cheating scandals have damaged confidence in diesel, and the lack of progress in climate change through less coal use has damaged confidence in Germany's climate change efforts. A new climate change law is planned.

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This report in WSJ by Mike Colias about personal politics exaggerates the impact of political party Republican vs Democrat in the switch to electric cars as most of the resistance comes from the lack of charging facilities and not enough technological breakthrough in cost and efficiency to make the switch. And much of the political resistance by a third of the population comes more from the idea that it supports China sourced materials. This comes from misinformation and old data as Biden has imposed 100 percent duty tariff on imports of China made electric cars and 50% on solar panels just last week. Americans including Republicans are realizing that the only way to compete with China's subsidized push for key industries is for America to do the same. This gives the American manufacturers the time and the support from the US government to compete with EV's made in China supported by Chinese government large not so visible subsidies over long periods. WSJ reports recently showed how China's prime minister supported building Tesla plants in China to observe American manufacturing methods and technology, in the process advancing its own technologies in EV's at a faster pace. Making Tesla's role contradict the idea that politics not misinformation and technological lag is causing resistance to EV's both of which will fade over time. ...

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Manufacturing and building plants related to Green energy is a better path for Nevada to meet the needs of the people of the state. Dependence on casinos and the hospitality industry has hurt Nevada. The Redwood Materials plant near Reno, Nevada, is an example of this effort. It is a sprawling 300 acre facility that recycles old smartphones and other discarded items into materials for electric cars and other products.

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Under a landmark ruling by a federal court in Leipzig, German cities can now ban older diesel engine vehicles. The cities of Stuttgart and Dusseldorf are allowed to legally ban older higher polluting diesel cars from zones that are badly affected by air pollution. Environmental group DUH brought the lawsuit after 70 German cities exceeded European Union limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx) in 2017. NOx emissions can cause respiratory disease and difficulty breathing. Diesel engines produce high levels of nitrogen oxide, and low levels of carbon dioxide. EU air quality standards are not being met in cities across Europe, so that this could set a precedent for Europe, says the BBC. Of the 15 million diesel cars on German roads only 2.7 million meet the latest Euro-6 standards, according to German automotive watchdog agency. Diesel car market share is dropping- falling to 39% in 2017 from 48% in 2015. The VW diesel emissions scandal in 2015 further eroded public confidence. The German government already has suggested alternatives such as offering free public transport in cities with poor air quality. The government opposed the ruling because it did not want the car industry to bear the additional cost of retrofitting older vehicles at a time when German carmakers were investing in electric vehicles.  Yet the trend is clear. Paris, Madrid, Mexico City, Athens have pledged to ban diesel vehicles from the centre of cities by 2025, with Copenhagen doing this in 2019. ...

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Washington Post Editorial Board says DJT policy of "trade not aid," hand up not handout, is right for Africa- good example the $3 billion US puts in railroad from Congo/Zambia to Lobito port Angola on Atlantic coastline to get critical minerals in exchange for infrastructure building. A loan of $533 million from US IDFC (International Development Finance Corporation) is the right thing says the Washington Post for US to build infrastructure in the Lobito Corridor in Angola that will extend from Congo and Zambia with large critical mineral deposits to the port of Lobito on the Angola coast. Overall investment is $3 billion. This will loosen China's critical minerals control through its investments in Africa on the eastern coastline. The new railroad will take critical minerals of cobalt and copper, other critical minerals needed for electric car batteries and energy infrastructure, from the center of Africa to its western coastline in Angola at Lobito port. Angola will not need to take on ruinous -debt in this kind of deal as other African and Asian nations have in deals with China. Its win-win Africa gets infrastructure and supplies key commodities metals to the US. The interesting thing about this is that for a long time US policy was stuck with USAID and other agencies and needed to change. US government under DJT took much criticism for reducing that funding of bureaucracy and old ways. The Washington Post now says it is the right approach- it is not as presented a US withdrawal from Africa, but in the Posts' words an "overdue upgrade" to a mutually profitable relationship with Africa. For Africa to move to next level as Asia has done as Hong Kong did from the 1950's and 1960's  to trade and investment.  For a long time Republicans were not associated with infrastructure development in Africa or in the US. Under DJT the situation has changed and Democrats like Biden have taken up DJT's approach so that the US now regardless of administration is rebuilding infrastructure. Doing this in Africa makes sense. Investment in infrastructure at home makes sense. The Post is right to say this. ...

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In 2023 there are 4.3 million electric vehicles on American roads and 150,000 public charging ports. President Biden's goal is for 50% of cars to be EV's by 2030 with 500,000 public charging ports. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory affiliated with DOE forecasts need for 1 million charging ports. Ohio and Pennsylvania are leading the way in a slow start with other states joining in. A single public charging port can cost about $150,000. It will cost $31 billion to $55 billion to build the public portion of a national charging network. About $24 billion is planned investment.

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WSJ says GM straddles the past and the future. GM's plans to invest $11-13 billion each year for new electric vehicles. GM also plant to cut costs by $2 billion to maintain profit margins as car prices drop from higher levels. GM US largest automaker profit in 2022 kept up the pace of 2021 by remaining at over $14 billion. As car sales decline in 2023 GM plans to offer sales incentives and make up for this by cutting costs in corporate and other overhead.

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Development of new fuel efficient cars, electric cars, new hybrid cars, costs money, and manufacturing facilities to build these cars in large numbers also takes large investments. Not only do the Japanese carmakers have a huge leg up over American carmakers in having development on these technologies started early because of the conservation ethic in Japan's use of energy, but now because of being in much better financial shape than their competitors in te USA they can make the huge investments going forward in the next 10 years. Note the huge costs of development. Honda spends an estimated $1 million on every FCX Clarity, Honda's new hydrogen fuel-cell car, that it makes today. It hopes to get the production costs below $100,000 per car.

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Traditional IPO's have raised $7 billion down a huge 94% from this time last year says this report in the WSJ. IPO of Rivian a new electric car manufacturer in 2021 was priced so high that it made the valuation of the new company at over $70 billion more than that of Ford Motor. Rivian had only made a little over 1000 cars in 2021 and about 7000 cars in the first half of 2021, which shows the size of the excess and the potential waste of capital that could be better allocated to vital needs for the economy such as achieving self reliance in semiconductor chips for the US which is not getting the funding it deserves and needs. These kinds of excesses are now a thing of the past. Larger companies, well known names such as Intel's Mobileye subsidiary or companies with a with a proven track record are now the companies that are more likely to have success with IPO's, as the economic environment, higher interest rates and other changes lead to the withering away of the novel idea startups of the past. Startups that had no meaningful effect on improving people's lives in any significant way, or strengthened the US economy and industrial base, and merely sucked up valuable resources.  It is not that the US lacks the resources to compete effectively with any country in the world including China, in renewables, in semiconductors, in 5G, in new technologies, it is just that hundreds of billions of dollars are going into unproductive channels and wasted. ...

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This WSJ report looks at Hancock Prospecting's efforts to control the Kathleen Valley lithium project in western Australia. Lithium was discovered in 1817 and today is an essential component for electric batteries that power phones, EV cars. The world needs 50 lithium mines for action to meet climate change goals. The market for lithium was $1.5 billion in 2014, it is now $48 billion. It is found in the Atacama desert in Chile, in Western Australia and other countries. Mobil has invested in Arkansas. Hancock Prospecting in Australia, Albemarle in Charlotte, NC, SQM in Chile, and China's Ganfeng are competing for stakes in lithium mines.