Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 12

Friday, December 6, 2019

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 12

1          US utilities race to slash emissions as ESG reporting takes off
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/12/03/us-utilities-emissions-esg-reporting/

The year 2019 may come to be seen as pivotal in the transformation of the US electricity sector.

A drive by dozens of US electricity utility holding companies to provide ESG reports has brought to the forefront numerous new commitments to zero carbon emission goals, and an accompanying surge in plans to install thousands of megawatts of wind and solar generation over the next few decades.

2          The European Investment Bank Has Quit Fossil Fuels. What Now?
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-european-investment-bank-has-quit-fossil-fuels-what-now

With an annual outlay in the energy sector of €15 billion ($16.6 billion), the European Investment Bank (EIB) is one of the sector’s biggest lenders.

And for every euro the EIB puts into a project or business, around seven more are invested by the private sector. That’s around €120 billion ($133 billion) of public and private investment in the energy sector that stems from the EIB’s choices. According to the IEA, global renewables investment in 2018 was $300 billion.

3          Repsol to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 at $5.3 billion cost
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-repsol-emissions-idUSKBN1Y6243

pain’s Repsol (REP.MC) pledged on Monday to reduce net carbon emissions from its operations and most of its products to zero by 2050 and absorb a 4.8 billion euro ($5.3 billion) hit to the value of its oil and gas assets in the process.

4          Exclusive: Big four auditors face investor calls for tougher climate scrutiny
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-accounts-exclusive-idUSKBN1Y21XK

European investors managing assets worth more than 1 trillion pounds ($1.28 trillion) are pressing top auditors to take urgent action on climate-related risks, warning that failure to do so could do more damage than the financial crisis.

5          Kate Brandt Is Turning Google into a Green Powerhouse
https://www.outsideonline.com/2323696/kate-brandt-google-sustainability
She helped the Navy, the White House, and the entire federal government become more eco-friendly. Now Kate Brandt is tackling her most ambitious sustainability project yet.

She’s now charged with turning Google into the world leader in environmental practices.

6          Grupo Mexico picks Invenergy to develpp 168MW wind farm
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/grupo-mexico-picks-invenergy-to-develpp-168mw-wind-farm/2-1-719938

Mexican industrial conglomerate Grupo Mexico Infraestrutura has hired US developer Invenergy to build a 168MW wind farm in the state of Nuevo León in order to supply power to industries and corporate consumers.

Total investment in the project is estimated at $250m and it includes a 60km transmission line to link the project to Mexico’s power grid.

7          How Much Crude Oil Do You Unknowingly Eat?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/How-Much-Crude-Oil-Do-You-Unknowingly-Eat.html

You may think (or hope) that in your daily life you don’t need to worry about unknowingly eating or otherwise ingesting crude oil or any of its many, many petrochemical byproducts. But you would be wrong. And not just a little wrong–very, very wrong. Petroleum-based substances are in all kinds of innocuous-seeming things that we willingly put into our bodies. Even though petrochemicals are not technically (or really any other adverb you want to insert here) edible, we eat quite a lot of them.

8          New study analyzes viability of sustainable fuels — ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191126091311.htm
A technology developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and scaled up by Vertimass LLC to convert ethanol into fuels suitable for aviation, shipping and other heavy-duty applications can be price-competitive with conventional fuels while retaining the sustainability benefits of bio-based ethanol, according to a new analysis.

9          Corporate renewable energy on trend as Ralph Lauren joins RE100
https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/corporate-renewable-energy-on-trend-as-ralph-lauren-joins-re100/2-1-716540

Ralph Lauren is among the latest recruits to the RE100 group of corporations backing a move to 100% renewable energy use.

The global fashion group is one of three new signatories to RE100, which said its members now number more than 200 as it demanded action to remove barriers to corporate renewable energy by governments attending the COP25 climate summitin Madrid.

10        Europe’s Offshore Wind Market Grapples With New Local Content Demands
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/over-zealous-local-content-rules-could-slow-energy-transition-warns-siemens

Demands for local content and manufacturing are growing louder in many offshore wind markets, and that includes the world’s most advanced and locally supplied market: Europe.

11        Renewable Hydrogen News: Power-to-Gas Mania Hits Maine
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/02/renewable-hydrogen-news-power-to-gas-mania-hits-maine/
Power-to-gas technology has been floating around on the CleanTechnica radar for several years now, and it looks like the great state of Maine could be the first in the US to push it into the mainstream. That’s good news for fans of renewable hydrogen, because renewable hydrogen is what puts the gas in power-to-gas. The question is, why Maine?

12        The Myth of Whole Home Battery Backup
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-myth-of-whole-home-battery-backup
Battery backup systems coupled with solar are being hailed as the best solution to Public Safety Power Shutoffs in California — not to mention our archaic electric grid.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 41

Friday, December 6, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 41

1          A Simple Three-Step Process For Generating Value Through Business Intelligence
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2019/11/21/a-simple-three-step-process-for-generating-value-through-business-intelligence/

As data becomes more readily available, organizations face the question of how to effectively manage and use it in a competitive landscape. Many companies are realizing the need for and value of collecting, storing and analyzing data. Just look at a couple of examples of market activity in various industries: In December 2018, Nasdaq acquired Quandl, which is a company that “offers alternative data to over 30,000 monthly users compiled from roughly 350 sources,”

2          How CEOs can help lead technology transformations
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-ceos-new-technology-agenda

We’ve seen numerous companies boost their financial performance after their CEOs made it a priority to strengthen the technology function and bring more technology capabilities closer to the business’s strategy and operations. Fulfilling this mandate, however, can be a challenge.

3          Best Artificial Intelligence Technologies to know in 2019
https://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/best-artificial-intelligence-technologies-to-know-in-2019

Technology decision-makers are (and also should keep) seeking methods to successfully carry out artificial intelligence innovations into their businesses and, therefore, drive value. And though all AI innovations most definitely have their own merits, not all of them deserve purchasing, with each passing day we come across a number of AI development techniques.

4          Top 7 Data Science Use Cases in Trust and Security
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/12/top-7-data-science-use-cases-trust-security.html

What are trust and safety? What is the role of trust and security in the modern world?

We often come across this word combination ‘Trust & Safety’ on numerous web sites and platforms. It is called upon to regulate the interaction between the visitors and specialists so that it would be fair and peaceful.

5          How B2B online marketplaces could transform indirect procurement
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/how-b2b-online-marketplaces-could-transform-indirect-procurement

For people who remember when consumers first started using digital marketplaces, the realization that the oldest of those platforms are now almost 25 years old can come as a surprise. Even business-to-business platforms have been around for two decades, becoming an almost invisible engine of commerce at many small and medium-sized businesses.

6          Digital Transformation Lags In Chemical Industry
https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2019/digital-transformation-lags-in-chemical-industry/
At a recent ARC Industry Forum many discussions revolved around digital transformation. According to a presentation by Mike Williams, ARC associate, although industry research indicates that there has been more than 75% of the process industry participating in Industry 4.0 technology evaluation or pilot projects, there is still less than 25% of the industry moving beyond the pilot phase. It would appear that the process industries are lagging behind other industry segments such as automotive and other discrete manufacturers.

7          Machine learning can boost the value of wind energy
https://blog.google/technology/ai/machine-learning-can-boost-value-wind-energy/

Carbon-free technologies like renewable energy help combat climate change, but many of them have not reached their full potential. Consider wind power: over the past decade, wind farms have become an important source of carbon-free electricity as the cost of turbines has plummeted and adoption has surged. However, the variable nature of wind itself makes it an unpredictable energy source—less useful than one that can reliably deliver power at a set time.

8          The platform play: How to operate like a tech company
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-platform-play-how-to-operate-like-a-tech-company

“The question is not how fast tech companies will become car companies, but how fast we will become a tech company.” This is how the board member of a global car company recently articulated the central issue facing most incumbents today: how to operate and innovate like a tech company.

9          Will personalization’s role in marketing shrink as challenges grow?
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/will-personalizations-role-in-marketing-shrink-as-challenges-grow/568607/

Eighty percent of marketers will drop personalization efforts by 2025, according to a report from research firm Gartner, “Predicts 2020: Marketers, They’re Just Not That Into You.” The key reasons cited for why marketers could retreat from personalization are a lack of ROI and difficulties with managing customer data.

10        Industry Averages, Benchmarks and the Death of Innovation
https://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/industry-averages-benchmarks-and-the-death-of-innovation

Sustaining industry averages and benchmarks are the antithesis of innovation and a great way to ensure average performance. Doing whatever everyone else is doing is a “paving the cow path” management mentality, lacking aspirational goals which are critical for organizations to fuel innovation and create customer and market differentiation. Which brings me to why I teach.

11        When Is The Right Time To Personalize?
https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/personalization-in-sales/

Undoubtedly, automation should play a vital role in every business’s sales funnel. Automation takes care of manual, time-consuming tasks and frees up time for brands to focus on other essential areas. It also increases efficiency, improves accuracy, and speeds up the sales process.

12        Turn around a stalled oil and gas digital transformation
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/rebooting-your-stalled-digital-transformation-in-oil-and-gas

Does this sound like your company? You’ve been investing in digital and advanced-analytics solutions for at least two or three years. You’ve set priorities, given them plenty of leadership attention, and hired new talent to build your organization’s capabilities. You’ve invested in new technologies, software solutions, and external support to make sure you’re on the right path. In short, you’ve done everything you can to make your digital transformation a success. Yet you can’t help feeling that it is stalling.

13        The Best of This Week
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/best-of-this-week-big-tech-cybertruck/
The week’s must-reads for managing in the digital age, curated by the MIT SMReditors.

14        Top 10 Data Science Use Cases in Energy and Utilities
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/09/top-10-data-science-use-cases-energy-utilities.html
The energy sector is under constant development, and more of significant inventions and innovations are yet to come. The energy use has always been involved in other industries like agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and many others. Thus these industries tend to enlarge the amount of energy they consume every day. Energy seems to be very demanding in terms of new technologies application and development of new energy sources.

15        “The Boom In Sales Technology”
https://www.business2community.com/sales-management/the-boom-in-sales-technology-02262847
I suppose it’s normal to see the flood of articles, prospecting emails, calls and such on “sales technology.” Dreamforce is over, we all have visions of our technology based futures dancing in our heads.

We see the MarTech and other charts, with 1000’s of suppliers, in unimaginable niches, giving us the most essential sales and marketing technologies, guaranteed to drive performance and customer engagement.

16        Exploratory Data Analysis …A topic that is neglected in Data Science Projects
https://towardsdatascience.com/exploratory-data-analysis-topic-that-is-neglected-in-data-science-projects-9962ae078a56

Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) is the first step in your data analysis process developed by “John Tukey” in the 1970s. In statistics, exploratory data analysis is an approach to analyzing data sets to summarize their main characteristics, often with visual methods. By the name itself, we can get to know that it is a step in which we need to explore the data set.

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 40

Friday, November 29, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 40

1          US set to be energy independent
https://www.rystadenergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/US-set-to-be-energy-independent/
In a pivotal shift, the US is only months away from full energy independence. By 2030, total primary energy production will outpace primary energy demand by about 30%, according to Rystad Energy’s latest forecast.

2          Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-drillers-reduce-number-of-rigs-but-production-still-hits-record-high-616270

U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures are edging lower early Friday on light post-holiday buying. The selling pressure is light, which some traders are saying is in reaction to renewed tensions between the United States and China and increasing doubts the two economic powerhouses will reach a Phase One trade deal agreement before new U.S. tariffs kick in on December 15.

3          Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/natural-gas-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-dramatic-sell-off-resumes-616266

Not only are the weather patterns changing, but the country is also split with winter storms on the western United States and milder temperatures elsewhere. Earlier in the week, weather models were supportive with rising expectations for a cold December. Then the models shifted to milder before trending warmer.

4          Weekly resin report: Spot resin markets hit historically low price levels
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-spot-resin-markets-hit-historically-low-price-levels/19698551361942

It was an excellent week to trade spot resins; in fact, it was one of the best weeks of 2019 at the PlasticsExchange (Chicago). Fresh offerings flowed, while demand picked up to yield a high volume of completed transactions, reports the resin clearinghouse in its Market Update. Many processors who had been working down inventories either found value at these historically low price levels or just needed to place orders before the Thanksgiving break. Overall spot resin prices were mixed, with some gains seen for certain grades.

5          Six facts about the global injection molding market and the automotive industry
https://www.plasticstoday.com/injection-molding/six-facts-about-global-injection-molding-market-and-automotive-industry/73791820561916

Despite some speed bumps in the automotive sector, the global plastic injection molding market is poised for sustained growth, according to Saipriya Iyer, Research Content Developer at Global Market Insights (Selbyville, DE). The market research and management consulting company has published a report on the global injection molded plastic market, which can be purchased on its website. Iyer shared some key insights from her research with PlasticsToday.

6          Oil to be stuck in a rut in 2020 as slowing demand fuels glut: Reuters poll
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-prices-idUSKBN1Y314F
il prices will remain subdued in 2020 as growth concerns weigh on demand and fuel a glut of crude, a Reuters poll showed on Friday ahead of production-policy talks among OPEC and its allies next week.

7          Why Oil Demand Won’t Follow Coal’s Death Spiral
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2019/11/29/why-oil-demand-wont-follow-coals-death-spiral/
After a steady rise that lasted nearly 50 years, U.S. coal consumption peaked about a decade ago. Since the peak in 2007, coal consumption in the U.S. has fallen an astounding 44%.

8          Commodities 2020: Asian propylene eyes support in H1 from new polypropylene plants, turnarounds
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/petrochemicals/112919-commodities-2020-asian-propylene-eyes-support-in-h1-from-new-polypropylene-plants-turnarounds

Propylene markets in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Japan are expected to be supported in the first half of 2020 by the startup of downstream polypropylene plants and a heavier-than-usual turnaround schedule.

9          An evolving Russian gas industry deserves new clichés
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/11/29/evolving-russian-gas-industry-new-cliches/

The Russian gas industry has long been portrayed by means of predictable and dated clichés. Mention of Russian bears, gas as the new cold war, or pipelines forming the new Iron Curtain, have littered both journalistic and analytical coverage of Russia’s gas sector for decades.

10        Brazil + OPEC forever? Hold off on those wedding invites
https://www.rystadenergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/brazil-opec-forever-hold-off-on-those-wedding-invites/

At an October forum in Saudi Arabia, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro suggested that he would like to see Brazil join OPEC. If such a marriage were to come to fruition, OPEC would be the clear winner and Brazil the loser by a long shot.

11        The Complete Guide To Drilling
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Complete-Guide-To-Drilling.html
Drilling in its broadest sense is any process that involves making a circular hole in a solid material or hard surface using a boring tool. With thousands of applications across industries, drilling is undoubtedly one of the greatest inventions of human civilization.

12        Daimler to ax at least 10,000 jobs in latest car industry cuts
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-daimler-jobs-idUSKBN1Y312E

Daimler said on Friday it will cut at least 10,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years, following others in the industry as they cut costs to invest in electric vehicles while grappling with weakening sales.

13        China Leads Petchem Capacity Additions
https://www.rigzone.com/news/china_leads_petchem_capacity_additions-28-nov-2019-160456-article/
China is expected to lead the global petrochemical industry capacity growth from planned and announced (P&A) projects between 2019 and 2030 with a 27 percent share.

14        ConocoPhillips seeks seizure of Citgo parent to collect on PDVSA award
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-conocophillips-venezuela-citgo-idUSKBN1Y02N4
U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips on Tuesday filed a motion in a Delaware court seeking to seize shares in the parent of U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum to collect on an arbitration award against Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

15        Asian NOCs, the energy transition and ESG
https://www.woodmac.com/news/the-edge/the-edge-asian-nocs-the-energy-transition-and-esg/
A red-hot topic in the region, but quite what Asian oil and gas companies intend to do about it is another matter. In Europe, investor agitation has spurred action; in Asia, the impetus for change is coming mostly from above. With both energy demand and urbanisation rising, China and India want to tackle air quality as well as carbon emissions. At some point in the next few years Japan is expected to join the UK, Germany and France in the ranks of the G7 nations with the goal of being net-carbon neutral by 2050.

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 11

Friday, November 29, 2019

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 11

1          18 Wind and Solar Markets to Watch in 2020
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/18-wind-and-solar-markets-to-watch-in-2020
The world’s total renewable power capacity will grow 50 percent between 2019 and 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. For investors keen to tap into this growth, mostly driven by solar and wind, the question is where to look.

2          The World Is Getting Windier And Renewables Will Benefit
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-World-Is-Getting-Windier-And-Renewables-Will-Benefit.html

Renewable energy just got some major investment tailwinds–quite literally. In fact, the biggest breakthrough in wind power generation right now isn’t technological–it’s natural, and it costs nothing. For three decades, from about 1980 until 2010, wind speeds around the world were slowing down. Now, researchers say that the world is going to keep getting windier for the next 10 years.

3          French insurer AXA to exit coal investments in OECD states by 2030
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-axa-coal-idUSKBN1Y11E4
France’s AXA said it was strengthening its climate strategy by committing to exit coal more quickly across a greater number of countries, as policymakers seek a faster transition to a low-carbon economy.

4          Sustainability key to economic viability of packaging companies, says report
https://www.plasticstoday.com/packaging/sustainability-key-economic-viability-packaging-companies-says-report/6108135661936

A major shift took place among packaging companies that attended Pack Expo 2019 versus those that attended in 2018: Sustainability moved “head and shoulders” above all other topics. That analysis comes from CIBC World Markets, a Toronto-based investment banking subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Competition, labor availability, capital, M&A, resin pricing and even the economic outlook were all subordinate to sustainability, reported CIBC.

5          World’s Second-Largest Ferry Operator Switching From Diesel to Batteries
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/worlds-second-largest-ferry-operator-switching-from-diesel-to-batteries

Washington State Ferries, which runs the second-largest ferry system in the world, is switching from diesel to batteries amid a growing trend toward electrification in shipping.

6          ‘Asian wind power to outpace Western Europe and North America combined’
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/-asian-wind-power-to-outpace-western-europe-and-north-america-combined-/2-1-715501

Cumulative wind power capacity in Asia is likely to overtake the combined total of North America and Western Europe (NAWE) through 2028, driven by a rapid growth in China, Fitch Solutions Macro Research said in its updated ten-year report.

7          Proposed EU-wide ‘climate law’ would set net-zero carbon target by 2050
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/29/first-eu-wide-climate-law-to-set-net-zero-carbon-target-by-2050

The first EU-wide “climate law” would enshrine a legally binding target of reaching net-zero carbon by 2050, and Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions would be halved by 2030, under a set of proposals being discussed by the incoming European commission.

8          EU Bank lends €50m to Spanish wind farm that will power Nike
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/eu-bank-lends-50m-to-spanish-wind-farm-that-will-power-nike/2-1-715796

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to advance a €50m ($55m) loan towards construction of a Spanish wind complex that will sell power to sportswear giant Nike.

9          Norway wealth fund says climate change key to risk-based divestments
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-swf-climatechange-idUSKBN1Y1224
Norway’s $1.1 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, said climate change dominated discussions about whether it should sell stakes in companies because they are considered too risky.

10        IKEA to invest 200 million euros in race to turn ‘climate positive’
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ikea-investment-climate-idUSKBN1Y10P9

IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture group, said on Wednesday it would spend around 100 million euros ($110 million) to support direct suppliers as they switch over to renewable energy use.

11        Recycling and the future of the plastics industry
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/chemicals/our-insights/how-plastics-waste-recycling-could-transform-the-chemical-industry

If plastics demand follows its current trajectory, global plastics-waste volumes would grow from 260 million tons per year in 2016 to 460 million tons per year by 2030, taking what is already a serious environmental problem to a whole new level. In the face of public outcry about global plastics pollution, the chemical industry is starting to mobilize on this issue.

12        ‘Bags for life’ making plastic problem worse, say campaigners
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/28/bags-for-life-making-plastic-problem-worse-say-campaigners

Plastic “bags for life” should be banned or raised in price, campaigners say, as new figures reveal a surge in the bags is fuelling a rise in the plastic packaging footprint of leading supermarkets.

13        The push to develop more bioplastics continues, despite dubious benefits
https://www.plasticstoday.com/sustainability/push-develop-more-bioplastics-continues-despite-dubious-benefits/192294311061905

Ever since someone—perhaps a scientist at Archer Daniels Midland back in the 1990s—discovered that polymer materials can be made from corn, the world has been on a tear to develop bioplastics out of everything imaginable. It’s like there’s a huge contest to see who can make plastic—specifically bioplastics—out of the weirdest stuff.

14        Detection Of Methane Leak From Space Could Herald A Revolution
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcarpenter/2019/11/27/detection-of-methane-leak-from-space-could-herald-a-revolution/

While scanning for emissions from a mud volcano in a Balkan province in western Turkmenistan in January this year, a satellite controlled by a Canadian company called GHGSat noticed “an anomalously large methane plume” coming from a nearby gas facility and pipeline. It was the first time ever that a methane leak has been detected and confirmed from space, GHGSat said.

15        Distributed Energy Systems in the US Will Become Mainstream
https://www.energytrend.com/news/20191127-15768.html
The market share for distributed PV power systems in the U.S. has been rising significantly, thanks to their dropping rates, enlarged capacities, and improving efficiency, according to a recent report from Berkeley Lab’s.

16        We’ll see an ice-free Arctic this century, latest research says
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ice-free-arctic-this-century-1.5370504
We can expect to see an ice-free Arctic Ocean within 50 years, according to researchers at the University of California’s Center for Climate Science, who say they’ve improved and narrowed past projections of when the Arctic might be free of sea ice.

17        GM president: Electric cars won’t go mainstream until we fix these problems (opinion)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/25/perspectives/gm-electric-cars/index.html
The automotive industry is hurtling toward a future that will change transportation the same way electricity changed how we light the world. Electric and self-driving vehicles will alter the automotive landscape forever — it’s only a question of how soon.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 40

Friday, November 29, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 40

1          The Top Seven Technology Trends for 2020
https://datafloq.com/read/top-seven-technology-trends-for-2020/7231
We have reached the end of 2019 and just like in previous years, I am looking ahead to see what organisations can expect next year. 2019 was the year of truth, with many enterprises developing blockchain proof of concepts, Google confirming a quantum supremacy breakthrough and more data breaches with the latest breach containing 1.2 billion records. Now for the 8^th year in a row, I offer you my technology predictions for the next year, which I hope will help you prepare for 2020.

2          How artificial intelligence and data add value to businesses
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/how-artificial-intelligence-and-data-add-value-to-businesses

Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the cutting edge of innovation. But how do companies find the expertise necessary to utilize it, and then take it to market? In this video, recorded at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June, Andrew Ng, cofounder of Coursera, AI Fund, and Landing.AI, discusses the difference between an AI-enabled business versus a true AI company, and how businesses can organize, hire, and make use of AI to add value.

3          AI at the core of next-generation BI
https://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/feature/AI-at-the-core-of-next-generation-BI
AI is part of BI platforms, but this is only the start of a new analytics generation. In a Q&A, Constellation Research analyst Doug Henschen discusses AI tools in BI platforms.

4          Oil and Gas Cybersecurity Price Tag Could Top $20B
https://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_and_gas_cybersecurity_price_tag_could_top_20b-27-nov-2019-160417-article/

Oil and gas companies will spend more than $20 billion on cybersecurity by 2023, according to a survey conducted by the consulting firm BDO. Oil and gas companies will spend more than $20 billion on cybersecurity by 2023, according to a survey conducted by the consulting firm BDO.

5          Machine Programming: What Lies Ahead?
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ai-machine-learning/

Imagine software that creates its own software. That is what machine programming is all about. Like other fields of artificial intelligence, machine programming has been around since the 1950s, but it is now at an inflection point. Machine programming potentially can redefine many industries, including software development, autonomous vehicles or financial services, according to Justin Gottschlich, head of machine programming research at Intel Labs.

6          AI will disrupt white-collar workers the most, predicts a new report
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614739/ai-will-disrupt-white-collar-workers-the-most-predicts-a-new-report/

A surprise finding: Conventional wisdom says robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation will radically alter work for blue-collar truckers and factory workers. In fact, white-collar jobs will be affected more, according to a new analysis by the Brookings Institution.

7          How B2B Software Providers Can Use Chatbots for Lead Generation
https://chatbotnewsdaily.com/how-b2b-software-providers-can-use-chatbots-for-lead-generation-d50b30c0428e

Software development for businesses is a lucrative — and highly competitive — venture. No matter how good your coding skills, unless you can showcase them to prospective customers and convince them of your quality, it is of little importance. This is where lead generation comes in.

8          Sniffing Out Errors

https://insidebigdata.com/2019/11/26/sniffing-out-errors/
As seasoned analysts will know; it can be difficult to identify when to draw a line under your Predictive Modelling, accept its performance as sufficient for your purposes and move on to deployment. This article will consider an established method for determining when enough is enough; Error Analysis.

9          Time Series Prediction Using LSTM Deep Neural Networks
https://www.altumintelligence.com/articles/a/Time-Series-Prediction-Using-LSTM-Deep-Neural-Networks
This article focuses on using a Deep LSTM Neural Network architecture to provide multidimensional time series forecasting using Keras and Tensorflow – specifically on stock market datasets to provide momentum indicators of stock price.

10        Want Better Forecasting? Silence the Noise
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/want-better-forecasting-silence-the-noise/
From predicting the weather to possible election outcomes, forecasts have a wide range of applications. Research shows that many forces can interfere with the process of predicting outcomes accurately — among them are bias, information and noise.

11        Cracking the code of repair analytics
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/cracking-the-code-of-repair-analytics

Increased availability of low-cost connected devices has made it possible to collect vast amounts of data from the field. At the same time, advances in machine learning allow companies to apply analytics to discover, interpret, and communicate insights. The combination is already opening new opportunities for those companies that are building significant new capabilities in a part of the business that long seemed resistant to change.

12        How to Decrease Churn Rate Through Excellent Customer Service
https://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/how-to-decrease-churn-rate-through-excellent-customer-service-02261126

Customer churn, also known as customer attrition, is usually not the most feel-good metric, but it’s an important one for companies to pay attention to. The term refers to the percentage of customers who stop using your product or service during a certain period of time. It gives you a clear picture of customer retention, which is a vital factor for business success.

13        3 Video Marketing Tactics to Improve Customer Engagement
https://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/3-video-marketing-tactics-to-improve-customer-engagement/

Video marketing isn’t a new channel to explore for most marketers, but still there are some who have yet to work on a video content strategy to further engage their audiences. That said, marketers can’t ignore that websites with videos are 53 times more likely to appear on top of Google’s search results. It’s undeniable that videos are engaging.

14        Key Polymer Additive Manufacturing Highlights from Formnext 2019: Plastics Technology
https://www.ptonline.com/blog/post/key-polymer-additive-manufacturing-highlights-from-formnext-2019
Another big-time exhibition and conference recently wrapped up in Germany. Formnext 2019 (Nov. 19-22; Frankfurt, Germany) is completely dedicated to the additive manufacturing industry, and there was a ton of news and technology announced at the show. Here are some of the highlights:

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 39

Friday, November 22, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 39

1          Forget OPEC: China Now Moves The Oil Markets
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Forget-OPEC-China-Now-Moves-The-Oil-Markets.html
Not so long ago, oil prices would surge or plummet on just a whisper from OPEC, who at the time held all the supply cards. The mere hint that the world’s most powerful oil cartel was going to cut production could send oil prices up dramatically. Those days are over.

2          Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Trade Deal Confusion Takes Backseat to Renewed OPEC Output Cuts
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-trade-deal-confusion-takes-backseat-to-renewed-opec-output-cuts-614932

Unless there is a major break-through in the trade deal negotiations, good or bad, crude oil prices are likely to be largely supported by the news that OPEC and its allies likely to agree to maintain its production cuts when it meets on December 5-6.

3          Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/natural-gas-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-ripe-for-near-term-short-covering-rally-with-2-696-first-target-614960

Natural gas futures are trading higher on Friday after the government reported a larger-than-expected drop in inventories to kick-off the withdrawal season on Thursday.

4          Weekly resin report: Relentless downward pressure on spot PE pricing continues
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-relentless-downward-pressure-on-spot-pe-pricing-continues/117129832661898

Mid-November in the spot resin markets was characterized by aggressive discounting, as the vast majority of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) grades lost $0.01/lb in a continuation of the downdraft in pricing. Completed volumes at the PlasticsExchange (Chicago) trading desk were above average last week, driven by better buying from PP processors, who enjoyed the savings, reports the resin clearinghouse in its weekly Market Update. PE buyers were more cautious, however, and again generally chose to procure minimum quantities, often just single truckloads.

5          H1 2019 western Europe olefins production down 7-8% year on year
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2019/11/19/10445778/h1-2019-western-europe-olefins-production-down-7-8-year-on-year

The production of ethylene, propylene and butadiene (BD) in western Europe was down 7-8% in the first half of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018, according to the latest figures from Petrochemicals Europe.

6          The IEA’s outlook to 2040: Ed Crooks’ Energy Pulse
https://www.woodmac.com/news/opinion/the-ieas-outlook-to-2040/
In this scenario, North America’s net exports of gas rise steeply from 16 billion cubic metres last year to 150 bcm in 2030, but then remain roughly flat until the end of that decade. The IEA thinks US gas production is likely to grow rapidly until the mid-2020s and then level off, in tandem with a similar plateau in oil production.

7          Global refiners raise cleaner shipping fuel output ahead of IMO 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-imo-factbox-idUSKBN1XU0RK
Global oil refiners have upgraded processing units and adjusted operations to raise output of low-sulphur residual fuels and marine gasoil (MGO) to prepare for stricter shipping fuel standards that kick in on Jan. 1, 2020.

8          New Petrochemicals Project Near Houston to Rely on Lower 48 NGL Feedstock
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/120258-new-petrochemicals-project-near-houston-to-rely-on-lower-48-ngl-feedstock

Houston-based Next Wave Energy Partners LP on Wednesday sanctioned a 28,000 b/d capacity alkylate production facility near Houston that would be fueled by domestic natural gas liquids (NGL).

9          Saudi Arabia seals petrochemical investment deals worth more than $2bn
https://www.thenational.ae/business/saudi-arabia-seals-petrochemical-investment-deals-worth-more-than-2bn-1.940668

Saudi Arabia sealed more than $2 billion (Dh7.34bn) in investment deals with top global companies and local entities to boost the petrochemicals sector in the kingdom.

10        Dirt Cheap Gasoline Is Fueling Colombia’s Cocaine Cartels
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Dirt-Cheap-Gasoline-Is-Fueling-Colombias-Cocaine-Cartels.html

Every day, $3 million worth of fuel is smuggled into Colombia from various neighbors who can’t seem to keep their borders under control. Even worse, this is the gas that fuels the mighty cocaine industry.

11        Repsol introduces new LDPE grades for medical and pharmaceutical applications
https://www.plasticstoday.com/medical/repsol-introduces-new-ldpe-grades-medical-and-pharmaceutical-applications/211523924661910

New grades of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) for medical device and pharmaceutical packaging applications have been introduced by Repsol, a global energy and chemicals company headquartered in Madrid. It made the announcement at Compamed, a medical manufacturing trade show co-located with Medica this week in Düsseldorf, Germany.

12        Petrobras set to become world’s largest oil producer
https://www.rystadenergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/petrobras-set-to-become-worlds-largest-oil-producer/

Brazil’s Petrobras is on track to become the world’s largest oil producer among publicly listed companies by 2030, based on Rystad Energy’s latest data and forecasts.

13        Exxon Credit Rating Outlook Lowered by Moody’s
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/exxon_credit_rating_outlook_lowered_by_moodys-20-nov-2019-160385-article/

Exxon Mobil Corp. had the outlook on its top-notch debt rating lowered by Moody’s Investors Service Inc. to negative due to a “substantial” cash burn to fund growth.

14        Shippers Struggling to Get 2020-Compliant Fuel
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/shippers_struggling_to_get_2020compliant_fuel-19-nov-2019-160374-article/

Ships hauling everything from iron ore to coal and grains are struggling to obtain the fuels they need to test them in time for the start of sweeping environmental legislation that takes effect in six weeks’ time, a situation that could ultimately result in vessels having to temporarily halt trading.

15        Gulf of Mexico poised to continue record production
https://www.rystadenergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/gulf-of-mexico-poised-to-continue-record-production/

Despite massive cuts in investment the US Gulf of Mexico is set for another year of record oil production in 2020, according to Rystad Energy.

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 10

Friday, November 22, 2019

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 10

1          Global fossil fuel production on track to bust Paris climate targets
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/fossil-fuel-overshoot-1.5365974

The world’s major fossil fuel producers are set to bust global environmental goals with excessive coal, oil and gas extraction in the next decade, the United Nations and research groups said on Wednesday in the latest warning over climate crisis.

2          Who Will Fund the Renewables Boom of the Next 15 Years?
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/where-renewables-capital-will-come-from
Wood Mackenzie estimates that the combined global capex spend on wind and solar projects will range from around $165 billion to $190 billion a year between 2020 and 2035. That calculation is based on realistic growth scenarios as well as project development at a global average cost of around $1.00 per watt for onshore wind and solar.

3          Oil giant Total to build ‘Nordics’ largest battery’ at wind farm
https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/oil-giant-total-to-build-nordics-largest-battery-at-wind-farm/2-1-709937

Oil supermajor Total’s energy storage unit Saft said it will build the largest lithium-ion battery system in the Nordics at a wind farm in Finland.

The 5.6MW/6.6MWh storage facility will be deployed at a 21MW wind project in the Finnish northwest developed by TuuliWatti, a statement said.

4          Volvo Uses Blockhain to Ensure Ethical EV Batteries
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/11/20/volvo-uses-blockchain-to-ensure-ethical-evs/
Blockchain technology is (in the simplest way I can think of to describe it) a time-stamped series of transactions that are linked together, mathematically, to form a “chain.” Each transaction in the chain is a “block,” and they’re tied together using  fancy math in a way that makes it impossible for the chain to be modified. Blockchains have been used by digital currency markets to ensure transparent and secure transactions — but now, Volvo is using it for something else: to guarantee that the batteries in its EVs aren’t made from “conflict minerals.”

5          The Next Stage Of The Electric Vehicle Boom
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Next-Stage-Of-The-Electric-Vehicle-Boom.html

Transportation needs to clean up its act. As we edge closer and closer to a greenhouse gas emissions tipping point toward catastrophic climate change, it becomes harder to deny that the carbon-spewing internal combustion engine’s days are numbered. Back in 2017, the Economist announced the “death of the internal combustion engine,” saying that “The shift from fuel and pistons to batteries and electric motors is unlikely to take that long. The first death rattles of the internal combustion engine are already reverberating around the world—and many of the consequences will be welcome.”

6          Henkel, BASF Collaborate on Chemical Recycling: Plastics Technology
https://www.ptonline.com/blog/post/henkel-basf-collaborate-on-chemical-recycling

More advances continue to take place in chemical recycling. Henkel has produced Perwoll bottles using chemically recycled plastic in collaboration with packaging manufacturer Alpla—this pilot project is part of the ChemCycling project led by BASF.

7          Fast Times for the U.S. Residential Solar Market
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-latest-trends-in-residential-solar-q3

Fall earnings season brought a barrage of new data on the performance of rooftop solar installers, since all the large national players are publicly traded.

For one thing, the national residential solar company is very much alive, contrary to fears of years past that these companies couldn’t survive and arguments that solar is an inherently local business.

8          Amazon making ‘solid progress’ toward renewable future
https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/blog/amazon-making-solid-progress-toward-renewable-future/

Amazon.com Inc. is making “solid progress” toward its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030, according to new research by BloombergNEF.

9          How to Get Corporate Strategy to Engage with Climate Change
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/corporate-strategy-engage-climate-change/
In January this year, Pacific Gas and Electric declared bankruptcy as sparks from its equipment were found to be the cause of wildfires, and it cannot afford to cover the liabilities which this entails. In October, it cut service to more than a million Californians, again because of wildfires.

10        Europe’s Biggest Gas Grid Ramps Up Hydrogen Efforts
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/europes-biggest-gas-grid-ramps-up-hydrogen-efforts

The largest natural gas infrastructure firm in Europe has launched a new hydrogen business and increased its financing for low carbon projects.

Snam, which runs the Italian gas grid and is active in France, Greece and the U.K., has pledged to direct 20 percent of its annual investments into sustainable projects by 2023 via its SnamTec arm.

11        Oil and Gas Companies Can Power Offshore Platforms with Renewables
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/oil-and-gas-companies-can-power-offshore-platforms-with-renewables

Today, around 5 percent of global offshore oil and gas wellhead production is used as fuel to power offshore production platforms.

However, using wellhead production to power operations reduces sales volumes and increases the carbon footprint of operations, which in turn poses a potential tax burden for the oil and gas companies in the future.

12        Coca-Cola Sweden first to switch to 100% recycled bottles
https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/environment/coca-cola-sweden-first-switch-100-recycled-bottles-21-11-2019

The transition will begin in the first quarter of 2020 and includes all plastic (PET) packaging made at Coca-Cola’s bottling plant in Jordbro.

13        Tetra Pak claims food and drink first with traceable plant-based pack
https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/top-story/tetra-pak-claims-food-drink-first-traceable-plant-based-polymers-19-11-2019

The company said the move is yet another reinforcement of its commitment to drive ethical and responsible business practices across global supply chains, while lowering the carbon footprint of its packaging.

14        Sustainable Debt Joins the Trillion-Dollar Club
https://about.bnef.com/blog/sustainable-debt-joins-the-trillion-dollar-club/

Total issuance of sustainable debt has surpassed $1 trillion in a landmark moment for the market, according to new data compiled by research company BloombergNEF (BNEF). This milestone was announced today at the Sustainable Bonds Forum hosted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington, D.C.

15        Utility-Scale Solar Set to Eclipse Onsite Installations in US Corporate Market
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/corporate-utility-scale-solar-to-surpass-onsite-solar
Starting next year, offsite corporate deals are expected to become the largest source of business-led solar procurement in the United States.

16        SunPower, Goldman Sachs Awarded Big JFK Solar Project
https://solarindustrymag.com/sunpower-goldman-sachs-awarded-big-jfk-solar-project
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has awarded New York City’s single-largest solar energy project – a development at John F. Kennedy International Airport – to SunPower Corp. and Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Group.

17        If You Can’t Do Nuclear, Try (Concentrating) Solar Power Instead
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/11/19/concentrating-solar-power-breakthrough/
Some great news for concentrating solar power fans sailed in over the transom this morning. Mega wealthy person and famed US investor Bill Gates may be chasing the nuclear unicorn with his startup Terrapower, but meanwhile his other startup Heliogen — his secret one! — has just burst out of stealth mode with a new concentrating solar power breakthrough in its pocket.

18        Dura-Last urges companies to ‘Recycle Your Roof’
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/dura-last-urges-companies-recycle-your-roof

Recycling means PET bottles and HDPE milk jugs, right? Katie Chapman said recycling is much broader than that, and it can even mean PVC membranes for industrial and commercial roofing, a product that lasts for decades.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 39

Friday, November 22, 2019

Business Intelligence and Analytics 39

1          B2B marketing trends for 2020
https://www.smartinsights.com/b2b-digital-marketing/b2b-strategy/b2b-marketing-trends-for-2020/

Understanding where B2B industries are going with their marketing can help you identify trends, discover the next big thing and keep ahead of the competition. This is especially important as we get ready to head into 2020, as marketing trends are set to change for the new year, which will likely affect your upcoming strategies.

2          4 Steps to Digitally Transform Your Business
https://datafloq.com/read/4-steps-digital-transformation-your-business/7200
According to McKinsey, data-driven organisations are 23x more likely to acquire customers, 6x more likely to retain customers and 19x more likely to be profitable. Being data-driven is good for business. Therefore, it is not a surprise that one question I always get when advising organisations is how to digitally transform your business and remain relevant in these fast-changing times.

3          3 Signs Your Business is Ready for a Recommendation Engine
https://medium.com/@ODSC/3-signs-your-business-is-ready-for-a-recommendation-engine-99cf9c8b684
Data is in high demand, not just on the business side but for customer-facing solutions as well. When your business can fully integrate data into your customer journey and day to day experience, you become a more valuable tool to that customer. There’s a lot of noise out there; you need ways to personalize the experience, so your products and services stand out.

4          Advanced Machine Learning with Basic Excel
https://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/advanced-machine-learning-with-basic-excel
In this article, I present a few modern techniques that have been used in various business contexts, comparing performance with traditional methods. The advanced techniques in question are math-free, innovative, efficiently process large amounts of unstructured data, and are robust and scalable.

5          Everything a Data Scientist Should Know About Data Management
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/10/data-scientist-data-management.html
To be a real “full-stack” data scientist, or what many bloggers and employers call a “unicorn,” you have to master every step of the data science process — all the way from storing your data, to putting your finished product (typically a predictive model) in production. But the bulk of data science training focuses on machine/deep learning techniques; data management knowledge is often treated as an afterthought. Data science students usually learn modeling skills with processed and cleaned data in text files stored on their laptop, ignoring how the data sausage is made.

6          The easy way to benchmark your digital marketing performance
https://www.smartinsights.com/marketplace-analysis/competitor-analysis/benchmark-your-digital-marketing-performance/

Measuring your success is more than looking at how much traffic is coming to your site and what your conversion rate is. You can’t really get a true idea of how you are performing unless you compare yourself to your competitors.

7          Tips on Maintaining Long-Term Affiliate Relationships
https://www.business2community.com/affiliate-marketing/tips-on-maintaining-long-term-affiliate-relationships-02260178

If you’ve already got a well-oiled affiliate marketing machine running on behalf of your business, you know that it’s one of the very best ways to promote. With a reputation for boosting conversion rates, strengthening brand awareness, and upping search rankings, it’s no wonder affiliate marketing earns 15% percent of the total revenue in the realm of digital media advertising. But how do you keep the machine going with minimal maintenance, earning you big bucks along the way?

8          How Big Data And Analytics Are Transforming The Audit?
https://inc42.com/resources/how-big-data-and-analytics-are-transforming-the-audit/

Auditing always holds the biggest challenge in it, such as data privacy, Data Governance, Ethics, and Integrity. Earlier data was something that is human-generated and structured by them. Whereas, recent technological inventions have turned data to be machine-generated and unstructured. Thus, the massive cluster of data is now termed to be the Big Data. This big data is expected to have a drastic impact on productivity, profits, and risk management. Analytics, a process of verifying the data and its objectives, which draws a meaningful conclusion.

9          How to Save and Reuse Data Preparation Objects in Scikit-Learn
https://machinelearningmastery.com/how-to-save-and-load-models-and-data-preparation-in-scikit-learn-for-later-use/

It is critical that any data preparation performed on a training dataset is also performed on a new dataset in the future. This may include a test dataset when evaluating a model or new data from the domain when using a model to make predictions.

10        A Multivariate Time Series Guide to Forecasting and Modeling (with Python codes)
https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2018/09/multivariate-time-series-guide-forecasting-modeling-python-codes/

Time is the most critical factor that decides whether a business will rise or fall. That’s why we see sales in stores and e-commerce platforms aligning with festivals. These businesses analyze years of spending data to understand the best time to throw open the gates and see an increase in consumer spending.

11        How to Develop Multi-Step LSTM Time Series Forecasting Models for Power Usage
https://machinelearningmastery.com/how-to-develop-lstm-models-for-multi-step-time-series-forecasting-of-household-power-consumption/

Given the rise of smart electricity meters and the wide adoption of electricity generation technology like solar panels, there is a wealth of electricity usage data available.

This data represents a multivariate time series of power-related variables that in turn could be used to model and even forecast future electricity consumption.

12        9 tips for targeting audiences based on behavior
https://adage.com/article/industry-insights/9-tips-targeting-audiences-based-behavior/2215276

Behavioral targeting is an increasingly popular marketing method whereby advertisers leverage user data to strengthen ads. This method creates a personalized user experience based on a user’s shopping history, online behaviors and additional preferences.

13        What Good Is Data If You Don’t Use It to Reach Customers?
https://www.business2community.com/business-intelligence/what-good-is-data-if-you-dont-use-it-to-reach-customers-02259662

Digital marketing is a bona fide revolution. The ability to reach buyers where they live on the internet changed everything—how we identify customers, how we target them, and how we convince and convert. Digital marketing also opened up opportunities to actually track the buyer throughout the journey, turning people into raw data.

14        Don’t Get Stuck; Move Forward
https://www.business2community.com/strategy/dont-get-stuck-move-forward-02259570
A difficult problem can and will eventually become a roadblock so large that it renders forward progress in any productive way virtually impossible. The direct result of a roadblock as such is more often than not, procrastination, and the longer this problem is in place, the more you become convinced there are no solutions. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

15        The Future of Wearables: How Wearable Tech Will Change Everything
https://datafloq.com/read/future-wearables-how-tech-will-change-everything/5172
It’s one of the big buzzwords of the moment, the “Internet of Things”. It’s been dubbed as the next industrial revolution – or as businesses call it -Industry 4.0. Between that and A.I, there’s enough to overwhelm even the most tech-savvy. There’s talk of toasters that use machine learning to make the perfect toast, refrigerators that can order their own milk and butter when reserves are low (no more running to the corner shop before breakfast), and even buildings that have voice activation and temperature control according to the weather.

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 38

Friday, November 15, 2019

Energy, Petrochemicals and Plastics 38

1          IEA: Peak Oil Demand Is Less Than A Decade Away
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/IEA-Peak-Oil-Demand-Is-Less-Than-A-Decade-Away.html

Until about 2025, the IEA said, global oil demand will expand by about 1 percent annually, exceeding 100 million bpd and reaching 105.4 million bpd. After that growth will shrink substantially and demand will reach a plateau at less than 110 million bpd—106.4 million bpd.

2          Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/oil-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-pressured-as-demand-concerns-outweigh-trade-talk-optimism-613241

The early strength didn’t last and the markets turned lower after the IEA said on Friday, OPEC and its friends face stiffening competition in 2020, adding urgency to the oil producer group’s policy, according to Reuters.

3          Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast
https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/natural-gas-price-fundamental-daily-forecast-eia-weekly-storage-11-15-day-forecast-to-drive-price-action-612858

Natural gas futures are trading higher early Thursday and on the strong side of a key retracement zone as traders continue to react to reports calling for a fresh round of colder-trending weather. Position-squaring ahead of the U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly storage report later today could also be providing support after a steep six-day sell-off. Helping to keep a lid on prices, however, is a weaker spot market.

4          Weekly resin report: Spot PE prices slide as suppliers compete for orders
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-spot-pe-prices-slide-suppliers-compete-orders/26580568861852

Prices for both polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP)  weakened across the board last week, reports the PlasticsExchange (Chicago) in its Market Update. PE grades dropped $0.005 to 0.015/lb, although some materials such as low-density (LD) PE for film and high-density (HD) PE for dairy remained a tad snug. Spot PP prices dropped a deuce on weaker feedstock costs. There were some phenomenal resin deals presented to us, writes the PlasticsExchange, which it scooped up, because they were “just too compelling to pass up.”

5          IEA Sees $90 Crude Ahead Of Oil’s Downfall
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/IEA-Sees-90-Crude-Ahead-Of-Oils-Downfall.html

Global oil demand will plateau around 2030, according to a major new report, but the decline in demand is way too slow to head off the worsening effects of climate change.

Oil demand begins to flatten out in the 2030s “under pressure from rising fuel efficiency and the electrification of mobility,” The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its widely-anticipated annual World Energy Outlook.

6          Petchems demand for crude oil set to boom despite rising recycling rates – IEA
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2019/11/13/10443245/petchems-demand-for-crude-oil-set-to-boom-despite-rising-recycling-rates-iea

Global recycling rates are set to boom in coming decades but demand for crude oil from the petrochemicals industry is set to continue rising as emerging economies urbanise, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

7          INSIGHT: Current chems recycling not enough to make significant dent in oil demand
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2019/11/14/10444174/insight-current-chems-recycling-not-enough-to-make-significant-dent-in-oil-demand-iea

Chemicals recycling technologies that would pave the way for petrochemicals to avoid crude oil as feedstock are still not sufficient to drag down overall demand in coming decades, according to the IEA’s petrochemicals analyst.

8          Short-Term Energy Outlook – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/
Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $60 per barrel (b) in October, down $3/b from September and down $21/b from October 2018. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices will average $60/b in 2020, down from a 2019 average of $64/b. EIA forecasts that West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices will average $5.50/b less than Brent prices in 2020. EIA expects crude oil prices will be lower on average in 2020 than in 2019 because of forecast rising global oil inventories, particularly in the first half of next year.

9          U.S. Oil Production Set To Keep Rising
https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2019/11/14/us-oil-production-set-to-keep-rising/

Along with slower global demand growth, surging U.S. oil production has been the primary bearish factor in the oil market. Per U.S. Department of Energy numbers, domestic crude output is at all-time records of 12.6 million b/d, some 80% of all U.S. liquids supply. The industry has deployed constant technology and efficiency gains to compensate for less CAPEX investment and drilling.

10        Could The Aramco IPO Kill OPEC?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Could-The-Aramco-IPO-Kill-OPEC.html

The global oil market could be entering unchartered waters in the coming weeks. After the US shale revolution, which threatened OPEC’s hold on and the stability of the market, a new danger is lurking around the corner.

11        Chart builds Europe’s largest LNG vehicle fuelling station
https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/14112019/chart-builds-europes-largest-lng-vehicle-fuelling-station/

Chart Industries, Inc. has announced that it has completed the installation and commissioning of Europe’s largest LNG fuelling station for AlternOil GmbH.

The station will be operated by AlternOil following final approval by local authorities expected in early December 2019. It is located on Germany’s main A1 highway near the city of Bakum.

12        Natural rubber leaf disease raises concerns in Thailand
https://www.rubbernews.com/suppliers/natural-rubber-leaf-disease-raises-concerns-thailand

Major natural rubber producers in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have expressed concern over the spread of Pestalotiopsis leaf disease in the countries.

13        Repsol looks to Alberta to replace Mexican and Venezuelan oil
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2019/11/12/repsol-looks-to-alberta-to-replace-mexican-and-venezuelan-oil

Repsol SA is looking as far away as Western Canada for oil for its European refineries amid dwindling supplies from Mexico and Venezuela.

14        Offshore oil to peak in 2020, then join the shale slump, says analyst
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2019/11/12/offshore-oil-to-peak-in-2020-then-join-the-shale-slump-says-analyst

Offshore oil production is expected to hit a peak in 2020 before joining the shale industry in a slowdown that could dramatically rewrite market supply predictions.

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 9

Friday, November 15, 2019

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 9

1          US oil drillers face growing issue of water disposal
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/11/12/us-oil-drillers-water-disposal/
For every barrel of oil produced from the average Permian Basin well, about three barrels of water get pumped out with it. The water-to-oil ratio is lowest in the established Midland Basin, but more exaggerated in the Delaware and other Texas basins.

2          Tesla’s Newest Gigafactory Is Heading To The Heart Of Europe
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Teslas-Newest-Gigafactory-Is-Heading-To-The-Heart-Of-Europe.html

Tesla plans to build a gigafactory in Germany, chief executive Elon Musk said, adding the facility will also include a design center.

“Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding, for sure. That’s part of the reason why we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany. We are also going to create an engineering and design center in Berlin, because Berlin has some of the best art in the world,” Musk told media, as quoted by CNBC.

3          Lithium producers hit by first big downturn of electric vehicle era
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lithium-conference-producers-idUSKBN1XN0HV
The burgeoning lithium industry, which produces the powerhouse metal used to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries, has entered its first major downturn, an unwelcome bruising for investors eager to help combat climate change.

4          Show Me The Money: Capital For A Renewables Future
https://www.woodmac.com/news/opinion/show-me-the-money-capital-for-a-renewables-future/

A significant share of capacity (100-120GW of 170GW) is still expected to be awarded under fixed remuneration auctions through 2030. The role of passive and low-WACC investors, such as pension funds, is likely to increase over the long term as a result. Even a 1% increase in pension capital could provide an additional US$15-20 billion for renewable energy projects. As countries scale their auction plans, small developers are likely to consolidate their portfolios. Their share would decline.

5          Windmills and batteries to attract billions in the green energy revolution
https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/blog/windmills-and-batteries-to-attract-billions-in-the-green-energy-revolution/

The renewable energy transition promises to reduce carbon emissions, but it’s happening at different speeds around the world. Read on for some key insights from BloombergNEF’s New Energy Outlook 2019, which provides a detailed road map to the future.

6          ExxonMobil introduces new sustainable solutions and innovative applications at K2019
https://k2019.exxonmobilchemical.com/en/newsroom/exxonmobil-introduces-new-sustainable-and-innovative-applications

ExxonMobil will demonstrate at its K2019 pavilion (FG10.1) how, by working together and utilizing combined expertise, customers across the value chain can create differentiated sustainable solutions for a range of applications including: packaging, automotive, consumer products, agriculture, building and construction, hygiene and personal care, and lubricants.

7          A Third Of All Americans Live Somewhere That Will Use 100% Green Energy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2019/11/14/a-third-of-all-americans-live-somewhere-that-will-use-100-green-energy/

The clean energy movement is getting most of its traction nowadays at the local level, where cities and states are behind the sharp spike in demand for renewable energy. And now at least a dozen states and districts and 200 cities and counties have committed to achieving 100% clean energy.

8          The Uncertain Future Of Hydrogen As Transportation Energy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2019/11/12/whats-hydrogens-future-as-transportation-energy/

Hydrogen is often touted as an important transportation “fuel” in the future, though it has never gotten significant traction. One reason is confusion over what it is – it’s not an energy source, though it is used like a fuel, but rather a form of energy storage. You take some other energy source (today it’s natural gas, in the future it’s renewable electricity) and you generate the hydrogen, which you can then turn back into useful energy through a fuel cell, or even by burning it.

9          Montana lawmakers seek more time for Keystone XL public, tribal input
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pipeline-keystone-idUSKBN1XO2ZY
Montana lawmakers representing Native American tribal members called on the state’s congressional delegation and the U.S. State Department on Thursday to extend the public comment period for the environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline, saying tribes were not properly consulted.

10        Air pollution nanoparticles linked to brain cancer for first time | Environment
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/air-pollution-particles-linked-to-brain-cancer-in-new-research

The ultra-fine particles (UFPs) are produced by fuel burning, particularly in diesel vehicles, and higher exposures significantly increase people’s chances of getting the deadly cancer. Previous work has shown that nanoparticles can get into the brain and that they can carry carcinogenic chemicals.

11        Volkswagen to invest 60 billion euro in e-mobility, digital tech by 2024
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-strategy-idUSKBN1XP1CN

Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will invest 60 billion euros ($66.12 billion) by 2024 to develop electric and hybrid cars as well as digital technologies, the multi-brand car and truckmaking group said on Friday.

12        Equinor Considers Larger Role in US Renewables
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/equinor-considers-larger-role-in-us-renewables

The Norwegian oil giant has been evaluating potential onshore renewables investments in the U.S., according to Michael Wheeler, the company’s principal strategist for North America. And in floating offshore wind, where Equinor is the global leader, California beckons as a future market.

13        Top three western wind OEMs ‘to control 60% of market by 2028’
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/1876160/top-three-western-wind-oems-to-control-60-percent-of-market-by-2028

The leading three western wind turbine OEMs – Vestas, Siemens Gamesa and GE – by 2028 are expected to boost their control in the global market to 60%, or 48GW per year, up from 47% and 32GW in 2019, analyst Wood Mackenzie said.

14        EPA small refinery exemptions in the Renewable Fuel Standard explained
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=41995

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates the amount of renewable fuels refineres must blend into the U.S. transportation fuel supply. As part of the RFS program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can grant annual waivers to some petroleum refineries, called small refinery exemptions (SREs), which are provided under conditions of economic hardship. Although these SREs lessen the number of tradable compliance credits that refineries can use to comply with the RFS program, actual biofuel consumption is influenced by additional market factors.