Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 43

Friday, July 10, 2020

Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 43

1          How Warren Buffett’s Money Is Doing Environmental Double Duty With $10 Billion Pipeline Deal
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2020/07/09/how-warren-buffetts-money-is-doing-environmental-double-duty-with-10-billion-pipeline-deal/

From pig manure power to windfarms, Virginia’s Dominion Energy is transforming itself into a renewable energy powerhouse — Berkshire Hathaway’s cash will only accelerate the process.

“Pigs are extremely efficient,” says Kraig Westerbeek, who oversees renewable energy production for Smithfield Farms, the world’s biggest pork producer. For what farmers put into them, they get a lot out. “They eat 2.4 pounds of feed per pound of gain,” he says. “And they produce more gas per pound of live weight.”

2          CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere nearing levels of 15m years ago
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/09/co2-in-earths-atmosphere-nearing-levels-of-15m-years-ago

The amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is approaching a level not seen in 15m years and perhaps never previously experienced by a hominoid, according to the authors of a study.

At pre-lockdown rates of increase, within five years atmospheric CO2 will pass 427 parts per million, which was the probable peak of the mid-Pliocene warming period 3.3m years ago, when temperatures were 3C to 4C hotter and sea levels were 20 metres higher than today.

3          Siemens Energy to set out plan to exit coal-generated electricity: CEO
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-siemens-power-idUSKBN24A10Q
Siemens (SIEGn.DE) Chief Executive said on Thursday he wanted the future managing board of Siemens Energy to quickly set out plans to exit coal-generated electricity

“The fight against climate change requires a decisive change in power generation, as it is responsible for about 40 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions,” Joe Kaeser told an online general meeting on spinning out the power business.

4          In a World First, Hyundai Fuel Cell Semis Ship to Customers
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/07/07/in-a-world-first-hyundai-fuel-cell-semis-ship-to-customers/
This could be big for Hyundai. Investors are always looking for “the next big thing.” That new technology or “killer app” that will multiply their dollars again and again — and it looks like that thing might be green trucking. Nikola’s IPO last month rocketed the fuel-cell semi company to a market cap of more than $26 billion, after all, and the next stock to keep an eye may be Hyundai’s. That’s because the first examples of its hydrogen fuel cell semis are on their way to Switzerland as I type this.

5          Tesla’s Ambitious Plan To Ditch Cobalt
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Teslas-Ambitious-Plan-To-Ditch-Cobalt.html
Lithium-ion batteries have proven to be a key link in global supply chains, placing these unassuming electronics at the crux of the future of electric vehicle markets around the world. And lithium is not the EV sector’s only problem element. The electric car supply chain is also heavily dependent on cobalt, a pricey metal that makes electric cars so prohibitively expensive for most consumers, with the battery’s cobalt content accounting for an astonishing 40 percent of the car’s total value.

6          JV launched to pair 4GW with ‘world’s largest green hydro project’ in Saudi Arabia
https://www.pv-tech.org/news/jv-launched-to-pair-4gw-with-worlds-largest-green-hydro-project-in-saudi-ar
A joint venture project has been launched to develop what intends to be the world’s largest green hydrogen project, using up to 4GW of solar and other renewables as its power source.

Renewables developer ACWA Power is among the parties assembled by Air Products under an agreement to assemble a green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility in Saudi Arabia’s NEOM with the intent of turning the area into a green hydrogen powerhouse.

7          Spain Just Closed 47% Of Its Coal Power Plants, & Will Be 73% Soon
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/07/08/spain-just-closed-47-of-its-coal-power-plants-will-be-73-soon/
Sometimes it feels like the world is asleep and not jumping on the tremendous potential of low-cost solar power and low-cost wind power to stop global heating and catastrophic climate change. Sometimes you want to jump up and clap with enthusiasm at strong actions moving us forward. Luckily, this story should lead to the clapping.

Spain just closed down 7 of its remaining 15 coal power plants on June 30. That’s a flick of the switch (or something a few switches perhaps) and 47% of the country’s coal power plant capacity was shut down. And more will shut down soon.

8          Activists Not Only Slow Oil Pipelines, But Also Power Lines Needed For Renewable Energy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcarpenter/2020/07/09/oil-pipelines-hit-a-dead-end-so-do-power-lines-needed-for-renewable-energy/

Builders of oil and gas pipelines suffered a trio of setbacks over legal challenges in the space of just 36 hours between Sunday and Monday. An $8 billion natural gas pipeline was cancelled, the Dakota Access oil pipeline was ordered to shut down for up to 13 months, and the Supreme Court declined to greenlight the infamous Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Pipeline builders nodded grimly: growing environmental opposition and expanded federal environmental reviews mean it’s simply not as easy as it once was to build pipelines.

9          The Future Of EV Charging May Be At 50KW, Not The ‘Gasoline Thinking’ of 250KW
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2020/07/09/the-future-of-ev-charging-may-be-at-50kw-not-the-gasoline-thinking-of-250kw/

Carmakers and charging stations have been engaging in a “mine’s bigger than yours” competition with their high speed DC charging stations. Tesla paved the way by installing a network of 120KW chargers which later were upgraded to 150kw. Porsche demonstrated a 350KW charger for its Taycan. Tesla upgraded its newest stations to deliver 250KW. Non-Tesla networks started with 50KW stations, but as the CCS charging system improved, new deployments, particularly on the “Electrify America” network have gone to 150KW with a few even higher.

10        Siemens spins off its gas turbine and wind power business
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/7/9/siemens-spins-off-its-gas-turbine-and-wind-power-business
Siemens AG shareholders approved a spinoff of the company’s energy business, one of CEO Joe Kaeser’s last major moves to reshape the German industrial stalwart.

More than 99% of shareholders approved the motion to create an independent Siemens Energy AG at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on Thursday. The company, with almost 29 billion euros ($33 billion) in annual revenue, is scheduled to begin trading on Sept. 28.

11        Shell’s shipping study confirms LNG as transition fuel
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/shells-shipping-study-confirms-lng-as-transition-fuel/
The report named “Decarbonizing Shipping: All Hands on Deck” is a joint research by Shell and Deloitte.

Shell says the report lays a “roadmap of solutions to help the industry meet the International Maritime Organization’s ambition to reduce carbon emissions”.

Deloitte interviewed 82 senior shipping executives from 22 countries across Europe, Asia and North America for this research project.

12        Three major policy trends to watch for in China’s renewable energy market
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/three-major-policy-trends-to-watch-for-in-chinas-renewable-energy-market/581344/

In the U.S. and around the world, leading companies increasingly recognize the critical role they must play in addressing climate change. More step forward every day to commit to bold climate and renewable energy targets, not only for their direct operations but also for their supply chains.

Across sectors — from retail, to textiles and apparel, technology and many others — global supply chains often lead back to China. For that reason, leading international companies have long been looking for cost-competitive renewable energy sourcing options there.

13        US installed more solar in Q1 2020 than ever before
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/07/10/us-installed-more-solar-in-q1-2020-than-ever-before/
The United States installed more solar in the first quarter than in any previous first quarter ever, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Almost 2 GW of utility-scale solar, 1.96 GW in total, were installed in the first three months of 2020, up more than 65% from the total installed in the first quarter of last year.

14        Nissan Leaf owners should be able to power their homes with their cars later this year
https://reneweconomy.com.au/nissan-leaf-owners-should-be-able-to-power-their-homes-with-their-cars-later-this-year-20809/

Nissan Australia says owners of the new generation Nissan Leaf electric cars should have vehicle-to-home and possibly vehicle-to-grid capabilities towards the end of this year.

The new Nissan Leaf is the only car that is factory-approved to use its battery to power the home and provide services to the grid, but so far the 590 buyers of Nissan Leafs since they arrived on the Australia market last August have not had access to the bi-directional chargers needed to use their car as a battery on wheels.

15        Honda invests in China’s CATL to jointly develop EV batteries
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-catl-honda-idUSKBN24B0ZU
Japan’s Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) will buy a 1% stake in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) (300750.SZ) and the two will jointly develop EV batteries, the companies said on Friday.

The move comes at a time when auto manufacturers and EV battery makers are joining forces in pursuit of an electric future. CATL, based in Ningde, said last year it would develop batteries with Honda and also supply batteries to Tesla (TSLA.O), Toyota (7203.T) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE).

16        Electric car maker Fisker eyes deal to go public
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spartan-energy-m-a-fisker-exclusive-idUSKBN24A2HZ
Electric vehicle maker Fisker Inc is in talks to go public through a sale to a so-called blank-check acquisition company, modeled after a successful deal earlier this year by peer Nikola Corp NKLA.O, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Nikola shares are up more than 60% since it went public last month through such a deal, as investors place bets on which startup will be the next Tesla Inc (TSLA.O). Earlier this month, autonomous vehicle technology company Velodyne Lidar agreed to be bought by blank-check company Graf Industrial Corp (GRAF.N) for $1.6 billion, fuelling a rally in the latter’s shares.

17        NREL Researchers Develop Novel Machine Learning Tech
https://solarindustrymag.com/nrel-researchers-develop-novel-machine-learning-tech
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a novel machine learning approach to quickly enhance the resolution of wind velocity data by 50 times and solar irradiance data by 25 times – an enhancement that has never been achieved before with climate data.

18        U.N. chief seeks end to financing of coal to smooth clean energy shift
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-idUSKBN24A1FI
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries on Thursday to stop financing for coal and commit not to build new coal-fired power plants to enable a shift to clean energy.

He spoke at a virtual clean energy transition summit of 40 countries representing 80% of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. They discussed steps to buoy economies, cut emissions and make energy systems more resilient to climate change.

19        Pan-European solar rooftop programme proposed by European Parliament Committee
https://www.pv-tech.org/news/pan-european-solar-rooftop-programme-proposed-by-european-parliament-commit

A proposal for a pan-European solar rooftop programme has been adopted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy.

It forms part of a wider report on energy efficiency that has been adopted by the Committee, with the European Parliament set to vote on the report during its September Plenary, which is scheduled for the week of the 14 September.

The report calls for a “massive” solar rollout, as part of the EU’s Renovation Wave initiative, which is set to begin in September 2020.

20        EU lawmakers ban nuclear from green transition fund, leave loophole for gas
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-eu-transitionfund-idUSKBN2472HN
European Union leaders are split over which fuels deserve support from the bloc’s flagship green energy fund, after lawmakers on Monday called for rules that could allow the money to be spent on some fossil gas projects.

The European Commission wants to launch a 40 billion euro ($45 billion) Just Transition Fund using cash from the bloc’s coronavirus recovery fund and its budget for 2021-27, to help carbon-intensive regions launch green industries and retrain workers currently in polluting sectors.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 72

Friday, July 10, 2020

Business Intelligence and Analytics 72

1          The Great Innovation Deceleration
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-great-innovation-deceleration/
The rise of the West is often traced back to the Black Death of the mid-1300s, which killed over 40% of Europe’s population. For example, some historians think that the resulting labor scarcity increased the bargaining power of peasants in the West, which led to the end of serfdom and to higher standards of living but failed to bring about institutional change in the East.

Many parallels between COVID-19 and the Black Death have been drawn, but most of them are unhelpful. In a medieval economy, fewer people meant more land per person and a higher income for the average citizen.

2          Taking supplier collaboration to the next level
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/taking-supplier-collaboration-to-the-next-level

Buyers and suppliers can work together to develop innovative new products, for example, boosting revenues and profits for both parties. They can take an integrated approach to supply-chain optimization, redesigning their processes together to reduce waste and redundant effort, or jointly purchasing raw materials. Or they can collaborate in forecasting, planning, and capacity management—thereby improving service levels, mitigating risks, and strengthening the combined supply chain.

3          Some Revelations in Consumer Behavior Since COVID-19
https://www.business2community.com/consumer-marketing/some-revelations-in-consumer-behavior-since-covid-19-02325856

A recent Morning Consult/Bloomberg News poll had some fascinating stats to share regarding the impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior. There’s nothing here that’s surprised me, but the shift in purchasing habits is significant and worthy of a closer look.

Some business folks in general have been worried by these figures, which is why I wanted to take a moment to discuss it. In my view, the survey overall gives no reason to panic—but it does offer plenty of incentives to pay attention and adapt.

4          The Cost of Confidence
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-cost-of-confidence/
The COVID-19 pandemic has knocked consumer confidence hard, with profound and far-reaching implications. It has disrupted every aspect of daily life, including employment, consumption, and freedom of movement, creating uncertainty about what is safe and what lies ahead. Standard business has been upended, vaporizing certain norms consumers have always expected and assumed. This has created challenges and opportunities to which every organization — brand owners, especially — must now respond.

5          Reduce Contact Center Traffic by 19% and Increase Customer Satisfaction
https://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/reduce-contact-center-traffic-by-19-and-increase-customer-satisfaction-a-qa-02325875

What’s driving your contact center demand?

It’s a simple question, and no harm to remind ourselves. Most callers look to clarify something. Maybe they just received a notice around revised terms for an insurance policy. Questions typically relate to these three things: payments, charges or queries around a specific product or service. For all these categories, clarity of communications is key. And conversely, complex communications drive increased calls, and increased costs.

6          Pull and Analyze Financial Data Using a Simple Python Package
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2020/07/pull-analyze-financial-data-simple-python-package.html
Stock market analysis and good investing (for long-term growth) require careful examination of the financial data. Various metrics and ratios are often used in such analysis i.e. to assess the inherent quality of a stock. You may have heard about some of them in the talk from financial and investment experts.

For example, the Price-over-Earning ratio or PE ratio. It is the ratio of the share price over the annual earnings/share.

7          Demystifying modeling: How quantitative models can–and can’t–explain the world
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk/our-insights/demystifying-modeling-how-quantitative-models-can-and-cant-explain-the-world

One of the many impacts of the COVID-19 crisis has been to highlight the role of quantitative models in our lives. Ideas associated with modeling, such as flattening the curve of disease transmission, are now regularly discussed in the media and among families and friends. Across the globe, we are trying to understand the numbers and what they mean for us.

8          Motivating Your Workers With Opportunity Marketplaces
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/video/motivating-your-workers-with-opportunity-marketplaces/
The COVID-19 crisis has made organizations vastly more aware of the need for greater flexibility, adaptability, and communications in the distributed workplace.

Getting work done well and on time is job one, but what needs to come next? How do you quickly, cheaply, adaptively, and thoughtfully set yourself up for a future requiring unprecedented workplace and workforce agility? One promising idea revealed by recent MIT SMR research is opportunity marketplaces. These internal project marketplaces offer transparency and visibility around opportunities within organizations and use data and assorted analytic techniques to make matching recommendations between opportunities and people.

9          Crisis leadership: An agenda for troubled times
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/from-a-room-called-fear-to-a-room-called-hope-a-leadership-agenda-for-troubled-times

Leadership matters most—and is hardest to do well—when people face objective threats, when old ways of working are no longer possible, and when confusion and anxiety abound. These are brutal and relentless facts of organizational life for tens of thousands of leaders who feel heightened responsibility for billions of people as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

10        The urban job escalator has stopped moving
http://news.mit.edu/2020/urban-job-escalator-stopped-0708
The great U.S. economic boom after World War II was an urban phenomenon. Tens of millions of Americans flocked to cities to work and forge a future in the nation’s middle class. And for a few decades, living in the big city paid off.

By 1980, four-year college graduates in the most urban quartile of job markets had incomes 40 percent greater, per household, than college graduates in the least urban quartile. And workers without four-year college degrees (“non-college” workers) in the same urban areas had hourly wages 35 percent higher than their rural counterparts.

11        How AI Motivates A Remote Workforce
https://insidebigdata.com/2020/07/06/how-ai-motivates-a-remote-workforce/
The COVID-19 virus has caused millions of white-collar knowledge workers to work from home, and while this could be seen as a boon to productivity, unfortunately it is not.  These remote workers battle hundreds of daily distractions from helping children to making dinner along with the usual online breaks.  Over time, these non-company activities add up and can yield at least 3-4 hours of unproductive work time.

12        Reviving High-Touch Business Models for the Social Distancing Era
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/reviving-high-touch-business-models-for-the-social-distancing-era/
The demand for many products and services has evaporated over the past several months as consumers have altered their typical patterns while adhering to stay-at-home orders and social distancing practices. But a unique set of businesses that may evoke feelings of nostalgia for some — including milk and frozen-food delivery services, and drive-in theaters — are attracting renewed interest. Such business models were quite prominent in the past but fell out of favor due to excessive costs, inconvenient distribution, or changes in consumer behavior. In the current era of social distancing, however, their high-touch, high-contact features are very desirable.

Energy Petrochemicals and Plastics 71

Friday, July 3, 2020

Energy Petrochemicals and Plastics 71

1          Weekly Resin Report: Higher Price Cycle Now Underway
https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/weekly-resin-report-higher-price-cycle-now-underway/199583329363268

As the end of the second quarter drew near, completed volumes were better than year-ago levels but fell short of our first-quarter average, reports the PlasticsExchange in its Market Update. Both polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) prices were firm and the bottom end of both of those markets continued to lift. The flow of fresh railcars slowed as producers seek to raise prices in July; some PE and PP grades have become outright scarce.

2          Oil falls below $43 on virus fears, still heads for weekly gain
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN244030
Oil fell below $43 a barrel on Friday as a resurgence of coronavirus cases raised concern that fuel demand growth could stall, although crude was still headed for a weekly gain on lower supply and wider signs of economic recovery.

The United States reported more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new daily global record for the pandemic. The rise in cases suggested U.S. jobs growth, which jumped in June, could suffer a setback.

“If this trend continues, oil demand in the region is at risk,” said Louise Dickson of Rystad Energy.

3          Oil Refining – Facing Up To Structural Overcapacity
https://www.woodmac.com/news/the-edge/oil-refining-facing-up-to-structural-overcapacity/
Refining was rejuvenated in the early years of this century. Overcapacity and depressed margins forced refiners to focus on costs and managing for margin. Proof of success was the resilience of refining profitability after the oil price crash of 2014, and the elevation of downstream leaders to the very top of Big Oil.

The current downturn is tougher than any experienced before, and may even be providing a glimpse into refining’s long-term challenges when oil demand eventually enters decline. I asked Alan Gelder, Head of Downstream Oil, and Gerrit Venter, Corporate Analysis, how the industry will respond this time.

4          Pandemic hastens threat of closure for struggling oil refineries
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-refining-capacity-idUSKBN2431VC
The collapse in oil demand from the COVID-19 pandemic is hastening the reckoning for those refiners already struggling as new capacity overtakes demand, posing an existential threat to many, particularly Europe’s ageing plants.

Even before the pandemic struck, which at its height destroyed over 20% of global oil demand, analysts expected global refining capacity would have to rationalise, particularly in Europe.

5          Big Oil’s Nightmare Is Coming True
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Big-Oils-Nightmare-Is-Coming-True.html
Royal Dutch Shell said that it could cut the value of its oil and gas assets by as much as $22 billion, as it takes a dim view of the state of the oil market. The move adds more evidence to the notion that a huge slice of oil reserves will wind up as stranded assets.  Shell cut its Brent oil prices forecast from $60 per barrel to $35 for this year, and lowered its 2021 and 2022 forecasts to $40 and $50 per barrel, respectively, down from $60 previously. The lower outlook reflects the expected damage to the oil market due to the coronavirus and the negative impacts on the global economy, Shell said.

6          Goldman Sachs sees oil demand returning to pre-coronavirus levels by 2022
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-research-goldman-idUSKBN2430IE
Goldman Sachs said on Thursday a pick-up in commuting, a shift to private transportation and government efforts to improve economies with higher infrastructure spending should help global oil demand return to pre-coronavirus levels by 2022.

Demand is expected to fall by 8% this year, before rebounding 6% in 2021 and fully recovering to pre-pandemic levels by 2022, the U.S. bank said in a note.

7          OPEC basket oil price rises above $40 for first time in four months
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-opec-prices-idUSKBN2432FV
he Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket oil price rose above $40/bbl for the first time in four months, reflecting higher official selling prices, according to the group’s data.

The basket price stood at $42.66/bbl on July 1, almost 12% higher than the previous day, and the highest since March 3, the data showed.

8          Are Oil Bulls In For A Disappointing July?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Are-Oil-Bulls-In-For-A-Disappointing-July.html
The oil market continues to tighten, but the surge of coronavirus cases in the U.S. could derail the rally in crude prices.  OPEC+ can claim most of the credit for engineering an oil price rally, keeping upwards of 9.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) offline for several months. The one-month extension through July added to the effort, as did the improved compliance. “Although there is still the danger of demand outages in view of increased new cases of Covid-19, OPEC+ seems to have the market under control at the moment,” Commerzbank wrote in a note on Wednesday.

9          China’s manufacturing sector helping boost oil demand
https://www.argusmedia.com/pages/NewsBody.aspx?id=2119674&menu=yes
China’s manufacturing sector continued to strengthen in June, helping boost oil demand.

The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China increased to 51.2 in June from 50.7 in May, in what was the second successive monthly increase. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in the sector. Demand also picked up, with the sub-index for total new orders expanding for the first time since January.

10        US aluminum sees bright spot amid coronavirus crisis
https://blogs.platts.com/2020/07/02/us-aluminum-demand-coronavirus-pandemic/
The US metals market, in particular, saw the removal of an estimated 33,000 vehicles per day from production as all major auto producers across the country halted operations in response to government mandates and concerns over the welfare of workers.

Because the transportation sector is the largest end user of aluminum, accounting for around 35% of aluminum consumption, it is easy to see why so many market participants expressed concern over the lingering effects coronavirus would have on the health of the industry.

11        US petrochemical industry forced to rethink investment decisions amid COVID-19 pandemic
https://www.bicmagazine.com/industry/investment-banking/globaldata-us-petrochemical-industry-forced-to-rethink-inves/

The COVID-19 outbreak and crude oil price crash have pushed petrochemical companies in the US to announce project delays. With major complexes such as Shell Beaver County Complex and Formosa St. James Parish Complex having already been affected, prevailing uncertainties and economic slowdown due to the outbreak could push companies to make more such announcements over the short-term, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

12        Worldwide offshore rig count in June down 65 units year over year
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/worldwide-offshore-rig-count-in-june-down-65-units-year-over-year/
The worldwide offshore rig count in June 2020 dropped by 65 rigs year-over-year and 2 rigs sequentially, according to a report by Baker Hughes.

Baker Hughes splits its report into an international and North America one, which combine into a worldwide rig count.

The international rig count for June 2020 was 781 down 24 from the 805 counted in May 2020, and down 357 from the 1,138 counted in June 2019.

13        Non-Pemex imports of refined products into Mexico facing delays
https://www.argusmedia.com/pages/NewsBody.aspx?id=2119717&menu=yes
Non-Pemex imports of refined products into Mexico are facing more bureaucratic delays in recent weeks, according to shippers, with customs officials putting holds on diesel cargoes in particular.

Excessive delays in customs have been long been a complaint among Mexican importers. One private-sector Mexico City-based importer said he had to move away from truck deliveries to rail in order to see fewer delays.

14        OPEC cuts June oil exports by 1.84 million bpd: Kpler
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-opec-idUSKBN24318C
OPEC cut oil exports in June by 1.84 million barrels per day (bpd) from May levels as it works to implement an output reduction agreement with Russia and other allies, according to estimates from Kpler, which tracks oil shipments.

OPEC’s crude exports averaged 17.2 million bpd last month, Kpler said in an emailed report. Saudi exports accounted for almost half of the month-on-month drop, falling by 979,000 bpd.

15        Exxon signals second quarterly loss in a row on production, refining hit
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-outlook-idUSKBN2431M1
Exxon Mobil Corp’s (XOM.N) oil and gas producing and refining businesses will report operating losses in the second quarter, it said in a regulatory filing on Thursday, setting the stage for the company to post another quarterly loss this year.

Oil prices are down 35% since January as the Covid-19 pandemic slashed demand and a global glut forced widespread production cuts. Rivals Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and BP Plc (BP.L) have disclosed massive spending cuts and writedowns due to the price drop.

16        Braskem Completes Construction of World-Scale PP Facility in LaPorte, Texas
https://www.ptonline.com/news/braskem-completes-construction-of-world-scale-pp-facility-in-laporte-texas
Braskem (Philadelphia) has completed construction of its newest, world-class PPproduction facility in La Porte, Texas.  Said to be the first new PP facility built in North America since 2003, Braskem’s facility has a designed production capacity of over 1-billion lb/yr and has the capability to produce the entire PP portfolio including including homopolymer, impact copolymer and random copolymer.

17        Asia naphtha draws support from sturdy demand; premiums firm
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2020/06/30/10524383/asia-naphtha-draws-support-from-sturdy-demand-premiums-firm

Asia naphtha prices are finding support from healthy downstream sectors, helping to underpin spot cargo premiums, with supportive near-term demand likely to be sustained.

Open-specification naphtha prices for first-half August averaged at $385/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Japan at early hours session on Tuesday, reversing the losses from the previous session on 29 June to climb by over $18/tonne.

18        South Korean steam crackers to use more LPG feedstock from July as discount to naphtha widens
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/petrochemicals/070120-south-korean-steam-crackers-to-use-more-lpg-feedstock-from-july-as-discount-to-naphtha-widens

The diverging price spread between LPG and naphtha in recent weeks has incentivized South Korean petrochemical producers to partially switch feedstock from naphtha to LPG from July, market participants said.

South Korean naphtha buyers Hanwha Total, LG Chem, Lotte Chem and YNCC have all purchased LPG to take advantage of the cheaper feedstock, company sources have confirmed in recent days.

“Most of the South Korean crackers have bought LPG,” a South Korean naphtha end-user said.

19        IEEFA update: Problems mount for PTTGCA petrochemical plant
https://ieefa.org/ieefa-update-foot-dragging-over-pttgca-petrochemical-complex-project-in-ohio/
New disclosures by Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical America (PTTGCA) regarding its proposed petrochemical plant planned for Belmont County, Ohio, illuminate the financial risks facing the project. Interested citizens, community advocates and elected leaders should understand these risks and the disturbing implications for the future of the community.

20        Saudi Arabia Eyes Total Dominance In Oil And Gas
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Saudi-Arabia-Eyes-Total-Dominance-In-Oil-And-Gas.html
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz claimed last week that the Kingdom will be the world’s biggest hydrocarbon producer “even” in 2050.

“I can assure that Saudi Arabia will not only be the last producer, but Saudi Arabia will produce every molecule of hydrocarbon and it will put it to good use … It will be done in the most environmentally sound and safe way and the most sustainable way,” Abdulaziz said when asked about the oil market outlook in 2050 during a virtual conference convened by Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative Institute (FII-I).

Recycling Renewables and Sustainable Business 42

Friday, July 3, 2020

Recycling Renewables and Sustainable Business 42

1          Second Life: Car Makers and Storage Startups Get Serious About Reusing Batteries
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/car-makers-and-startups-get-serious-about-reusing-batteries
Batteries aren’t dead when they come to the end of their useful life in an electric vehicle.

Reused or “second-life” lithium-ion batteries still have a lot of juice left in them, but so far using these batteries in stationary applications has yet to gain real market traction. New research, growing automotive industry interest and an expanding startup ecosystem suggests that could now finally be changing.

2          IEA report appears to acknowledge 2050 net zero may be beyond us
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/07/02/iea-report-appears-to-acknowledge-2050-net-zero-may-be-beyond-us/

Under the ‘sustainable development scenario’ outlined in today’s Special Report on Clean Energy Innovation, the IEA considers the technological advancement required to reach a net-zero-carbon world by 2070, rather than the 2050 s**t-or-bust deadline outlined in so many previous publications. Reaching net zero in 50 years’ time would give us a 66% chance of limiting the global average temperature rise to 1.8 degrees Celsius, is the chastening conclusion reached.

3          Invest in the green economy and we’ll recover from the Covid-19 crisis | Joseph Stiglitz

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/02/invest-in-the-green-economy-and-well-recover-from-the-covid-19-crisis

Although it seems like ancient history, it hasn’t been that long since economies around the world began to close down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Early in the crisis, most people anticipated a quick V-shaped recovery, on the assumption that the economy merely needed a short timeout. After two months of tender loving care and heaps of money, it would pick up where it left off.

4          Eyes in the sky: Investors reach for new tools to gauge climate change risk
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-investments-risks-insi-idUSKBN24319Y
In the twilight years of past civilisations, astrologers would scour the heavens for signs of impending calamity. In an era where climate change is eroding age-old certainties, a new cast of characters is searching for answers in the sky.

A small but growing network of asset managers, academics, start-up entrepreneurs and campaigners are working to harness an armada of recently deployed satellites to better predict the economic impact of global warming.

5          Digitising the solar revolution
https://www.energy-storage.news/blogs/digitising-the-solar-revolution
Our ability to generate renewable energy is scaling up fast, and solutions to integrate that energy will rely on technologies like blockchain to help keep new solutions on track. Power Ledger’s executive chairman and co-founder, Dr Jemma Green, looks at the role blockchain plays within her company’s platform to integrate and automate solar energy trading and balancing.

6          From waste to fuel: the prospects for renewable natural gas in the US
https://blogs.platts.com/2020/06/30/renewable-natural-gas-us-waste-biogas/
While hydrogen initiatives have been grabbing headlines thanks to large-scale national plans and projects at corporate level, renewable natural gas (RNG) also deserves attention as an emerging tool for decarbonization.

RNG comes from capturing biogas from areas like landfills and farms and then cleaning and upgrading that gas to remove excess carbon dioxide to then turn it into biomethane, which is more commonly referred to as RNG. This process is needed to bring the methane portion of biogas to a level that can then be blended with conventional natural gas on existing pipeline infrastructure, to avoid diminishing the quality or heat content of the pipeline.

7          University Researchers Seek Ways to Recycle ‘Unrecyclable’ Polymers
https://www.plasticstoday.com/recycling/university-researchers-seek-ways-recycle-unrecyclable-polymers/60934984363276

George Huber, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted in the university’s news publication that he hopes to “close the loop on plastics recycling through a new research venture that leverages his expertise in biofuels” via pyrolysis technology. Huber co-founded Anellotech (Pearl River, NY) in 2008, a company that recently announced a laboratory demonstration of its Plas-TCat technology, which transforms mixed plastic waste directly into chemicals.

8          11 industry majors pave way for accelerating energy transition
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/11-industry-majors-pave-way-for-accelerating-energy-transition/
Eleven industry majors including AWS, Carrefour Group, CMA CGM Group, Cluster Maritime Français, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Engie, Faurecia, Michelin, Schneider Electric, Total and Wärtsilä have formed a coalition for the energy of the future.

The coalition aims to accelerate the development of energy sources and technologies to address the challenges posed by sustainable mobility in the transport and logistics industry by reducing emissions, fighting global warming and protecting biodiversity.

9          Data Scientists Have Developed a Faster Way to Reduce Pollution, Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2020/07/data-scientists-faster-way-reduce-pollution-cut-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html

Polymeric membranes assist with a wide variety of tasks, including water filtration and gas-vapor separation. Designing a membrane for the desired function is more time-consuming than people may expect.

However, researchers at Columbia Engineering, Germany’s Max Planck Society and the University of South Carolina applied data science to the task to streamline their efforts.

More specifically, they combined big data with machine learning to strategically design polymer membranes to act as gas filters. People frequently depend on plastic films and membranes to separate mixtures of simple cases, such as carbon dioxide and methane.

10        City of Sydney flicks the switch to 100% green power
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/07/02/city-of-sydney-flicks-the-switch-to-100-green-power/
All of Sydney’s operations – including street lights, pools, sports fields, depots, buildings and the historic Sydney Town Hall – will now be run on 100% renewable electricity sourced from local solar and wind projects. The switch is part of a AU$60 million (US$41.5 million) deal with electricity retailer Flow Power, the biggest standalone green energy deal of its kind by a council in Australia.

11        Mexican president orders fraud complaints against green power firms
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-corruption-idUSKBN2413BV
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday ordered formal complaints to be drawn up alleging fraud by mostly renewable power companies, but he gave no evidence backing up the complaints.

Ramping up his repeated allegations of corruption in power generation contracts won by mostly wind and solar power companies, Lopez Obrador said that while he remains open to dialogue with the companies, he also wants his aides to prepare the legal complaints against them.

12        Equinor reveals plans for hydrogen plant with carbon capture in UK
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/equinor-reveals-plans-for-hydrogen-plant-with-carbon-capture-in-uk/
Norwegian energy giant Equinor is leading a project to develop one of the UK’s – and the world’s – first at-scale facilities to produce hydrogen from natural gas in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The project, called Hydrogen to Humber Saltend (H2H Saltend), provides the beginnings of a decarbonised industrial cluster in the Humber region, the UK’s largest by emissions, Equinor explained in a statement on Wednesday.

13        EU’s renewable hydrogen production
https://www.argusmedia.com/pages/NewsBody.aspx?id=2119703&menu=yes
Europe is ramping up its development and deployment of hydrogen technologies for power generation, with the European Commission expected to formally present its hydrogen strategy on 8 July, providing a positive medium-term demand signal for several metals, including platinum, chromium and nickel.

The commission calls for the EU’s renewable hydrogen production to reach 0.5mn-1mn t/yr by 2024, with 4GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers installed by then. This figure should increase to 5mn-10mn t/yr by 2040, with 40GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers installed. But in the short and medium term, low-carbon, fossil-based hydrogen will also play a role, the commission said.

14        Biogas – Nature Energy Enters Into Biogas Deal with Shell
https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/biogas/nature-energy-enters-into-biogas-deal-with-20200702
One of the world’s largest energy companies Shell invests in biogas from one of the world’s largest producers of biogas Nature Energy.

The parties have not disclosed the exact size of the agreement, but state that the agreement is the largest biogas agreement in the world to date.

“The agreement is a blue stamp of biogas as an important part of the green transition that is taking place all over the world. We are proud that an energy mastodon like Shell is investing in biogas from us,”says Ole Hvelplund, CEO of Nature Energy.

15        $10bn of precious metals dumped each year in electronic waste, says UN
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/02/10bn-precious-metals-dumped-each-year-electronic-waste-un-toxic-e-waste-polluting

At least $10bn (£7.9bn) worth of gold, platinum and other precious metals are dumped every year in the growing mountain of electronic waste that is polluting the planet, according to a new UN report.

A record 54m tonnes of “e-waste” was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21% in five years, the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor report found. The 2019 figure is equivalent to 7.3kg for every man, woman and child on Earth, though use is concentrated in richer nations. The amount of e-waste is rising three times faster than the world’s population, and only 17% of it was recycled in 2019.

16        Nonfossil sources accounted for 20% of U.S. energy consumption in 2019
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=44277
Overall energy consumption in the United States totaled 100 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2019, only slightly less than the record set in 2018 and the third-highest level of annual U.S. energy consumption ever. About 20% of U.S. energy consumption in 2019 came from sources other than fossil fuels. Several energy sources hit record consumption values in 2019, based on data in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Energy Review: natural gas, nuclear, wind, and solar.

17        US Solar Plants Now Expected to Run for More than 30 Years: Berkeley Lab
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solar-plants-expected-to-operate-30-years
Big solar plants are getting cheaper to run and expectations for their useful operational lives keep getting longer, according to a new survey of U.S. solar industry professionals.

By the end of 2019, a cumulative total of 76 gigawatts of solar had been installed in the United States, according to Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. The learning-by-doing involved with growing the sector is reflected in steadily improving performance benchmarks.

18        EU opens bidding for 1 billion euros from clean technology fund
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-energy-funding-idUSKBN2441EH
Clean technology projects are in line for a billion-euro slice of support from the European Union, which on Friday launched its flagship scheme for funding breakthrough low-carbon technologies.

The EU Innovation Fund will back emissions-cutting technologies such as floating wind farms, carbon capture technology and energy storage, which the EU is betting on to clean up tough-to-decarbonise sectors such as cement and steelmaking.

19        South Pole warmed 3 times the global rate over the past 30 years, new study suggests
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/south-pole-warming-1.5631435
Temperature data shows that the desolate region has warmed at three times the global warming rate over the last three decades up through 2018, the South Pole’s hottest year on record, the researchers report in a study published Monday in Nature Climate Change. Looking at data from 20 weather stations across Antarctica, the South Pole warming rate was seven times higher than the overall average for the continent.

Business Intelligence and Analytics 71

Friday, July 3, 2020

Business Intelligence and Analytics 71

1          12 Essential Strategy Insights
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/12-essential-strategy-insights/
“Strategy, at its heart, is about choice,” write the authors of “Turning Strategy Into Results,” an article featured below, which takes a keen look at how leaders translate the complexity of strategy into guidelines that are simple and flexible enough to execute.

A winning strategy for an organization is not based on an individual choice but an expansive, countless number of decisions happening every day across all parts of a business — product, customers, technology capabilities, and more.

2          US food supply chain: Disruptions and implications from COVID-19
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/us-food-supply-chain-disruptions-and-implications-from-covid-19

Until early 2020, consumer spending on food in the United States had been remarkably stable, growing by around 4 percent over the previous five years. Total sales were roughly split evenly between retail outlets (such as grocery stores and supermarkets) and food-service companies (such as restaurants, hospitals, and schools). And until February, revenues were continuing in the same direction.

3          Warehouse Management System Benefits
https://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/warehouse-management-system-benefits
The supply chain management software market is divided into several branches by types of industries, products and regions it serves for. It is segmented into consumer goods, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, retail, manufacturing, food and beverages, transportation and logistics, and others.

Logistics is a wide branch of the supply chain where each operation plays an important role and influences the quality of customer service.  It is very closely related to transportation, warehousing, and inventory management. Under logistics we understand Inbound and Outbound logistics. The first is all about sourcing and receiving materials that are coming into a business from suppliers. The second is transporting, warehousing, packaging goods going out of a business, a manufacturer who produces and provides end-clients with certain products.

4          Traders thought Apple had ‘the holy grail’ of oil data, but the quest continues
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-apple-data-idUSKBN2430JK
Every day, energy merchants collect and scrutinize whatever information they can find on fuel demand to get a trading edge: from satellite data tracking oil tankers worldwide to thermal images from cameras on pipelines and storage tanks.

Real-time data on fuel demand would be the ultimate prize.

On-the-spot gasoline consumption figures would change the way oil markets trade, because it is “the holy grail of metrics,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

5          Managing the uncertainty of coronavirus
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/choosing-the-right-path-to-unlock-the-economy

In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, we try to answer two urgent questions: How should governments approach the different possible paths to reopening their economies? And what is needed to spur businesses and consumers to start spending again? Two McKinsey senior partners who have been deeply involved in helping companies navigate the coronavirus pandemic discuss the current uncertainty and its impact on economic recovery.

6          Data analytics among top three deployment priorities for enterprises
https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/technology/data-analytics-among-top-three-deployment-priorities-for-enterprises-frost-sullivan-256342/

Under an aspirational forecast scenario, which assumes that COVID-19 is contained by August 2020 and that global markets will recover by the end of the year, the market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.9%, reaching US$68.09 billion by 2025 from $14.85 billion in 2019. Under the conservative forecast scenario, the market is likely to reach US$41.84 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 18.8%.

7          Rethinking Technology Road Maps for the Second Half of 2020
https://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/enterprise-agility/rethinking-technology-road-maps-for-the-second-half-of-2020/a/d-id/1338262

If there was ever a point modern times that one could point to and use as justification for digital transformation, we’ve just witnessed it. The massive disruptions and uncertainty that businesses and the global economy recently endured shows that successful businesses can no longer rely on disjointed tasks and manual processes. Instead, the goal for any business right now should be to streamline, automate and simplify how they conduct their day-to-day operations.

8          Using Data Virtualization in Your API Initiatives
http://www.datavirtualizationblog.com/using-data-virtualization-in-your-api-initiatives/
APIs are everywhere. A user may interact with a single application or website, but behind the scenes, several APIs have been integrated together to make up that application.

In some cases, the use of external APIs may be obvious, such as when a YouTube video is integrated into a news article, or when you click “Pay with PayPal” and are redirected via an API call to a PayPal pop-up to complete your order.

9          Maximizing the Benefits of B2B Supplier Diversification
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/maximizing-the-benefits-of-b2b-supplier-diversification/
As America’s population becomes more diverse and social movements highlighting the need for inclusion have taken center stage, governments, nonprofits, and large companies from a wide variety of industries (for example, Nike, Nordstrom, Pfizer, IBM, Microsoft, Dell, Coca-Cola, Fox News) have responded to these demographic changes with initiatives to promote supplier diversity and inclusion. These B2B programs are intended to make it easier for small businesses or those owned and operated by people from socially or economically disadvantaged groups, such as minorities, women, the LGBTQ community, and veterans, to win contracts and sell their goods and services.

10        Stop training more models, start deploying them
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2020/06/stop-training-models-start-deploying.html
The rumours that AI (and ML) will revolutionise healthcare have been around for a while [1]. And yes, we have seen some amazing uses of AI in healthcare [see, e.g., 2,3]. But, in my personal experience, the majority of the models trained in healthcare never make it to practice. Let’s see why (or, scroll down and see how we solve it).

Note: The statement ”the majority of the models trained in … never make it to practice” is probably true across disciplines. Healthcare happens to be the one I am sure about.

11        5 Stunning Transactional Emails You Can Steal From
https://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/5-stunning-transactional-emails-you-can-steal-from-02323889

We receive transactional emails all the time. Most brands treat them as the cost of doing business and don’t invest a lot of time or effort into them, which is a mistake.

Whether it’s a marketing one or a transactional one, every email should be looked at as an opportunity to provide useful information to your audience and customers. Here are five transactional emails that unlock the hidden potential of transactional emails.

12        How CTOs Can Innovate Through Disruption in 2020
https://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/executive-insights-and-innovation/how-ctos-can-innovate-through-disruption-in-2020/d/d-id/1338248

CTOs and other IT leaders need to invest in innovation to emerge from the current COVID-19 crisis ready for the next opportunities.

Are you ready for 2021’s opportunities? Are you ready for the new business models that will emerge once the COVID-19 coronavirus is behind us? What strategic technology moves will your organization make today to invest in the innovation to bring your enterprise out of the current crisis, stronger and better?

13        How to Test for Statistically Significant Relationships Between Categorical Variables with Chi Square
https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-test-for-statistically-significant-relationships-between-categorical-variables-with-chi-66c3ebeda7cc

A while back, I was analyzing market research data for a survey my company released to gauge customer sentiments towards a new product idea. Many of the variables were categorical (i.e. male, female, which of these features is most / least appealing) and after some initial research, I decided a chi-squared test for independence would be the best way to discern if there were certain segments of the population more or less likely to like a feature.

14        What is Edge Computing
https://www.socialtalk.co.in/2020/06/what-is-edge-computing.html
In traditional data processing use to have many limitations like storage, speed, server management, data loss, webpage host and server, and a huge setup, to deduce data process response time need to remove. which is not applicable most of the company. So here comes Cloud Computing where we can store our data to the cloud and process itself, we will get improved speed and less time to reach to out consumers.

15        How to Prepare Your Data
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2020/06/how-prepare-your-data.html
It is rare that you get data in exactly the right form you need it. Often you’ll need to create some new variables, rename existing ones, reorder the observations, or just drop registers in order to make data a little easier to work with.

This is called data wrangling (or preparation), and it is a key part of Data Science. Most of the time data you have can’t be used straight away for your analysis: it will usually require some manipulation and adaptation, especially if you need to aggregate other sources of data to the analysis.

16        After pandemic, U.S. senators want review of drug supply chain
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-senate-supplychain-idUSKBN2411HI
Republican and Democratic U.S. senators called for a government analysis of foreign influence in the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain on Tuesday, saying the coronavirus pandemic has exposed an over-reliance on China and other countries for the production of essential drugs.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce the U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Review Act on Tuesday.