Author: Bob Luthar

A handful of global projects earn the same amount of criticism and praise as Road Initiative (BRI), and China’s Belt does. Regardless of one’s opinion, the BRI is President Xi’s signature international policy initiative of magnificent allure. Total expenditures could hit $1.2-1.3 trillion by 2027, according to Morgan Stanley. Beijing also made huge investments not only in monetary terms, as well as in politics.

The performance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in this context is vital to highlight Beijing’s model of development. In 2013 the CPEC was revealed as a cause by the administrative requirements and economic needs of the countries. Chinese-Pakistani ties faced a difficult period after the election that put Imran Khan to power because of the new government’s criticism of the loans’ terms. More recently, the CPEC saw rebirth as the nations resolved some disagreements and signed new multi-billion deals in the energy domain, among many others.

Pakistan is, in several respects, the only real ally for China. Beijing’s dislike for formal alliances derives from its confidence in holding the country back from following its interests. Pakistan is an exception that China is willing to tolerate due to the vulnerabilities and reliance of the South Asian nation on its giant neighbour.

CPEC intended to become the poster child project. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has quickly tried to renegotiate the terms of his loans because of the connection with the previous regime. Debt insolvency was also becoming a serious issue. Islamabad has won numerous concessions and an IMF bail-out after a challenging round of talks.

Many major projects have already been established, including nine companies that generate 5,320 Megawatts worth $7.9 billion, whereas another 4,470 MW installed. The constructed facilities are low hanging fruits, including coal and LNG power plants, according to Samiullah Tariq, head of research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company. China provides a crucial friend to Pakistan.

There is no question that Chinese investments are essential to Pakistan. Few multinational banks and companies prepared to take such risks as the Chinese. The CPEC could potentially change Pakistan’s backward economy, although the reasons are partly political. In both nations, the stakes raised, but so are rewards.

In conclusion, the improvement of relations with Pakistan does not only serve strategic purposes for Beijing but also guarantees a steady production for Chinese manufactured goods. In an increasingly populated world, considerable industry and manufacturing capability built over the decades as regards development projects. Investing in Pakistan provides an export market for Chinese surplus goods thanks to industrial activities.

The oil sector is at its rock bottom this year. Some of the events spiraling down to this statement include the massive oil price crash four months ago and the shelter-in-place measures due to the coronavirus outbreak. Therefore, investors should cash into renewable energy stocks. Below is an illustration of why it is crucial to invest in renewable energy stocks and their shares being far ahead of the oil shares.

Although the oil stocks may seem far from recuperating in this period, the Pew Research Center submits that petroleum is the dominant energy source in the US. The challenge is that a high percentage of oil goes into the transport industry. The US heavily depends on petroleum fuels for power-consuming processes like running ICE cars.

Petroleum-based fuels have a preference in the transport industry because of their feasibility. For instance, liquid fuel is manageable less bulky than coal. However, natural gas and other energies are more reliable in terms of efficiency than petroleum-based fuels. With close to 70% of petroleum produced spiraling to the transportation industry, it is harmless to conclude that the transportation industry solely determines the life of the oil stocks.

Currently, the challenge is that the transport sector is in recess due to the coronavirus pandemic. There is no significant automotive line that is active, including the aviation line. Many people are working at home due to the shelter-in-place measures, limiting the demand for petroleum fuel. Additionally, most businesses have shut down, minimizing the number of business people who use petrol cars.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates the demand for oil to go down by 9.3 million barrels daily. Analyst articulate that this drop is one that this industry is likely never to recuperate. It seems that renewable energy is the only sector doing well, although its use is limited to electricity generation. Nonetheless, the electricity consumption went down by approximately 15% since commercial and industrial facilities closed down.

Surprisingly, investments in renewable energy are rising, with the latest beneficiary being the offshore wind projects. This news is a source of joy for renewable energy companies like Brookfield Renewable Partners and Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure since cash will be gushing into their projects.  Renewable energy companies anticipate massive growth in this decade, contrary to the oil industry, which is currently between a rock and a hard place.

Finally, it is wise to invest in renewables since they have a high possibility of existing in the coming years. This move is appropriate considering that electric vehicles will be indirectly cushioning the shares invested in the renewables.

The cold front chelating the Lump Gulch Fire got everyone off the ropes in the wildfire battle during the first round of 2020. Although the rapid pummeling came to an end, long intervals lay ahead. Our fire season in the 1980s was August, occasionally September — never May. Those weeks have passed. Driven by global warming, the wildfire season expanded by at least 78 days, and the burnt area multiplied.

Each summer, our city is swamped with haze already for weeks. It means children coughing themselves to sleep, labored breathing, and burning eyes for my dad. Wildfire smoke increases hospital admissions significantly and is particularly detrimental to children. Like Lewis and Clark, multiple western counties of Montana have earned Warnings regularly over the past decade in air quality from the American Lung Association and now are amongst the worst pollution nationally.

COVID-19 should intensify the unhealthy condition. In Montana, wildfire smoke is causing widespread influenza during the winter, a worrying sign about what the pandemic will bring. The scenario threatens to hit fright-show proportions without significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. Global Change Research Program estimates that the burned area will rise by 200-600 percent by the middle of the century with associated rises in air emissions. And this is just one example of unabated climate change’s dangerous effects.

Yet there is excellent news: They can cut emissions quickly enough to avoid the very worst impacts. A study conducted by UC Berkeley estimates that by 2035 the United States will reach 90 percent carbon-free electricity. The eureka moment is that we’re doing it without any increase in energy bills and no decline in efficiency, while still creating millions of sustainable energy jobs and going to deliver significant benefits to public health from lowered air pollution.

The strategy is simple and clear: rapidly falling costs allow for a significant build-up of renewable and battery storage, facilitating the closing of the nastiest fossil plants and preventing any new fossil plants. Current low- and no-carbon battery storage supplies provide support when renewable production is small for rare occasions.

To sum up, there is a hope of a decent world — one in which children will not hack themselves to sleep during the summer. We have the equipment, and it’s cheap, the solution. Everything it lacks is political will. For so many lawmakers tied up with the petroleum industry, and that is where the real battle lies.

The electricity system in the UK is undergoing a substantial and rapid transition. It has the most significant installed wind power generation capacity, has effectively halted coal-fired electricity generation, and has reported a 20% decline in sales since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Nonetheless, this shift from traditional, dependable coal to weather-dependent solar and wind generation poses mounting pressure in balancing electricity market forces. It is where vast storage technologies on a grid-scale may help monitor and buffer production and consumption, and enhance grid control.

Recently, the Government announced the elimination of planning obstacles to the construction of energy storage facilities over 50 MW in England and 350 MW in Wales. The Government thinks, would require a substantial new capacity to be built for storing electricity. In the planning phase, the UK currently provides 1GW of active battery storage units with a further 13.5GW of battery mega - projects. The state intervention tends to create a planning climate that might allow the United Kingdom to meet its Net zero emission of carbon target by 2050. It could happen either through a high percentage of large-scale, centralized renewable generation or through more like a focus on smaller community initiatives such as solar panels and wind turbines owned locally. 

Since the United Kingdom has switched from carbon fuels to renewable power production, Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy production market have dropped to 25% in 2019 from over 40 % of the overall UK in 1990. It implies that the transportation sector has become the largest emitter, with a third of all the UK Carbon dioxide emissions generated. It has resulted in an increasing emphasis on the incorporation of all autonomous cars and hybrid vehicles. Because only one in ten vehicles sold in the United Kingdom falls into these classes, there seems to be a way of reducing the influence of diesel and petrol vehicles.

Yet autonomous motors might also contribute to making electricity generation greener. Once an electric car is plugged in to re-charge, it mainly needs access to its battery by the power grid. Once you’ve all plugged in several vehicles at once, they produce a massive aggregated battery shop.

In conclusion, so while the UK government is right that the national grid needs more energy storage to help the transition toward more renewable energy production, the solution is not merely an emphasis on building massive, costly batteries. Alternatively, electric vehicles may encourage the British people to easily share their automobiles, helping to create a safer, more selfless post-COVID environment.

Electric vehicles are on the verge of capturing the global market share. UNCTAD forecasts a purchase of over 20 million electric cars in this upcoming decade. The UN body also estimates rise to $58 billion from $7 billion of the car batteries required to run these cars in the next four years. 

The transition from ICE cars to electric-powered cars is part of the strategy in minimizing carbon emissions and other harmful gaseous emissions that challenge the global climate. A study by UNCTAD reveals that the raw materials for the EV batteries are nucleated in a few countries, making this venture an apple of discord. 

For instance, 67% of cobalt is deep-seated at the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). UNICEF reports that 20% of this cobalt is bought from artisanal mines. This UN body narrates how children are employed to work in these life-threatening mines for a measly income, thereby undermining human rights. 

Elsewhere, lithium excavation in Chile utilizes approximately two-thirds of the water in Salar de Atamaca region mapping the region among the driest areas globally. The water forces out the brine in riveted wells. This move has sequestered the farmers and herders, making them vacate their ancestral lands. The excavation has generally degraded the ground in this region, defaced the landscape, and polluted the underground water. 

UNCTAD’s director of international trade, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, admits that the countries that furnish the EV industry with these raw materials will benefit from trade. This statement is true because there is an increased need for raw materials in the EV industry. But, these countries are left as beggars without the ability to grow their chain value. 

For instance, DRC requires the development of processing plants and refineries so that the citizens can benefit from employment opportunities. Nonetheless, since these countries have insufficient resources and leadership skills to initiate such projects, the purification process for these raw materials is shifted to developed countries, thereby benefiting their economies. 

The UNCTAD report exhorts that countries like DRC should develop mines and refineries for these processes to attract more investment. The body also directs that the EV industry should devise new materials to model the batteries to minimize the pressure they exert on the countries with these scarce resources. Thus, researchers are working on the probability of utilizing the abundant silicon in place of graphite. 

UNCTAD submits that reduced dependence on these nucleated resources will lower the cost of batteries, thereby escalating the uptake of Evs instead of ICE cars. 

Finally, concerning environmental problems associated with mining the batteries’ raw materials, the UN body advocates for research on reliable mining methods and the utilization of the raw materials. These recommendations will counter the demand problem and open new commercial opportunities.