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Bloomberg Chinese manufacturers that dominate nearly every step in the global solar power supply chain are being forced to slash prices as the coronavirus disrupts projects around the world. Costs for components like wafers and cells have fallen by as much as 20% since the start of the year. They likely haven’t bottomed out yet, either, as the outlook for …

Bloomberg Uniper SE’s controversial new German coal plant is opening at a time when the fuel has never been more unpopular. Datteln-4 has drawn international condemnation from teenage activist Greta Thunberg to Greenpeace at a time when many countries are trying to slash their emissions. The environmentalists aren’t buying the argument that the new plant is more climate friendly than …

Bloomberg Fossil fuels are no longer considered “green” by China’s central bank. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) plans to remove “clean utilisation of fossil fuel” projects from the list of programs that can be funded by green bonds, according to a draft plan. The bank has drawn the ire of environmentalists for allowing the sustainable financing tools to fund …

Bloomberg Chevron Corp is planning a 10% to 15% reduction in its global workforce this year, the biggest cut to headcount yet among global oil majors following the Covid-19 pandemic. The cuts equate to about 6,000 of its 45,000 non-gas station employees and may be a precursor to staffing reductions at Big Oil rivals such as BP Plc and Royal …

Bloomberg Who needs a loss-making, inflexible oil refinery in a world where demand for petroleum has been obliterated? We’re about to find out. When consumption of transport fuels collapsed this year because of coronavirus, much of the industry moved into survival mode, cutting processing rates and even temporarily stopping refining in some cases. While that helped prop up the industry’s …

Bloomberg US clean-energy startup, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), raised an additional $84 million from major investors in Europe and Asia, underscoring that the appetite remains to back new technologies which could mitigate climate change. As the world looks to ramp up the use of intermittent renewable energy, it needs to add forms of flexible clean power that can be turned …

Bloomberg The economy of the world’s biggest energy exporter is heading for its deepest slump in more than 10 years due to the fallout from the coronavirus. A bigger crisis may be just around the corner. Analysts at the Kremlin-funded Skolkovo Energy Center warned this month that the nation faces years of economic stagnation as demand for its carbon-heavy exports …

Bloomberg The UK’s biggest pension fund by membership said it will back a climate resolution asking for France’s Total SA to adopt a tougher stance on climate change at its annual shareholder meeting next week. The resolution was brought by 11 European asset managers last month, in another example of investors pressuring Big Oil to tackle environmental challenges. Since then, …

Bloomberg Venezuelans forced to queue for days to fill up their cars with gasoline are now facing a growing shortage of propane to cook after a processing plant caught fire and distribution is being rationed. The Jose petrochemical complex that supplies propane used by about 90% of Venezuelans to cook has slowed production since a fire and a pipeline leakage, …

Bloomberg A Total SA-led liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique will receive commitments for about $15 billion of financing at a signing scheduled in June, marking rare progress for such a project as companies scrutinise costs. The first and most significant phase of the financing commitment for the LNG project — which will be Africa’s biggest private investment yet — …