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Delhi uses cloud seeding for rain and pollution control
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the Environment Minister in Delhi's capital territory, said that authorities began to seed clouds in the city on Tuesday in order to bring artificial rain in and reduce pollution levels. The city has been struggling with poor air quality for several days. This method aims to increase rainfall by adding chemical particles around the water droplets that form in clouds. This is the first attempt in the Indian capital. Although cloud seeding has been used by several countries to increase rain and improve air quality, or to water crops during a drought, it was not until now that the technique had been tried. Studies have shown mixed results on the effectiveness of cloud-seeding. Sirsa stated that the Indian Institute of Technology believed rainfall could occur anywhere between 15 minutes and four hours after the seeding procedure, in any amount. He said that if the trials are successful, then a long-term strategy will be implemented until February. Images shared by IIT-Kanpur show substances being released as flares are attached to an airplane while it is flying in a cloudy atmosphere. Delhi and the surrounding areas are susceptible to pollution each winter, as the cold, heavy air traps dust from construction, vehicle emissions and smoke from fires in crops, causing respiratory problems for many of Delhi's 20 million residents. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an air quality index between 0 and 50 is considered 'good.' The air quality in the city remained'very bad' on Tuesday afternoon with a reading 304. Manindra Agrawal is a scientist from IIT-Kanpur. She said that artificial rain caused by cloud seeding could reduce pollution by up to 50%. However, it may be necessary to repeat the process. "If it rains pollution will come down (but) it'll rise again because... the source hasn't gone." "Whenever there is cloud cover, you have to repeat the procedure," he said. (Reporting and editing by YPrajesh, Kim Coghill, and Sakshi Dayal)
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German economist: US sanctions against Russia exclude Rosneft Germany
The German economy minister said on Tuesday that U.S. officials had written assured that Rosneft's German assets would not be subject to new energy sanctions, as they are no longer controlled by Russia. Katherina Reiche, Economy Minister, said that the United States released a "Letter Of Comfort" yesterday night acknowledging the separation of Rosneft Germany's operations from its Russian parent. Germany sought clarification from Washington following the introduction of sanctions by President Donald Trump, which prohibit western banks and clients from engaging in business with listed Russian companies. Berlin argued that the refineries are under German state trusteeship from 2022 and "decoupled" (from the parent group) while essential to the nation's supply of fuel. The PCK refinery, located in Schwedt and one of the largest in Germany, accounts for more than 12% of the fuel processing capacity of the country. PCK Schwedt is a major employer for Brandenburg. The region has seen a rise in support for the extreme right Alternative for Germany party (AfD). (Written by Ludwig Burger and edited by Kirsti Knolle).
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Japan's SoftBank and other heavyweights are eyeing a $550 billion US investment package
A factsheet released by the U.S. and Japan on Tuesday showed that around 20 companies have expressed an interest in projects which could contribute to Tokyo’s commitment to invest $500 billion in the United States under a trade deal. In a July deal, U.S. president Donald Trump agreed to lower tariffs on Japanese auto imports and other goods. The agreement also included a Japanese commitment to invest $550 billion in U.S. project. According to a list of possible projects, SoftBank Group, Mitsubishi Electric, and Hitachi are among the companies interested in participating. The list includes energy, AI infrastructure, and critical minerals. It is estimated that it could represent an investment of up to $400 billion. Japan's investment package includes equity, loans, and loan guarantees by state-owned agencies. The list was released after President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takayichi met in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday to sign deals relating to trade and rare Earths. Westinghouse plans to build small modular reactors, pressurized water reactors, and other reactors worth up to $100 billion. Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba, and IHI may be involved. GE Vernova would be able to build small modular reactors, and provide power equipment if Japanese companies were involved. According to the list, SoftBank's founder and CEO Masayoshi son, who met with Trump in person, is interested a $25 billion development project for large-scale infrastructure. Panasonic and Carrier can build energy storage systems. Murata, TDK, and Fujikura are also interested. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez, Thomas Derpinghaus, and Makiko Yamazaki)
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US stock futures stable after recent rally; focus on large corporate earnings
U.S. index futures hovered around record highs Tuesday. After a rally the previous session, investors focused their attention on the major corporate earnings as well as the much-anticipated Federal Reserve decision that is expected later this week. The third quarter earnings season is about to get busy for market participants. At least 172 companies from the S&P500 are scheduled to report results. Popular names like UnitedHealth, UPS Royal Caribbean, D.R. Horton, JetBlue, PayPal and others are expected to report prior to the bell. Later in the week, Microsoft, Alphabet Apple, Amazon, and Meta will all be expected to announce earnings. The bull market rally on Wall Street, which celebrated its third anniversary this month, has been bolstered by artificial intelligence. Traders will be looking at how companies are monetizing technology to ensure that spending continues to increase. Fed officials will discuss interest rates later today and the plans to end "quantitative tightening", which Jerome Powell hinted earlier. The central bank will announce its decision on Wednesday. The U.S. Government has been closed for almost a month. This delays important economic data, and forces traders to rely solely on corporate and private announcements. Various sources claim that Amazon and Paramount are the two latest companies to announce layoffs. Separately the Conference Board consumer confidence report and surveys from the Richmond Federal Reserve and Texas Federal Reserve are due to be released Tuesday. The majority of major brokerages expect that the U.S. Central Bank will lower borrowing rates by 50 basis points before the end of the year. At 5:44 am. At 5:44 a.m. ET, Dow E Minis dropped 10 points or 0.02%. S&P 500 E Minis dropped 3 points or 0.04%. Nasdaq E Minis rose 6.75 or 0.03%. Rambus, a semiconductor licensee that missed quarterly profit targets, was among the top movers. NextEra Energy gained 2,6% after it reached an agreement with Google to produce nuclear energy. Qorvo's shares jumped by 10.2% following a report that rival Skyworks Solutions held discussions in recent months about buying the smartphone chipmaker. Investors believe that U.S. president Donald Trump will reach a long-awaited deal with China on his Asia tour. Trump just signed an agreement with Japan for the mining and processing of rare earths and critical minerals. U.S. listed shares of rare-earth miners like Trilogy Metals, NioCorp Developments, and NioCorp Developments fell 1% and 2.6% respectively. They looked set to continue Monday's losses after a U.S. China truce that halted tariffs and export restrictions on minerals. The recent rally in gold and silver was largely due to optimism about trade deals. Gold Fields, Harmony Gold and other precious metals miners listed in the United States were affected by the declines. Both lost over 4%. (Reporting and editing by Pooja Deai in Bengaluru, Johann M Cherian)
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Mexico's Cemex exceeds expectations in the third quarter thanks to higher prices and cost reductions
Mexico's Cemex beat expectations to post a 19% increase in core earnings for the third quarter as it increased prices and benefitted from cost-cutting initiatives. The cement manufacturer announced on Tuesday that its earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), for the period July-September were $882 million, which was comfortably higher than an LSEG consensus of $858 millions. While cement sales volume remained flat, aggregates like sand and stone and ready-mixed concrete also declined slightly. Around $90 million was saved through cost-cutting, including reductions in headcount. Cemex reduced its workforce to just under 40,200 workers in the third quarter. This is a 9% drop from the same time last year. The net income fell 35%, to $264 millions. This was mainly because of one-time gains from the previous year resulting from the sale operations in Guatemala. Cemex reported that without this factor, the net profit rose 8%. Cemex, under the leadership of CEO Jaime Muguiro who assumed the role in April, after his predecessor retired from the company, has been working to divest non-core assets in order to focus on its aggregates operations in the United States. In July, Muguiro announced that more divestitures would be made.
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Scientists use a climate "time machine" in Amazon to prepare for the COP30
Scientists in Brazil's Amazon have created a "time-machine" that pumps carbon dioxide into the canopy of the rainforest to simulate future atmospheric conditions to gauge the biome's adaptation. This is an open question which will be discussed next month at the COP30 United Nations Climate Summit hosted by Brazil. The AmazonFACE project, near Manaus, Amazon's largest city, features six steel tower rings that loom over the jungle canopy. Each ring is surrounded by groups of 50-70 mature trees. After baseline testing, the scientists will fumigate three of the rings using carbon dioxide in levels that simulate climate forecasts over the next decade, with the remaining samples serving as control samples. "We are trying to create an atmosphere of the future," Carlos Quesada said, a coordinator for INPA (National Institute for Amazon Research), which is leading this experiment along with Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Scientists say that the preservation of tropical rainforests such as the Amazon is crucial to reducing the worst impacts of climate change. Scientists say that the preservation of tropical rainforests like the Amazon is vital to curbing the worst effects of climate change. FACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) will allow Quesada to study the effects of elevated levels of carbon dioxide on rainforest giants and the surrounding plant life. The Brazilian federal government and United Kingdom are supporting the project. AmazonFACE is a new frontier for forestry engineer Gustavo Carvalho. FACE has been tested around the globe, including in the United States where the Department of Energy conducted temperate biomes tests. Carvalho, under the shade provided by the Amazon canopy, said: "This is the very first time that a forest of this magnitude has been experimented in the tropical regions." Carvalho explained that baseline testing is underway. Sensors record every 10 minutes the forest's reaction to changing conditions. They show how the trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen and water vapour in response to rainstorms, sunshine and storms. In the future, artificial microclimates will be created with higher levels of carbon dioxide. Carvalho explained that if a model predicts (a certain amount of carbon dioxide in the air) in 2050-2060, we will increase the amount to this amount to see how the forest reacts. "We will have a small area in the forest where we can enter to know what the future holds."
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Kazakhstan discusses exporting uranium to Finnish nuclear plants
Almasadam Satkaliyev said that Kazakhstan and Finland are discussing the possibility of Kazakhstan supplying uranium for Finnish nuclear power plants. Satkaliyev didn't give any details about the volumes when he spoke to reporters in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan during the visit by the Finnish President Alexander Stubb. He did not give any indication of a potential start date for the deliveries. Kazakhstan, the largest uranium-producing country in the world, produced 23,270 metric tonnes of uranium by 2024. It plans to produce between 25,000 and 26,500 tons in 2025. FINLAND PHASING OUT RUSSIAN FUEL SUPPLIES Kazakhstan does not have its own nuclear power plant, but it is estimated that the country has 15% of world uranium deposits. It is second only to Australia. Finland currently has two nuclear power stations with five reactors. In Finland, wind power was the second largest power source, accounting for 25%. The Finnish utility Fortum announced last year that it was sourcing nuclear fuel in the U.S. from Westinghouse Electric, to phase out Russian supplies. Fortum's Loviisa nuclear power plant previously relied on fuel supplied by TVEL, a Russian state-owned energy company Rosatom subsidiary. No details were given on how the landlocked country of Kazakhstan would transport uranium from Kazakhstan to Finland. However, any such supplies are likely to go through Russia. Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, in 2022, the European Union of which Finland belongs, has imposed extensive sanctions against Russia. Even though passenger trains have stopped, cargo trains can still cross Finland's 1,340 km border with Russia. In 2023, Finland will join the U.S. led NATO alliance as its relations with Russia deteriorate. Kazakhstan has walked a tightrope in its diplomatic response to the conflict in Ukraine. It maintains close ties with Russia, a major trading partner and neighbour, while at the same time supporting Ukraine's territorial unity. Reporting by Tamara Vaal from Astana. Anne Kauranen, Helsinki, has contributed to the reporting. Felix Light wrote the article. Andrew Heavens, Mark Potter and Mark Potter (editing)
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Top miner: China's coal production limits could be tightened further by the end of the year
A China Coal Energy official said at a Tuesday results briefing that China's coal production curbs could be tightened further by the end of 2025. This would make a recovery in output for the world's biggest producer unlikely. China Coal had previously stated that China has lowered coal production after an unexpected increase in supply during the first half year, which impacted prices. Li Xueyuan is a marketing official at China Coal Energy. She said that the country's asset regulator held meetings with participants in the industry to ask for prices to remain "reasonable and stable". He said that Li believes the supply and demand will be fairly balanced in the short term, as winter heating season is a major factor. China Coal Energy, the listed subsidiary of China Coal Group, the fourth largest coal producer in the country. According to the statistics bureau, China's coal output dropped by 1.8% in September compared to the same period last year, to 411,51 million metric tonnes. This is due to ongoing restrictions. The first nine months of the year saw a 2% increase over the previous period, with 3.57 billion tons. This was largely due to the growth in the first six months. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey; Colleen howe)
Singapore's Equator and Chinese state-owned firm will export power from Indonesian to Singapore
Equator Renewables Asia, a Singapore-based company, and CRE International, a unit of China’s National Nuclear Corp., will develop a solar project and battery storage system in Indonesia’s Riau Islands, to export clean energy to Singapore.
Equator announced that the companies plan to build a photovoltaic system of 900 megawatts (MW) and a battery storage system of 1.2 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2029. They will also generate 830 GWh per year in clean energy, Equator stated.
It said that "CREI would lead the generation side investment, construction and operations of the solar PV facilities and BESS, while Equator would manage transmission and offtake co-ordination."
Equator's "multi-billion-dollar-project" will be its first project under the Singapore-Indonesia Renewable Energy Programme. Singapore granted six conditional licenses to the company.
The specific terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Grid interconnection has been widely hailed as an important tool for reducing the region's increasing reliance on fossil-fuels to generate electricity.
Singapore aims to import around 6 gigawatts (or about a third) of low-carbon power by 2035. Malaysia currently provides about 1% (or less) of Singapore's low-carbon electricity. (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus; Lucas Liew)
(source: Reuters)