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Baseball-Japanese baseball fans flock to LA for playoff-bound Ohtani
The waves of Japanese travelers that have actually come down on Dodger Stadium since Shohei Ohtani signed up with the club this season might offer a boost to the Japanese sensation as he embarks on his first MLB postseason this weekend. Ohtani-mania was on complete screen hours before a recent video game at the picturesque ballpark in Los Angeles, with fans freshly off their flights from Japan loading appreciation on their nation's hero. He's a genius baseball player, said Kyoko Shiratani. We are so pleased with him. Outfitted in a pristine white Ohtani jersey, Reiko Shimada indicated another quality that has drawn fans to the slugger. He's good-looking! she stated with a laugh. Inside the stadium the impact of the fans was clear from Japanese-language product to food that included bento boxes, sushi and fried octopus. A lot of teams used to get panned for having sushi at their ballparks today it's cool because of the Ohtani impact, Chris Koenig, executive director of Dodgers 365, said with a smile. Ohtani joined the Dodgers on a record 10-year, $700 million handle the winter season and regardless of not pitching this year as he recovers from elbow surgery, the slugger has actually had a season for the ages. Swapping out his fastball for blistering speed on the base courses, he completed the season with a career-high 54 home runs and 59 taken bases to end up being the very first member of MLB's 50/50 club. The heroics of Ohtani, who is widely anticipated to win his 3rd profession MVP award this season, has actually stimulated Japanese tourists to pour in regardless of the weak yen, that makes the trip to Southern California an expensive one. We have actually taken most likely 10 times as lots of Japanese fans on trips this season as in previous years, said Marina Fote, who has actually been a tour guide at the stadium for the past 10 seasons. Ohtani never appeared in the playoffs in his 6 seasons with the Angels and will get his first taste of postseason intensity when the Dodgers host the rival San Diego Padres in Video Game One in the Division Season on Saturday. WORLD SERIES PROSPECT LURES FANS Playing baseball in October and the tantalizing possibility of making the World Series has sent out interest in Ohtani into overdrive, Koenig said. He applauded the influx of Dodger fans from Japan for their understanding of the sport and noted the long ties between the ball club and the nation. That history is reflected in the eight-foot-tall (2.44 m) 3,921-pound (1779 kg) Kasuga-style stone lantern talented to the Dodgers from Japan in 1965, which features prominently at the arena's leading deck. Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles now features a 150-foot tall mural of Ohtani, too. It's a very thoughtful and excited demographic of people taking a trip to LA, a few of them for the first time, Koenig said. The reality that they are putting Dodger Stadium at the top of their itinerary says a lot. In a sign of the nation's continuous impact on MLB, Ohtani isn't the only Japanese star involved in the best-of-five NLDS. For Video Game One the Dodgers will send to the mound Japanese right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who likewise signed up with the Dodgers in the offseason. The Padres lineup on the other hand consists of 2 Japanese pitchers - former Dodger Yu Darvish and reducer Yuki Matsui. Koenig said he expects Ohtani's draw only growing in the years to come. We plan to scale up as demand boosts, he said. He will pitch next year and there's a lot enjoyment around that.
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Goldman eyes Brent outlook rise due to Iranian supply dangers
Goldman Sachs said on Friday that it expects its Brent price projection to peak $10$ 20 per barrel in 2025 due to possible disturbances in Iranian production. Israel has actually sworn to strike Iran for launching a barrage of rockets at Israel on Tuesday after Israel assassinated the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah a week earlier. The occasions have actually increased worries of the capacity for a. broader war in the Middle East, assisting oil costs to post their. biggest weekly gains in over a year today. Assuming a 2 million barrels each day six-month. disturbance to Iran supply, we estimate that Brent could. temporarily rise to a peak of $90 if OPEC quickly offsets the. deficiency, and a 2025 peak in the mid $90s without an OPEC. balanced out, analysts at Goldman Sachs stated in a note. Presuming a one million barrels daily relentless. interruption to Iran supply, reflecting for example a tightening up. in sanctions enforcement, we approximate that Brent could reach a. peak in the mid $80s if OPEC gradually offsets the shortage,. the bank said. Nevertheless, Goldman continues to expect Brent to trade in. the $70-85 range, and anticipated a typical price of $77 per. barrel for the 4th quarter of 2024 and $76 per barrel for. 2025 in case of no significant supply disturbance.
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Rio Tinto in talks to purchase lithium miner Arcadium, sources state
Rio Tinto has been holding speak with buy lithium miner Arcadium, three sources with direct knowledge of the settlements said, an offer that would make Rio the thirdlargest manufacturer of the electric lorry battery metal. Arcadium shares surged 36% in extended trading on Friday. Talks have actually been continuous and continued in London today throughout the LME Week conference, among the sources stated. An deal is expected to come in the near future, according to the second source. Talks are continuous and may not necessarily result in an offer, the sources stated. Philadelphia-based Arcadium might be valued between $4. billion to $6 billion or greater, the 3rd source said. None of. the sources were authorized to go over the settlements. publicly. The deal would vault Rio into one of the world's biggest. suppliers of the ultralight metal, behind only Albemarle. and SQM, simply as demand is anticipated to rise later. this decade amid growing usage of lithium-ion batteries for EVs. and consumer electronics. The current downturn in lithium rates, which is due in part to. Chinese oversupply, has actually pushed Arcadium's shares down more than. 50% because January, making it an attractive takeover target. It was not instantly clear if a deal would. mostly consist of cash, stock or a mixture of both. Arcadium has. chosen two investment banks to manage its negotiations with. Rio, according to the 2nd source. By buying Arcadium, Rio would access to lithium mines,. processing facilities and deposits throughout four continents to. fuel decades of development, in addition to a client base that includes. Tesla, BMW and General Motors. Arcadium and Rio Tinto declined to comment. The Anglo-Australian mining company is currently among the. world's biggest manufacturers of copper - utilized to make electrical wiring,. building and construction equipment, electronics and other devices - also. as iron ore and other metals. Arcadium has around 2,400 workers throughout nine countries. Approximately 84% of its profits originates from Asia - the existing worldwide. center for lithium demand - giving it development capacity as EV. jobs increase throughout the Western Hemisphere, particularly those. supported by the U.S. Inflation Decrease Act. Rio deals with strong opposition in Serbia to its proposed Jadar. mine, for which it just recently restored its license. Regional. neighborhood members have consistently pressured Belgrade to obstruct. the task, which has the potential to provide much of Europe's. requirements of the battery metal. Arcadium thinks it is unlikely Rio will ever be able to. develop the Serbian project, the second source said. Rio might also take advantage of Arcadium's proficiency in direct. lithium extraction, a growing sector of the lithium market. that aims to mechanically filter the metal from brines. No business has actually commercially released a DLE procedure without. evaporation ponds, however Arcadium has effectively been using DLE. considering that the 1990s with ponds in Argentina and its engineers are. widely viewed as global professionals. Rio paid $825 million in 2022 for a DLE project in Argentina. that has yet to produce the metal. ' THE COMPLETE PLAN' Arcadium was formed just in January by the merger of. U.S.-based Livent and Australia-based Allkem, with each business. getting an equivalent number of slots on the business's 12-person. board of directors. Speculation of a prospective tie-up between Arcadium and Rio. has actually drifted for weeks. Arcadium provides Rio the complete plan, Scotiabank analysts. said on Sept. 10, including that the case (for a buyout) has. reinforced. At a discussion to financiers on Sept. 19, Arcadium laid. out an aggressive growth strategy to almost triple its adjusted. revenues by 2028 by developing its lithium jobs across the. globe. Rio's interest in Arcadium comes in the middle of a rising wave of offer. interest throughout the mining industry, particularly for critical. minerals needed to power the worldwide energy transition. BHP - the world's largest miner - previously this year. made a not successful bid for smaller rival Anglo American . Glencore, BHP and others are seen as possible. bidders for other critical minerals tasks.
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By mule and helicopter, volunteers deliver help to Helene victims
An army of personal volunteers including mule drivers and helicopter pilots are helping provide supplies and rescue stranded victims after among the most dangerous storms in recent U.S. history ripped through the mountains of western North Carolina. One week after Helene slammed into the Florida Panhandle and ravaged wide swaths of half a dozen states, untold thousands remained cut off around Asheville, North Carolina, with numerous roadways blockaded and telecommunications equipment damaged or ruined. The mountain communities' seclusion has complicated the massive relief effort undertaken by federal, state and local authorities. Many residents have actually stepped up to assist, consisting of Ben Miller, a property agent and daddy of two from the Winston-Salem location, who has been driving supplies into the affected location. It's been pretty intense, he said. This seemed like it couldn't happen here. Miller dropped off 27,000 bottles of water in Marion, just outside Asheville, on Sunday. The next day, the 44-year-old brought aid to Spruce Pine, a remote town where he has household roots. I understand how hard some of those areas are to get to when it's. 60 degrees outdoors and completely dry. So as this thing started to. unfold, I could truly picture that there were a great deal of places. they were going to have problem getting to, Miller stated. Miller gathered contributions from businesses and families from. his child's soccer team, including big totes for dispersing. water for cleaning, washing and flushing toilets, he stated. In addition to individual efforts, a variety of volunteer. groups are supplementing official channels of disaster relief, a. long tradition that includes the so-called Cajun Navy, an ad hoc. flotilla of civilians who helped save people stranded in. Louisiana after 2005's Typhoon Katrina. A volunteer group of private pilots, the Elevation Task,. says it raised $200,000 today to fund operations, stated. member Andrew Everhart, who owns an insurance coverage firm. His fellow. volunteers include an expert race car driver, the owner of. a circulation and logistics company, and others who operate in. industrial property and social media content creation. It's a lot of guys that have jets and helicopters and a lot. of connections, and we just chose to lock arms and develop our. own thing and help people out, Everhart stated. The Altitude Job has been running products from a. 25,000-square-foot (2,320-square-meter) warehouse in Charlotte. to neighborhoods near Asheville, where about 20 inches (50 cm) of. rain fell in a matter of hours late last week. It usually takes the federal government 3, four, 5 days to. coordinate a reaction, so we just chose to hop into action,. Everhart said. Helene, which has eliminated more than 200 individuals, ranks as the most. lethal called storm to hit the mainland United States since. Katrina, though the 2005 storm claimed a much greater death toll,. approximated at 1,400 in a 2023 report by the National Oceanic and. Atmospheric Administration. In the wake of Helene, the variety of individuals unaccounted for. remains uncertain. Authorities put the number in the hundreds. earlier in the week, however that has actually come down as interactions. are gradually brought back and stranded storm victims are located. The official reaction has included 1,000 active-duty armed force. workers purchased to help by President Joe Biden. In addition,. 4,800 individuals from the federal labor force and 6,000 National Guard. personnel from 12 states have actually been deployed, according to the. White House. Another 600 search-and-rescue workers were due to get here. and supplement the unknown number of state and regional rescue and. relief groups. Volunteers are stepping up also, including. Tennessee-based flight company Aeroluxe Air travel, which brought. a landing crew and three Robinson 44 helicopters to the area,. co-owner Brook Barzyk stated. Aeroluxe has actually carried out an estimated 150 shipments of. water, food, child items, fuel and Starlink satellite systems,. Barzyk stated, with each helicopter able to carry 400 pounds (180. kg) of materials. When we're landing in some of the communities where we're. handling citizens of the communities, everybody has actually been. incredibly thankful, and really, really valuable, to a point where we. have to monitor them hurrying the helicopter because they're so. delighted, Barzyk stated. Aircraft elements maker Acme Aero stated in a Facebook post. it recovered 144 individuals on Monday, 120 of them over the age of. 68. It also planned to provide up to 200 Starlink satellite. systems to rural fire departments. Others have actually gone overland on foot - and hoof. The Mountain Mule Packer Cattle Ranch in Raeford, North Carolina,. is running mule trains of supplies into isolated areas,. according to its Facebook posts. Mountain Mule Packers focuses on extreme terrain pack. animal supply trains and services to military units operating. in remote and high-altitude areas, according to their website. A local company owner, Dave Gindlesperger, 60, joined. others in the mountains about 45 miles (72 km) northeast of. Asheville to browse homes. In some cases, the houses had. vanished, removed by floodwaters. In other areas, whole communities were damaged. Some we. went to, and there was nothing, he stated. Riding on all-terrain vehicles, Gindlesperger and others cut. their method through downed trees with chainsaws to get to houses. Yesterday was the first day that I could take a seat and cry. and weep and just, you understand, wrap my mind around this, stated. Gindlesperger, a North Carolina local who runs three furniture. and family items shops, consisting of one in Boone that was. damaged.
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COP16 host Colombia promotes combined environment and biodiversity promises
Colombia wants to write a. combined environment and biodiversity pledge, seeking to combine. efforts to protect nature with those to deal with environment change in. United Nations talks, Colombian Environment Minister Susana. Muhamad told Reuters on Friday. The South American nation later this month will host the. U.N. COP16 biodiversity top aimed at halting the fast. damage of nature, with Muhamad acting as the conference's. president. The United Nations presently has 3 ecological. conventions - one each on climate change, biodiversity, and. desertification - with negotiations and pledges being done. independently on each problem. That is a requiring process for establishing countries that do. not have a lot of resources, which might more easily be put. towards developing one combined plan, she said. If you are repeating the very same thing for three conventions,. I think we are losing time and most likely likewise losing the. opportunity for synergies, she said. Those synergies include halting deforestation, which. damages biodiversity and is likewise the largest source of. emissions for many Latin American countries, she stated. Colombia could launch such an unified strategy ahead of COP30,. the U.N. climate summit set to be held by Brazil in 2025, she. said. We will send out for the three conventions a synthesis strategy. that covers in an important manner the three conventions due to the fact that. really they are deeply interrelated, she stated. Panama had actually raised the concept of unified promises and plans at a. conference of Latin American environment ministers in Rio de. Janeiro last month, with two other countries highly supporting. the concept, Muhamad stated. She decreased to specify the countries. A $40 billion investment portfolio that Colombia announced. recently will not just help it with the energy transition away. from nonrenewable fuel sources but also preserve nature, she stated. Colombia is additionally promoting human rights to be. main to ecological strategies and will introduce a Peace with. Nature union at COP16. We truly think that taking care of nature, reconnecting to. nature and conserving together within different individuals is. peace-building and likewise will make us more durable to environment. change shocks that will also create more wider context for. dispute, she said.
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Oil and natgas firm Infinity Natural applies for United States IPO
Oil and natural gas developer Infinity Natural Resources is pursuing a going public in the United States after nearly doubling its earnings in the very first half of the year, a filing from the company revealed on Friday. Backed by financial investment companies Pearl Energy Investments and NGP Capital, Infinity will aim to note on the NYSE. Its filing comes days after shares of gas producer BKV started trading. Infinity is poised to enter the public market at a strong financial position, bolstered by a recent surge in oil costs as worries of a wider conflict in the Middle East threaten to disrupt international supply. Its overall revenue was $120.7 million for the 6 months ended June 30, compared with $61.4 million in the very same duration in 2015. Net income, however, fell 76% mainly due to latent losses on derivatives that the company purchases as a. hedge versus wild cost fluctuations. The start of a long-anticipated cycle of interest rate. cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve has actually stimulated more activity in. the IPO market, in spite of looming unpredictability from the. presidential election in November. Citigroup, Raymond James and RBC Capital Markets are the. underwriters for Infinity's IPO. The energy sector is anticipated to take advantage of financial. conditions over the next 6 months, according to a Grant. Thornton study of CFOs from the market. The outlook for the energy market in the near- and. mid-term is extremely positive, said Bryan Benoit, primary and. worldwide head of energy and natural resources at Grant Thornton. Advisors. One reason for optimism is the reality that oil and gas. rates remain above historic levels, while hydrocarbon demand. continues to increase as eco-friendly production is not. accelerating fast enough to satisfy the rising need for energy..
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Equities rise with dollar, strong United States payrolls dampen rate cut hopes
MSCI's global equities index rose on Friday while the dollar climbed to its highest level because August after information revealed the U.S. economy included much more tasks than anticipated in September, removing expectations for another big Federal Reserve rate cut. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said 254,000 employees were contributed to nonfarm payrolls last month, well above the 140,000 economic expert estimate, while August's number was revised higher and the 4.1% joblessness rate was lower than expected. U.S. Treasury yields rose to their highest level since mid-August and traders ditched bets that the Fed will cut rates by half a portion point next month. The number was phenomenal. It can be found in well above expectations. The joblessness rate boiled down and it reveals the economy is strong, Gene Goldman, chief financial investment officer at Cetera Investment Management. All the data today recommended the economy is strong. This puts a last nail in the coffin for the Fed. Bringing further relief for U.S. economy was the resuming on Friday of U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports after dockworkers and port operators reached a wage deal to settle the market's most significant work blockage in almost half a. century. Nevertheless, clearing freight stockpile is expected to take some time . On Wall Street at 11:16 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased. 43.15 points, or 0.11%, to 42,055.81, the S&P 500 increased. 16.74 points, or 0.29%, to 5,716.68 and the Nasdaq Composite. rose 106.22 points, or 0.59%, to 18,023.55. However oil costs were still rising as flaring tensions in. the Middle East raised the threat of serious disturbances to worldwide. crude supply. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated on Friday that. Iran and its regional allies will not pull back while Israel. swore to react after Iran fired missiles at it on Tuesday,. partly in retaliation for Israel's killing of a crucial Hezbollah. figure who turned the group into a powerful armed and political. force with reach across the Middle East. U.S. crude increased 1.22% to $74.63 a barrel and. Brent rose to $78.45 per barrel, up 1.07% on the day. In currencies, the dollar index, which measures. the greenback versus a basket of currencies consisting of the yen. and the euro, increased 0.57% to 102.49. The euro was down 0.53% at $1.0972 while versus. the Japanese yen, the dollar enhanced 1.03% to. 148.44. Sterling deteriorated 0.1% to $1.3111, surrendering. earlier gains made after Bank of England primary economic expert Huw. Tablet stated high interest rates were not a crucial reason for weakness. in British company investment. In Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes. rose 10.2 basis points to 3.952%, from 3.85% late on. Thursday while the 30-year bond yield rose 6 basis. indicate 4.2395%. The 2-year note yield, which normally moves. in step with interest rate expectations, rose 17.7 basis points. to 3.8906%, from 3.714% late on Thursday. A closely watched part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve. measuring the gap in between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury. notes, seen as an indication of financial. expectations, was at a favorable 5.9 basis points. In rare-earth elements, area gold increased 0.4% to. $ 2,666.79 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.37% to. $ 2,667.00 an ounce.
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Haitian gang massacre leaves a minimum of 70 dead, UN says
AUPRINCE, Oct 4 (Reuters) Armed guys belonging to the Gran Grif gang killed at least 70 individuals as they passed through a Haitian town with automatic rifles shooting at residents, a spokesperson for the United Nations' Human Rights Workplace stated on Friday. We are horrified by Thursday's gang attacks in the town of Pont-Sonde in Haiti's Artibonite department, spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan stated in a declaration. At least another 16 individuals were seriously injured in the attack in the early hours of Thursday, according to the U.N., as gang members apparently set fire to a minimum of 45 houses and 34 cars, forcing citizens to flee their homes. This unpleasant criminal offense versus defenseless females, guys and children is not only an attack versus victims but against the whole Haitian nation, Prime Minister Garry Conille said on X. Security forces, backed by our international partners, are reinforcing their intervention. In an audio message shared on social media on Thursday, Gran Grif leader Luckson Elan, who was sanctioned by the U.N. last month, blamed the state and victims for the attacks, implicating homeowners of remaining passive while his soldiers were eliminated by police or vigilante groups. It's Pont-Sonde locals who are at fault. What took place in Pont-Sonde is the fault of the state, he stated. Local media had actually reported on Thursday that countless citizens from Pont-Sonde were making their method towards the seaside town of Saint-Marc. Pont-Sonde is a significant rice producer located in Haiti's. breadbasket area at a crucial crossing connecting the. capital Port-au-Prince to the north.
Texas set to smash tidy and unclean power output records in 2024: Maguire
The operator of the Texas power system, among the largest in the United States, is on track to smash generation records from both clean and fossil fuel sources in 2024 as total power needs continue to grow.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) tidy power generation overall through May 27 was a record 3.35 million megawatt hours (MWh), according to LSEG.
That tally marks a 7.5% advance over the exact same period in 2023, and highlights the fast pace of power sector decarbonization efforts in essential markets across the United States.
Nevertheless, over the exact same duration ERCOT output from fossil fuels expanded by nearly 9% to 3.73 million MWh, which is likewise a brand-new high and underscores the difficulty facing power manufacturers to continue to raise overall products while minimizing system emissions.
TIDY PROGRESS
The ERCOT system utilizes four primary sources of tidy power: nuclear reactors, hydro dams, solar parks and wind farms.
Wind farms are without a doubt the biggest source of clean power, and accounted for around 29% of overall generation year-to-date.
Nuclear plants have historically been the second biggest tidy power producers, accounting for around 9% of overall power this year.
Solar parks are the third biggest source of tidy power, and without a doubt the fastest growing source in the ERCOT system, so far in 2024 accounting for around 8.9% of overall generation.
Hydro dams account for just around 0.1% of total power, LSEG information shows.
Combined sources of clean power accounted for a 47.4% share of overall generation up until now in 2024, which is down a little from a 47.7% share over the very same duration in 2023.
However, total tidy generation looks set to climb up throughout the peak solar output period over the summer.
In 2023, solar output increased by 28.6% from May's overall to the monthly output peak in August.
If solar output expands by the very same degree in 2024, solar generation in August will top 190,000 MWh, setting a new regular monthly record for ERCOT solar production and conveniently surpassing nuclear that month to end up being the 2nd largest tidy power source in the ERCOT system.
However, ERCOT generation from wind farms tends to decrease greatly over the summer as wind speeds sluggish, which indicates that drops to wind output could balance out the anticipated increases in generation from solar assets, and might leave overall clean generation levels mostly flat.
FOSSIL STRUCTURE
To accommodate the volatility in tidy power output levels, ERCOT operators maintain big volumes of fossil fuel-based power round-the-clock.
Up until now this year, gas has been the primary power source in the ERCOT system, with the 2.9 million MWh of gas-fired generation through May 27 a new system record for that period, and marking an 11.6% gain over the exact same duration in 2023.
Gas represented around 41% of the total power generation so far this year, which is the highest share in at least 3 years.
Coal-fired plants have represented around 11.6% of the overall through May 27, which is the smallest coal share because at least 2021 and marks a 0.2% decline in total generation from the exact same duration in 2023.
However given the possibility of a decrease in output from ERCOT wind farms this summertime, power producers will likely require to dial up output from both coal and gas plants over the coming months, when high temperatures enhance usage of power-hungry air conditioners and lift overall power demand to yearly highs.
In 2023, ERCOT gas-fired power generation increased by 54%. from the overall generated in May to the peak generation month in. August, while coal-fired generated increased by a 3rd.
If output patterns follow the exact same path in 2024, ERCOT. gas-fired output might quickly top 1 million MWh in August, while. coal-fired generation might add another 200,000 MWh or more.
Power sector emissions in Texas tend to peak throughout summer season. in response to the higher use of fossil fuels throughout that. duration, and in August 2023 neared 24 million metric lots of. co2 and comparable gases, according to think tank. Ash.
Emissions tallies this summertime could scale even higher levels. if gas and coal-fired output hit new integrated records.
But those emissions overalls would be greater still were it not. for the current rapid expansions in tidy power generation, which. have actually exceeded development in fossil generation in the ERCOT system in. current years.
Continued development in total electrical energy need in the ERCOT. system implies that both fossil and clean power output will likely. keep climbing over the coming years, up until a prepared combination. of renewables plus storage systems can set the stage for a. gradual decrease in fossil-based output.
<< The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a. columnist .>
(source: Reuters)