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Running a business is expensive, but shifting to a sustainable, more environmentally friendly strategy could lower your operating cost by as much as 60%. U.S.-based companies can also benefit from tax breaks and rebates for incorporating sustainable practices. You could hire a sustainability expert to consult on your business practices, or you could become one yourself. The 2023 Complete Renewable and Electrical Energy Engineer Preparation Bundle could help you stay informed on the latest sustainable-energy practices you can use in your business.
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This 38-hour informational bundle may help you create large and small-scale changes in your business. An understanding of wind turbines could help you invest in green energy solutions. A few lessons in the Basics of Solar Energy course may help you create an energy model that actually has you selling energy back to the power companies. And operating a brick-and-mortar may not have the same high cost if you can create your own solar water pumping system.
While these courses will not make you an electrical or environmental engineer overnight, they could help you learn about the feasibility of converting your business to a more sustainable model. As intense storms become more common, finding a way to ensure your business does not rely on an inconsistent power grid may become more valuable over time. Keeping the electricity on during a blackout could even mean preserving your frozen inventory and keeping the doors open after a disaster if you’re in the food industry. In addition, all course materials are available to you for life.
No matter who you are, or what you eat, you need protein to feel your best. Protein is an essential macronutrient, meaning we must consume it daily for our bodies to run properly (or better yet, more optimally). While protein requirements vary depending on factors like age, weight, physical activity level, and health status, emerging research is finding that active people should consume 100 to 120 grams of protein per day. This means you’ll want to aim to eat at least 25 to 30 grams of high-quality protein1 in each meal. Of course, healthful and strategic snacks (including those incorporating vegan protein powders) can help bridge protein gaps, too. This is especially important as you get older and begin to lose muscle mass2.
Every time you eat protein, you’re investing in whole-body health, immune function, and especially muscle growth and maintenance. And since muscles are a prime site for glucose and fat metabolism, protein is also helpful for insulin sensitivity, metabolic health, and cellular energy. Plus, high-quality protein is very satiating3 and can be used to promote healthy weight management4 and healthy body composition5. (Learn more about how to use protein for healthy weight goals here.)*
The protein (i.e., the amino acid profile, or array) you’ll find in a plant is not the same as the protein you’ll find in an animal (think: poultry, beef, fish, eggs, dairy, etc). For starters, individual plant proteins (with the exception of soy) naturally do not contain all nine essential amino acids, many of which (especially the branched-chain amino acids, BCAAs) are critical for muscle growth and repair.
This means that plant proteins are technically, by definition, “incomplete” and must be combined with other protein sources to build something that starts to resemble animal protein, which is complete. This approach of combining complementary plant proteins (think: beans and rice) to achieve a more comprehensive amino acid profile is something that vegetarians and vegans are very familiar with and lean into daily.
This isn’t to say that we should all swap beans for meat. Plant-based diets have health (not to mention environmental) benefits of their own. And as the leading protein and amino acid researcher Don Layman, Ph.D., explains on his episode of the mindbodygreen podcast, it’s possible to be vegan and still get enough protein. It just takes more effort—and likely more calories, too.
That’s where vegan protein powders come in: They’re a more targeted way to help ensure you’re getting enough protein every day. Vegan protein powder is often made from peas, rice, hemp, or soy. More unique plants, like pumpkins, artichokes, and other legumes, seeds, or grains can be used to make protein powder as well.
The key is that they need to be well-formulated (with complementary plant protein combinations) to contain all nine essential amino acids—especially leucine, one of three essential BCAAs. Thanks to research we now know that leucine is what triggers mTOR, a key cellular signaling pathway that initiates muscle growth and speeds up recovery, and experts believe we should aim for at least 2.5 grams10 of the amino acid in each meal to support this important physiological process (and supplements can be an important part of obtaining this goal.)
For context, whey protein powder (from cows or goats) typically has about 8 to 10% leucine content. Soy is 7.8%, while hemp is 5.1%11. This means, Layman explains, that it would take 23 grams of whey protein to trigger muscle growth and 33 or 34 grams of soy. It can be trickier to find out how much leucine is in combination plant protein powders, as amino acid compositions are not always listed on labels. When possible, you’ll want to go with a protein powder that is transparent about its amino acid content. (We call out a few below.)
There are a few reasons to choose a vegan protein powder over an animal-based one, despite its less complete amino acid profile. The most obvious is if you follow a strictly plant-based diet. But some meat eaters might also want to weave more plants into their nutrition regimen and be easier on their personal carbon footprint12 too. Plant protein powders can also contain key nutrients from plant sources (e.g., dietary fiber, and omega-3 fatty acid ALA, to name a couple) that you won’t find in animal-based ones. Plant proteins are convenient to boot; add 1-2 scoops to a smoothie or shake and you’re well on your way to meeting your daily protein needs.
Of course, powders do not replace whole-food protein sources; they work together. And even the most complete protein powders can’t build muscle alone. You need to pair them with resistance exercises to see any change in body composition and strength.
So, there you go! Now you have a comprehensive understanding of the major organs in the detoxification system. And while there are a number of ways to support each individual elimination organ, the detoxification system truly works together to effectively filter, transport, and remove metabolites and unwanted toxins.
One way to promote universally healthy detox pathways is to bolster your body’s antioxidant activity. “Just like we network for our careers, it’s super important to network—expand your antioxidant network—each and every day for the sake of your health,” says Ferira.
Why? Your detox organs become taxed not only by a burden of toxins but by regular influxes of free radicals as well (from normal, daily cellular activities and metabolism). Antioxidants neutralize free radicals to help maintain oxidative balance in your cells, tissues, and organs. And as an important reminder, Ferira warns, “We can’t assume antioxidants are just hanging around. That requires intention from your diet and via targeted supplementation strategies.”
Eating antioxidant-rich foods and taking a high-quality detox supplement (such as mbg’s daily detox+, which features “master antioxidant” glutathione, vitamin C from acerola fruit, NAC, selenium, and milk thistle extract) can help your detoxification system combat oxidative stress with focused intention, so your organs can work optimally to filter and clear out stressors like metabolites and toxins.* Win-win!
Newswise — Clean energy is the leading solution for climate change. But solar and wind power are inconsistent at producing enough energy for a reliable power grid. Alternatively, lithium-ion batteries can store energy but are a limited resource.
“The advantage of a coal power plant is it’s very steady,” said Nian Liu, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “If the power source fluctuates like it does with clean energy, it makes it more difficult to manage, so how can we use an energy storage device or system to smooth out these fluctuations?”
Flow batteries offer a solution. Electrolytes flow through electrochemical cells from storage tanks in this rechargeable battery. The existing flow battery technologies cost more than $200/kilowatt hour and are too expensive for practical application, but Liu’s lab in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) developed a more compact flow battery cell configuration that reduces the size of the cell by 75%, and correspondingly reduces the size and cost of the entire flow battery. The work could revolutionize how everything from major commercial buildings to residential homes are powered.
The all-Georgia Tech research team published their findings in the paper, “A Sub-Millimeter Bundled Microtubular Flow Battery Cell With Ultra-high Volumetric Power Density,” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Finding the Flow
Flow batteries get their name from the flow cell where electron exchange happens. Their conventional design, the planar cell, requires bulky flow distributors and gaskets, increasing size and cost but decreasing overall performance. The cell itself is also expensive. To reduce footprint and cost, the researchers focused on improving the flow cell’s volumetric power density (W/L-of-cell).
They turned to a configuration commonly used in chemical separation — sub-millimeter, bundled microtubular (SBMT) membrane — made of a fiber-shaped filter membrane known as a hollow fiber. This innovation has a space-saving design that can mitigate pressure across the membranes that ions pass through without needing additional support infrastructure.
“We were interested in the effect of the battery separator geometry on the performance of flow batteries,” said Ryan Lively, a professor in ChBE. “We were aware of the advantages that hollow fibers imparted on separation membranes and set out to realize those same advantages in the battery field.”
Applying this concept, the researchers developed an SMBT that reduces membrane-to-membrane distance by almost 100 times. The microtubular membrane in the design works as an electrolyte distributor at the same time without the need for large supporting materials. The bundled microtubes create a shorter distance between electrodes and membranes, increasing the volumetric power density. This bundling design is the key discovery for maximizing flow batteries’ potential.
Powering the Battery
To validate their new battery configuration, the researchers used four different chemistries: vanadium, zinc-bromide, quinone-bromide, and zinc-iodide. Although all chemistries are functional, two were most promising. Vanadium was the most mature chemistry, but also less accessible, and the reduced form of it is unstable in air. They found zinc iodide was the most energy-dense option, making it the most effective for residential units. Zinc-iodide offered many advantages even compared to lithium: It has less of a supply chain issue and also can be turned into zinc oxide and dissolve in acid, making it much easier to recycle.
This electrochemical solution for this unique shape of the flow battery proved more powerful than conventional planar cells.
“The superior performance of the SMBT was also demonstrated by finite element analysis,” said Xing Xie, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “This simulation method will also be applied in our future study for cell performance optimization and scaling up.”
With zinc-iodide chemistry, the battery could run for more than 220 hours, or to > 2,500 cycles at off-peak conditions. It could also potentially reduce the cost from $800 to less than $200 per kilowatt hour by using recycled electrolyte.
Building the Future of Energy
The researchers are already working on commercialization, focusing on developing batteries with different chemistries like vanadium and scaling up their size. Scaling will require coming up with an automated process to manufacture a hollow fiber module, which now is done manually, fiber by fiber. They eventually hope to deploy the battery in Georgia Tech’s 1.4-megawatt microgrid in Tech Square, a project that tests microgrid integration into the power grid and offers living laboratory for professors and students.
The SBMT cells could also be applied to different energy storage systems like electrolysis and fuel cells. The technology could even be strengthened with advanced materials and different chemistry in various applications.
“This innovation is very application driven,” Liu said. “We have the need to reach carbon neutrality by increasing the percentage of renewable energy in our energy generation, and right now, it’s less than 15% in the U.S. Our research could change this.”
Yutong Wu, Fengyi Zhang, Ting Wang, Po-Wei Huang, Alexandros Filippas, Haochen Yang, Yanghang Huang, Chao Wang, Huitian Liu, Xing Xie, Ryan P. Lively, Nian Liu, “A Submillimeter Bundled Microtubular Flow Battery Cell with Ultrahigh Volumetric Power Density.” PNAS (2023).
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its more than 46,000 students, representing 50 states and more than 150 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
The month’s upcoming quarter moon falls on January 14 at 9:10 pm EDT. As you may know, new moons are a time to set intentions and start on projects or goals, while full moons are a time to release what’s not working. With any last quarter moon between the full and new, then, the emphasis is still on releasing, so you have a clean slate by the time the new moon arrives. (Which happens on January 21, BTW.)
And in the case of this month’s last quarter moon, it will fall in Libra, a sign all about balance, peace, and justice. Meanwhile, the sun is moving through its last leg of Capricorn season already, and Mercury is retrograde (until January 18) in Capricorn as well.
Luckily, Mars is finally out of its retrograde period—and in the sign of Gemini—forming a harmonious trine with the moon in fellow air sign, Libra. With Mars direct once more, we may have a newly emboldened urge to tackle what we’ve been putting off. While the red planet was retrograde, things were definitely moving slow, and you may notice your energy and motivation coming back full force.
The planet of love and beauty, Venus, will also be trining the moon as it falls in air sign Aquarius, which is favorable energy for smooth relationship sailing—just keep in mind that Mercury is still retrograde for just a bit longer, so we do still want to think before we speak and double check everything.
The German economy lost momentum in 2022 as the country faced multidecade high inflation rates as energy prices soared, posing challenges for its key industrial sector.
The eurozone’s largest economy expanded 1.9% in 2022 compared with a year earlier, according to preliminary data published Friday by Germany’s statistics office Destatis. This marks a slowdown from the 2.6% expansion registered in 2021, when the economy rebounded from 2020’s pandemic-driven contraction.
The reading is in line with expectations from economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
“The overall economic situation in Germany in 2022 was characterized by the consequences of the war in Ukraine such as the extreme increases in energy prices,” said Ruth Brand, president of Germany’s statistics office.
Economists expect the German economy to slow down further in the months ahead. Still, recently declining energy prices and easing concerns about energy rationing have improved the economy’s short-term outlook, with any upcoming downturn likely to be shallow.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
If you’ve been having a lot of dreams about water and you want to work through them, the good news is there are plenty of ways to do so. The main thing, according to Loewenberg and other dream experts, is to get a clear sense of the emotion that’s being conveyed through this dream, and getting a handle on that emotion in your real life.
“Your dreams will show you—in a brutally honest fashion—how you’re dealing with, reacting to, and managing your emotional state,” Loewenberg says. And as therapist and dream expert Leslie Ellis, Ph.D., previously told mindbodygreen, one of the best ways to ensure those emotions bleed into your dreams is by setting aside time to work through your emotions before you go to bed, especially if your dreams have been stressful in nature.
“Do make time to constructively deal with the sources of your stress,” she says, adding, “If there is a difficult conversation you need to have with a friend or family member, don’t put it off. If you are feeling unprepared for something, put in the time.”
Both Ellis and Loewenberg also recommend dream journaling, which is a great way to get a written record of your dreams down so you can remember them better, start noticing patterns, and make subsequent adjustments in your life to deal with what’s coming up in your dreams.
Thierry Breton is winning the war of ideas in Brussels.
The ex-CEO is a political whirlwind with a gigantic portfolio as internal market chief, the backing of French President Emmanuel Macron and lots of proposals. He’s been touring European Union capitals to win support for plans to shield Europe’s industry from crippling energy prices, American subsidies and “naive” EU free traders.
France’s decades-long push for more state intervention is finally findingsome echo in Berlin and the 13th floor of the Berlaymont building, occupied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who largely owes her job to Macron.
Omnipresent and ebullient, Breton is playing a key role in marshaling industry and political support for sweeping but so far vague plans to boost clean tech, secure key raw materials and overhaul EU checks on government support that he blasts as too slow to help companies.
“Of course there is resistance; my job is precisely to manage and align everyone,” he told French TV this week of his January meetings with Spanish, Polish and Belgian leaders to flog a forthcoming industrial policy push that could be a turning point in how far European governments will finance companies.
Time is short. Von der Leyen wants to line up proposals for a February summit. European industry is complaining that it can’t swallow far higher energy prices and tighter regulation for much longer, with at least one announcing a European shutdown and an Asian expansion.
Breton said governments don’t need convincing on the need for rapid action. But he’s running up against one of Europe’s sacred cows — EU state aid rules run by Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager that curb government support with lengthy checks to make sure companies don’t get unfair help. She’s also under intense pressure to preserve a “level playing field” as smaller countries worry about German and French financial firepower.
The French internal market commissioner’s bullish style often sees him act as if he’s got a role in subsidies. In the fall, he sent a letter to EU countries asking them to send views on emergency state aid rules to the internal market department, which is under his supervision, two EU officials recalled.
In a meeting with European diplomats, a Commission representative had to correct it, the EU officials said, asking capitals to make sure the input goes instead to the competition department overseen by Vestager.
Europe First
While Breton doesn’t like to be called a protectionist, his latest mission has been to protect Europe from its transatlantic friend.
As early as September, one Commission official said, the Frenchman was mandated by Europe’s industry to speak out against U.S. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which provides tax credits for U.S.-made electric cars and support to American battery supply chains.
U.S President Joe Biden gives remarks during an event celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on September 13, 2022 | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
His Paris-backed campaign charged ahead while EU officials and diplomats tiptoed around the subject. Some within the Commission headquarters found his bad cop routine helpful in keeping pressure on the U.S.
“He’s been constructive, though clearly disruptive,” said Tyson Barker, head of the technology and global affairs program at the German Council of Foreign Relations.
The Frenchmanhas even pitched himself as the bloc’s “sheriff” against Silicon Valleygiants, warning billionaire Elon Musk that an overhaul of the Twitter social network can only go so far since “in Europe, the bird will fly by our rules.”
“Big Tech companies only understand balances of power,” said Cédric O, a former French digital minister who worked with Breton during the French EU Council presidency. “When [Breton and Musk] see each other, it necessarily remains cordial, but Breton shows his teeth and rightly so. It’s his job.”
Breton can even surprise his own services, according to two EU officials. In May, the Commission’s department responsible for digital policy — DG CONNECT — was caught off guard when Breton announced in the press that he would unveil plans by year-end to make sure that technology giants forked out for telecoms networks.
In so doing, Breton — who was CEO of France Télécom in the early 2000s — resurrected a long-dormant and fractious policy debate that had been put to rest almost a decade ago, when erstwhile Digital Commissioner Neelie Kroes ordered Europe’s telecoms operators to “adapt or die” rather than seek money from content providers.
After Breton’s commitments, the Commission’s services were soon scrambling to develop some sort of a coherent policy program to deliver on the Frenchman’s comments. A consultation is scheduled for early this year.
Carte blanche
Breton is a rare creature in the halls of the Berlaymont, where policy is hatched slowly after extensive consultation. To a former CEO with a broad remit — his portfolio runs from the expanse of space to the tiniest of microchips — rapid reaction matters more than treading on toes or singing from the hymn sheet. This often sees him floating ideas and then pulling back.
Last year he alarmed environmentalists by raising the prospect of a U-turn on the EU’s polluting car ban. He wagged his finger at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for a solo trip to China. He called for nuclear energy to be considered green. He has pushed out grand projects — such as industrial alliances on batteries and cloud, or a cyber shield — that he doesn’t always follow up on.
He’s even pushed forward a multibillion-euro EU communication satellite program dubbed Iris², a favorite of French aerospace companies, that will see the bloc build a rival to Musk’s space-based Starlink broadband constellation.
“It’s clear that he’s been given more free rein than others,” said one EU official. “He has von der Leyen’s ear,” the official added, noting that Breton enjoys “privileged access” to the Commission president — who may be mindful that she’ll need French support for a second term.
According to an official, Breton “has von der Leyen’s ear” and enjoys “privileged access” to the Commission president | Valeria Mongeli/AFP via Getty Images
Indeed, Breton’s massive role was partly designed as a counterweight to a German president.
“There is a criticism of von der Leyen for being too German,” explained Sébastien Maillard, director of the Jacques Delors Institute think tank. “There may inevitably be a division of roles between them — [where Breton is] a counterbalance.”
He’s been called an “unguided missile,” but more often than not, the Frenchman has Paris’ backing when going off script. His October op-ed with Italian colleague Paolo Gentiloni, which called for greater European financial solidarity, was part of France’s agenda, according to one high-ranking Commission official.
“When he went out in the press with Gentiloni against Scholz’s €200 billion, he was clearly doing the job for Macron,” the official said.
His November call for a rethink on the 2035 car engine ban came just after a week after critical green legislation had been finalized by Commission Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans and jarred with the EU’s own position at the COP 27 climate summit in Indonesia. But it aped the position of French auto industry captains, such as Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Renault’s Luca de Meo, who wanted Brussels to slam the brakes on the climate drive.
Breton had not coordinated his car comments with colleagues in advance, according to two Commission officials.
Less than 10 days later, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne echoed caution about the “extremely ambitious” engine ban and warned that pivoting to electric car manufacturing was daunting.
Going A-list
Breton acknowledged himself that he wasn’t Macron’s first choice for the critical EU post, telling POLITICO at a live event that he was a “plan B commissioner.”
Asked if he was targeting an A-list job for the new Commission mandate in 2024, he said he “may be able to consider a new plan B assignment — if it is a plan B.”
“He is thinking about the future,” said one EU official. “Look at his LinkedIn posts. He is thinking past the next European elections. He definitely wants to convince Macron to get an expanded portfolio.”
Grabbing the Commission’s top job may be tricky, relying on how EU leaders will line up, according to multiple EU and French officials.
There are other jobs, including overturning the unwritten law that no French or German candidate can hold the economically powerful competition portfolio. Another option could be becoming Europe’s official digital czar, combining the enforcement powers of the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act into a supranational digital enforcement agency, one EU official said.
Breton has shrugged off speculation on his long-term plans.
“All my life, I have been informed of my next potential job 15 minutes before,” he said last month.
Jakob Hanke Vela, Stuart Lau, Barbara Moens, Camille Gijs and Mark Scott contributed reporting.
DAVOS, Switzerland—As snow pounds the Swiss mountain town of Davos, American lawmakers are huddled in warm, quiet rooms trying to assuage European concerns that the United States hasn’t just turned into a protectionist power.
The passage of Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the $369 billion behemoth legislation stuffed with clean-energy incentives, has upended EU-U.S. relations, prompting European accusations that the U.S. is unfairly boosting its own companies to encourage local investment.
In response, the EU is looking to counter with state-provided aid of its own. As the World Economic Forum hosts its annual event in Davos this week, a U.S. delegation — featuring some of the most high-profile members of Congress — was planning to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Monday night to discuss the issue before she gives a much-anticipated speech here Tuesday morning. That meeting was canceled due to travel issues for von der Leyen, however, though U.S. lawmakers are still hoping to reschedule.
The mix of U.S. senators and House members say Europe has it all wrong. The U.S., they told POLITICO in multiple exclusive interviews on the sidelines of the elite gathering, is simply investing in its own energy and economic security. And a stronger America means a stronger ally, they argued.
Europe and Germany “became too reliant on Russian energy,” said Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware who’s leading the delegation, adding “my hope is that we can together find a path forward.” American and European leaders need to “have that conversation about the alignment of values and priorities.”
But Europe doesn’t see alignments right now — only breaks.
After something of a golden era of EU-U.S. cooperation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the two sides worked constructively together to devise complex sanctions packages against Moscow — Europe was caught off guard by America’s subsidy-heavy legislation. In particular, a provision granting tax credits for electric vehicles manufactured in North America incensed the Europeans — including big car producers like France and Germany.
American lawmakers understand the criticism but believe it’s misguided. Senator Joe Manchin, the centrist Democrat from West Virginia who was instrumental in passing the IRA, said Europe is being “hyper hypocritical” after decades of European protectionism.
Manchin continued that, on a separate occasion, he told French President Emmanuel Macron the IRA couldn’t possibly hurt Europe, despite the concerns.
That’s the same message he’s delivering in the winter wonderland.
“That bill was designed to basically strengthen the United States so that we can help our allies and friends, which need it right now,” Manchin said. “And if anybody needs it, the EU needs it. And without that, we’re not going to be and maintain the superpower status of the world if we’re not energy independent.”
Representative Gregory Meeks from New York, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat, said Europeans still seem nervous despite the bipartisan message from Democrats and Republicans. They’re asking if lawmakers can still amend the legislation to assuage fears of withering European investments. Meeks has been retorting that “there’s no perfect bill,” and that it’s “extremely important” to secure America’s supply chain for critical semiconductors and to combat climate change.
Yet how the U.S. tackles climate change is still a point of contention within Congress, as Manchin — who retains immense sway with a razor-thin Democratic majority in the Senate — says fossil fuels remain vital to the American economy.
“I told them, I said, the most important thing is basically you cannot eliminate your way to clean your climate,” Manchin said outside the Hilton Garden Inn, where lawmakers are staying. “You can innovate it, and that’s what we’re doing in the U.S.”
Von der Leyen is expected to touch on the subsidy spat during her keynote speech Tuesday at the World Economic Forum.
She previewed last week that EU officials are focusing their attention on trying to secure changes that would allow them to also benefit from the U.S. tax incentives, which currently extend to Mexico and Canada. Privately, however, EU officials concede there is minimal room for maneuver, given the IRA has already passed Congress.
This week in Davos could be an opportunity for two of the world’s biggest trading blocs — the EU and the United States — to try and iron out their differences. But with little room for compromise, the Atlantic Ocean between the two seems as wide as ever.
This article was updated after a meeting Monday between Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. lawmakers was canceled due to travel issues.
Wind turbine blades photographed at a facility in China’s Hebei Province on July 15, 2022. The world’s second largest economy is a major force in technologies crucial to the planned energy transition.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
The world is moving into “a new age of clean technology manufacturing” that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars per year by the end of the decade, generating millions of jobs in the process, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.
Published Thursday morning, the IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives 2023 report — which referred to “the dawn of a new industrial age” — looked at the manufacturing of technologies including wind turbines, heat pumps, batteries for electric vehicles, solar panels and electrolyzers for hydrogen.
In a statement accompanying its report, the IEA said its analysis showed that “the global market for key mass-manufactured clean energy technologies” would be worth roughly $650 billion per year by 2030, a more than three-fold increase from today’s levels.
There is a caveat to the Paris-based organization’s forecast, in that it’s based on countries around the world implementing, in full, pledges related to energy and the climate — a significant task that will require both political will and financial muscle.
Read more about energy from CNBC Pro
“The related clean energy manufacturing jobs would more than double from 6 million today to nearly 14 million by 2030,” the IEA said, “and further rapid industrial and employment growth is expected in the following decades as transitions progress.”
Despite the above, the IEA noted there were potential headwinds related to supply chains, a long-standing issue that heightened geopolitical tensions and the coronavirus pandemic have thrown into sharp relief in recent years.
Its report highlighted “potentially risky levels of concentration in clean energy supply chains — both for the manufacturing of technologies and the materials on which they rely.”
China, it said, was dominating both the production and trade of “most clean energy technologies.”
When it came to mass-manufactured technologies such as batteries, solar panels, wind, heat pumps and electrolyzers, the IEA said the three biggest producer countries represented “at least 70% of manufacturing capacity for each technology — with China dominant in all of them.”
“Meanwhile, a great deal of the mining for critical minerals is concentrated in a small number of countries,” it added.
“For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt, and just three countries — Australia, Chile and China — account for more than 90% of global lithium production.”
Read more about China from CNBC Pro
Commenting on the report, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the planet “would benefit from more diversified clean technology supply chains.”
“As we have seen with Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, when you depend too much on one company, one country or one trade route — you risk paying a heavy price if there is disruption,” he added.
This is not the first time Birol has spoken about the geopolitical dimension of the world’s shift to a future centered around lower-carbon technologies.
In October, Birol told CNBC that the main driver of clean energy investment was energy security rather than climate change.
Namechecking the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. and other packages in Europe, Japan and China, Birol said a “major increase in clean energy investment, about [a] 50% increase,” was being seen.
“Today it’s about 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars and it will go up to about 2 trillion U.S. dollars,” Birol told CNBC’s Julianna Tatelbaum.
“And as a result, we are going to see clean energy, electric cars, solar, hydrogen, nuclear power, slowly but surely, replacing fossil fuels.”
“And why do governments do that? Because of climate change, because of the greenness of the issues? Not at all. The main reason here is energy security.”
Birol went on to describe energy security as being “the biggest driver of renewable energies.” He also acknowledged the importance of other factors, including those related to the climate.
“Energy security concerns, climate commitments … industrial policies — the three of them coming together is a very powerful combination,” he said.
HAVANA, Jan 11 (IPS) – Félix Morffi supports the energy needs of his home with the help of the sun, in some cases through handcrafted solutions that make the most of an alternative source that is abundant in Cuba, but still used very little.
With two tanks, glass, aluminum sheets, as well as cinderblocks, sand and cement, the 86-year-old retiree created, in 2006, a solar heater that meets his household needs.
“You build it today and tomorrow you have hot water; anyone can do it, and if they have a bit of advice, all the better,” said the retired mid-level machine and tool repair technician who lives in the municipality of Regla, one of the 15 that make up Havana.
He also designed and made a dryer that uses the heat of the sun to dehydrate fruits, spices and tubers, which he assembled mostly with recycled products such as pieces of wood, nylon, acrylic and aluminum sheets.
On the roof of his house, 16 solar panels imported in 2019 provide five kilowatts of power (kWp) and help run his small automotive repair shop where he works on vehicles for state-owned companies and private individuals, an independent enterprise that he set up next to his house.
In addition to covering his household needs, he provides the surplus electricity to the national grid, the National Electric Power System (SEN).
Morffi said more training is needed among personnel involved in several processes, and he cited delays of more than a year between the signing of the contract with Unión Eléctrica and the beginning of payments for the energy surpluses provided to the SEN, as well as “inconsistency with respect to the assembly” of the equipment.
Although Cuba has a national policy on renewable energy sources, “there is still a lot of ignorance and very little desire to do things, and do them well. Awareness-raising is needed,” he argued.
The innovator believes that despite the economic conditions, with a little ingenuity people can take advantage of the natural elements, because “the sun shines for everyone; the wind is there and costs you nothing, but your wealth is in your brain.”
In his backyard, a small solar panel keeps the water flowing from a well for his barnyard fowl and an artificial pond holding a variety of ornamental fish as well as tilapia for family consumption.
The construction of a small biodigester, about four cubic meters in size, is also at an advanced stage on his land, aimed at using methane gas from the decomposition of animal manure and crop waste, for cooking.
Morffi, who manages these activities with the backing of several family members, also plans to import three small wind turbines of 0.5 kWp each and a new batch of 4 kWp solar PV panels.
His vision is to turn his house into a space for the production and promotion of renewable energies in Cuba.
To this end, he has the support of the non-governmental Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (Cubasolar), of which Morffi has been a member since 2004.
Since 2014, Cuba has had a Policy for the Development of Renewable Energy Sources and their Efficient Use. And in 2019, Decree Law 345 established regulations to increase the share of renewables in electricity generation and steadily decrease the proportion represented by fossil fuels.
According to studies, this archipelago of more than 110,800 square kilometers with an annual average of 330 sunny days receives an average solar radiation of more than five kilowatts per square meter per day, considered to be a high level that provides enormous potential in terms of energy.
The solar energy program appears to be the most advanced and with the best opportunities for growth. Over the last decade, several solar parks have been built, providing more than 75 percent of the renewable energy produced locally.
But clean sources account for just five percent of the island’s electricity generation, an outlook that the authorities want to radically transform, setting an ambitious goal of 37 percent by 2030.
In numerology, Richardson explains that the number 1 is all about newness—new things, new cycles, new beginnings, and bringing new elements into your life. And as medium Megan Michaela Firester (aka Mystic Michaela) tells mindbodygreen, it’s also a sign that you have the ability and opportunity to create, so long as you get in the right mindset.
“One represents the ability for you to create—I call it the ‘Architect’ number,” Firester says, adding that seeing it reminds you of the power you possess. “Your world is always shaped by your thoughts and words, and when you see this number, it’s a reminder [of that, and] asks you to get back to a more positive, creative flow.”
In terms of the number 3, she says, it’s a major message of the harmony that exists everywhere, and that our minds, bodies, and spirits are connected as one. “You have to take care of your life in a balanced way, or everything will suffer. Seeing this number is a nudge from your angels to see which parts of your life you’re currently neglecting—and a call to action to get them back on track,” she adds.
The number 3 can also relate to self-expression, communication, creativity, optimism, and joy, according to numerologist Michelle Buchanan. “It is a very powerful creative force that amplifies our thoughts, words, and emotions, so when we’re living in a high vibration—expressing ourselves joyfully and positively in the world—we attract more happiness, abundance, and good fortune,” she previously told mindbodygreen.
It was (yet another) bad climate year for our planet — and an even worse one for Europe, according to the EU’s climate change service.
Copernicus’ latest report, published Tuesday, paints a dire picture that is now all too familiar.
Last year was the fifth-warmest on record globally and the second-warmest for Europe, where temperatures have increased by more than twice the global average in the past 30 years.
The Continent also experienced its hottest-ever summer, marked by devastating heat waves and wildfires that destroyed over 800,000 hectares of land and caused a spike in carbon emissions.
Extended droughts hit crop yields, with little hope in sight for a quick recovery. Unusually warm winters might be good for consumer energy bills, but without enough snow to restore rivers’ water supply this winter, farmers fear that the effects of last year’s drought might extend well into 2023.
The combination of adverse weather conditions and the fallout of the war in Ukraine is creating the perfect storm for a global food crisis, with millions of people facing starvation. Prices of staple commodities like wheat and vegetable oils, which had already experienced volatility in previous years, spiked in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though early signs suggest the crunch might be starting to ease.
Here’s Europe’s hot, long, dry 2022 — in eight charts and maps.
With over 15 million in his social media community (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and his affiliate websites), he shares his insights to help to create a more peaceful, just, sustainable, happy, and healthy world. The World Post and The Huffington Post’s global internet survey ranked him as the 17th most Influential Thinker in the World, and 1st in Medicine.
In conjunction with his medical achievements, Chopra is a prolific author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, with 25 New York Times Bestsellers including You Are the Universe. After collaborating on two major books featured as public broadcast television specials, Super Brain and Super Genes, he and Rudolph Tanzi took a quantum leap in their revolutionary approach to tackling the issue of lifelong health and heightened immunity in their book, The Healing Self.
Newswise — Raindrops, evaporating water, and even moisture in the air are all potentially sources of decentralized clean electricity generation, but many of the technologies that take advantage of this ambient and vast source of energy—many of which are inspired by the electricity harvesting techniques of plants and animals—remain at the lab-bench stage. A group of researchers and engineers have put together a survey of the opportunities and challenges this very young field face.
Their review paper was published in the journal Nano ResearchEnergyon November 30, 2022.
Enormous hydroelectric dams are perhaps the first thing one thinks of when considering sustainable electricity generation, or possibly large tidal barrages. If one is very familiar with the state of play in clean energy development, one might also be aware of wave-energy converters on the sea surface or seabed that convert the energy from high-intensity waves into usable electricity.
All of these options depend upon heavy, bulky and above all centralized forms of harvesting of the energy contained in water. Yet there are a myriad of other potential technology pathways that can harvest electricity from water in much more decentralized fashion, taking advantage of water’s ubiquitous presence almost everywhere on the Earth. These would produce usable electricity from processes of evaporation, condensation, rainfall, moisture, and even minute flows of water at the scale of a droplet falling off a leaf, and the very tiniest of waves.
Proposed technologies along these lines take advantage of various physical phenomena, including the piezoelectric effect (whereby electric charge accumulates in response to the application of stress or pressure), triboelectricity (in which certain materials become electrically charged after they are separated from a different material with which they had been in contact), thermoelectricity (the conversion of heat to electricity and vice versa), and the hydrovoltaic effect (in which electricity is generated via interaction between water and nanomaterials).
“Water is everywhere. It is ambiently available like no other entity. So all this clean energy is just sitting there, unused and waiting for us to take advantage of it,” said Zuankai Wang, paper author of the review and researcher with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. “It makes sense for us to tap into this vast reservoir of energy not just for bulk electricity production, but for a range of applications such as sensors and wearable devices where a micro-scale of energy harvesting is much more appropriate to the use it is being put to.”
Much of the work in the development of such distributed water-energy technologies remains very much in its infancy however. Many of these lab-bench concepts for distributed water-energy harvesting techniques suffer from poor durability, poor scalability and, worst of all, low energy conversion. This latter problem means that for all the effort put into harvesting energy out of such processes, not much is squeezed out.
The development of generators that are driven by water vapor in the air for example uses materials that so far exhibit poor capacity for water adsorption (adhesion to the surface), resulting in incomplete interaction between the water and the material, producing low electrical output, and declining even more in the face of harsh environments.
“And yet the rest of nature has figured out thousands of different ways to do exactly this,” added Wang. “Evolution has basically perfected the process of extracting energy from ambient hydrologic processes in ways that are extremely efficient.”
The lotus leaf for example at the micro and nano scale enjoys an extreme hydrophobic structure that allows droplets of water to roll across its surface with extremely low resistance—essentially on a cushion of air. This phenomenon has inspired engineers to study textured superhydrophobic surfaces. The asymmetric 3D ratchets of the Araucaria leaf causes liquids with varying surface tensions to flow in different directions. And the ability of nepenthes, the group of carnivorous plants also known as pitcher plants, to direct liquid through its surface structure, inspired the authors of the review paper to develop a ‘slippery liquid-infused porous surface’ (SLIPS) system that can repel liquid extremely efficiently. A water-energy generator with durable SLIPS allows for constant electrical output from droplets in harsh environments with high humidity, high concentrations of salt, and even ultralow temperature.
And it’s not just plants. As water-driven electricity generators are well suited for harvesting energy from human motion due to their deformability and compact size, another group of researchers inspired by electric eel membranes developed artificial electric organs making use of hydrogel arrays (highly absorbent polymers that do not dissolve in water) that work as analogues of the eel membrane components.
Despite the explosion in development of such bio-inspired engineering, or ‘bionics’, for water-energy harvesting, the current generation of water-driven electricity generators remains largely ad hoc. The researchers felt that a comprehensive review of the field was urgently needed to place it on a firmer theoretical foundation and identify research gaps in order to better guide design of systems and development of novel materials.
The review covers the main mechanisms of electricity production for bio-inspired water-driven generators. It also offers a tour d’horizon of the various bio-inspired devices that have been developed, specifically evaporation, moisture, rainwater, and wave and flow-driven generators, covering three use cases: sensors, wearable electricity generators, and self-powered electronics.
The researchers concluded that the underlying structures of water-driven electricity generation remains undertheorized, in particular that of charge transport and transfer, as well as of energy conversion. Most notably, there is no general theory of charge transfer at the interface of solid materials and water, and proposed mechanisms for this remain hotly debated.
In addition, liquid residues on solid surfaces can significantly reduce electrical output, and so how to avoid or reduce such residues is one of the most vital avenues of research for the field. Most efforts have focussed on textural microstructures in materials that produces a super-hydrophobic surface in order to achieve an incomplete contact between liquid and solid. While this produces the desired water residue reduction, it also inevitably limits the solid-liquid contact area, reducing charge induction and thus lowering electrical output, producing the same result as a residue.
In other areas, improving the ability to absorb water from the environment will be key to improving electricity generation. The researchers recommended that a greater focus be applied to the study of organisms that have evolved over a long period of time in extremely arid areas, such as deserts.
Finally, the authors noted that much of the design of bio-inspired water-driven electricity generators remains at the lab-bench stage, with such devices confronting only a fairly mild experimental setting rather than the rough and tumble of real-world conditions.
The life-span of these technologies even in the laboratory only survive a few days or at most a few months. This compares poorly to roughly 25-year life-span of a solar panel or the half-century or longer of a nuclear plant or hydro dam. There may be use cases, perhaps in medical applications, where a short lifespan poses few problems or is even desirable, but for wider adoption of the technology, such unsatisfactory lifespans will need to be overcome.
Nano Research Energy is launched by Tsinghua University Press, aiming at being an international, open-access and interdisciplinary journal. We will publish research on cutting-edge advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnology for energy. It is dedicated to exploring various aspects of energy-related research that utilizes nanomaterials and nanotechnology, including but not limited to energy generation, conversion, storage, conservation, clean energy, etc. Nano Research Energy will publish four types of manuscripts, that is, Communications, Research Articles, Reviews, and Perspectives in an open-access form.
SciOpen is a professional open access resource for discovery of scientific and technical content published by the Tsinghua University Press and its publishing partners, providing the scholarly publishing community with innovative technology and market-leading capabilities. SciOpen provides end-to-end services across manuscript submission, peer review, content hosting, analytics, and identity management and expert advice to ensure each journal’s development by offering a range of options across all functions as Journal Layout, Production Services, Editorial Services, Marketing and Promotions, Online Functionality, etc. By digitalizing the publishing process, SciOpen widens the reach, deepens the impact, and accelerates the exchange of ideas.
Newswise — A team from Nagoya University in Japan has observed, for the first time, the energy transferring from resonant electrons to whistler-mode waves in space. Their findings offer direct evidence of previously theorized efficient growth, as predicted by the non-linear growth theory of waves. This should improve our understanding of not only space plasma physics but also space weather, a phenomenon that affects satellites.
When people imagine outer space, they often envision it as a perfect vacuum. In fact, this impression is wrong because the vacuum is filled with charged particles. In the depths of space, the density of charged particles becomes so low that they rarely collide with each other. Instead of collisions, the forces related to the electric and magnetic fields filling space, control the motion of charged particles. This lack of collisions occurs throughout space, except for very near to celestial objects, such as stars, moons, or planets. In these cases, the charged particles are no longer traveling through the vacuum of space but instead through a medium where they can strike other particles.
Around the Earth, these charged-particle interactions generate waves, including electromagnetic whistler-mode waves, which scatter and accelerate some of the charged particles. When diffuse auroras appear around the poles of planets, observers are seeing the results of an interaction between waves and electrons. Since electromagnetic fields are so important in space weather, studying these interactions should help scientists predict variations in the intensity of highly energetic particles. This might help protect astronauts and satellites from the most severe effects of space weather.
A team comprising Designated Assistant Professor Naritoshi Kitamura and Professor Yoshizumi Miyoshi of the Institute for Space and Earth Science (ISEE) at Nagoya University, together with researchers from the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Tohoku University, Osaka University, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and several international collaborators, mainly used data obtained using low-energy electron spectrometers, called Fast Plasma Investigation-Dual Electron Spectrometers, on board NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft. They analyzed interactions between electrons and whistler-mode waves, which were also measured by the spacecraft. By applying a method of using a wave particle interaction analyzer, they succeeded in directly detecting the ongoing energy transfer from resonant electrons to whistler-mode waves at the location of the spacecraft in space. From this, they derived the growth rate of the wave. The researchers published their results in Nature Communications.
The most important finding was that the observed results were consistent with the hypothesis that non-linear growth occurs in this interaction. “This is the first time anybody has directly observed the efficient growth of waves in space for the wave-particle interaction between electrons and whistler-mode waves,” explains Kitamura. “We expect that the results will contribute to research on various wave-particle interactions and to also improve our understanding of the progress of plasma physics research. As more specific phenomena, the results will contribute to our understanding of the acceleration of electrons to high energies in the radiation belt, which are sometimes called ‘killer electrons’ because they inflict damage on satellites, as well as the loss of high-energy electrons in the atmosphere, which form diffuse auroras.”
Garnet has a variety of meanings, making it a powerful crystal to add to your arsenal, whether you were born in January or not. It’s associated with things like grounding, as well as passion, and has a close connection to the root chakra, which is all about our sense of security, safety, and groundedness.
As Yulia Van Doren, crystal expect and founder of Goldirocks, previously told us, “It’s very important to have the grounding of a ‘safe space’ in order to be able to bravely explore unknown ideas and unchartered passions.” This makes it a good stone to travel with, she adds.
And according to Askinosie, “passion is like a muscle that you need to keep struggling to keep strong,” and garnet can help you ignite that passion. “So, the crystal recipe for passion is to be present and to be present and enthusiastic. Garnet helps you to get to the bottom of what’s keeping you from feeling passionate,” she explains, adding, “It helps to remind you that passion is not external; it comes from within. It helps you to shift your attitude.”
Garnet can also be useful for helping you keep your boundaries firmly established and respected while also helping to remove your inhibitions and blockages, Van Doren says, so that you feel safe and supported exploring your soul’s true desires.
In terms of working with this stone, Askinosie says a good affirmation to use alongside this stone is, “I am passionate.” Here’s another one of her favorite ways to harness the passionate energy of garnet:
We’re growing increasingly worried about some richly valued companies in our portfolio, including the likes of Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT). Expensive stocks remain out of favor on Wall Street — just as they had been for much of last year — and there could be more room for them to fall as recession fears mount. Other stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust , the portfolio we use for the Club, do not carry the same level of valuation risk. We wanted to call attention to some of those lower-multiple stocks that we believe are worth watching. We’re focusing on forward price-to-earnings ratios, calculated by dividing share price by estimated earnings-per-share over the next 12 months. The quotient is what’s known as the multiple . The S & P 500 ‘s overall multiple has fallen over the past year, going from around 21x forward earnings in early January 2022 to around 16.8x on Thursday. A lot goes into what investors are willing to pay for a stock, including higher interest rates — which make bond yields more competitive with stock returns — and the growth rate of a company’s profits relative to peers. As an investor looking to buy a stock, it may be easier to run the P/E in reverse. In this high-level hypothetical, start with the multiple you want to pay and multiply that by forward earnings estimates. If you’re willing to assign a 10 multiple to earnings per share of $5, that translates to a stock price of $50. But now growth is less certain and interest rates are going up, so you think paying 10x forward earnings is too risky. Instead, you think paying 8x forward earnings is more appropriate, meaning you’re only willing to pay $40 per share. Eventually it becomes clear profits are shrinking, and the company won’t earn $5 per share anymore; estimates now call for EPS of $4. In this scenario, paying 8x future earnings is too rich because the earnings growth is less robust. You determine you’re only willing to pay 7x forward earnings of $4 per share, translating to a stock price of just $28. This is an oversimplified explanation, to be sure. But it offers a look at what happens to stock prices when investors, in general, are less willing to pay a premium for a stock in an environment where that company’s earnings growth is slowing down and bonds are increasing in attractiveness. Right now, a key problem for the market is that many investors believe earnings estimates are too high. If the Federal Reserve stays hawkish and the U.S. economy continues to weaken and tip into recession, corporate profits may erode more than currently expected. This could intensify the pressure on stock prices. Higher-multiple stocks have a smaller margin for error in situations like this. Even a slight downward revision to earnings could lead to a considerable decline in richly valued shares. With this in mind, here are six Club stocks that currently fit our definition of reasonably priced, meaning they trade either around or below the S & P 500’s overall valuation. JNJ mountain 2022-01-05 Johnson & Johnson’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is currently trading around 17.4x forward earnings, and the health-care company fits within the more defensive-oriented posture we believe is appropriate in this market. We’re also inching closer to J & J’s split into two publicly traded companies , a decision we believe will enhance shareholder value. On Wednesday, the company’s consumer health unit, which plans to be called Kenvue, filed with the U.S. securities regulator to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The pharmaceutical and medical technology divisions will retain the J & J name and own at least 80.1% of Kenvue. META mountain 2022-01-05 Meta Platforms’ stock performance over the past 12 months. Shares of Meta Platforms (META) trade at less than 16x forward earnings estimates, following a brutal 2022 for the once high-flying stock. Meta’s reliance on advertising revenue makes it more exposed to economic conditions than, say, J & J. However, the stock’s below-market multiple provides some comfort. Plus, the Instagram and Facebook parent let go more than 11,000 employees late last year, an important step to bring down expenses in the face of topline headwinds. HAL mountain 2022-01-05 Halliburton’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Oilfield services provider Halliburton (HAL) trades at roughly 13x forward earnings, a valuation that we find very reasonable. The stock is below its five-year average P/E of 17.2, per FactSet, and the company’s underlying business has been performing well. Management has talked about a multiyear drilling cycle, stemming from previous years of underinvestment, which should help the business remain resilient. Halliburton is up more than 7% since we added 150 shares to our position Dec. 16 . Our other three energy stocks — Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), Devon Energy (DVN) and Coterra Energy (CTRA) — also maintain P/Es well below the S & P 500. We like the group here, evidenced by our purchase of 25 PXD shares on Wednesday . Morgan Stanley MS mountain 2022-01-05 Morgan Stanley’s stock performance over the past 12 months. At just under 12x forward earnings, Morgan Stanley (MS) is one of only two financial stocks in our portfolio. We’re comfortable owning it at present valuations despite a potential recession on the horizon. It carries an annual dividend yield of roughly 3.6%, which rewards investors for their patience, and the company bought back $2.6 billion worth of stock in the three months ended Sept. 30. Morgan Stanley checks all our boxes as a company that does real things for a profit, returns capital to shareholders and is reasonably priced. WFC mountain 2022-01-05 Wells Fargo’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Wells Fargo (WFC)— the other bank in our portfolio — trades at 8.3x forward earnings and is well-liked by analysts . While recession fears may be weighing on the stock, Wells Fargo’s loan portfolio is very high quality. The bank also benefits from the Federal Reserve’s higher interest rates. We also view the company as a turnaround story as it looks to get past regulatory restrictions . F mountain 2022-01-05 Ford Motor’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Ford (F) has one of the lowest price-to-earnings multiples in our portfolio, at just under 7x. We like the automaker here, with Jim saying on Thursday that he’d buy the stock at current levels . In December, Ford’s money-making F series pickup trucks registered their best sales month of 2022 — a positive sign after months of production disruptions limited availability. We’re fans of the company’s electric vehicle strategy, too. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
A Halliburton oil well fielder works on a well head at a fracking rig site January 27, 2016 near Stillwater, Oklahoma.
J. Pat Carter | Getty Images
We’re growing increasingly worried about some richly valued companies in our portfolio, including the likes of Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT). Expensive stocks remain out of favor on Wall Street — just as they had been for much of last year — and there could be more room for them to fall as recession fears mount.
Eurozone inflation eased by more than expected in December, reaching a four-month low, driven by moderating energy prices and action from governments to cushion households from rising utility bills.
Consumer prices rose 9.2% on year in December, easing from a 10.1% increase in November and the lowest level since August, according to preliminary data from the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat published Friday.
The reading is below economists’ forecasts, who expected a 9.7% inflation rate in a poll by The Wall Street Journal.
Inflation reached 10.6% in October, the highest level since records began in 1997, but has fallen since then driven by lower energy prices amid unusually warm weather in most of Europe. Moreover, some countries such as Germany implemented in December a one-off subsidy for household energy bills, pushing down headline inflation further.
Energy prices in the eurozone moderated significantly in December, but were still 25.7% higher than the same month a year earlier, compared with a 34.9% increase in November. Food, alcohol and tobacco price inflation accelerated slightly to 13.8% from 13.6% a month earlier.
However, there were signs that price pressures persisted at year-end. The core inflation rate–which strips out the more volatile categories of food and energy–rose to 5.2% from 5.0% in November.
The European Central Bank raised interest rates at an unprecedented pace in 2022 in order to tame high inflation. Despite the recent slowdown in inflation, the bank said it expects to increase rates further in 2023 to ensure inflation falls back to its 2% medium-term target.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
The logo of Shell on an oil storage silo, beyond railway tanker wagons at the company’s Pernis refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil and gas major Shell said Friday it expects to pay an extra $2 billion in new taxes for the fourth quarter in the European Union and U.K.
“The Q4’22 earnings impact of recently announced additional taxes in the EU (the solidarity contribution) and the deferred tax impact from the increased UK Energy Profits Levy is expected to be around $2 billion,” the company said in a trading update.
The EU agreed in September that oil and gas companies will pay a levy on the surplus profits made in 2022 or 2023. The “solidarity contribution” will see firms pay 33% of profits above their average taxable profits.
Meanwhile, U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said in his November Autumn Statement that the energy industry will be subject to an expanded windfall tax of 35%.
Energy companies’ revenues have soared following Western sanctions blocking access to Russian supplies.
Shell, which will release its full fourth-quarter results on Feb. 2, also said it expects between $550 million and $750 million of losses in adjusted earnings over the period. The EU and U.K. levies will not affect the adjusted earnings figures, the company said.
This is a developing news story and will be updated shortly.
