Covid-19 crisis has laid bare the weaknesses of global value chains around the world

AstraZeneca will set up a R&D centre and an AI innovation centre in Shanghai, as well as create a $1bn fund that would invest in healthcare start-ups.

Global free zones may be spurring development in less economically developed countries

Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, has approved a new 2018 to 2028 strategy that will eventually expand its investment activity beyond the domestic market.

The eastern Chinese city of Zibo is recognised as the official birthplace of football. However, its local government is hoping it will soon be known for its excellence in the chemical, medical and manufacturing industries.

Kyrgyzstan is trying to stabilise a volatile business environment by diversifying its economy away from gold and remittances, and employing an ombudsman to reassure investors. 

Uruguay-based Zonamerica has successfully expanded into Colombia and China, and is now looking to export its model to other parts of Asia and Africa.

Brazil’s FDI flows were boosted in 2019 by the government’s privatisation programme.

Besides perks such as tax breaks, Belarus’s six free economic zones offer investors convenient logistics and, for companies from neighbouring Ukraine and Russia, a geopolitical safe place to do business. Wendy Atkins reports.

When Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, took the baton from ‘leader of the nation’ Nursultan Nazarbayev, he pledged stability and continuity, as well as new approaches to succeed where previous policies have struggled to gain traction. Jacopo Dettoni reports on the progress so far. 

FDI into Brazil has increased by 66.48% in a little under two years. Jonathan Wildsmith reports.

Foreign investment to free economic zones around the world remained stable in 2019, according to preliminary data from fDi Markets.

In early June, the UK enshrined into law a commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making Britain the first major economy to do so. Meeting this target will require substantial reliance on renewable energy from solar, tidal, hydro, and wind sources, both onshore and offshore.

Jose Maria Romay, general manager of Corani (a subsidiary of Ende), has announced the company is seeking financing from Latin American development bank CAF and French development agency AFD for the 147-MW Banda Azul hydro project.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule and simultaneously repealed the Clean Power Plan (CPP).

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the twin forces of privatization and deregulation of public infrastructure services ascended to a global paradigm of progress and development. Government management of services such as telecommunications, transportation, water, and energy was deemed inefficient, underperforming, and monopolistic. Private industry – accountable to the profits and losses of an open market and, thus, believed more efficient than government – was proclaimed the better way for consumer choice and a more efficient use of taxpayers’ expenses.

Commercial property owners with existing energy storage systems, or owners considering implementing an energy storage system, may be able to benefit from a recent order by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) allowing utility companies to pay customers who agree to rely upon their energy storage systems and dispatch the energy during peak events.

New textile-based solar cells developed by Fraunhofer researchers, semitrailers could soon be producing the electricity needed to power cooling systems or other onboard equipment. In short, textile-based solar cells could soon be adding a whole new dimension to photovoltaics, complementing the use of conventional silicon-based solar cells.

Of all the efforts to break up utility monopolies in the U.S., the one unfolding in Arizona may be the most important to watch.

The UK’s North West Hydrogen Alliance (NWHA) is calling for government investment in hydrogen projects to meet ambitious carbon reductions targets in Britain.

Brazil has included four hydropower plants among the projects that will receive support as part of the country's investment partnerships program, called Programa de Parcerias de Investimentos or PPI. 

Renewable energy, particularly solar, is poised for significant growth in the southeastern United States. The Southeast has also mostly retained a vertically integrated utility model, and most utilities in the region have not joined a Regional Transmission Organization or Independent System Operator (collectively known as, RTO). Recent developments have led stakeholders and policymakers in the Southeast to rethink whether it is beneficial for some utilities to join RTOs – something that is generally seen as a positive development for renewable energy.

Last week, Houston, TX Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that Sunnyside Energy, led by developer Dori Wolfe of Wolfe Energy LLC, has won a competition to be considered to repurpose a 240-acre former landfill in Sunnyside. Subject to meeting certain terms and conditions, the team will construct one of the largest urban solar farms in Texas., if not the largest.

It will be used to supplement electricity from the grid, as well as cogeneration from biogas, which is already generated on-site from wastewater treatment

This week ComEd said that it’s furthering innovation in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood with the installation of renewable energy powered lights along the walkway to the Beethoven Elementary School. Bronzeville is home to the first “microgrid cluster” in the United States.

Under a 20-year agreement, AES will provide APS with the storage capabilities powered by Fluence’s Advancion platform.

A solar-hybrid mini-grid project is underway in Tanzania.

After announcing nearly a gigawatt of new clean-energy projects in February, APS is now seeking proposals to build two of them in different parts of the state. The first request for proposals (RFP) seeks partners to add batteries to existing APS solar plants in rural Arizona, storing their power for use after the panels stop producing each day. A second partner is being sought to develop a large (100-MW) solar plant paired with an equal amount of storage, to bring more clean energy to customers after dark. Both of these projects will provide APS customers with more solar after sunset, serving their evening energy needs with an even cleaner resource mix.

Two years after Britain had its first coal-free day since the Industrial Revolution, the nation’s network operator is readying itself for life without any fossil fuels.

Buildings account for nearly four-tenths of U.S. energy consumption through heating, cooling and other electricity use, according to the Energy Information Administration. And if that energy comes from fossil fuels, it releases more greenhouse gases that drive human-caused climate change.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sees an end to the gloom for solar manufacturers as demand in China stabilizes and free-falling panel prices bottom out.

Developing carbon capture and storage technology and low-carbon hydrogen is “a necessity not an option” for the UK to achieve a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

The U.K.’s push for a low-carbon economy has some notable successes, but the hardest part of the battle has barely started.

Brazil is the second-largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world, after only China, and hydropower accounted for more than 70% of the country’s electricity generation in 2018. Brazil’s latest 10-year energy plan seeks to maintain this level of hydro generation while increasing the share of nonhydro renewables, particularly solar.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule and simultaneously repealed the Clean Power Plan (CPP).

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the twin forces of privatization and deregulation of public infrastructure services ascended to a global paradigm of progress and development. Government management of services such as telecommunications, transportation, water, and energy was deemed inefficient, underperforming, and monopolistic. Private industry – accountable to the profits and losses of an open market and, thus, believed more efficient than government – was proclaimed the better way for consumer choice and a more efficient use of taxpayers’ expenses.

New textile-based solar cells developed by Fraunhofer researchers, semitrailers could soon be producing the electricity needed to power cooling systems or other onboard equipment. In short, textile-based solar cells could soon be adding a whole new dimension to photovoltaics, complementing the use of conventional silicon-based solar cells.

Of all the efforts to break up utility monopolies in the U.S., the one unfolding in Arizona may be the most important to watch.

The UK’s North West Hydrogen Alliance (NWHA) is calling for government investment in hydrogen projects to meet ambitious carbon reductions targets in Britain.

These are halcyon days for fleet-footed crossover SUVs. Saucy ‘utes like the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLC 43 AMG hardly look like they’re just as quick as their smaller siblings but stopwatches don’t lie. In the example above, Mercedes says the GLC43 crossover takes just 4.7 seconds from 0-60 mph compared to the C43 sedan’s time...

Many car buyers aspire to own a Mercedes-Benz. The cars are a symbol of quality, bulletproof German engineering, and, yes, status. But if you can’t get the lord to buy you a Mercedes-Benz, you have to do it yourself, and that can really stretch the budget. Mercedes answers that issue with its two lowest-priced cars, the A-Class and...

What does it take to build a 75 percent net zero community and the “largest Emerald-rated community” in the world? Tabitha Crawford explains how her team combined solar, HVAC, and sustainable building practices to build 250 net zero homes while keeping construction costs at a 3 percent premium.

Care Technology provides technological solutions to the needs of customers through innovations like energy-efficient LED lighting and transportable heat sources that operate without power racks or induction heaters. We spoke to co-founder Belinda Wong about the production of their sustainable offerings and the benefits of green technology.

Almost ten years ago, Built Green, an environmentally-friendly residential building program of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, began a project to develop the first net energy townhome complex in the United States. The project was created to revolutionize green housing and prove that green building could be done affordably.

Can a home be beautiful, powered entirely by solar energy, use sustainable heating and cooling systems and save it’s owners roughly $3,500 a year? Why, yes it can. Just ask Joanne Coons, who built her award winning, single-family, Net Zero Energy Home in 2010. Sustainable Woman Joanne talks Net Zero standards, efficient appliances and goods, her 10kW solar panels and more.

Spring break is almost upon us and students are getting ready for some time away from reading, writing, and mid-terms. While students are hoping to return to high-scores, others may be returning to low scores – even zero. Zero energy buildings, that is.

The city utility for Lethbridge, Alberta is starting a voltage optimization trial that is expected to deliver energy savings for customers while reducing overall energy usage in the city’s electricity distribution system.

Bernadette Jordan, member of parliament for South Shore,St. Margarets, on behalf of Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, has announced a $374,830 investment to help homeowners bring their home energy use to the net-zero level.

Utilities across the country are increasingly taking a proactive role on initiatives to advance clean energy and grid modernization. But to hear a utility CEO like Kipp focus unequivocally on one of the most critical drivers for the growth of solar and storage was striking — and yet another sign of the sector’s ongoing transformation.