1909, 2022
By Winton Evers|2022-09-19T22:22:59+11:00September 19th, 2022|
The International Renewable Energy Agency has found that accelerating investment in renewable energy could generate huge economic benefits while helping to tackle the global climate emergency.
The agency’s director general, Francesco La Camera, said the global crisis ignited by the coronavirus outbreak exposed ?the deep vulnerabilities of the current system? and urged governments to invest in renewable energy to kickstart economic growth and help meet climate targets.
The agency’s landmark report found that accelerating investment in?renewable energy?would help tackle the climate crisis and would in effect pay for itself. Investing in renewable energy would deliver global GDP gains of US$98 trillion above a business-as-usual scenario by 2050 by returning between US$3 and $8 on every dollar invested.
It would also quadruple the number of jobs in the sector to 42 million over the next 30 years, and measurably improve global health and welfare scores, according to the report.
“Governments are facing a difficult task of bringing the health emergency under control while introducing major stimulus and recovery measures,” La Camera said.
“By accelerating renewables and making the energy transition an integral part of the wider recovery, governments can achieve multiple economic and social objectives in the pursuit of a resilient future that leaves nobody behind.”
The report also found that renewable energy could curb the rise in global temperatures by helping to reduce?the energy industry’s carbon dioxide emissions?by 70 percent by 2050 by replacing fossil fuels.
Renewables could play a greater role in cutting carbon emissions from heavy industry and transport to reach virtually zero emissions by 2050, particularly by investing in green hydrogen.
In corporate news, Amazon has committed $10 million to restore and conserve 4 million acres of forest as part of its plan to be carbon neutral by 2040. Amazon announced today that it has invested in four renewable energy projects around the world. Altogether, the wind and solar projects are expected to produce nearly 300 megawatts of capacity and approximately 840,000 MWh of energy annually.
In Australia, Amazon signed a power purchase agreement with Canadian Solar for energy from the Gunnedah solar farm being developed in New South Wales. The farm is expected to reach commercial operation by 2021, according to the solar power company. When completed, the 60-MW project should generate 142,000 megawatt hours annually.
Apparel brand, Lee has announced its first-ever global sustainability goals. Established under?Lee?s?recently launched global sustainability platform, the company?s new goals focus on pursuing more sustainable solutions for?apparel?development and production.
Lee?s four global sustainability goals are to:
Power 100% of all owned and operated facilities with?renewable energy?by 2025.
Utilize more than 50% sustainable synthetics by 2025.
Source 100% sustainably grown or recycled cotton by 2025.
Increase Indigood?dyed products every year through 2025.
The Indigood?Denim product line reduces the amount of water required by 100%, the energy required by 60% and the waste produced by 60% by replacing the traditional water vats and chemical baths of conventional indigo dyeing with a foam dye applicator.
Grants/Subsidies/Funding
To get Jobkeeper payments from March, employers need to enrol in the program by 30th of this month.
To be eligible for the program an organisation has to have had a 30% drop in revenue from the corresponding period a year before. However, that drop in revenue can relate to projected revenue decrease in any of the months up to September 2020.
Eligible employers need to enrol in the program to receive Jobkeeper payments. Talk to your tax agent or login to your organisation?s myGovID. On the home page on the right-hand side you will see a box labelled ?View?. Click on it to find the Jobkeeper application. As you complete the checklist of questions, you will come to one that gives you the option to choose the month in which you expect to have a 30% reduction in income compared to the same month in the prior year.
Financial indicators
On the ASX 200 this week, grocery retailers benefited from panic buying, leading to an 8.2% jump in March, the strongest seasonally adjusted month on month rise in history.
Offsetting the good news were poor performances across the hospitality, clothing, footwear and department store market segments.
ASX 200 down 135.30 points from Friday to 5,217.10. The Aussie dollar steady on 63.73 US cents.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs predicts Amazon stock (AMZ:NAS) will surge 20% from current levels to $2,900 US per share. The bank predicts it will sail past first quarter earnings estimates when it reports next week and will give second quarter guidance that is well above consensus estimates on revenue and profitability.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped since last Tuesday EST ending up 135.18 points or 0.05% lower to 23,515.26, the STOXX 600 down 2.56 points or 0.07% to 333.24 and the Shanghai Composite index down 14.05 points or?0.05% to 2,838.50.
The VIX fear gauge down 3.32 points since Friday EST to 40.51. Gold up again to 1,751.60.
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Share pick – Australia’s Lynas (LYC:ASX) wins funding for U.S. heavy rare earths facility
Lynas Corp?soared as much as 20.4% to A$1,680 yesterday, topping the ASX200 index in percentage gains. After the market closed on Wednesday, the largest rare earth miner outside China, said the U.S. military would give it initial funding for a heavy rare earths separation facility in Texas.
The U.S. Dept of Defense had put out a tender for the facility in a bid to secure domestic supply of the essential mineral, after trade tensions last year raised worries that China may restrict output of the material whose supply it dominates.
Rare earths are used to manufacture a host of products, from magnets, turbines, aircraft engines, to computer drives. They are used in green technology supply chains such as electric vehicles and wind turbines.
Lynas says that once the planning work is complete, it will be subject to another evaluation by the U.S. military before receiving any further funding to build the facility.
The chart above shows the stock performance over 5 years. Lynas boasts that it is ?a proven and profitable company designed from the ground up as an environmentally responsible producer?. It
has a portfolio of integrated assets to explore, develop, mine and process rare earth minerals located at:
Mt Weld ? one of the world?s highest grade rare earths mines, located 35km south of Laverton at Mt Weld in Western Australia.
Mt Weld Concentration Plant ? commissioned in 2011 and located 1.5km from the mine site.
Lynas Malaysia ? a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility which separates and processes rare earth materials. Located in the Gebeng Industrial Estate near the Port of ?Kuantan in Malaysia, the plant commenced production in 2012.
Lynas? rare earths include Neodymium, Praseodymium, Lanthanum, Cerium and Mixed Heavy Rare Earths (SEG).
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Eco-tip for the day ? ?Draughts and draught proofing
Australian homes need heating and cooling. On average, about 30% to 45% of the energy we use at home is devoted to this, depending on where you live and what you live in. A third or more of the heating required is so often related directly to draughts.
To eliminate draughts, use door-snakes and seals, make sure windows are sealed and seal any other draught points. Apart from the saving in energy costs, the improvement in living comfort is huge.
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Eco Market Spot Prices
LGC $33.25
STC $39.00
ESC $30.50
VEEC $34.50
Sources:?RenewEconomy, demandmanager,? Reuters, SMH, Market Watch, greenglobaltravel