2024-12-12 21:12

SAO PAULO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate approved a wide-ranging energy bill on Thursday that establishes a regulatory framework for offshore wind energy projects while including unrelated amendments promoting polluting energy sources like coal and natural gas. Bill 576/21 sets rules for offshore wind energy, allowing the federal government to auction maritime areas for wind farms, a step considered essential for investors looking to advance wind energy projects. Brazil has significant offshore wind potential, with 244 GW from over 100 proposed projects still in early stages. In a tradeoff, the text also mandates the contracting of coal-fired thermoelectric plants in government auctions, extending contracts for these plants until Dec. 31, 2050. The bill upholds a mandate from a previous law to contract natural gas thermoelectric plants, but sets new pricing, capacity, and location parameters for these plants. It also includes the obligation for the government to contract energy from small hydroelectric plants (PCHs), liquid hydrogen produced from ethanol in northeastern Brazil, and wind energy parks in the south. The bill will head next to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for approval. The government has said he will veto the article that includes the fossil fuel incentives - a veto Congress could override. The provisions for gas and coal-fired plant contracts have sparked warnings from the energy sector over billions of dollars in potential new costs to energy consumers. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/brazil-lawmakers-approve-wind-energy-bill-that-includes-fossil-fuel-incentives-2024-12-12/

2024-12-12 20:55

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level in nearly two months this week, a trend that if sustained could boost home sales in the coming months. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.60%, the lowest level since the week ending Oct. 24, from 6.69% last week, mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac said on Thursday. It has now declined for three straight weeks. The rate averaged 6.95% during the same period a year ago. "The combination of mortgage rate declines, firm consumer income growth and a bullish stock market have increased homebuyer demand in recent weeks," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac chief economist. "While the outlook for the housing market is improving, the improvement is limited given that homebuyers continue to face stiff affordability headwinds." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-30-year-fixed-rate-mortgage-falls-660-2024-12-12/

2024-12-12 20:05

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Summit Carbon Solutions' massive carbon dioxide pipeline proposal would need to be reassessed if the United States repeals tax credits for carbon capture and storage, a company attorney said on Thursday. Summit intends to capture carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants across the Midwest and transport it along a pipeline more than 2,000 miles (3,218 km) long to North Dakota to be stored underground, in what would be the world's largest project of its kind. But the proposal relies on the 45Q tax credit program, which was expanded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, offering $85 per metric ton of sequestered carbon. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to rescind all unspent funds from the IRA, arguing that President Joe Biden's landmark climate-change law is expensive and unnecessary. Altering the IRA would require an act of Congress. Summit attorney Christina Brusven, at a hearing before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, was asked whether the project would still be financially viable if the tax credit was repealed. Brusven said the tax credit is important to the company's business model and a repeal "would definitely cause a reassessment." The commission voted on Thursday to permit a 28-mile (45-km) segment of the pipeline in Minnesota. Summit hopes to ultimately run 245 miles (394 km) of pipeline in the state and will require additional permits for the remaining miles. CURE, a Minnesota environmental group that opposes the pipeline, had argued the commission's review of the project's environmental impact was inadequate. Summit also received approval on Thursday from North Dakota's Industrial Commission to inject and store its captured carbon underground. The commission's three members include Governor Doug Burgum, who has been nominated by Trump to lead the Department of the Interior. Burgum has expressed support for carbon capture and storage projects. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/summit-carbon-project-would-be-reassessed-if-tax-credits-repealed-attorney-says-2024-12-12/

2024-12-12 19:35

OTTAWA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Canada will aim to cut emissions by 45–50% below 2005 levels by 2035, the environment ministry announced on Thursday, setting a new transitory target before the Paris Agreement's 2050 goal of net-zero emissions. The new target, a requirement under Canadian law passed by the Liberal government, builds upon a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. "This target keeps us on track to keep the promise to our kids and grandkids that the world we leave behind for them will be safe, sustainable, affordable and prosperous," Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a statement. A leading oil and gas producer, Canada has missed every one of its greenhouse gas emission targets. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, which has introduced a raft of measures intended to address climate change and boost the use of green energy, said in May that data suggested the country was on track to achieving its 2030 target. The Canadian Climate Institute said on Thursday that the 2035 target "is achievable and balances the need for sustained progress cutting emissions." Some climate groups, however, said the new targets were not ambitious enough. The David Suzuki Foundation said the new climate target was short of what is needed to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, while the Pembina Institute said governments and industries must be "more ambitious to fully enhance our competitiveness in the new global clean energy economy." The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, passed in 2021, requires the government to publish the 2035 emissions reduction plan by 2029-end. Canada faces a federal election within the next year, which polls suggest Trudeau's Liberals will lose to the opposition Conservatives. The conservatives have criticized climate measures including an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/canada-sets-new-4550-emissions-reduction-goal-2035-2024-12-12/

2024-12-12 19:28

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest BV has halted some operations at Ukraine's sole mine producing coking coal near Pokrovsk because of proximity to advancing Russian troops along the front line of the war with Russia, an industry source said on Thursday. The source said shaft no. 3 at its mine had stopped operations as it was closer to fighting in the area, some of the fiercest along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in the 33-month-old war. Two other shafts, further away from the clashes, remained in operation, the source said. Metinvest issued a statement saying some of its operations had been halted. It said the company, together with local authorities and the Ukrainian military was monitoring the security situation in the area. Ukraine's steelmakers' union said in October the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine could cause steel production to slump to 2-3 million metric tons next year from the 7.5 million expected in 2024. The city of Pokrovsk is one of the main targets of Russian forces advancing across the Donetsk region in Ukraine's east. The popular war blog DeepState, which maps front lines using open sources, said on Wednesday that Russian forces were as close as 3 km (1.8 miles) from the southern outskirts of the city. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ukraine-coking-mine-near-front-shuts-down-some-operations-industry-source-says-2024-12-12/

2024-12-12 19:25

Canadian dollar falls 0.2% against the greenback Touches a 4-1/2-year low at 1.4199 Price of U.S. oil decreases 0.2% Bond yields rise across the curve TORONTO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened to a 4-1/2-year low against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as the greenback notched broad-based gains and a recent widening in the gap between U.S. and Canadian bond yields weighed on the loonie. The Canadian currency was trading 0.2% lower at 1.4190 per U.S. dollar, or 70.47 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest since April 2020 at 1.4199. "The Canadian dollar's weakness is partly a function of the broad U.S. dollar strength," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex LLC. "I have also noticed that there is a stronger relationship, it's more sensitive, to the U.S.-Canadian 2-year interest rate differential." The U.S. dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab rose for a fifth straight day against a basket of major currencies after a hotter than expected U.S. inflation readout and the European Central Bank's decision to cut interest rates for the fourth time this year. The Bank of Canada's easing campaign has been even more aggressive. On Wednesday, the central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 3.25%. Canada's 2-year yield has fallen this week as much as 126 basis points below its U.S. counterpart, the largest gap since November 1997. "As the Canadian dollar has weakened, people chase returns. People are getting more bearish as the Canadian dollar as it falls," Chandler said. Speculators have raised their bearish bets on the Canadian dollar to historically large levels, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission shows. The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, fell 0.2% to $70.18 a barrel after a forecast for ample supply in the market. Canadian bond yields moved higher across the curve, tracking moves in U.S. Treasuries. The 10-year was up 4.8 basis points at 3.135%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-hits-4-12-year-low-yield-spread-weighs-2024-12-12/