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LITHIUM: Albemarle starts earthworks at WA lithium plant

  • Date: 08-01-19
  • Category: LITHIUM
  • Source: Mining Weekly

Albemarle has started earthworks at the Kemerton strategic industrial area, in Western Australia, after receiving all the required federal and state government environmental approvals for the planned Kemerton lithium hydroxide plant.

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ELECTRONICS: BASF tech leaked to China by workers, authorities say

TAIPEI -- A Chinese company allegedly obtained chipmaking material secrets leaked by current and former employees of German chemical group BASF, a vital supplier to global semiconductor makers including Intel and Samsung Electronics, Taiwanese authorities said on Monday.

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MACROECONOMICS: German Factory Orders Slip as Euro-Area Demand Deteriorates

German factory orders fell more than expected in November, though the numbers were distorted by airplane orders that masked signs of underlying momentum.

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CHINA: Goldman Sounds the China Alarm and Cuts Metals Outlook

  • Date: 07-01-19
  • Category: CHINA
  • Source: Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chopped back its near-term metals forecasts as China’s economy has “decelerated notably,” while balancing that outlook with a prediction mainland policy makers will respond by stoking expansion in the second half, aiding a revival in copper and aluminum.

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EMISSIONS: UK new car fleet average CO2 rose for a second successive year -move away from diesels is having a significant impact

  • Date: 07-01-19
  • Category: EMISSIONS
  • Source: SMMT

The biggest volume decline was seen in the diesel sector, down -29.6% in 2018, with the volume loss equivalent to some 180% of the overall market’s decline. Anti-diesel rhetoric and negative fiscal measures took their toll, with December marking the 21st consecutive month of decline for the fuel type – despite new emissions tests showing diesels deliver in the real world. Growth in registrations of petrol (+8.7%) and alternatively fuelled vehicles (+20.9%) replaced some of the loss but not enoug

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ENERGY: Norway plugs away at phasing out fossil fuels

  • Date: 07-01-19
  • Category: ENERGY
  • Source: Auto News

Almost a third of new cars sold in Norway last year were fully electric, a new world record as the country strives to end sales of fossil-fueled vehicles by 2025.

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FUEL CELLS: Alstom and Eversholt Rail unveil a new hydrogen train design for the UK

  • Date: 07-01-19
  • Category: FUEL CELLS
  • Source: Alstom

Alstom and Eversholt Rail have unveiled the design of a new hydrogen train for the UK market. The train, codenamed ‘Breeze’, will be a conversion of existing Class 321 trains, reengineering some of the UK’s most reliable rolling stock, to create a clean train for the modern age. These trains could run across the UK as early as 2022, emitting only water and no harmful emissions at all.  

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HYDROGEN FUEL: One of the largest energy and chemical companies in China, Yankuang Group, has joined forces with Air Liquide to promote hydrogen energy

  • Date: 07-01-19
  • Category: HYDROGEN
  • Source: Gas World

The two companies signed a framework cooperation agreement on Friday (4th January) to jointly develop plans for the development of H2 infrastructure and H2 fuel cell vehicles in China’s Shandong Province and to build a sustainable H2 energy infrastructure network.

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