HUMAN RIGHTS VS RELIGIOUS RITES
United Methodist Church opens General Conference as denomination considers LGBTQ+ rights


The future of the United Methodist Church in the United States and around the world could be determined as 862 voting delegates gather Tuesday at the UMC Grand Conference amid historic conflict over LGBTQ+ rights. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

April 22 (UPI) -- The United Methodist Church is opening its General Conference, on Tuesday in North Carolina, to reshape the country's largest Protestant denomination in the hopes of slowing historic splintering over LGBTQ+ rights.

The United Methodist General Conference, which meets every four years, will start seeking some big solutions to bridge the regional and ideological divisions within the church.

Over the last four years, a quarter of U.S.-based United Methodist churches have left the denomination or have disaffiliated over disagreements involving church policy and LGBTQ+ rights. In November, the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church approved the departure of 261 congregations that chose to leave over the ongoing conflict.

"Our deepest desire is to foster greater unity in the Church while recognizing our denomination's diverse theological, social and contextual viewpoints," United Methodist Church U.S. delegates wrote in a statement ahead of the conference.

"We find ourselves at a seminal moment in the life of this denomination. It's a marker point, a shift, a pivot from what was to what can be," said Council of Bishops President Thomas Bickerton, who sees the potential for big change at the General Conference.

Three major proposals will go before 862 voting delegates at the conference which runs through May 3 in Charlotte, including worldwide regionalization that would amend the denomination's constitution to allow seven church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines, as well as the United States, to have equal authority when it comes to adapting parts of the Book of Discipline to their missional context.

"The goal of contextualization is to allow for laws of a certain area and not allow decisions from one region to influence or dominate the other," said Judi Kenaston, chief connectional ministries officer at United Methodist Connectional Table.

The second proposal calls for a revision of the church's Social Principles to become more globally relevant and to eliminate the wording, some of which has been around since 1972, that states "the practice of homosexuality ... is incompatible with Christian teaching."

The third proposal would remove exclusionary policies against LGBTQ people, including bans on same-sex weddings and "self-avowed practicing" gay clergy.

For the first time, there will be a caucus of LGBTQ delegates at the conference. The 58 delegates are hoping to see votes for full inclusivity in the denomination. The Queer Delegate Caucus will be a "powerful presence," said Jorge Lockward, a delegate in the caucus and minister of worship arts at the Church of the Village in New York, who stressed regardless of what happens "we are not going back."

"Until we get on the floor and people start pressing those voting buttons, we really don't know what's going to happen -- no matter how much preparation and conversation and strategizing has gone ahead of the game," said Helen Ryde, a lay delegate from the Western North Carolina Conference and a member of the new United Methodist Queer Delegate Caucus.

United Methodist delegates from Alabama, who will be attending the conference, say their top priorities are to remove harmful language regarding homosexuality, allow more self-governing in different parts of the world and revise the Social Principles.

"I feel very hopeful about General Conference this time," said the Rev. Kelly Clem, a retired minister for the North Alabama Conference and one of 862 voting delegates. "I think there's a lot of unity and hopefulness about our moving forward as the United Methodist Church, as a denomination. The temperature has been significantly lowered."

"The ones who wanted to leave, who felt so strongly, especially about human sexuality issues, they've gone. We're going to move forward. There's just a real rallying of those who want to help the church move forward with its mission and stop getting bogged down in some of these controversial matters and just move forward. There will be dissent. I just think there will be a much more positive vibe," Clem added.

Reserve delegate Lisa Keys-Mathews disagreed.

"There are some super negative voices coming out that are still part of the United Methodist Church," Keys-Mathews said. "I find that sad and hurtful."

Delegates at the conference will examine 1,099 legislative petitions to shape the future of the church, while balancing a changing stance on LGBTQ+ rights within the U.S. church with the cultural conservatism of United Methodists in other parts of the world.

"We have engaged in ongoing conversations and reflection with United Methodists from around the world to discern what changes we might make as a General Conference that might strengthen unity amidst diversity and allow enough flexibility for our various geographical regions to thrive," a coalition of centrist and progressive UMC leaders said in a statement to counter traditionalist advocacy groups that have sought to preserve anti-LGBTQ+ restrictions for decades.

"Personally, I don't want to go back to mediocrity and old habits. I don't want to go back to racist behaviors, gender bias or models that exclude rather than welcome," said Bickerton. "This is a moment for us to get a new wind and a new sense of purpose."

 

India Emerges as a Major Exporter of Solar Panels

By Rystad Energy - Apr 23, 2024

• India's renewable energy installations surged to a record 7.1 gigawatts in March 2024, doubling the previous record.
• 
  
• India's solar installations saw a 23% increase compared to 2023, driven by state-level projects and investments by Adani Green.
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• India aims to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2032, presenting challenges but also opportunities for the country's energy sector.

Rystad Energy’s latest data reveals renewable energy installations in India surged to a record 7.1 gigawatts (GW) in March, more than doubling the previous record of 3.5 GW set in March 2022. The increase in installations helped India reach its highest-ever annual installed capacity of 18.5 GW for the fiscal year ending on 31 March 2024.

The growth was primarily driven by solar installations, up 23% on levels from the 2023 financial year, driven by the commissioning of numerous projects within India's inter-state transmission system network and ultra-mega solar park schemes. In particular, states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have contributed to this expansion. Notably, Adani Green, the renewable energy arm of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, made significant strides in the first quarter of 2024 by installing approximately 1.6 GW of solar capacity in the Kutch district of Gujarat. This initiative is part of a wider hybrid renewable energy park that will see up to 30 GW of combined solar and wind capacity installed in Khavda in the coming years.

Despite the record growth in renewable energy additions in the recent financial year, India still faces considerable challenges in boosting capacity. In early 2024, the Indian government advanced its renewable energy goal to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2031-32, in line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a self-sufficient India aiming for net-zero emissions by 2070. 

To achieve the 500 GW target, India must install around 30 GW of non-fossil fuel energy generation capacity annually, which includes solar PV, hydropower, onshore wind and nuclear energy. While the recent increase in renewable capacity is encouraging, further additions are imperative to meet the 2032 goal.

With the commencement of India’s general elections earlier this month, the country’s emphasis on renewable energy comes as no surprise. Despite ambitious climate goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, achieving them is only achievable if the country maintains the fervor witnessed in recent months. However, critical challenges persist: ensuring grid stability alongside the higher integration costs that come with introducing more renewable capacity. A strategic solution lies in balancing this clean energy embrace with targeted exports, enabling India’s growth visions for the power sector, without compromising national climate goals."

Rohit Pradeep Patel, Vice President of Renewables and Power Research, Rystad Energy

Learn more with Rystad Energy’s Renewables & Power Solution.

On the supply chain side, the ramp-up of solar installations in India has created substantial demand for solar equipment. Of the record 7.1 GW of renewable capacity added in March, more than 6.2 GW was new solar additions. To put this into perspective, the entirety of 2023 saw 7.5 GW of new solar capacity installed.

Historically, Indian developers heavily relied on Chinese imports due to their competitive pricing over domestic manufacturers. In response, initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme were introduced to empower domestic manufacturers to boost their production capabilities, thus enhancing their price competitiveness to meet local demand. Additionally, governmental support measures like the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) mandate and the basic customs duty on imported solar modules further assisted in bolstering the domestic solar industry.

Fueled by its growing solar panel production capacity, hitting 68 GW as of March 2024, India looked to expand its reach by exporting panels. The US emerged as a major export destination due to its high demand for solar energy and the potential for strong profit margins. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the US also played a role in this shift towards Indian exports.

Despite millions of panels being shipped from India to the US, demonstrating the country's export potential, Indian manufacturers encounter stiff competition from their Southeast Asian counterparts, who maintain an edge by utilizing material inputs from China, resulting in lower costs.

This makes it difficult for India to compete effectively as an exporter, signaling a need to shift focus towards its own domestic solar energy targets rather than prioritizing exports. However, exports from India are expected to increase as the US imposes duties on panels from Southeast Asian counterparts, which are expected to be as high as 254% and set to be implemented from June 2024, making these panels significantly costlier than ones from India.

India presently exports some power to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, with minor amounts reaching Myanmar. Yet, analyses indicate that India is contemplating future renewable power trading. This involves establishing multiple interconnector projects, linking with nations like the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, Sri Lanka to the south and the Myanmar-Thailand connection in the east. There is also potential for further expansion in Southeast Asia with Singapore.

However, the realization of this potential is not slated until the 2030s due to the capital-intensive nature of interconnector projects, particularly those involving subsea cables with construction alone spanning four to five years. As a result, India's renewable focus until 2032 will likely revolve around meeting ambitious domestic targets, with minimal short-term impact on accelerating energy transition beyond its borders.

By Rystad Energy 

 

U.S. Frackers Seek Ways to Reverse Well Productivity Declines

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Apr 24, 2024

As well productivity in the U.S. shale patch has declined in the past two years, producers are looking to deploy new technology to reverse these declines, but small companies often cannot afford the high upfront costs, industry executives and analysts have told Reuters.

While shale production pushed U.S. crude oil output to record highs in recent months to above 13 million barrels per day (bpd), the rate of productivity declines has steepened since 2020 as the fracking of closely located wells has interfered with geology and pressure, resulting in more difficult extraction of the resources.

Oil decline profiles have steepened across U.S. shale oil plays over the last decade, Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR) said in a report in August 2023.

“We’ve observed that decline curves, meaning the rate at which production falls over time, are getting steeper as well density increases,” Dane Gregoris, report author and managing director at EIR, commented at the time.

“Summed up, the industry’s treadmill is speeding up and this will make production growth more difficult than it was in the past.”

But advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies have increased well productivity over the past year, helping U.S. producers extract more crude oil from new wells drilled while maintaining production from legacy wells, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last month.

One of these technologies, simultaneous fracking technology, or simul-frac, can achieve over double the gains in lateral footage, in less time, compared to zipper-frac operations, says Halliburton, the leader in the U.S. fracking services market.

The simul-frac tech, however, needs a lot of wells drilled beforehand and then fracked simultaneously. This requires a lot of investment before oil can flow from the wells—and not all companies can afford that.

“That's $100 million in the ground before you see any revenue,” Mike Oestmann, chief executive at small company Tall City Exploration told Reuters. 

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

 

SunPower To Cut Jobs After its Stock Gets Hammered

By Charles Kennedy - Apr 24, 2024

Just a day after announcing it would restate the past two years of financial results, beleaguered SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWR) on Wednesday said it would reduce its workforce, cut a selection of residential installation locations, and halt direct sales, Reuters reports. 

With shares down nearly 60% year-to-date, SunPower says it is seeking to simplify its business structure and move away from areas that are not sustainability profitable.

In a letter to employees seen by Reuters, SunPower Principal Executive Officer, Tom Werner, said some 1,000 people would be let go in the coming days and weeks, which will cost the company an estimated $28 million in severance pay and early termination charges. 

The announcement follows a Bloomberg report on Tuesday that SunPower was planning to revise years of financial statements, citing misclassification of sales commissions and other costs. Those misclassifications are set to reduce the last two years of income by anywhere between $15 million and $25 million, Bloomberg reported, citing company filings on Tuesday. It’s not the first time SunPower has revised its earnings. In 2023, earnings were delayed over a revision. 

In January, SunPower said it would restructure its operations to make them more cost-effective after it was forced to scramble to raise extra cash. 

“We ultimately expect this to drive more investor concern on potential covenant violations/overall mgmt. credibility given the continued challenges SPWR continues to face,” analysts at Truist Securities Inc. wrote in a research note cited by Bloomberg. Despite SunPower’s difficulties, overall, the solar industry in the U.S. is set to benefit from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is now starting to become an attractive prospect for European solar companies who are struggling to compete with cheap Chinese-made solar panels.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Fossil Fuels Hit All-Time Low in UK Electricity Generation

By City A.M - Apr 24, 2024

• Fossil fuels provided the lowest amount of UK electricity for a one-hour time period on record.
• 
  
• The UK is in the process of phasing out its existing coal plants in favor of wind and solar power.
• 
  
• The majority of UK electricity is now generated from a combination of wind power and nuclear generation.
• 
  

Fossil fuels have provided the lowest amount of UK electricity for a one-hour time period on record.

Energy think tank Carbon Tracker today said that on Monday, April 15th, just 2.4 per cent of UK electricity came from fossil fuel sources.

Throughout the whole of last year, there were only 16 half-hour periods where coal and gas provided less than five percent of electricity and just five periods in 2022.

For 2024 so far, however, there have been 75 half-hour periods where this criteria has been met.

Just six years ago, there were no instances of coal and gas providing less than 10 percent of the electricity mix.

The National Grid’s Electricity Systems Operator’s (ESO) director of system operations Craig Dyke said getting to the 2025 target was a “significant engineering challenge”, but the operator was confident it would be able to hit the “world-leading” goal.

National Grid tracking website iamkate shows that over the last week, 45 per cent of UK electricity has come from a combination of wind power and nuclear generation.

The UK is in the process of phasing out its existing coal plants in favour of wind and solar power, with the last remaining plant, in Nottingham, scheduled to close before the end of September.

Indeed, over the past year, fossil fuels, which includes gas generation, made up 32 per cent of generation with 38 per cent deriving from renewable sources and 20 per cent from other sources such as hydro.

However, Carbon Tracker’s research shows that there have been half-hour periods within the last four months where coal and gas have accounted for 66 percent of generation when the sun hasn’t shone and the wind hasn’t blown.

The majority of this has come from gas, which the UK government has said will be a crucial cornerstone to supporting the country’s journey to net zero power.

This stance has been criticised by industry figures, who see the drive to build new gas-fired power stations under the guise of supporting net zero ambitions as “concessions to the gas lobby”.

Coal Trains Increase Air Pollution in San Francisco Bay Area

Study Quantifies Pollution, With Health and Environmental Justice Implications for Richmond and Oakland

by Kat Kerlin

(Getty Images)

Coal trains and terminal operations add a significant amount of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution to urban areas, more so than other freight or passenger trains, according to a study conducted in Richmond, California, by the University of California, Davis.

The paper, published in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, is the first study of coal train particulate pollution in a U.S. urban area. It’s also the first to use artificial intelligence technologies to verify that the source of air pollution detected comes from coal.

It found that passing trains carrying coal add on average 8 micrograms per cubic meter of air (ug/m3) to ambient PM2.5 pollution. That is 2 to 3 ug/m3 more than freight trains contribute. Even empty coal cars add about 2 ug/m3 to the air due to traces of coal dust. Under certain wind conditions, these concentrations reached 25 ug/m3.
Environmental justice concerns

The authors released a full report this week to the California Air Resources Board with additional measurements of coal and petroleum coke (a byproduct of oil refining). It demonstrated that the storage and handling of these materials at shipping terminals and train holding yards also emit PM2.5, and that this air pollution reaches residential communities.

That report further describes the health and environmental justice implications of coal-related pollution for residents in Richmond and in nearby Oakland, where a coal terminal proposal is currently under discussion.
A shipment of coal awaits loading at the Levin-Richmond marine terminal shipyard in California. (Michael Layefsky)

“Across the world, trains tend to go through the lowest-income and most vulnerable parts of communities,” said lead author Bart Ostro, a scientist with the UC Davis Air Quality Research Center. “Rail conveyance of coal represents a significant local and global public health hazard and environmental justice concern. That’s why quantifying the contribution of coal trains in urban areas is so important.”
Artificial-intelligence uncovers pollution

Rail conveyance of coal accounts for one-third of U.S. rail freight tonnage and is a source of fine particulate matter, which is associated with a range of health problems, from heart and respiratory disease to premature death and adverse birth outcomes. But the contribution of air pollution from coal trains has been difficult to quantify, given difficulties in monitoring and discerning coal-carrying trains from other trains.

For this study, UC Davis air quality researcher Nicholas Spada developed an artificial intelligence-driven monitoring system to quantify the average and maximum PM2.5 concentrations of full and empty coal trains compared to freight and passenger trains. The device can differentiate between coal, freight and passenger trains, day or night, and measure the fine particulate pollution they produce in real time.




A UC Davis monitoring device captures the near infrared light of a passing coal train during the night (photo at left) and day (photo on right) in Richmond, California. (Nicholas Spada/UC Davis)

Between May 2022 and October 2022, the monitor was placed along train tracks in Richmond, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area with a racially diverse population of about 115,000 people and high rates of asthma and heart disease. Other monitoring took place over the past two years.

The authors found that coal transport, storage and handling significantly increase community exposure to ambient PM2.5.

“The sheer scope of the project inspired us to experiment with computer-learning,” Spada said. “We developed a cutting-edge system, and it really paid off. Several thousand trains were observed in this study and were classified with a high degree of confidence. This included passenger, freight, and unloaded and full coal cars.”

The researchers said an unforeseen benefit was that this technology can be applied to help pinpoint the source and level of pollution of many air pollution concerns, from refinery flaring and construction dust to unloading and loading at shipyards.

Dhawal Majithia, a UC Davis undergraduate student research assistant during the study, checks the monitoring system at a holding yard in Richmond, California. (Nicholas Spada/UC Davis)

No safe level

The World Health Organization and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicate there is no known safe level of PM2.5. A recent study of the Global Burden of Disease estimates that fine particulate matter pollution contributes to 6.7 million deaths per year globally.

“Adverse effects are borne disproportionately by the most vulnerable, including infants, children and the elderly, people of color, those with low incomes and those with underlying health conditions,” the authors wrote.

The scientists did not measure ultrafine or coarse particles (PM10), which are also generated with PM2.5. This indicates that the study likely underestimates the actual health risks posed by passing coal trains.

The study was funded by the California Air Resources Board Community Air Monitoring Grant Program.

TMC & SGS Produce World-First Nickel Sulfate from Deep-Seafloor Polymetallic Nodules

by The Metals Company |
Apr 23, 2024

First Nickel Sulfate



The nickel sulfate was produced in a testing program applying TMC’s efficient flowsheet design that processes high-grade nickel matte direct to nickel sulfate and produces fertilizer products instead of solid waste or tailingsAs part of TMC’s pilot-scale nodule processing, SGS and TMC produced the world's first nickel sulfate from deep-seafloor polymetallic nodules, indicating TMC’s resource is suitable for battery markets
The nickel sulfate was produced in a testing program conducted in collaboration with SGS and other industry leaders applying TMC’s efficient flowsheet design that processes high-grade nickel matte direct to nickel sulfate (without making nickel metal) and produces fertilizer products instead of solid waste or tailings
TMC holds exploration rights to the world's two largest-ranked undeveloped nickel deposits, which could offer a less impactful alternative to market dominant rainforest-sourced nickel laterites, potentially alleviating stress on ecosystems and local communities


NEW YORK, April 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TMC the metals company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) (“TMC” or the “Company”), an explorer of the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, today announced that it has successfully produced the world’s first nickel sulfate derived exclusively from seafloor polymetallic nodules. The sulfate was generated during bench-scale testing of its hydrometallurgical flowsheet design in partnership with SGS Canada Inc., at their Lakefield, Ontario facility.

Undertaken on samples of nickel-cobalt-copper matte produced by TMC in 2021, the Extractive Metallurgy team at SGS tested TMC’s efficient flowsheet to process high-grade nickel matte directly to nickel sulfate without making nickel metal, while producing fertilizer byproducts instead of solid waste or tailings. Following the successful nickel sulfate production, SGS continues testing to produce what TMC believes will be the world’s first cobalt sulfate from polymetallic nodules.

Dr. Jeffrey Donald, TMC Head of Onshore Development, said: “The production of the world’s first nickel sulfate from deep-seafloor nodules is an important milestone, confirming that our custom flowsheet configuration can be deployed to process these remarkable rocks into final products suitable for use in batteries. This work was executed in close collaboration with SGS and other industry leaders to demonstrate the ability to refine nodules to high value products. The data collected will inform further engineering decisions to move this towards commercial scale, and TMC continues to expect that initial production will begin with a capital-light approach by leveraging the existing processing facilities of strategic partners, such as PAMCO. With the commencement of this new industry now being seen as imminent by countries and companies alike, this represents not just a major achievement for TMC but for the entire deep-seafloor minerals industry.”

SGS North America Senior Director, Metallurgy & Consulting, Stephen Mackie, said: “As a trusted partner, SGS is proud to be working with The Metals Company to execute a key part of their initiative. The test work completed to-date for TMC has proven to be quite successful and we are excited on continuing our relationship with them on future phases of work.”

TMC’s NORI and TOML projects are ranked as the world’s #1 and #2 largest undeveloped nickel projects according to Mining.com, containing in situ quantities of nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese sufficient to meet the needs of 280 million electric vehicles – roughly the size of the entire U.S. light vehicle fleet. With analysts warning that the quantities of critical battery metals like nickel and cobalt available from domestic or allied partners will be insufficient to meet U.S. demand from the energy transition, there is increased interest in and prioritization of marine minerals to support energy and national security.

In March, members of the House of Representatives introduced draft legislation calling for the U.S. to “provide financial, diplomatic, or other forms of support for seafloor nodule collection, processing and refining.” In November 2023, TMC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pacific Metals Corporation (PAMCO) to complete a feasibility study to process 1.3 million tonnes of wet polymetallic nodules (PMN) per year into high-grade nickel-copper-cobalt alloy / matte and manganese silicate, which are feedstock for the production of lithium-ion batteries, electrical infrastructure and steel.

About The Metals Company
The Metals Company is an explorer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, on a dual mission: (1) supply metals for the global energy transition with the least possible negative impacts on planet and people and (2) trace, recover and recycle the metals we supply to help create a metals commons that can be used in perpetuity. The Company through its subsidiaries holds exploration and commercial rights to three polymetallic nodule contract areas in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean regulated by the International Seabed Authority and sponsored by the governments of Nauru, Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga. More information is available at www.metals.co.

Increased seismic activity under Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

Written byTeo Blašković

Wednesday, April 24, 2024



Over the past three weeks, Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has exhibited increased seismic activity, with fluctuations in shallow and deep earthquakes at the summit. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports sustained low sulfur dioxide emissions and continuous monitoring due to this heightened state of unrest.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has reported an increase in seismic activity beneath the Kilauea volcano’s summit over the past three weeks. This period has been characterized by fluctuating occurrences of shallow earthquakes ranging from 1 to 4 km (0.5 – 2.5 miles) beneath the south caldera region and deeper seismic events from 5 to 10 km (3 – 6 miles) directly beneath the Kilauea caldera.

While there has been a slight decrease in seismic rates following a significant earthquake swarm last Friday, April 19, activity levels remain elevated.

Earthquakes detected under Kilauea from March 25 – April 24, 2024.

 Credit: TW/SAM, ESRI

On April 8, 2024, an SO2 emission rate of approximately 96 tonnes per day was recorded, consistent with measurements since October 2023, which have remained low. Despite the stable gas emissions, short-lived bursts of low frequency earthquakes have continued, signaling ongoing magma movements within the summit’s subsurface layers.

The summit area, including nearby tiltmeters at Sand Hill and Uēkahuna, showed no significant ground deformation on April 22/23, suggesting the volcano’s summit remains inflated yet stable for the moment. Additionally, seismicity in Kilauea’s upper East and Southwest Rift Zones continues to be low, with no unusual activity reported along the middle and lower sections of the East Rift Zone.

Continuous gas monitoring at stations downwind of Puʻuʻōʻō in the middle East Rift Zone, the site of long-term eruptive activity from 1983 to 2018, has detected negligible SO2 emissions, further indicating a current lack of significant eruptive activity.

Despite the ongoing seismic activity, it remains uncertain whether these indications will lead to an eruption. However, the potential for an eruption at Kilauea’s summit within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, away from major infrastructure, is a scenario under close observation. The HVO continues to monitor the situation daily and will issue Volcanic Activity Notices if significant changes occur.

Local residents and visitors are reminded of the persisting volcanic hazards, such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide concentrations, which can remain hazardous even when the volcano is not actively erupting. There are also significant risks from crater wall instability, ground cracking, and rockfalls, especially in areas around Halemaʻumaʻu that are closed to the public due to safety concerns.


References:

1 Daily update for Kilauea volcano – USGS/HVO – April 23, 2024

Featured image credit: USGS/HVO

Flooded uranium mines in Russia’s Kurgan Region raise radioactive contamination fears

Written byTeo Blašković

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Severe flooding in Russia’s Kurgan region has inundated areas surrounding the Dobrovolnoye uranium deposit, leading to potential radioactive and chemical pollution in the Tobol River. This event was reported on April 21, 2024, by the investigative news outlet Agentstvo, citing local authorities and environmentalists.

The Kurgan region in Russia has experienced its worst flooding in decades this month, with significant concern over the potential leakage of radioactive materials from submerged uranium mines into the Tobol River. The Dobrovolnoye uranium deposit, identified within the flood zones of Kurgan’s Zverinogolovsky district, was highlighted in a map released by local authorities on April 11.

This area has seen extensive uranium mining activities, managed by a company under Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear energy agency. According to NS Energy Business, the mine is estimated to be holding approximately 7 077 tons of uranium at a grade value ranging from 0.01 percent to 0.05 percent uranium.

Sergei Eremin, who leads the regional environmental group Foundation for Public Control Over the State of the Environment and the Well-Being of the Population, pointed out that a video recorded by a local resident suggests that an old well, which has been leaking uranium for 35 years, might already be submerged due to the flooding.

The mine is located between the villages of Zverinogolovskoye and Trud i Znanie.

April 22, 2024

April 13, 2023

Zverinogolovskoye district, Russia. Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers

Andrei Ozharovsky, a nuclear physicist, noted that some wells were improperly sealed, leading to ongoing leaks of uranium salts into the river while Alexei Shvarts, a former regional head with experience in uranium mining, voiced concerns to Agentstvo about the degradation of natural defenses against contamination.

Additionally, environmentalists fear that radioactive substances have already been introduced into the river system, posing a direct threat to the health and safety of hundreds of thousands residing downstream.

Despite the dilution effect of the Tobol’s waters, increased concentrations of uranium present a significant risk. Uranium, being both radioactive and chemically toxic, poses health risks at even low concentrations, particularly through drinking water leading to internal radiation exposure.

Local ecological activists have long opposed uranium mining in the region, pointing out the dangers of spring floods from the Tobol River. These concerns were historically ignored, as evidenced by the continued operations and previous incidents of flooding in the 1980s and a significant event in 1994.

Rosatom has rebutted claims of potential environmental impact, labeling the public’s concerns as “radiophobia combined with ignorance.” They maintain that the uranium deposits are well-isolated from the Tobol River through natural barriers, dismissing the possibility of any contamination.

References:

1 В Курганской области затопило старые урановые скважины. Экологи опасаются, что радиоактивный раствор попал в Тобол – Agentstvo – April 21, 2024

2 Информация о зонах подтопления – МУНИЦИПАЛЬНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ ГОРОД КУРГАН – April 11, 2024


3 Russia’s Record Floods Submerge Uranium Mines in Urals – Reports – The Moscow Times – April 22, 2024

4 Radioactive Leak Threat in Russia as Flood Heads for Uranium Mines – Newsweek – April 22, 0224

Featured image credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers. Acquired on April 22, 2024

Gold’s record-setting rally may have its roots in Chinese frenzy

Bloomberg News | April 23, 2024 |

Stock image.

Gold’s record-setting rally this year has puzzled market watchers as bullion has roared higher despite headwinds that should have held it back. With prices sagging this week, the explanation may lie in China.


After weeks of debate about whether a mystery buyer was stoking the rally, several prominent figures in the global gold market are coming to the conclusion that the major new driving force is a legion of fleet-footed retail investors on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

In a matter of weeks, the SHFE has gone from a sedate futures venue to a nexus of the global gold market. While rival centers such as London and New York have also seen activity rise, the fact that SHFE volumes have spiked from a low base offers a compelling sign that a newly arrived cohort of Chinese investors has helped drive prices sharply higher.

Gold has soared this year, topping $2,000 an ounce from early March in the face of major pressures that, in ordinary times, would have capped gains. Driven by fading expectations for a pivot to lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve, these included higher Treasury yields and a rallying US dollar. On top of that, there was a virtual buyers’ strike in India, the second-largest consumer, disinterest from western funds, and net sales by exchange-traded funds. Yet SHFE volumes started to spike, and prices powered higher.

“The only thing that drives it in a Bitcoin-esque kind of way is massive speculative plays,” according to Ross Norman, a former trader at Credit Suisse Group AG and Rothschilds & Sons., who now helms the Metals Daily journal.

Given elevated rates and the dollar’s strength, that’s unlikely to have come from hot-money in the US, so the most likely buyers would be highly leveraged Chinese investors, he said.

Gold has a longstanding history in China as a savings tool, and the country is the top consumer and leading producer. That traditional interest has been given a new lease of life by turmoil in the local property and stock markets, with imports surging in 2022 and 2023 despite being tightly controlled.
Buying spree

For months, consumers and institutional investors in China have been snapping up physical bullion, while the People’s Bank of China has been on a 17-month buying spree. Those two forces, which helped buoy international prices, have now been augmented by surging speculative demand.

Numbers back up the theory. Trading on the SHFE has exploded, with average daily volume almost tripling in April compared with the preceding 12 months. It peaked at about 1,200 tons on April 15, the highest since 2019, before prices started to sag this week.


“It’s another sign of emerging markets, and particularly Chinese traders, wresting price discovery away from Western markets,” said John Reade, chief market strategist at the World Gold Council. “We know from other commodity markets, that from time-to-time, Shanghai traders become the most dominant players. That’s never really been the case in gold, but I think now that this might have changed.”

For long-haul gold bulls, that could be a worry if gains prove brittle. State media recently urged caution in chasing the rally, while the SHFE raised margin requirements to snuff out excessive risk-taking.

It’s notable that while SHFE volumes have soared, the number of outstanding contracts has hardly moved. That indicates participants day-trading, not taking a long-term view. Bullion fell 2.7% on Monday and losses deepened Tuesday, in a move that Reade attributed to profit-taking by short-term investors on the exchange.
‘Extreme example’

“It’s a bit of a feature of onshore Chinese markets, albeit a relatively extreme example,” said Marcus Garvey, head of commodity strategy at Macquarie Group Ltd. There’s “much more short-term speculative turnover,” he said.

Not everyone thinks Chinese investors are the major driver behind gold’s ascent. “It’s not just mom-and-pop traders and it’s not just China,” said Jeff Christian, managing director at CPM Group. “It’s really a broad-based thing. There isn’t all that much difference now in the trading behavior of large institutions compared to mom-and-pop people.”

Gold may be in favor as higher-for-longer US interest rates to tame inflation may tip the economy into recession, according to Christian. “They’re all becoming convinced that interest rates aren’t going to fall too soon,” he said. “That could be negative for other assets more than it would be for gold.”

Samson Li, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Commodity Discovery Fund, sees a more nuanced picture. Rather than being a direct driver of prices, the frenzied demand in China has encouraged western speculators to ramp up bets on gains in New York, he said.

The debate about how long Chinese investors will stick around is tied to the question of what brought them to SHFE in the first place. Institutional and retail traders on SHFE may be buying gold to bet on short-term fluctuations in the yuan. This year, the exchange’s night session has been the most active, just when a raft of hot US economic data has driven the dollar higher.

Daniel Ghali, a senior commodity strategist at TD Securities, has also been on the hunt to identify gold’s mystery buyer, and he still thinks that the dominant force is likely to be a deep-pocketed buyer in the so-called official sector, which covers state-linked institutions such as central banks and sovereign wealth funds. But he says buying activity there has also been closely correlated with weakness in the yuan, and investors on SHFE may be acting with the same underlying motivations.

“The trading activity on the SHFE, it does point to retail speculation and that could be associated with the currency pressures,” said Ghali. “It’s not just an issue for the central banks out there – it’s an issue for everyday participants who see that their currency is depreciating and want to hedge against it.”

(By Mark Burton, Sybilla Gross and Yvonne Yue Li)