Trump Meets Uzbek President Amid Billion-Dollar Deals

By Eurasianet - Sep 26, 2025

• Uzbekistan is rapidly progressing towards World Trade Organization membership, with its application potentially accepted by spring 2026, driven by President Mirziyoyev's strong political commitment to market-oriented reforms.
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• The WTO Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iveala, praised Uzbekistan's efforts and indicated a working group meeting in November, with accession possibly concluding by next March.
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• Uzbekistan has also announced substantial economic deals with the United States, including an $8 billion purchase of Boeing jets, following a meeting between President Mirziyoyev and former US President Donald Trump.
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Uzbekistan evidently is on a fast-track to gain membership in the World Trade Organization. Tashkent’s application could win acceptance by the spring of 2026, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iveala said in an interview with Uzbek television.

Gaining membership in the WTO involves what can be a lengthy process of negotiations. It took China, for example, 15 years for its application to be approved. Technically, Uzbekistan’s accession process dates back to 1994, but Tashkent only demonstrated a serious intent to meet WTO requirements last year. 

Okonjo-Iveala indicated during the television interview that a WTO-Uzbek working group meeting would take place in November, and the accession process could be concluded as soon as next March.

The WTO director-general heaped praise on Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev following a bilateral meeting September 22 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Uzbek efforts to qualify for WTO membership are “driven by the President’s strong political commitment to market-oriented reforms. Thank you, Mr. President. We are making great progress, let’s keep working hard together so we can deliver for Uzbekistan!” Okonjo-Iveala tweeted.

In New York, Mirziyoyev also had a brief meeting September 23 with another big fan, US President Donald Trump, who called the Uzbek president a “really great leader” who is “very smart and very competent.”

During the meeting, Mirziyoyev showed Trump a brochure outlining Uzbek plans to purchase $105 billion in US goods to help fuel Uzbekistan’s economic transformation. Trump oohed and ahhed over the brochure, quipping to assembled journalists; “One hundred and five billion; that’s not bad. That’s worth a five-minute meeting, right?”

The two states have already announced several substantial deals, including an Uzbek purchase of $8 billion worth of Boeing-manufactured long-haul jets. Trump indicated more deals are to come. “Very big ones,” he added.

As the meeting wrapped up, Mirziyoyev made another pitch for Trump to visit Central Asia, mentioning Samarkand. Trump responded; “Well, I’m going to think about doing that.”

By Eurasianet.org 

Quantum Breakthrough Could Lead to Super-Efficient Electronics

By Haley Zaremba - Sep 26, 2025

• Scientists are leveraging quantum physics to develop new energy production methods, aiming to address the computing industry's growing energy demands.
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• Researchers at MIT have devised a novel approach to observe the quantum Hall effect by mimicking it with superchilled sodium atoms, enabling deeper study of frictionless electron flow.
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• This breakthrough in understanding "edge-state" physics could lead to highly efficient electronic circuits and quantum computers, offering a solution for energy loss in data and energy transfer.

Scientists are getting closer and closer to unlocking the intricate dance of quantum physics to revolutionize the way we produce energy. As the computing industry threatens to run out of energy on the back of the artificial intelligence boom, scientists are racing to bring quantum computing into reality as a means of solving critical energy security dilemmas while also turning computing technology on its head.

We know that the potential of quantum physics and quantum computing is massive within the energy sector, but there is still a lot that we don’t understand about the science behind it. Observing the quantum world is exceedingly difficult because the behaviors and reactions involved are happening at such a tiny scale, and so lightning fast, that the processes are all but invisible to humans.

But scientists are getting better at overcoming this challenge. At MIT, researchers have developed an ingenious way of scaling up a recreation of the quantum Hall effect to more effectively observe a phenomenon that usually occurs at a scale too small and too fast to study. Instead of observing electrons, the MIT team has found a way to superchill sodium atoms and control their spatial arrangement with lasers in a way that allows them to mimic the phenomenon of interest – a so-called “edge state.”

Normally, electrons move freely in all directions, scattering randomly when they encounter an obstacle due to friction. However, in certain contexts and with certain exotic materials, they behave differently, flowing together and in one direction along the material’s edge. This is known as the quantum Hall effect. And now, MIT scientists have found a way to meaningfully study this effect so that we can one day harness “edge-state” physics to revolutionize computing with virtually limitless energy. 

“In this rare ‘edge state,’ electrons can flow without friction, gliding effortlessly around obstacles as they stick to their perimeter-focused flow,” explains an MIT news article. “Unlike in a superconductor, where all electrons in a material flow without resistance, the current carried by edge modes occurs only at a material’s boundary.”

This lack of resistance means a lack of energy loss, which could have enormous and disruptive implications for virtually any sector that uses modern technology. According to reporting from Interesting Engineering, ”such frictionless movement of electrons can enable data and energy transfer across devices without any transmission losses, leading to the development of super-efficient electronic circuits and quantum computers.”

Quantum computing has garnered increasing attention for its potential to fundamentally change computational processes in ways that could increase efficiency and thereby drastically reduce the tech sector’s energy needs. In certain applications, quantum computers could be up to 100 times more energy efficient than current supercomputers. This could have enormous implications for AI and its ballooning energy footprint, as quantum computing could be especially well-suited to AI processing.

While normal computation is binary, with 1s and 0s serving as on- and off-switches, quantum computing operates via qubits, which can be both on and off simultaneously, like a coin spinning in the air before it lands as heads or tails. This simultaneous one-and-off state is called superposition, and it could completely change the fundamentals of computing.

Quantum computing and the field of quantum physics more broadly still have a very long way to go before they enter any kind of commercial domain. But our understanding of these phenomena – and their potential applications in the energy and tech sectors – are rapidly advancing. The recent breakthrough at MIT, by providing a reliable and more observable stand-in for quantum processes, could catalyze quantum experimenting, bringing us one major step closer to an infinite-energy future. 

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

Clean Energy Transition Accelerates Globally Beyond Western Influence

By Gregory R. Copley - Sep 27, 2025

• The global clean energy transition is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, with developing nations increasingly leading the adoption of renewable technologies due to economic advantages.
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• Countries like Pakistan are rapidly implementing solar power as a more affordable and reliable alternative to fossil fuels, demonstrating a global trend where clean energy is often the cheapest and fastest option.
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• Despite significant progress and investment in clean energy projects in emerging economies, stark disparities in climate financing persist, particularly for regions like Africa, which are rich in clean energy potential but receive only a fraction of global investment.

The clean energy transition is well underway around the world, at what many experts estimate to be an unstoppable velocity. While political shifts in the United States are pulling the emergency break on clean energy policy mechanisms, the international energy sector is plowing full-steam ahead. “This is no longer a distant promise: it is happening now, at a pace and scale that was unthinkable even five years ago,” writes Reuters, “and it is being driven not just by advanced economies but increasingly by developing ones.”

As clean energy becomes cheaper, more reliable, and more decentralized, increasing adoption of renewable and clean energy technologies is a no-brainer for many countries. It’s not even about clean energy policy anymore – it’s basic economics. Take Pakistan – one of the world’s largest new adopters of solar power, at what may be the fastest rate in history. The nation’s traditional energy model based on fossil fuel imports has led to rolling blackouts and punishing energy prices for locals. As a result, citizens are increasingly turning to rooftop solar with attached battery systems to power their homes more affordably and reliably. 

And Pakistan is just one example of many emerging economies that are turning to clean energy technologies to provide energy affordably, reliably, and locally. “The new generation of wind and solar power, batteries, and electric vehicles are on the verge of, or have already achieved, escape velocity, breaking free from the gravity of political capriciousness,” reads a recent article from Vox. “In a lot of places, especially in power generation, the cleanest option is also the fastest, the cheapest, and the one most likely to turn a profit. That’s true whether or not you care about the climate.”

A recent analysis from Ember shows that roughly two-thirds of the world’s emerging and developing economies are now leapfrogging the United States and Europe in their shift to clean energy. And it's clear why – the Ember report also calculates that 91 percent of new solar and wind developments are even cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuel plants when accounting for fuel cost. As a result, last year a whopping 87 percent of energy generation investment in emerging economies and China went to clean energy projects.

China has been instrumental in bringing clean energy to emerging economies around the globe. Through their ambitious Belt and Road international infrastructure project and well-established trade relationships, China has established itself as the central player of the global clean energy market. “Since 2018, Kenya, Yemen, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania have imported an amount of Chinese solar equal to roughly half the capacity of their entire power grid,” reads a recent report from Yale Environment 360. Recent United States policy has only served to solidify those trade relationships and incentivise closer ties between China and many emerging economies who have been targeted by steep tariffs. 

However, developing nations still need a leg up in terms of climate financing if global targets are to be met. A coalition of rich and poor governments around the globe has prepared an open letter for this week’s U.N. General Assembly in New York this week urging global leaders to act swiftly in what is to be a "decisive decade" for the climate. 

"Stark disparities in access to energy and investment remain," the statement warns. “Much more needs to be done to ensure the transition not only advances globally but also benefits the people and economies that need it most." Africa, which has some of the greatest clean energy production potential in the world, has received only a fraction of global climate financing, despite the fact that its people are already suffering the impacts of climate change brought on by emissions from the Global North.

While the clean energy transition makes good economic sense, and has reached “escape velocity” in some contexts, scientists say that it needs to be significantly hastened to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. While clean energy projects are ramping up internationally, so too are fossil fuel developments. 

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

TotalEnergies to Sell 50% of Its North American Solar Assets

THANKS TO TRUMP

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Sep 29, 2025

TotalEnergies has agreed to sell 50% of its solar projects portfolio in North America to global investment firm KKR for about $1 billion, as part of the French supermajor’s renewables strategy to divest half of its already operational assets.

TotalEnergies is selling 50% of a portfolio of combined 1.4 gigawatts (GW) installed capacity in a transaction valuing said portfolio at $1.25 billion, the supermajor said on Monday.

Thanks to the transactions and the bank refinancing currently being finalized, TotalEnergies will receive a total of $950 million at closing of the sale.

Included in the sale are six utility-scale solar assets with a combined capacity of 1.3 GW, and 41 distributed generation assets totaling 140 MW, primarily situated in the United States. The electricity production of these projects has either been sold to third parties or will be commercialized by TotalEnergies, the French major said. 

Unlike other European majors such as BP and Shell, which have outright reduced spending on renewables, TotalEnergies has a strategy to reach  12% profitability target for its Integrated Power business. This means that TotalEnergies would typically divest up to 50% of its renewable assets once they reach commercial operation date (COD) and are de-risked, which allows it “to maximize asset value and manage risks.”

“Aligned with our strategy, this transaction unlocks value from newly commissioned assets and further strengthens the profitability of our Integrated Power business,” said Stéphane Michel, President of Gas, Renewables & Power at TotalEnergies.

In the United States, solar projects could see significant slowdown going forward, due to the Trump Administration’s policies, the industry warned earlier this month.

In a report hailing the installation of close to 18 GW in new capacity—including battery storage—over the first half of the year, which constituted 82% of all new capacity additions, the Solar Energy Industries Association also warned that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has substantially changed the medium-term outlook.

The U.S. solar industry risks losing 44 GW in new capacity additions by 2030 as a result of the current Administration’s policies, SEIA said. 

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

 

How Trump’s Coal Revival   Could   (WILL)

Make Electricity More Expensive

By Felicity Bradstock - Sep 27, 2025

• President Trump has signed orders to keep ageing coal plants online, despite utilities warning of high operating costs.
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• Energy experts argue that the Department of Energy’s blackout risk report exaggerates threats while downplaying new renewable capacity.
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• Keeping coal plants open has already led to rising electricity bills, with consumers in states like Georgia and South Carolina paying the price.

While much of the world is looking to phase out its coal production, United States President Donald Trump has put coal back on the energy agenda, with big plans to reinvigorate ageing coal facilities. Despite concerns over the impact of ongoing coal use on human health and the environment, Trump views fossil fuels as the most stable energy source to boost U.S. energy security, which could lead to consumers paying more for their energy bills over the coming years.

Upon entering office in January, Trump declared an energy emergency, and he has since worked rapidly to change the landscape of U.S. energy by signing a flurry of executive orders and passing bills aimed at reducing the growth of the renewable energy sector and, instead, returning to a reliance on fossil fuels. In April, Trump signed an order entitled “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241”.

In the order, Trump stated, “Coal is abundant and cost-effective, and can be used in any weather condition. Moreover, the industry has historically employed hundreds of thousands of Americans. America’s coal resources are vast, with a current estimated value in the trillions of dollars, and are more than capable of substantially contributing to American energy independence, with excess to export to support allies and our economic competitiveness.”

Despite promises to lower consumer energy bills in the coming years, sectoral experts now believe that doubling down on coal production could actually lead to an increase in consumer energy bills, compared to investing in alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power. Trump’s executive order tasked the Department of Energy (DoE) with ensuring that coal power plants continue to operate, even those that are destined for closure.

In July, the DoE published a report that states that current power plant retirements and additions will put the U.S. at massive risk of blackouts by the end of the decade. It has used its newly given powers to stop the closure of the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan, even though the utility operating the plant warned that closing the facility would save consumers over $600 million. The DoE plans to halt the closure of other coal facilities across the country in line with Trump’s energy aims.

However, several energy experts have said that the report relies on worst-case scenarios to reach its conclusions and largely overlooks the new renewable energy capacity being added to the grid. Experts argue that paying to keep ageing coal plants online could result in consumers paying billions of dollars more for some of the least efficient and least reliable power plants on the grid, as well as put their health and the environment at risk.

A report from June, by the think tank Energy Innovation, showed that coal power was 28 percent more expensive in 2024 than in 2021, following several years of movement away from the “dirtiest fossil fuel” to various other less-polluting energy sources. The analysis shows that 95 percent of the 162 U.S. coal-fired power plants that were still operating at the beginning of the year were more expensive than in 2021, with costs increasing at twice the rate of inflation for half of these plants.

It's not just climate scientists who are concerned about the financial and environmental cost of keeping coal plants running, as one may have expected. Several U.S. utilities have found that the operating costs of coal plants are simply too high, particularly compared to gas-fueled facilities and renewables. Several utilities have chosen only to use coal plants for power as a last resort, when they cannot deliver enough solar or wind power to the grid, for example, due to the high cost of production. Experts believe that keeping more ageing coal plants online would inflate consumer costs further.

Most of the coal plants in the U.S. are old and inefficient, with the average age of a coal plant standing at 44 years in 2024. Older plants tend to be more expensive to run because they need more investment in maintenance. The generating power at these plants also falls over time, making them highly inefficient compared to many other energy sources. And consumers are seeing the effects of keeping these facilities online unnecessarily.

In Georgia, Plant Bowen was expected to be retried in 2028. However, Georgia Power has extended its life to 2035, even as costs rose from $46/MWh in 2021 to $72/MWh in 2025. This also follows six electricity bill increases for Georgia Power customers between 2023 and 2025. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, the Williams Station coal plant has had its retirement date delayed from 2028 to at least 2031, as costs have increased by $27/MWh, or more than 50 percent.

So, while President Trump insists that fossil fuels, including coal, will help fix the country’s “energy emergency”, the financial reports at many of these coal plants appear to prove otherwise. Meanwhile, the cost of gas and renewable energy production continues to fall, offering a cleaner alternative for consumers, as well as lower energy bills.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

 

China's Quiet Diplomacy Reopens Key EU Trade Route

By RFE/RL staff - Sep 27, 2025

• Poland has reopened its border with Belarus after a nearly two-week closure that was implemented to counter security risks and migration pressure during the Zapad-2025 joint military exercises.
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• China played a crucial, albeit quiet, role in the decision to reopen the border, prioritizing the protection of its trade flows through the Poland-Belarus frontier, a main artery of the Belt and Road Initiative.
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• The reopening follows a period of heightened tensions and a humanitarian crisis at the border, with Poland accusing Belarus of weaponizing migration to destabilize the EU, a strategy backed by Moscow.
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Poland has reopened its border with Belarus after a nearly two-week closure tied to the Zapad-2025 joint military exercises held by Russia and Belarus, with Beijing playing a quiet but crucial role in the decision.

Within the first few minutes of September 25, passenger vehicles resumed crossing at Terespol–Brest and trucks at Kukuryki–Kazlovichy, while freight rail reopened via Kuznica Bialostocka–Hrodna, Siemianowka–Svislach, and Terespol–Brest. The move followed an order by Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski that was announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The border was closed since 12 September with the aim of countering security risks and migration pressure.

Since 2021, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia have accused Belarus of weaponizing migration by luring people from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia with tourist visas and pushing them toward EU borders.

Warsaw has labeled this a hybrid operation by Aleksdandr Lukashenko's regime in Belarus, backed by Moscow, to destabilize the EU. The strategy created a humanitarian crisis, with migrants trapped for weeks in border forests and dozens confirmed dead from exposure.

Data show irregular crossing attempts fell in early September, spiked during the Zapad drills to 687, and eased to 663 last week. Between September 20 and 23, 282 attempts were registered.

China's Trade Route To The EU

China's involvement in reopening the border is key. On September 16, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Warsaw. Sikorski said Poland hoped Beijing would again help restrain "Belarusian provocations," recalling how a 2024 meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Polish President Andrzej Duda coincided with a temporary drop in crossings.

Analysts say China's priority is not political alignment but protecting trade flows. The Poland–Belarus frontier is a main artery of the Belt and Road Initiative, carrying goods from China to the EU. Disruption threatens delivery schedules and undermines Beijing's claim that Eurasian rail is a reliable alternative to sea routes.

"China wants to avoid blame and keep goods moving," Temur Umarov, a Carnegie Endowment fellow researcher, told RFE/RL. "Its focus is economic stability and showing that Belt and Road works."

Whether Beijing's behind-the-scenes diplomacy has worked will be tested soon: Only a sustained decline in migration numbers will confirm whether Minsk has eased pressure on the border under Chinese influence.

By RFE/RL 

Can Trinidad and Tobago Escape the Oil Trap?

By Felicity Bradstock - Sep 27, 2025

• Oil production in Trinidad and Tobago has collapsed from nearly 278,000 bpd in the 1970s to under 54,000 bpd today, with declining revenues pushing diversification efforts.
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• Exxon has returned after 20 years, betting on deepwater prospects, but interest from other majors remains weak compared to Guyana’s booming oil sector.
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• The government faces mounting pressure to balance exploration, environmental concerns, and the push toward green hydrogen and wider economic diversification.

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For decades, Trinidad and Tobago has relied on oil production to bring in revenue to the small Caribbean state. However, as its oil reserves begin to dwindle, the outlook is less certain, despite ongoing investment in new auctions for further exploration. The country is now at a crossroads, as the government decides whether to support more invasive exploration practices or to shift to alternative energy sources and pursue economic diversification.

In recent years, the neighbouring South American state of Guyana has attracted attention from oil majors worldwide looking to invest in exploration and production activities in the new oil region, where its vast reserves are largely untapped. This has also drawn attention to Trinidad and Tobago, as oil firms hope that similar reserves may still be found through more invasive exploration activities.

Trinidad and Tobago has long been the largest oil and natural gas producer in the Caribbean and is the 17th-biggest natural gas producer worldwide. The small Caribbean country is home to one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest natural gas processing facilities – the Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited, with a processing capacity of almost 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d). Trinidad and Tobago’s upstream oil and gas market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.4 percent between 2020 and 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence, with giant oil firms such as BP, Repsol, and Shell continuing to operate in the country.

However, following the introduction of sanctions on neighbouring oil giant Venezuela by the United States, Trinidad and Tobago’s oil industry has also suffered. In April, the U.S. government’s Office of Foreign Assets Control decided to revoke two special licenses for the Dragon and Cocuina gas fields in the maritime boundary between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, with Trump stating plans to further restrict Venezuelan oil production.

In September, an auction of Trinidad and Tobago’s deepwater oil and gas exploration and production blocks did not attract much interest from foreign investors, which saw bids submitted on only four of the 26 areas on offer. China’s CNOOC bid on three areas, while a consortium of smaller energy firms bid on another block. With few deepwater energy players in the region, the government has instead been encouraging producers to increase natural gas output to allow it to boost its gas processing capacity and exports.

Trinidad and Tobago has a separate agreement with American oil major Exxon Mobil to explore an area equivalent to seven ultra-deepwater blocks, which is expected to bring as much as $21.7 billion to the country if reserves are found. This marks Exxon’s return to the country after a 20-year hiatus, having left Trinidad and Tobago in 2003 after an unsuccessful offshore exploration. Exxon has conducted successful exploration and production operations in Guyana’s Stabroek block in recent years, which appear to have made the oil major reconsider Trinidad and Tobago’s potential. Guyana has become the fifth-largest oil exporter in Latin America in less than a decade, with output growing from 400,000 bpd to over 660,000 bpd in just a few months.

At present, Trinidad and Tobago does not have any production from its deepwater acreage. However, BP and Shell recently completed seismic work at three deepwater blocks in the region, and Woodside Energy said it is considering the development of its Calypso gas discovery. 

Trinidad and Tobago’s oil production has fallen to less than 54,000 bpd, from over 278,000 bpd of crude oil at its peak in the 1970s. Its only petroleum refinery closed in 2018, due to years of mismanagement and a significant fall in production by the state-owned company Petrotrin. A recent report suggests that the country’s energy revenues fell by 48.4 percent to $14.7 billion in the last fiscal year, in which its non-energy revenues increased by 26 percent to $32.7 billion, suggesting greater economic diversification. 

Trinidad and Tobago established its Heritage and Stabilisation Fund in 2007, aimed at enhancing economic diversification using its oil wealth to ensure long-term economic security. However, the significant drop in oil revenues in recent years has made the fund far less successful than other oil funds, such as those of Norway and the UAE. In 2022, the government launched a green hydrogen strategy, aimed at diversifying and adding value to the country’s energy sector; however, this is in the nascent stage of development. 

It is uncertain what Trinidad and Tobago will do to ensure the future of its economic stability while also considering the viability of new, uncertain oil development. A 2019 report by a U.S. consultancy estimated there were 10 years of gas reserves left. While new investment in deepwater exploration could potentially boost this figure, there are no guarantees, and the environmental implications are big. However, only greater economic diversification will alleviate the pressure for the government to continue drilling, which is all the harder to achieve without the oil revenues needed to finance emerging industries.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com