TECHNO-MYTH
JIMCO Technology Fund joins a $1.8bn funding round for fusion energy

Updated 02 December 2021
ARAB NEWS
https://arab.news/bg6py

The Saudi-based Jameel Investment Management Co. has participated in a $1.8billion funding round for a US fusion energy company, it has been announced.

JIMCO has invested an undeclared amount in Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a company founded in 2018 that is building the world’s first net-energy-giant fusion system.


“The world is ready to make big investments in commercial fusion as a key part of the global energy transition,” the chief executive officer of CFS, Bob Mumgaard, said.

The High-Temperature Superconducting magnet technology will be used in SPARC, a fusion device that is currently being constructed in Massachusetts and expected to demonstrate net energy from fusion by 2025.

This comes amid the parties’ steps towards a more sustainable future to mitigate climate change.

Bill Gates-Backed Commonwealth Fusion Systems IPO—Anticipation Grows


SOURCE: COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS TWITTER

BY RUCHI GUPTA
DEC. 2 2021

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) recently raised $1.8 billion from a group of prominent investors including Bill Gates and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Many prospective investors want to know whether CFS stock is publicly traded and how to buy it before the Commonwealth Fusion Systems IPO.

The efforts to combat climate change have created many opportunities for investors. Some investors are picking up EV stocks like Tesla while others are investing in companies that build systems that produce renewable energy from wind, solar, or other clean sources. CFS belongs to the renewable energy producer category.

What does Commonwealth Fusion Systems do?

CFS is developing high-tech machines that can produce clean and renewable electricity through a nuclear fusion process. Its approach contrasts with the fission process used in current nuclear power plants.

Fusion power plants promise many benefits over existing fission nuclear reactors. For example, fusion plants will be more efficient in converting fuel to electricity and won't produce radioactive wastes


SOURCE: COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS

What other companies are building fusion power reactors?

A growing number of startups are joining the fusion electricity efforts and many deep-pocketed investors are coming out to back them. In addition to Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the other fusion startups are Helion Energy, Zap Energy, and Canada-based General Fusion.

Helion raised $500 million in November 2021 and might access an additional $1.7 billion if it meets certain targets. General Fusion recently raised $130 million from investors including Jeff Bezos. General Fusion is preparing for another fundraising in 2022 that could bring it even more money.

CFS has raised more than $2 billion since its founding in 2018. It plans to use the $1.8 billion fund raised recently to develop and operate a pilot fusion plant and start the work on a commercial plant.

Who owns Commonwealth Fusion Systems?

CFS started as a project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before it branched out. But it continues to collaborate with MIT on the fusion electricity program. After separating from MIT, the startup received $50 million in initial funding from Italian energy company Eni. The Italian multinational is excited about fusion energy prospects and it’s willing to put more money on promising projects.

In 2019, CFS raised $115 million in an investment round that also included Eni and investors like Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla. The startup is also backed by George Soros and John Doerr. The other investors are Singapore's Temasek, Google, Norway's Equinor, and JIMCO Technology.

Is Commonwealth Fusion Systems a publicly traded company?

Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems is a private company. The business is led by CEO Bob Mumgaard. The executive has said that the world is ready to invest in fusion electricity, which has a huge potential in accelerating the global energy shift.


SOURCE: COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS FACEBOOK


Does Commonwealth Fusion Systems have an IPO plan?

CFS joins Elon Musk-led SpaceX as another highly anticipated IPO. Many investors think that they could be lucrative investments. Until now, neither Mumgaard nor investors like Gates have publicly discussed IPO plans for the startup.

However, sooner or later Commonwealth Fusion Systems might want to go public to raise more money as its cash need grows. The startup might need about $3 billion to set up the first commercial fusion reactor that it aims to get ready to start generating electricity by the early 2030s. CFS also plans to build more power plants in the future and even sell its fusion machines.

Investors can buy Commonwealth Fusion Systems stock before the IPO.

If you can’t wait for the Commonwealth Fusion Systems IPO, you can try to buy the stock in the private capital market. However, that might be a tall order for retail investors with small money. To participate in the private capital market, you might need to have $1 million in net worth or meet accredited investor requirements outlined in the SEC regulations.

A Massachusetts company leads as the race for fusion energy heats up

December 02, 2021
Bruce Gellerman

WBUR

Construction under way at the Commonwealth Fusion Systems campus in Devens. (Courtesy Commonwealth Fusion Systems)

Some of the same billionaires who pioneered the commercialization of space are now using their fortunes to fund companies to create the energy source of the stars on earth. And a new round of funding is sending MIT spin-off Commonwealth Fusion Systems into orbit.

The start-up company just closed on a $1.8 billion funding round making it the largest in Massachusetts history. Among the backers were billionaire Bill Gates, George Soros and venture capitalist John Doerr.

WBUR is a nonprofit news organization and our coverage relies on your financial support. Please give today.

Commonwealth Fusion predicts it will have the world’s first net-energy fusion device by 2025 and is already building a factory in Devens to make the machine.

Work is in high gear as Richard Holcomb, director of construction and facilities, walks the 47 acre site in Devens.

"Careful," he says, stepping over a just poured foundation wall.

Holcomb has worked on a lot of big projects, but he’s never built anything like this. The concrete walls? They’re 8 feet thick.

"All of it screamed at me like … wow, this is going to be amazing," Holcomb says. "So if there was an opportunity I had to be a part of it."

Holcomb works for Cambridge-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems. The campus he's building will be home to a factory producing devices that do what the stars do: convert mass into energy.

The first two buildings at Devens will house the company's headquarters and magnet manufacturing operation.

The second building will be home to its SPARC device, designed to be the world’s first net-positive fusion machine. It's a half-size prototype of a commercial device the company predicts will generate low cost, carbon-free electricity to the grid.

SPARC uses hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe. With one proton, one electron and no neutrons, it's the simplest element found in the universe.

But fusing atoms isn't easy and harnessing the power released from the process has eluded scientists for 70 years. But now, using a variety of technologies, they are closer than ever to making a fusion device that can produce more energy than it took to start the reaction.
An MIT breakthrough and spinoff

The technology behind SPARC was created and tested in a cavernous lab on the campus of MIT in a building that was once a Nabisco cookie warehouse.

"We needed to be a fairly large room because we built the world’s largest fusion magnet in this room," says Bob Mumgaard, CEO and founder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Mumgaard got his Ph.D at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.Commonwealth Fusion Systems' magnet test container and support systems, at MIT. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The research center and Mumgaard’s company are collaborating to build a device that replicates on earth what intense gravity does in the center of stars. In stars, gravity compresses and heats hydrogen atoms into a plasma. The super hot conditions rip the atoms apart, releasing their protons and electrons, which under the intense stellar gravity, fuse together creating a tiny amount of helium and a huge amount of energy. Think the stuff that is used in balloons and Einstein's famous equation: E=MC2. Energy equals Mass times the speed of light (186,000 miles a second) squared. That's a lot of energy from a small amount of mass.

Theoretically, a fusion reactor fueled with a quart of hydrogen derived from seawater could heat 10,000 homes for a year. It's estimated that just 70 tons of hydrogren in a fusion plant could replace the energy produced by all of India's coal power plants.

The key to making fusion working on earth is controlling the super-hot hydrogen plasma in a device known as a tokamak, a bagel-shaped machine that uses super-powerful magnets to compress the plasma.

An effort by 35 nations has spent more than $20 billion building an experimental tokamak in the south of France. Known as ITER, it will weigh four times as much as the Eiffel Tower, but is not designed to produce net energy. It's a research device.

Building a better bagel magnet

Commonwealth Fusion Systems took different approach.

"You basically have to put a sun in a bottle," says Mumgaard, "It turns out, if you build a magnetic bottle that can actually hold the fuel at the same conditions stars get to, you can create and sustain fusion."

The philosophy at Commonwealth Fusion Systems is that, by building a smaller device, they can make commercially fusion plants sooner and cheaper. SPARC will be just 1/40th the size ITER

.

Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The critical component MIT and Commonwealth Fusion built was the world’s most powerful superconducting magnet. It's encased in a stainless steel vacuum chamber, surrounded by tanks of liquid nitrogen.

"Buried inside there," says Mumgaard, "is a magnet that’s 10 tons, about 10 feet tall and it has the distinction of being made out of a material that allows it to go to a very high magnetic field."

The material is called high temperature superconducting wire. Actually, it's flat like a ribbon and the company is the largest buyer of the material in the world.

In a recent test, the new magnet was 400,000 times stronger than the earth’s magnetic field. Seven peer-reviewed research papers found if you could build magnets this powerful, it should be possible to build a working tokamak that produces net energy.
When you're hot you're hot. When you're not you're not.

"So the magnets will operate at 20 kelvin, roughly minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit," says Joy Dunn, head of operations for the company. That's relatively warm by superconducting standards. At this temperature the superconducting wires lose all resistance to the flow of electrons. This enables the magnets to compress the plasma to superhot temperatures and pressure, creating the conditions to make fusion energy inside the tokama.

"On the other side of the wall of the vacuum vessel, we’re operating the plasma at about 100 million degrees celsius, so it’s going to be largest thermal gradient in the world in just a matter of inches," Dunn says.


"If you look at what needs to be done for climate, to keep the planet in a livable range, we will not be able to build these things fast enough."BOB MUMGAARD

Inside the tokamak, the plasma fuel will be five times hotter than the center of the sun. But it's delicate, so there's nothing to be afraid of, says Mumgaard.

"Some people think of fusion as like lava … you know, hot like lava ... but that’s actually not what it is," he says. "It’s actually closer like a candle in the wind."

The conditions to make fusion in a tokamak are so difficult to create and sustain, which makes the devices inherently safe, says Mumgaard. They can't melt down.

"If you think about it, stars are out in space, they don’t touch anything," he says. "And that’s what you have to basically build in a fusion machine. And the minute it touches something, it doesn’t melt through like lava. It extinguishes like a flame."

Five years ago a tokamak at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center produced, for a few milliseconds, the intense pressure and temperature needed to make fusion. The Center's director, Dennis Whyte, says the magnets used in that device, were made with ordinary copper wire.

"And when that turned on to produce that confining magnetic field, it consumed over 200 million watts of electrical power," he says. "So you say, 'Well, what a great scientific achievement; hotter than the center of the sun' ... but it's hard to imagine it as a practical power source because you're using so much electricity to generate the magnetic field."

Dennis Whyte, Director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at MIT. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

But the new high temperature superconducting magnet, like those that will be used in Commonwealth Fusion’s SPARC device, will consume just 20 watts,1/10,000,000th the amount of energy as the copper wire magnets. It means far lower costs to operate the company's device, making commercial fusion financially feasible.

"The idea is you get one major disruptive technological breakthrough and it speeds everything else up," Whyte says. "But the technology didn’t exist until it did a few weeks ago ... here."

MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems have formed a unique corporate-academic collaboration. They share a common agenda — making fusion energy viable — but have separate agendas. The company wants to make money; the University wants discoveries about the fundamental energy that powers the universe.

"Fusion is the greatest technological challenge that I think humanity has ever undertaken," says British plasma physicist Arthur Turrell. In his new book, “The Star Builders and The Race to Power the Planet,” he says we are closer than ever in achieving net energy from fusion devices and credits the emergence of private sector funding. "It’s not really about time," he said in a recent interview. "It’s about the investment that we’re putting into it as a society and the kind of priority that we give it and the number of people who are working on it."

The race to make commercial fusion heats up

There are about two dozen companies competing to produce fusion energy devices, promising unlimited safe power, free of carbon emissions.

Helion in Everett, Washington is backed by tech billionaire Peter Theil. Jeff Bezos is behind General Fusion in British Columbia, Canada, and Bill Gates has invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which will have 300 workers when the Devens is

Mumgaard predicts that, by 2025, SPARC will produce ten times more energy than it consumes, and the company will have a commercial fusion device, capable of powering a town, in the early 2030s. He says the company will be selling them around the world.

"If you look at what needs to be done for climate, to keep the planet in a livable range, we will not be able to build these things fast enough," he says.

It’s a hopeful story, says Mumgaard. One that is unfolding in Devens, 35 miles west of MIT and 93 million miles from the sun.

This segment aired on December 2, 2021.


Bruce Gellerman Senior Reporter
Bruce Gellerman is an award-winning journalist and senior correspondent, frequently covering science, business, technology and the environment.

Nitrogen fertilizer shortage expected to drive down yields worldwide

By Sean Pratt

WEWSTERN PRODUCER
Published: December 2, 2021

The problem is particularly acute in Europe due to curtailed fertilizer production caused by the meteoric rise in natural gas prices. | File photo

A shortage of nitrogen fertilizer will likely result in reduced world production of crops like wheat and corn, says an industry executive.

“We do think yield on a global basis is going to be off next year, not because of demand destruction but just because there’s not going to be enough tons available,” said CF Industries president Tony Will.

He told investment analysts listening to the company’s third quarter 2021 earnings results conference call that farmers in countries like India and other places that rely on government subsidies won’t be able to compete for limited supplies of products like urea.

Isaure Perrot, agriculture consultant with Agritel, had a similar message at a recent webinar.

She expects wheat production costs in France to increase by 21 percent to US$241 per tonne in 2022 due to sky-high nitrogen fertilizer prices.

The problem is particularly acute in Europe due to curtailed fertilizer production caused by the meteoric rise in natural gas prices.

It’s going to be an issue elsewhere and not just for wheat. Corn production costs are expected to rise by 19 percent in Ukraine and 14.5 percent in the United States.

The upshot is there will likely be a reduction in corn, wheat and canola/rapeseed acres around the world in 2022 because those crops are heavy users of nitrogen. Crops such as pulses, soybeans and spring barley will likely get an acreage bump because they don’t need nearly as much.

The one exception will be European rapeseed because it was already planted before the run-up in nitrogen prices.


Perrot also anticipates a yield drag for crops like wheat and corn as farmers cut back on the nitrogen they apply.

There could also be quality problems. Low protein means less milling and more feed wheat.

She is forecasting a sharp reduction in wheat production among the world’s leading exporters.

“This nitrogen fertilizer story could have an impact on production of more than 10 million tonnes,” said Perrot.

That would result in tight supply for the main exporters of the crop.

She believes the market has already partially factored this into prices but if the situation unfolds the way she thinks, a further price hike is likely in the cards.

Mike Nash, senior editor of fertilizers with Argus Media, said a perfect storm of events has led to the supply shortfall, including Hurricane Ida that caused CF Industries to close its huge production plant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

That prompted unusually early spot imports into the U.S. market with January through August urea imports running 800,000 tons ahead of last year’s pace.

Sky-high natural gas prices forced Ukraine to shutter half of its production capacity and there have been serious curtailments in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Production is just starting to trickle back in Europe after serious cutbacks this fall.

More than 11 million tonnes of ammonia in Europe was not being upgraded into products like ammonium nitrate, urea and UAN, so Europe was forced to import granular urea from Egypt and other suppliers.

But urea is hard to find. Chinese production is limited by environmental controls, flooding, electrical blackouts and high coal costs.

On top of that, the Chinese are curtailing exports of urea through mid-2022, a big deal since it typically supplies about 5.5 million tonnes of the product annually or 10 percent of global trade.

India typically buys half of this. The restrictions couldn’t come at a worse time for them because September through January is their peak importing season.

Export restrictions have also been implemented in Russia and Egypt, but those are not as significant as China’s, said Nash.

The upshot is nitrogen fertilizer will be in short supply for the foreseeable future, said Bert Frost, senior vice-president of sales for CF Industries.

“We believe global supply will remain constrained in the near-term, with relief unlikely to appear anytime soon,” he said.

That means higher prices. Urea is three to four times what it was a year ago in markets like Egypt, France, Brazil and the U.S.

Will was asked if the high prices will lead to demand destruction but he said that is not the case.

“This is more of a supply constrained market. The demand is definitely there,” he said.

India is desperately trying to pull in product. Brazil’s imports are up 10 percent. CF Industries is reporting that orders for the first quarter of 2022 are generally very strong.

Will said new capacity coming on line in Russia and Nigeria won’t be enough to cover the current deficit and it won’t hit the market for a couple years.

However, Frost said there should be enough product to satisfy the needs of North American farmers who can afford to “bid away” tons from other regions of the world.

The company is anticipating the largest fall application program in the U.S. since 2012 followed by a strong spring, since current economics favour corn over soybeans.

Matt Conacher, senior manager of fertilizer with Federated Co-operatives Limited, disagrees with Frost’s assessment.

He offered up different advice for growers in Western Canada.

“Over the next few months, buy a good portion of your fertilizer needs and, if you can, bring it to farm to assure your supply,” he said.

Conacher said retailers are not going to want to be long on product heading into spring because they realize there is a very good chance prices will tumble during the summer reset period.

Op-Ed: What’s Driving Fertilizer Prices and What Can Be Done

"In recent months, higher global natural gas prices have had an impact on fertilizer prices. The greatest challenge to global fertilizer production now is in Europe, where natural gas prices have quadrupled this year," says TFI.

(Margy Eckelkamp)

By GUEST COMMENTARY December 3, 2021

This guest commentary was provided by The Fertilizer Institute: 

Today’s high fertilizer prices are hardly a secret. The underlying reasons for the cost of these critical products, however, are multiple, and ultimately determined by a complex interplay of domestic and international political and economic factors. In fact, fertilizer prices are generally set by supply and demand dynamics just like other globally traded commodities, such as corn, soybeans, and wheat. The recent increases are even more pronounced given that many fertilizer prices were near 10-year lows from mid-2019 to mid-2020. To say that farmers have noticed would be an understatement, even though fertilizer prices in the United States are in many cases among the lowest in the world.

Fertilizer is essential to growing the food, fuel, and fiber our world relies upon. Because fertilizer is often a farmer’s largest input expense, any increase is going to be felt. Going without fertilizer is not an option, so farmers are left with tough choices. Do they stay the course hoping crop prices remain high and help buoy farm profitability? Do they plant a less fertilizer-intensive crop in the spring? Do they use less product and hope their yields don’t suffer? No matter the decision made, it is understandable that farmers are left uncertain, fearful, and even angry about how to handle the current rise in prices.

This year has also seen several unique situations that, taken together, have negatively affected the global fertilizer industry. This was a record year for fertilizer production facility maintenance “turnaround” activity. These scheduled events typically last several weeks and are required every few years. Due to COVID-19 restrictions last year, maintenance was deferred on a global scale. Through mid-year, the International Fertilizer Association reported production was down 3 percent for ammonia, owing to this combination of factors. Weather disruptions have impacted global supply availability and the United States was one of the hardest hit, where U.S. fertilizer producers also faced production disruptions this year from the impact of ice storms in February and Hurricane Ida in August. 
 
In recent months, higher global natural gas prices have had an impact on fertilizer prices. The greatest challenge to global fertilizer production now is in Europe, where natural gas prices have quadrupled this year. These costs led many facilities to idle as production costs exceed market prices. In addition to rising natural gas costs, shortages of coal in Asia, which this region uses to manufacture nitrogen, have contributed to rising fertilizer prices, as well. 

International events have also driven up costs. For example, sanctions on Belarus have affected the availability and price of potash. Additionally, China, which accounts for 25 percent of global phosphate exports and 10 percent of global urea exports, has placed an export ban on phosphate and nitrogen fertilizer materials, further tightening the global market. Other countries have also announced restrictions on fertilizer exports to ensure their own domestic supply. 
 
All these factors matter because farmers cannot just skip fertilizer applications. Manufactured and mined fertilizer of three elements – nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium – are all necessary ingredients for the success of the world’s food supply. In fact, fertilizer is essential to feeding about 40 percent of the world’s population and preventing significant deforestation by improving soil yield. Simply, fertilizer is critical to our collective ability to grow enough food to feed the world.

So, what can be done?
 
The entire fertilizer industry value chain, from producers to wholesalers to importers to retailers, is working hard to address these issues. U.S. manufacturers and importers are working closely with wholesalers and retailers to help U.S. farmers continue to have access to reliable sources of fertilizer. Domestic fertilizer manufacturers are producing at capacity and have invested in new and upgraded production and storage facilities over the last decade to provide a reliable source of fertilizer supply to the American farmer, while also creating thousands of good-paying jobs and supporting local communities. 

Government policy in several areas can support the industry and its customers. The current supply chain crisis is a stark reminder that infrastructure is of the utmost importance to all businesses, including the movement of domestically produced and imported fertilizer. Trucking capacity and the shortage of drivers need to be addressed, as do rail shipping rates and other modernization of rail oversight. In the medium-to-long term, the new investment in American’s road, inland waterway, and other core infrastructure that will come from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will enable the industry to move product more efficiently and cost-effectively. 

Another area of policy focus must be ensuring we do not exclude ourselves from our own essential resources. It is vital that fertilizer producers have access to affordable natural gas and other energy supplies, which also includes the pipelines that move these materials. As well, there needs to be improvements in the permitting process, which is unpredictable and often delayed. For potash and phosphate mining operations, for example, acquiring the proper mining permit can take years and often costs more than $10 million. 

Weathering the storm of the global supply and demand challenges will be best accomplished through strong collaboration between suppliers and customers. Growers should know that the U.S. fertilizer industry is committed to keeping the lines of communication open in anticipation of the spring planting season.

MANURE PROVIDES FARMERS AN ALTERNATIVE NUTRIENT SOURCE AMID VOLATILE FERTILIZER MARKET

By 

Madelyn Ostendorf

12/4/2021

In the past year, the cost for urea and diammonium phosphate have more than doubled. With no end in sight, some producers are looking at alternatives like manure.

Daniel Andersen, Associate Professor at Iowa State University, says that farmers interested in integrating manure as a fertilizer have the possibility for great outcomes in terms of improved soil health and crop nutrition.

“One of the things I like to say is that manure is a complete fertilizer, but it isn't always a balanced fertilizer,” says Andersen.

Andersen says that some manure will have more phosphate or excess nitrogen, when what the crop really needs is potassium. When deciding whether or not to spread manure, it's important to determine the type of manure necessary for the particular crop type and current soil nutrient makeup. For example, if a farmer has planted a crop that needs a lot of phosphorus, but has soil that is low in phosphorus, they should shop around for nitrogen-rich manure, like poultry.

“Oftentimes manures can be only transported a few miles to keep price competitive with synthetic fertilizers and with a liquid manure that application distance is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of one to five miles that we're willing to move it and still have it be cost competitive with purchasing other synthetic fertilizers,” says Andersen. 
 
Dan Luepkes, a farmer in Oregon, Illinois, has been using chicken manure on his farm for almost four years. Luepkes is part of a few groups that focus on high-yield crops, including XtremeAg, and says some of the members from the south— where the use of chicken manure is more predominant—had been discussing how effective it was on their fields and he decided to give it a shot. 

“It's natural versus synthetic fertilizers,” says Luepkes. “Natural fertilizers have no added salt, so it's more usable for the plant. It also contains some additional micronutrients and calcium that you're not getting in synthetic fertilizers unless you buy all those additional micronutrients.”

Luepkes travels up to 100 miles to bring chicken manure to his farm. Because of the distance he has to haul it, he says it is almost as expensive as using synthetic fertilizer. Luepkes brings the manure in and works it into the soil in the fall, partially out of preference and partially because of the manure regulations in Illinois. While the process is expensive, due to the travel distance and equipment–he owns nearly $250,000 of spreading equipment–Luepkas has seen a definite improvement of micronutrients in his field.

Luepkes says that as he has run soil tests after using manure on his fields, he is seeing an increase in microbiology and insect presence, which brings additional carbon to the soil and increases the overall soil health, something Andersen recommends before purchasing manure. As the nutritional value of manure can change from farm to farm and from season to season, a soil test allows farmers to know exactly what nutrients their soil needs and what kind of manure to look for. Andersen also recommends requesting a manure sample from the farm before you buy.    

As the use of manure gains in popularity, Andersen is noticing a trend. While producers are using the manure being generated on their farmers or purchasing to spread, they are also exploring other sources to rebuild and maintain soil health, not just to bolster crop growth. Sometimes, a producer's field is in need of extra nitrogen, and the manure they are producing is not nitrogen rich. In these cases, choosing to apply purchased manure that is nitrogen rich, such as poultry, would be a good option. 

“I’ve seen some swine producers choose not to put their own manure in portions of their fields and instead use poultry litter to try and build soil health,” Andersen says.

Luepkes says that as he has run soil tests after using manure on his fields, he is seeing an increase in microbiology and insect presence, which brings additional carbon to the soil and increases the overall soil health. 

More farmers are asking questions about manure as a source of nutrients for their crops. Luepkes says that while manure is a good way to get nutrients into the soil, it isn’t as simple as just deciding to go out and spread. 

“It’s a lot more labor and management intensive,” says Luepkes. “You have to truck it to the farm, spread it. It's pretty hard to hire someone to do that. It's not as readily available as your commercial fertilizers.”

Andersen says when it comes to manure, hitting the right application rate is critical to making more money per bushel. Finding the right application method and the right system are all key to turning a profit in the first few years. 

No mining in wetlands, says conservation group as feedback ends for Yukon's draft wetland policy

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The territory says it hopes to have a final policy by May

 2022

CBC News · Posted: Dec 03, 2021 6:57 PM CT | Last Updated: December 3

A small wetland area near Whitehorse's Riverdale neighbourhood. Public input on the Yukon government's draft wetlands policy closed Friday. (Julien Gignac/CBC)

As public input wraps up on the Yukon government's draft plan for wetlands in the territory, the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada made its position clear: it doesn't want to see mining activity in wetland areas.

"Wetlands are so important to Yukoners. People will realize that we rely on them for some of the food and medicines that we use, we rely on them for clean water, and so forth," Don Reid told CBC's Leonard Linklater, host of Midday Cafe this week.

Reid said "destruction" of some of the wetlands over the years has made the issue "highly contentious" and that it "has come to a head in the Dawson region with placer mining in particular."

But, he said, it's a much more widespread issue across the territory.

He said there's at least one good reason to not support ongoing placer mining in wetlands: the effect of carbon storage on climate change.

"Wetlands store an awful lot of carbon," Reid said.

Don Reid is a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Whitehorse. He said the Yukon government should not allow mining on the territory's wetlands. (Philippe Morin/CBC)

"If we are moving that surface material around the soils in the peats and so forth, we are releasing a lot of that carbon much more quickly into the atmosphere. And that's a really detrimental thing to be doing at this time in our history, given the climate crisis."

Though a policy is needed, Reid said he thinks the government's draft policy lacks certainty for both wetland users and people wanting to conserve those lands.

"We're in a situation without a broad scale wetland policy across the territory. And that results in a gradual erosion of wetland values as one project comes up and gets approved, and then another and so forth," he said.

"This draft wetland policy isn't providing any additional certainty for any users of wetlands or people interested in conservation of wetlands."

Outline limits to development, says group

What's needed, he said, is a "comprehensive overview" that outlines "the ultimate limits" on how much development should be allowed.

"[The] government isn't providing any solid information on where the limits are."

On the territory's website, it says Yukon currently has "no framework in place to guide the management of activities in wetlands across Yukon," which has led to "uncertainty for land managers, industry, and project assessors when dealing with development in wetlands."

It also says the draft policy was developed as part of the implementation of the Yukon Water Strategy.

The government said it invited more than 50 governments and organizations to help develop the policy, including Indigenous communities, municipal and federal governments, boards and councils, non-governmental organizations, and industry associations.

The draft wetlands strategy is available on the Yukon government's website.

Results will be published in a "What We Heard report," according to the territory, with hopes of having a final wetlands policy in May 2022.

CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT

‘You need to pay them well’: Ontario Labour Minister on Tim Hortons ‘hiring crisis’

BNN/BLOOMBERG

Record Share of U.S. Small Businesses Raise Pay, NFIB Says

by Reade Pickert, 12/2/21

A record number of U.S. small businesses once again reported raising compensation last month, the National Federation of Independent Business said Thursday.

Forty-four percent of firms boosted pay, matching the largest share in monthly data back to 1986, according to the NFIB’s November survey.

Those wage gains may be beginning to pay off. Some 48% of respondents reported having job openings they could not fill, and while still very high, it’s the second straight monthly decline.

“Unfilled positions and labor quality remain the biggest challenges for small business owners as they work to get back to pre-crisis levels,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement. “Owners have been increasing compensation to record-high levels to attract the right employees to their business.”

Meantime, a quarter of the respondents plan to create new jobs in the next three months, a pullback from the previous month but still extremely elevated.

The monthly government jobs report, out Friday, is forecast to show the U.S. added more than half a million jobs in November.

Cargill beef-processing plant in High River, Alta. narrowly avoids strike action

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Days before planned strike at High River, Alta., facility,

 union agrees to new contract

Jade Markus · CBC News · Posted: Dec 04, 2021 

The Cargill beef-processing plant in High River, Alta., seen in 2020 after it reopened following a two-week shutdown because of a COVID-19 outbreak affecting hundreds of employees. On Saturday, workers accepted a new contract offer that included new rights for sick employees.  (Dan McGarvey/CBC)

Employees at Cargill's beef-processing plant in High River, Alta., have voted in favour of a new labour contract, narrowly avoiding strike action and a possible lockout.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 (UFCW), which represents workers at the plant, said Saturday that workers chose to accept the new contract offer, with 71 per cent voting in favour.

In a statement, UFCW said it was not an easy decision for staff at the plant, and called the contract vote a "bittersweet victory." 

Workers had raised safety concerns after a COVID-19 outbreak at the plant in 2020 affected more than 900 people. The outbreak, which forced Cargill to temporarily close the plant — one of Canada's largest — is linked to three deaths.

The union says the new contract includes procedures to ensure worker health and safety, benefits, and new rights for sick employees. 

After the two sides held talks on Tuesday, UFCW's bargaining committee agreed to recommend the new offer to its members, Cargill spokesperson Daniel Sullivan said. Workers voted between Thursday and Saturday.

The union released parts of the proposed offer to CBC earlier in the week. The contract included $4,200 in retroactive pay for many Cargill union members; signing, holiday and COVID-19 bonuses; and a $5 wage increase.

Workers prepare beef to be packaged at the Cargill facility near High River, Alta. The plant is the site of what became the largest COVID-19 outbreak in North America last year. (Name withheld)

UFCW had said the plant's roughly 2,000 workers would strike Monday unless an agreement was reached.

The union also they brought in tents, floodlights and heaters for the possible strike, while nearby fields were levelled to provide parking.

• What Cargill workers want 
  • Cargill workers to vote on new deal ahead of strike at one of Canada's largest beef-processing plants

Cargill had also planned to lock out all UFCW union staff as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, according to a statement from the company's vice-president of labour relations, Tanya Teeter, which was obtained and made public by the union.

• Cargill issues lockout notice to staff at one of Canada's largest beef-processing plants

• Cargill workers to vote on new deal ahead of strike at one of Canada's largest beef-processing plants

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement that is comprehensive, fair, and reflective of their commitment to excellence at Cargill and the critical role they play in feeding families across Canada," Jarrod Gillig, the company's president of business operations and supply chain for North America protein, wrote in a statement to CBC Saturday.  

"As an organization that leads with our value to put people first, we truly believe this ratification is in the best interests of our employees and we are eager to move forward to build a stronger future – together."

Reforms still needed: Union

"We also look forward to the citizens of Alberta joining with us in calling for reforms and restructuring in the meatpacking industry," UFCW President Thomas Hesse wrote in a statement Saturday. 

"Workers have been ripped off. Ranchers have been ripped off. And we've all been ripped off at the supermarket counter. Government failed to protect these workers, as well as failing to protect Alberta ranchers and consumers. Change must occur." 

The Cargill plant processes up to 4,500 head of cattle per day, accounting for about one-third of Canada's beef.

With files from Tony Seskus, Joel Dryden and Reuters

Strike action avoided at Cargill beef plant in High River, Alta.


Adam Lachacz
CTVNewsEdmonton.ca 

Digital Producer
Published Dec. 4, 2021 

Cargill workers approved a new contract with 71 per cent support, avoiding a strike or lockout.

After two days of voting, employees at the beef-processing plant in High River, Alta., embraced the new labour contract.

In a statement, the United Food and Commerical Workers (UFCW) Local 401, representing workers at the plant, said on Saturday that it was a "bittersweet victory."

The site, employing about 2,000 people, experienced a COVID-19 outbreak last year that affected more than 900 people and forced Cargill to close the plant temporarily. Three deaths have been linked to the outbreak, including two workers and one family member.

Workers will receive $4,200 in retroactive pay, a $1,000 signing bonus, a 21 per cent wage increase over the life of the contract, and improved health benefits. The company also agreed to provisions to facilitate a new culture of health, safety, dignity, and respect in the workplace.

"Our employees in High River are important to Cargill's work to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way," said Jarrod Gillig, Cargill North America's business operations and supply chain president, in a statement to CTV News.

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement that is comprehensive, fair, and reflective of their commitment to excellence at Cargill and the critical role they play in feeding families across Canada."
STRIKE AVERTED

According to UFCW Local 401, the union and workers were ready for a potential strike, erecting tents in front of the plant, installing floodlights and propane heaters, levelling nearby fields to act as parking lots, and finalizing a picketing payroll system.

UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse previously told CTV News that the deal was "fair" but would support workers on the picket line if they decided to reject the offer.

"Tomorrow, work will begin to enforce and apply the new provisions of the Cargill union contract," Hesse said in a statement Saturday. "Local 401 congratulates and thanks Cargill union members and our Cargill Bargaining Committee."

Hesse added that the past few months were trying for many employees at the plant.

MORE WORK TO DO

While the decision was not an easy one and a cause for celebration, UFCW Local 401 says there is further work.

The union says workers at the JBS Plant in Brooks, Alta., observed the Cargill proceedings as they head into bargaining for a new contract next year. Additionally, the UFCW Local 401 says it plans to continue pushing for meatpacking industry reforms and restructuring.

As prices for meat continue to soar at the grocery store, Hesse said more needs to be done to better support workers and ranchers.

"Workers have been ripped off. Ranchers have been ripped off. And we've all been ripped off at the supermarket counter," he said. "Government failed to protect these workers, as well as failing to protect Alberta ranchers and consumers. Change must occur."

With files from CTV News Calgary's Michael Franklin

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BILL WOULD ADD PROTECTIONS FOR MEATPACKING WORKERS, TARGET INDUSTRY’S MONOPOLISTIC PRACTICES

By 

Chuck Abbott

12/3/2021

Photo credit: USDA

A bill introduced in the Senate this week would improve working conditions and whistleblower protections for meatpacking workers, while also cracking down on monopolistic practices in the industry.

Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, introduced the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act on Tuesday. In a press release, he called it a “critical piece in transforming our food system into one that is rooted in resilience, fairness, and justice.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, will introduce a companion bill in the House.

Booker’s bill includes several provisions that would make meatpacking workers safer, both during routine operations and in pandemics. For example, companies could get a waiver to increase line speeds only after submitting to an inspection that demonstrated that the faster speeds would not affect worker safety. The bill would also establish stricter ergonomic standards for workers and strengthen whistleblower protections. And inspectors would have to verify that employees have prompt and proper access to toilets, without fear of punishment.

Companies would be required to establish a system for publicly reporting the number of employees who become sick during the COVID-19 pandemic and any future pandemics, along with information about their race and employment status.

The bill was crafted with input from a number of worker groups, including Venceremos, an Arkansas organization focused on the poultry sector. Magaly Licolli, the group’s executive director, said the bill reflects many of the workers’ needs and would establish a baseline of standards for the industry that worker groups could build on through organizing efforts. “It would give us leverage to pursue something better,” she said.

Workers felt “abandoned” by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and other regulatory agencies when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Licolli said. To win better protections, workers have walked off production lines and held wildcat strikes and protests outside plants.

At least 269 meatpacking workers have died so far during the COVID-19 pandemic and some 59,000 have been sickened, an investigation from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis found in October. The report blamed the companies for “prioritizing profits” and resisting worker safety measures. It also said OSHA made a “political decision” to not issue rules that would have required companies to take specific actions to protect workers from COVID-19.

While companies are rolling out vaccination programs for workers, Licolli said they are also now removing many of the safety measures put in place earlier in the pandemic, even though the crisis is far from over. “They are moving to get over the pandemic when we know there are still other variants coming,” she said.

Labor shortages are also putting workers at risk, she said, because they are often being asked to work faster and do jobs they aren’t trained to do, leading to more injuries.

The proposed legislation would also make sweeping changes in the meatpacking industry. To address consolidation, it would block smaller meat processing plants receiving certain federal grants from being sold to larger packers for a period of 10 years. It would also strengthen the Packers & Stockyards Act, reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat, and extend the requirement to dairy.

Passing such a far-reaching suite of reforms will be difficult, given the immense political power of the meatpacking industry as well as the political polarization in Washington. But while a staffer for Sen. Booker acknowledged that it won’t be an easy fight, he said it’s part of a broader movement-building strategy to transform the food system into one that is better for workers, the environment, and consumers. So even if this bill isn’t adopted in full, parts of it might pass or be included in other legislation.

The pandemic, and its devastating effects on meatpacking workers, exposed a system in dire need of reform, said Jose Oliva, campaigns director at the HEAL Food Alliance, a coalition of groups working to change the food and farming systems. Speaking during a webinar about the bill this week, Oliva said that many of the problems the industry’s workers face — from dangerous working conditions and low wages to a lack of healthcare — aren’t new. “The pandemic didn’t change conditions, but rather unveiled existing conditions,” he said.

 

Growing carbon footprint for plastics

by ETH Zurich

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Plastics are useful, cheap and extremely popular. Global demand has quadrupled in the last forty years and is expected to continue to rise, with correspondingly negative consequences for the environment and human health. The public is generally aware of the environmental harm caused by plastics at the end of their life cycle in particular, such as when they release greenhouse gasses and air pollutants when burned, or pollute water and soil in the form of microplastics.

Research into the global environmental impact of plastics has also focused primarily on the disposal phase. There are few studies into the production of plastics, which also affects the climate and air quality. In-depth analysis, however, requires detailed information on supply chains and processes in order to trace the relevant material and energy flows.

Assessing the global footprint of plastics

"So far, the simplistic assumption has been that the production of plastic requires roughly the same amount of fossil fuel as is contained in the raw materials in plastic—above all petroleum," says Livia Cabernard, a doctoral student at the Institute of Science, Technology and Policy (ISTP) at ETH Zurich. The problem here, however, is that the relative significance of production versus disposal has been significantly underestimated.

Cabernard is part of a team of researchers led by Stephan Pfister, Senior Scientist at ISTP, and Stefanie Hellweg, ETH Professor of Ecological Systems Design at the Institute of Environmental Engineering. Through painstaking detective work, the team analyzed the climate and health impact of the global plastics supply chain over a 20-year period.

In a study recently published in Nature Sustainability, the researchers show that the global carbon footprint of plastics has doubled since 1995, reaching 2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2015. This represents 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is more than previously thought. Over the same period, the global health footprint of plastics from fine particulate air pollution has increased by 70 percent, causing approximately 2.2 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2015.

Coal for process heat, electricity and as a raw material

For their study, the team determined the greenhouse gas emissions generated across the life cycle of plastics—from fossil resource extraction, to processing into product classes and use, through to end of life, including recycling, incineration and landfill.

The researchers identify booming plastic production in coal-based newly industrialized countries such as China, India, Indonesia and South Africa as the main cause of the growing greenhouse gas footprint of plastics. The energy and process heat for the production of plastics in these countries comes primarily from the combustion of coal. A small amount of coal is also used as a raw material for plastics.

"The plastics-related carbon footprint of China's transport sector, Indonesia's electronics industry and India's construction industry has increased more than 50-fold since 1995," explains Cabernard. Globally, carbon-based emissions in plastics production have quadrupled since 1995 and now account for nearly half of the global carbon footprint of plastics.

When coal is burned, it produces extremely fine particles that accumulate in the air. Such particulate matter is highly harmful to health and can cause asthma, bronchitis and cardiovascular disease. As more and more coal is used for process heat, electricity and as a raw material in plastic production, the negative consequences for health are also increasing.

Underestimated plastic production

In contrast to earlier estimates, which assumed equal amounts of fuel and raw material for the production of plastics, the ETH researchers have now proven that twice as much fossil energy is burned for plastic production as is contained as a raw material in plastic.

This affects the assessment of the environmental consequences. "Even in a worst-case scenario in which all plastics are incinerated, their production accounts for the lion's share of total greenhouse gas and particulate matter emissions," says Cabernard. The overall production phase of plastics is responsible for the vast majority (96 percent) of the carbon footprint of plastics.

Insights thanks to new methodology

There had previously only been one publication that examined the global carbon footprint of plastics production. "This underestimated the greenhouse gas emissions, however, because it did not take into account the increasing dependence on coal due to the outsourcing of production processes to coal-based countries," Cabernard explains.

The researchers used a new method for their study that Cabernard had previously developed in her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Pfister and Hellweg. This approach involves a multi-regional input-output analysis that can accurately map global supply chains from production to consumption across industries, countries and regions.Researchers suggest a way to achieve net-zero emission plastics

More information: Livia Cabernard, Growing environmental footprint of plastics driven by coal combustion, Nature Sustainability (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00807-2. www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00807-2

Journal information: Nature Sustainability 

Provided by ETH Zurich