Sick of hearing about green goals, climate change and the energy transition?

Don't worry, you're not alone.

Although if we're being completely honest, it's the politics and nonsense soundbites that irritate the most, isn't it?

See the problem is our energy demands continue to increase, and that is not expected to change any time soon.

Which is why it's odd to see Angela Merkel pushing against nuclear, especially at a time when Germany's coal plants have been ramping up production.

Even in the US, coal has supplied 23% of U.S. electricity production from the start of the year through to mid-June 👇👇👇

Coal Shows Its Staying Power as Economies Bounce Back

Increased demand for electricity and costlier natural gas have stemmed a decline in the price of coal, which has lost favor amid global efforts to curb carbon emissions.

The Wall Street JournalSarah McFarlane and Katherine Blunt

And coal is at the highest price in a decade...

It's still one of the main sources of global energy...

Poor little nuclear is being left behind (even though Japan is reactivating nuclear plants for the olympics).

For clean and reliable energy, nuclear is clearly the best solution, but it is also understandable that many are cautious about fusion energy and still haunted by reports of previous nuclear disasters.

That's because people are emotional wrecks and don't understand that coal power is estimated to kill around 350 times as many people per terawatt-hour of energy produced, mostly from air pollution, compared to nuclear power.

Let's speculate on the future of nuclear! Starting with this twitter thread...

The problem with nuclear fusion has always been the perception that it is permanently 30 years away.

Now it seems the hardest part is over. The science is solved...

Manipulating magnets in the quest for fusion

After overseeing three years of research and development, MIT Senior Research Scientist Brian LaBombard is ready to test a superconducting toroidal field model coil (TFMC), a prototype for those that will be used in the SPARC fusion experiment.

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPaul Rivenberg | Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Which means engineering and business can take over.

Maybe Japan won't have to build all of these new coal plants after all...  

Japan Races to Build New Coal-Burning Power Plants, Despite the Climate Risks (Published 2020)

As many as 22 new coal plants—one of the dirtiest power sources—will arise at 17 sites across Japan, just as the world must slash emissions to fight warming.

NYTimesBy

Here's a good read on the PR problem 👇👇👇

Nuclear power is clean and safe. Why aren’t we using more of it?

Nuclear energy is far safer than its reputation implies. It’s also clean and reliable -- yet power plants are being phased out around the world.

CNETDaniel Van Boom

The race to build a commercial fusion reactor hots up

A Canadian firm plans a demonstration machine in Britain | Science & technology

The Economist

And the uranium market continues to develop 👇👇👇

Definitely an area to keep an eye on as it will be a 'game-changer'. 👇👇

Department of Energy Announces First Round of FY 2021 Public-Private Partnership Awards to Advance Fusion Energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) today awarded $2.1 million across 9 collaborative projects between DOE national laboratories and private industry aimed at overco

Department of Energy, Office of Science

Emerging Markets: Can they catch up?

Research from Rabobank highlights the vulnerabilities in Emerging Markets.

Foreign debt is usually dollar-denominated...

And some countries have more than others.

Which is why the IMF are telling the Fed to be careful 👇👇👇

IMF says Fed ‘highly effective,’ must carefully communicate withdrawal plans

The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board on Thursday said the U.S. Federal Reserve has been “highly effective” at managing the COVID-19 crisis and supporting recovery with its commitment to overshoot a 2% inflation target in the near term.

ReutersReuters Staff

Any rapid swing to hawkish monetary policy from the Fed would put the most vulnerable EM's under pressure.

There may be an explosive cocktail in store for vulnerable EMs due to the combination of weakening of domestic currencies vs. USD as a result of FED policy action, increased foreign currency debt levels as a result of Covid-19, high commodity prices (including oil), and faltering domestic recovery as a result of new waves of Covid-19. - Rabobank

Here's Rabo's vulnerability index 👇👇👇

What's SNAPening?

(I regret NOTHING about that title)

Snapchat were mocked and ridiculed after falling flat post-IPO in 2017, but those days are ancient history now...

Q2 reports were exceptionally positive 👇👇

And revenue growth was even better!

Snap's revenue jumped 116% to $982 million, well above the expectation of $845.9 million. Previously, its strongest growth rate was 66%.

The stock has rallied and currently sits +30% on the week 🚀🚀🚀