US based Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private coal company, is on the verge of bankruptcy as the commodity crash claims its biggest victim, crippled by fierce competition from cheap gas and a radical policy shift by China.
The US-based group Peabody Energy missed interest payments on two sets of bonds worth $1.6bn, stunning markets with a warning that it may be forced to invoke Chapter 11 protection under US insolvency law.
China’s Coal companies shifting to solar, wind, ultra-efficient coal and nuclear energy
China’s leadership, obsessed with maintaining stability and making sure redundancies do not lead to unrest, will spend nearly 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) to cover layoffs in just the coal and steel sectors in the next 2-3 years. The hugely inefficient state sector employed around 37 million people in 2013 and accounts for about 40 percent of the country’s industrial output and nearly half of its bank lending.
According to a plan by the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, the coal mining sector will slash capacity by 500 million metric tons over the next five years.
Higher temperature coal plants will be more efficient and have lower pollution but not as good as nuclear and other energy with virtually no emissions
China’s biggest coal producer by volume — China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd, which has vowed to focus on clean-coal production, renewable energy and nuclear power to address the national shift of consumption-driven economy, according to its Chairman Steve Zhang Yuzhuo.
The coal producer expects renewable energy output to account for more than 20 percent of profits by 2025 as it plans to become a leading clean-energy provider.
Such transformational moves come as China plans to increase the share of non-fossil energy to 15 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030, as well as capping coal’s contribution to total energy consumption at 62 percent within five years.
Coal accounted for 64 percent of energy use last year, down 4.5 percentage points from 2012, when supply gluts and weak demand led to a drop in coal prices.
This means long term pressure on solar power and coal companies. Solar because of increased supply and competition and low energy prices and coal because of less demand
The largest bankruptcy in Spanish corporate history might be solar power company Abengoa
The Spanish company, Abengoa, has built two American plants, in Arizona and California, supplying electricity to more than 160,000 homes. It is the world leader in a technology known as solar thermal, with operations from Algeria to Latin America.
But Abengoa’s global ambitions are now the source of its troubles.
Saddled with debt from its expansion, the company is scrambling to avoid what would be the largest bankruptcy in Spanish corporate history. Creditors and shareholders are taking the company to court as losses mount and crucial financial support disappears.
In Abengoa’s case, its signature American projects still have around $2 billion in outstanding loans guaranteed by the United States government, and the company benefited heavily from subsidies in Spain.
SunEdison has lost $10 billion in market value and is the biggest biggest corporate implosion in U.S. solar history
SunEdison, which has seen $10 billion in market value evaporate over the last year, has been justifiably called “the biggest corporate implosion in U.S. solar history,” as its strategy of acquiring seemingly every solar power company in sight hasn’t panned out. Under CEO Ahmad Chatila, the company has spent billions to acquire solar developers around the world, piling up nearly $12 billion in debt.
$2.2 billion Solar power facility at risk of forced shutdown
The power it produces has been much more expensive than electricity from solar plants that get their energy from photovoltaic cells, to say nothing of power from natural gas.
Even Tesla misstep and discontinue 10 kWh powerwall home battery product
Tesla has quietly removed all references to its 10-kilowatt-hour residential battery from the Powerwall website, as well as the company’s press kit. The company’s smaller battery designed for daily cycling is all that remains. A Tesla representative confirmed the 10-kilowatt-hour option has been discontinued. Telsa has decided to focus entirely on building and deploying the 7-kilowatt-hour Daily Powerwall at this time.
Even at Tesla’s low wholesale price, a 500-cycle battery just doesn’t pencil out against the alternatives, especially once the inverter and other system costs are included. State-of-the-art backup generators from companies like Generac and Cummins sell for $5,000 or less.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
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