CANADA
Coal plants to be shuttered
The country will shutter its coal-fired power plants by 2030 as part of its strategy to cut greenhouse gas emission under the Paris climate accord, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna announced on Monday. The plants, located in four provinces, produce about 10 percent of the country’s total carbon dioxide emissions and closing them will remove the equivalent in emissions of 1.3 million cars from roads, or 5 megatons of greenhouse gas emissions, she told a news conference. With an abundance of hydroelectric power, as well as nuclear, solar and wind power, 80 percent of Canada’s electricity production emits no air pollution. McKenna said she aims to ramp that up to 90 percent by 2030. Citing National Energy Board figures, she said that wind power-generating capacity increased 20-fold in the past decade while solar capacity rose 125 percent.
GREECE
Economy to grow next year
The government on Monday said it expects to post 2.7 percent growth next year after years of nearly consecutive recession in a budget that also predicts an above-target primary surplus. The budget, to be voted on by parliament on Dec. 10, includes extra taxation on cars, mobile phones, pay TV, fuel, tobacco, coffee and beer. The country’s economy this year is set to shrink by 0.3 percent, according to the latest estimates, continuing a slide uninterrupted since 2009 except for one year, 2014. Under the terms of its latest EU bailout, Greece must register primary budget surpluses of 0.5 percent of GDP this year, 1.75 percent next year and 3.5 percent in 2018.
TOURISM
Disney to expand HK resort
Walt Disney Co is embarking on a US$1.4 billion expansion of its Hong Kong Disneyland resort, which reported a loss last year, with features that include the first Frozen and Marvel-themed lands in its parks. The six-year construction project, which is to begin in 2018, is to include two attractions based on the animated film Frozen and a related dining area, new rides tied to Marvel’s superheroes as well as entertainment additions to the existing Sleeping Beauty Castle. The park recorded a loss of HK$148 million (US$19 million) in the fiscal year ended October last year amid a slower Chinese economy and political unrest in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong tourism is in an adjustment period,” the city’s commerce secretary Gregory So (蘇錦樑) said at a joint briefing with Disney in Hong Kong. The expansion is a strategic development to attract tourists who would stay overnight and spend more, he said.
TRANSPORTATION
Ola expands services
Ola, India’s largest ride-hailing start-up, wants to make sure its customers are comfortable and entertained, even if they are stuck in a traffic jam. Ride-sharing passengers would be able to access music, video and also tweak car settings, such as air conditioning, using a console and connected services from Ola. After initially introducing it for select customers, the platform will be rolled out in Bangaluru, Mumbai and Delhi to more than 50,000 cars by March next year, Ola said in a statement yesterday. The initiative is part of a push by Ola to offer new services and lure customers away from Uber Technologies Inc, which is also seeking to amass users in India. Ola, based in Bangaluru, said that it is teaming up with Apple Music, Sony and other partners to offer an array of entertainment. Uber has worked with Pandora Media Inc to let passengers stream music during car rides.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to resume operations at two coal-fired power generators for three months to boost security of electricity supply as liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply risks are running high due to the Middle East conflict. The two coal-fired power generators are at Mailiao Power Plant in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮). The plant, operated by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), supplied electricity to Taipower’s power grid until the end of last year. Taipower’s decision came about one month after Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on March 10 said that the nation had no imminent
Some robotaxi passengers were left stranded in the middle of fast-moving traffic in a major Chinese city after their driverless vehicles stopped running, according to police and media reports on Wednesday. A preliminary investigation indicates more than 100 robotaxis came to a halt because of a “system malfunction,” police in the city of Wuhan said in a statement, without elaborating. No injuries were reported. One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner. An instruction on a screen read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” After no one showed up, the passenger pushed
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