Wednesday, 9 September 2026

A federal court has vacated the Tennessee Valley Authority's decision to build the Kingston Gas Plant, ruling that the utility broke the law in approving the project, CleanTechnica reported.

The court found the decision contained what it called "fundamental" errors, according to CleanTechnica.

The plant was planned at the site of the 2008 coal ash spill, CleanTechnica reported.

Qatar recorded a second-quarter budget shortfall of 21.2 billion riyals, or USD 5.8 billion, almost double the deficit of the preceding quarter, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Fitch Ratings affirmed the country's AA sovereign rating last week but held its outlook at negative, citing the prolonged disruption to exports through Hormuz.

Several Qatari LNG tankers are sailing toward the Gulf, which suggests expectations that shipments could resume soon, Bloomberg reported.

South Africa's economy shrank 0.2% in the second quarter of 2026, ending 18 months of growth, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Mining, trade and manufacturing bore the weight of weakened demand and higher fuel prices caused by the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, Semafor Net Zero reported.

Goldman Sachs cut its 2026 South Africa growth forecast to 1.2% from 1.6%, per the same report.

The country's central bank raised its main interest rate in May to forestall the war's inflationary impact, and is due to hold its latest rate-setting meeting this month. Capital Economics said the tightening cycle is "most definitely over".

The quarterly contraction marks the end of the steady recovery that followed the formation of the coalition government two years ago, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Virginia legislators preserved the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act earlier this year, according to Canary Media.

The state has stood by its landmark climate targets even as data centers spike energy demand and electricity rates rise, Canary Media reported. Other states, from New York to Hawaii, have wavered, according to the outlet.

Canary Media describes Virginia as the data center capital of the world.

Spending under China's Belt and Road Initiative has passed USD 1.5 trillion since 2013, according to the Green Finance & Development Center at Fanhai International School of Finance in Shanghai, cited by Inside Climate News. The total covers lending from Chinese banks, construction contracts awarded to Chinese firms and other investments.

Inside Climate News reported that China has helped build a global fleet of coal power plants that hampers the ability of governments to meet their climate targets.

The investigation also documents environmental damage tied to individual projects. In Zambia, a Chinese state-owned copper mine spilled millions of gallons of toxic waste into the country's rivers, including the Kafue, according to Inside Climate News.

In Indonesia, Chinese companies own, financed and are building a hydroelectric dam inside the habitat of the Tapanuli orangutan, the outlet reported. The ape was identified as its own species in 2017, when fewer than 800 remained.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has urged Ford to reconsider its partnerships with Chinese firms, including battery manufacturer CATL and Geely, according to electrive.

The pressure came in a letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley, in which Duffy expressed "deep concern" about the automaker's ties to Chinese companies, electrive reported.

One of the arrangements under scrutiny is at BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, where Ford will produce lithium iron phosphate cells using technology licensed from CATL, according to electrive.

Ford's response, as reported by electrive, draws a line around ownership: the Michigan plant is fully owned by Ford, controlled by the automaker, and operated by its own employees. The company describes the CATL arrangement as a limited technology and service agreement rather than a joint venture or a production facility under Chinese ownership.

The Geely link runs through vehicle assembly rather than cells. Starting in 2028, two electric SUVs from Geely will be built at Ford's plant in Valencia, electrive reported.

Four projects will share USD 73 million from the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) at the U.S. Department of Energy, money routed through the Mine of the Future initiative to build domestic testing grounds for new mining technologies.

DOE's Advanced Mining and Mineral Processing Technologies Office entered award negotiations with Innovative Wireless Technologies, Inc., the University of Arizona, Curators of the University of Missouri, and Southern Methodist University.

Southern Methodist University will build an advanced drilling and sensing test facility at Navasota, Texas, housing what DOE calls the world's first synthetic mine, a setting for trialling next generation mining methods before field use.

Innovative Wireless Technologies runs its headquarters in Lynchburg, Virginia, and lists project work at Julian, West Virginia, Idaho Springs, Colorado, and Blacksburg, Virginia, per the DOE announcement.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the spending on "moving cutting-edge mining technologies out of the lab and into the field" would, in his words, help "unleash America's vast mineral resources".