The Market, Energy, And Political Page, T+7 -- May 15, 2018

Pending:

• Director's Cut, due to be released this afternoon, 2:00 p.m. CDT
• weekly US crude oil inventory estimates, API data, 3:30 p.m. CDT

Bankless in Seattle: this is quite a story. Not enough time to post much or comment -- the city of Seattle vowed to "break up" with Wells Fargo Bank but the city was unable to find any other bank that wanted to do business with the city -- wow; stuck with Wells Fargo for three more years; of course, by then, things will have been patched over, and all forgiven; it appears this match was made in heaven

Clueless in Seattle: with Amazon's threat to quit expanding in Seattle, the city cut back on the "head tax" -- but still the city council voted 9 - 0 to place a huge tax on any company in the city grossing at least $20 million / year.

Aluminum in Apple: From The Washington Post --

Apple, the largest publicly traded company in the world, joined a major collaboration last week that could change how it gets one of the key components that makes its ubiquitous gadgets look so sleek: aluminum.

And it is looking as though, simply by seeking out a greener component for iPhones and Macs, the tech giant just might push an entire industry in a new direction.

Along with major U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa and multinational mining behemoth Rio Tinto, Apple announced a collaboration in Canada to fund a technology that, the companies say, can remove carbon dioxide emissions from the high-temperature smelting process that goes into making aluminum. Alcoa and Rio Tinto also announced a joint venture named Elysis to scale up and commercialize the technology, in which the government of Canada and Apple will invest.

Comment: Ford, the first to move to aluminum for its pick-ups, I believe, is pushing the entire US automobile industry in a different direction.

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Death Spiral

No, this is not another Tesla story. Wind farms in Europe. From my favorite "global warming" site,

How do you know when an industry is a loser? When even repowering old turbines, which were put in the best spots, is not worth the trouble unless they get a subsidy, I mean, even more subsidies.

Remember the days when subsidies were needed to get a project going?

Europe is full of old windfarms. The original subsidies have run out and there’s not much appetite for new ones. Without more free money from taxpayers the most economic option for older turbines is to run them into the ground and give up on them.

Maintenance costs are the silent plague. But so too is red tape and legal approval. The age of the European turbines is reaching the point where half of the entire fleet is facing do or die decisions.

John Constable of the GWPF wonders if the wind industry in Europe may be on the point of collapse.
And Europe’s fleet is old. By 2020 (seems like a long time from now -- in fact, just two years, and by now, European countries are working their 2020 budgets) --

41% of the currently installed capacity in Germany will be over 15 years old,

44% in Spain, and

57% in Denmark.

So much more at the link. A must-read.

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