Energy Policy

Electrabel - the Belgian subsidiary of French utility Engie - says it will not make any further investments at Doel unit 4 and Tihange unit 3 unless it is clearer whether the reactors will or will not be allowed to operate beyond 2025. A report due out at the end of next year may lead to the reactors being allowed to continue operating to ensure Belgium's energy security.Read Full Story Energy SecurityBelgiumFranceNuclear PowerEnergy PolicyEnergy PricesElectricity SupplyBelgianTihange 2Tihange 3The Council Of MinistersFlemishWorld Nuclear NewsElectrabel StaffFrench Utility EngieAlexander De Croo

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has put forth a host of tax proposals to show he would help fund increased spending in areas such as health care, education and infrastructure. The former vice president is calling for higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, while also putting forth plans to...Obama AdministrationChild Tax CreditTax PolicyHealth CareTax ExemptionDemocratic NomineeIncome TaxTax CreditsAEIABC NewsTPCSocial SecurityAmazonKyle PomerleauSpecific Tax ProposalsJoe BidenDonald TrumpRead Full Story

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines is ready to defend the oil and gas exploration it has decided to resume in its internationally recognized waters in the disputed South China Sea and will not cede that right to any nation, the energy chief said Friday. The Department of Energy announced Thursday...The South China SeaFossil FuelPhilippinesManilaDepartment Of EnergySeasOil ExplorationPresidency Of Donald TrumpScarborough ShoalInternational WatersChinese ShipsCoastal WatersReed BankU.N.Oil And GasRodrigo DuterteAlfonso CusiRead Full Story

We have derived an expression of the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI), where all the three components of the DMI vector can be calculated independently, for a general, non-collinear magnetic configuration. The formalism is implemented in a real space—linear muffin-tin orbital—atomic sphere approximation (RS-LMTO-ASA) method. We have chosen the Cr triangular trimer on Au(111) and Mn triangular trimers on Ag(111) and Au(111) surfaces as numerical examples. The results show that the DMI (module and direction) is drastically different between collinear and non-collinear states. Based on the relation between the spin and charge currents flowing in the system and their coupling to the non-collinear magnetic configuration of the triangular trimer, we demonstrate that the DMI interaction can be significant, even in the absence of spin-orbit coupling. This is shown to emanate from the non-collinear magnetic structure, that can induce significant spin and charge currents even with spin-orbit coupling is ignored.Read Full Story BostonSpringerRS-LMTO-ASAAgSOCSpin-HamiltonianMagnon ExcitationsBcc FeNéelGreenEnergy AgencyUniversité Paris-SaclayInstituto Federal Do ParáEnergimyndighetenUppsala UniversityHeisenbergSchrodinger

Mustang Public Schools is defending its decision as the only district to approve the State's new 'In-School-Quarantine' policy after teachers and parents expressed concerns about the program's safety. 'Today is a lot of communicating trying to clear up any misconceptions,' said Mustang Public Schools Director of Communications, Kirk Wilson. The...Read Full Story Mustang SchoolsDistance EducationState SchoolsPublic PolicyHealth PolicyState DepartmentSafetyCriteriaExposed StudentsDistance LearningIn-person LearningVolunteersKirk Wilson

Investing in stocks can be an incredibly effective way to generate wealth, and one big reason why is the power of compound growth. But compounding can only really work its magic if you have the patience to buy and hold for the long term. Your goal should be to hang onto your stocks practically forever, unless your underlying investment thesis and conviction on the company changes.To do that, you'll need to start by picking fundamentally solid companies with tangible growth catalysts. The five stocks below are perfect wealth-building candidates to buy and hold forever. A reliable stock for all timesCanadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) has quietly made massive profits for investors who've held the stock and reinvested dividends through the past couple of decades. The company has increased its dividend every year since 1995 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16% through 2019.Railroads haul one-third of U.S. exports and support nearly $220 billion in economic output each year. It's an essential industry and Canadian National's a leading player in it, operating the longest rail network in North America covering nearly 20,000 route miles, and the only one connecting the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts. Image source: Getty Images.Canadian National is also an efficient and diverse railroad, moving goods from many vital commodity markets including petroleum, grains, metals, and forest products. The company pumped a record $3.9 billion Canadian dollars into capital investments last year and is upping its automation game. For example, its Autonomous Track Inspection Program, which uses artificial intelligence to monitor and test track parameters in real time, could reduce the need for manual inspections by 50%.Canadian National's a well-established, well-run company in a critical industry, is investing in growth, and pays one heck of a dividend. That's a great package to own for a lifetime. A resilient money-builder stockAmerican Water Works (NYSE:AWK) has made investors more money than you might think, thanks to a regulated business that has supported plenty of dividend growth. It provides water and wastewater services to 15 million customers across 45 states, and the rates its charges are set by public utility commissions. That makes the company's revenue and cash flow stable and predictable.American Water's financial goals offer investors a great deal of insight regarding its medium-term prospects. Through 2024, it's targeting:7% to 8% compound annual growth in its water rate base.7% to 10% compound annual growth in earnings per share.7% to 10% compound annual growth in its dividend.$8.8 billion to $9.4 billion in capital spending.Regulated capital expenditures to win base rate approvals should be the key driver of earnings growth, supplemented by growth moves like acquisitions. And as its earnings grow, so should its dividend. Overall, that makes American Water a reliable company to invest in for long periods of time. And if you're a proponent of ESG investing, you might want to know that the utility recently scored the highest ESG evaluation rating in the U.S. from S&P Global.A play on the future of energyWith much of the world in the midst of transitioning to greater use of clean energy sources, investors ought to play the trend -- and what better way to do that than to own a piece of the largest producer of wind and solar power, NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE)? This company offers the stability that comes with a defensive utility stock combined with exponential growth potential.Dividend growth largely drove NextEra stock's explosive total returns in the past: Its payouts grew at a compound annual rate of 9.4% between 2004 and 2019, underpinned by annualized growth in adjusted earnings per share of 8.4%. Those trends should continue, what with NextEra's visionary management consistently setting ambitious financial goals. For example, it's targeting high single-digit-percentage growth in adjusted EPS annually through 2023 and dividend growth in line with earnings.NextEra Energy's renewables project backlog just crossed 15 gigawatts, which is more than its existing renewables capacity. That's a humongous growth in the pipeline, and with industry experts expecting trillions of dollars worth of investment in renewable energy in just the next decade, this stock is for keeps. Don't miss this explosive secular trendLike NextEra, Visa (NYSE:V) is riding a mega-growth secular trend: As the war on fossil fuels is propelling NextEra, the war on cash is lifting Visa.The e-commerce boom and the digitization of major service industries like banking have triggered a major shift from cash to cashless modes of payments like debit and credit cards, online payments, and mobile wallets. Visa is already the world's largest payments processor, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, and financial institutions. In 2019, it had 3.4 billion cards in circulation across 200 countries, processed 553 million transactions per day, and generated $23 billion in revenue. That's an enormous business, and this could be just the beginning. Visa is extensively using technologies like blockchain, and expanding into newer areas such as business-to-business and person-to-person payments, both of which are multitrillion-dollar addressable markets. Its value-added services like analytics and fraud management also provide it with tremendous growth opportunities.With Visa's operating margins already north of 60% and with management targeting a dividend payout of 20% to 25%, patient investors could reap multibagger returns from this fintech stock.A Dividend King that won't let you downJohnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares have done marvelously for long-term investors over the years.Its clout in the consumer and healthcare sectors, a solid portfolio, brand power, impressive research and development, and an incredible dividend track record are just some of the things that have powered this company's returns upward. While the consumer side of the business -- which includes household names like Band-Aid, Neutrogena, and Listerine -- is a consistent cash-flow generator, Johnson & Johnson consistently scouts for growth in healthcare. That's exemplified by its latest acquisition -- autoimmune disease-drug specialist Momenta Pharmaceuticals, for which it paid $6.5 billion in cash. In 2019, Johnson & Johnson generated half its revenues from pharmaceuticals and one-third from medical devices.Can Johnson & Johnson still build wealth for new investors? Sure it can, if you hang on to the stock. The company continues to prioritize R&D spending and has a humongous biotech pipeline. While these stories play out, you can collect rising dividend payouts year after year: Johnson & Johnson is a Dividend King, having boosted its payouts annually for 58 straight years. Shareholders can reinvest those dividends, then just sit back and watch their money grow.InvestmentNYSEStocksNew York Stock ExchangeCanadian National RailwayResearch And DevelopmentStock InvestorsDividend InvestorsLong-Term InvestorsFuture ProfitsNextEra EnergyJohnson & JohnsonMomenta PharmaceuticalsAmerican Water WorksS&P Global

The International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board will conduct a virtual public meeting Oct. 2. Thw meeting is an opportunity to hear about the activities of the board and its committees, ask questions, and expre

Shutterstock There has been much attention on how the Morrison government’s university funding reforms will increase the cost of humanities degrees. But another devastating change has passed almost unnoticed: a 29% cut to funding to environmental studies courses. This is one of the largest funding cuts to any university course. Universities will receive almost A$10,000 less funding for each student undertaking environmental studies. The cut will undoubtedly lead to fewer students and lower-quality learning experiences. Environmental studies encompasses the biological and earth sciences, as well as management and planning. Graduates go on to work as government policy officers, and managers in fields including water resources, the environment, urban planning and climate change adaption. We are senior members of the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, with more than 80 years of collective experience in various environmental fields. At a time of unprecedented pressures on our environment, expertise in these fields is clearly needed more than ever. Cuts to university funding for environmental studies will have far-reaching effects. Catlin Seaview Survey Clear-felling environmental expertise The government’s Job-ready Graduates package applies to future students from 2021. It will cut the student contribution for environmental studies from A$9,698 to A$7,700 a year, and reduce the Commonwealth contribution from A$24,446 to A$16,500 per year. The move has been widely questioned . We welcome any reduced fees for students. However the government contribution was not raised to cover the shortfall, so overall, the changes represent a cut of A$9,944 per year per student – a 29% decrease on current levels. Currently, environmental studies funding is spent on specialised facilities such as labs equipped with cutting-edge technologies and field centres to support both teaching and research. It’s also spent on supporting students to gain practical and industry experience. This ensures world-class graduates skilled in the latest techniques and technologies. Read more: The government is making ‘job-ready’ degrees cheaper for students – but cutting funding to the same courses More than 5,000 Australian students are currently enrolled in undergraduate environmental studies courses. While current students will not be affected by the changes, the enrolment number may drop in future due to fewer places being offered. The funding cuts may also lower the quality of experiences offered to students or require cross-subsidisation. Some universities may also deem environmental studies courses unviable, and close them, while prioritising higher revenue-generating courses. The change may also likely to lead to fewer staff, with specialist expertise in areas such as geospatial science, water chemistry and fire management. This will lead to smaller teaching teams with less expertise, who will in turn face increased teaching loads and less time for quality research. Until now, Australia has been a world leader in training the next generation of environmental managers and scientists. Thirty of our universities have recently been rated as producing research in environmental science significantly above world standard. And environmental science at four Australian universities – Australian National University, University of Melbourne, UNSW and University of Sydney – was recently ranked in the top 50 worldwide . Without adequate funding, this global standing is threatened. Australia’s world reputation as a leader in environmental science is threatened. CESAR The bigger picture Fewer and less well-trained environmental studies students will inevitably have a knock-on effect in sectors and industries that need quality graduates with specialist environmental knowledge, such as: local, state and federal government, to ensure developments are sustainable and broadly benefit communities agriculture, to address threats as diverse as water quality in the Great Barrier Reef, better retention of nitrogen fertilisers in soils and adaptation to climate change mining, for advice on site planning and restoration to ensure minimal environmental harm during and after the mine’s operation water management in rivers and wetlands, to respond to climate change and higher demand from growing populations. What’s more, environmental studies courses – either as double degrees or core courses – are often part of other degrees such as law, journalism, teacher education, and engineering. This provides these professions with a critical understanding of the environment and sustainable management. Environmental scientists are critical to a range of sectors. Catlin Seaview Survey We need environmental experts Australia’s recent, brutal experience with bushfires and drought shows just how badly we need world-class environmental expertise. As climate change grows ever worse, these experts will be critical in steering us through these challenges. What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic – linked to land clearing and more human-wildlife interaction – shows just what can happen under poor environmental management. Australia is uniquely vulnerable to climate change, and in 2019, recorded its worst-ever environmental conditions. These university funding cuts affect the people with the answers to our pressing environmental problems – they are a blow to the future of all Australians. Read more: A major scorecard gives the health of Australia's environment less than 1 out of 10 Dianne Gleeson is the President of the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors and receives funding from a variety of State and Federal government agencies. Ian Clark is the Executive Officer for the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors Stuart Parsons currently receives funding from industry research development corporations. He is the incoming President of the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors. This article is from The Conversation AU, which brings news and analysis from academic experts directly to the public.Environmental SciencePublic PolicyMorrison GovernmentCommonwealthGovernment FundingResearch FundingState FundingEnvironmental EducationUniversity EducationUniversity Of MelbourneNational UniversityCatlin SeaviewUNSWUniversity Of SydneyAustralian Council Of Environmental Deans

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Infinite Power said on Wednesday it had signed a letter of intent with Japan's Marubeni Corp 8002.T and Germany's Framatome to provide uninterruptible power in nuclear energy facilities.Infinite Power has developed power cells which operate in a similar way to solar cells, but instead of converting the sun’s rays into electricity they convert the radiation wave emitted from a radioisotope, which is an atom that has excess nuclear energy, into electricity.This month it signed a separate letter of intent with Marubeni’s Nuclear Fuel Dept of Japan to seek potential markets to use the power cell technology in Japan.The new agreement with nuclear technology company Framatome, majority owned by French utility EDF EDF.PA, and Marubeni, is to supply uninterruptible power inside nuclear energy facilities, waste depots and transport applications in extreme conditions. “This represents another key application of our unique power technology,” said Infinite Power CEO Robert McLeod.“Providing uninterruptible power in extreme conditions is a powerful selling point for our technology,” he added.Infinite Power said last month it was seeking to raise 25 million pounds to construct its first production facility in Britain to make the power cells to provide clean energy to industry.Discussions are ongoing with investors in the United States and Britain.Nuclear PowerPower SupplyBritainRadiationNuclear TechnologyGermanyInfinite PowerUnited StatesFramatomeLondonSolar PowerElectricity SupplySolar EnergyMarubeni CorpReuters

M. Di Liberto ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3574-70031,. Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 5942 (2020) Cite this article. Bloch oscillations (BOs) are a fundamental phenomenon by which a wave packet undergoes a periodic motion in a lattice when subjected to a force. Observed in a wide range of synthetic systems, BOs are intrinsically related to geometric and topological properties of the underlying band structure. This has established BOs as a prominent tool for the detection of Berry-phase effects, including those described by non-Abelian gauge fields. In this work, we unveil a unique topological effect that manifests in the BOs of higher-order topological insulators through the interplay of non-Abelian Berry curvature and quantized Wilson loops. It is characterized by an oscillating Hall drift synchronized with a topologically-protected inter-band beating and a multiplied Bloch period. We elucidate that the origin of this synchronization mechanism relies on the periodic quantum dynamics of Wannier centers. Our work paves the way to the experimental detection of non-Abelian topological properties through the measurement of Berry phases and center-of-mass displacements.Read Full Story CosOscillationTopologySemiconductorQuantum TheoryApplied MaterialsElectronic MaterialsEnergy SystemsInformation SystemsNon-Abelian BlochWilsonWannierBerryKerrTopological Insulators6DiracFaraday