All posts tagged: Fuel

From solar to charcoal, Cubans look for alternatives amid outages and fuel shortages

From solar to charcoal, Cubans look for alternatives amid outages and fuel shortages

Published by Sam Flores

According to Rodríguez, renewables are projected to cover 15% of energy demand by the end of the year. Renewables currently provide 10% of demand, up from 3% in 2024. By 2035, according to Cuban officials, renewables will cover 40% of demand, and by 2050, they will fully cover energy needs. In the last few years, the government has dramatically increased the installation of solar panels with Chinese financing and equipment donations; these have been placed in public spaces and hospitals. Right now, there are 54 solar parks, and by 2028 Cuba’s government expects to have 92 parks with China’s help, the government has said. The Cuban government has not given a breakdown of how it will use energy sources, like solar, wind, biomass and hydropower, in its quest to achieve its goal. Jorge Piñon, an energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin, thinks it will be very difficult for Cuba to fulfill its plans amid the country’s economic crisis and the high cost of transitioning to renewables, especially given the deteriorated state of …

Lebanon’s economy struggles under renewed war and global fuel crisis | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Lebanon’s economy struggles under renewed war and global fuel crisis | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Published by Sam Flores

Beirut, Lebanon – Shortly after Mario Habib opened his barber shop in 2006, a war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah. Twenty years on, he’s living through another war. The shop has become a fixture of his Furn el-Shebbak neighbourhood. Mario, a 51-year-old with tattoos and short black hair, slips in jokes as he cuts his clients’ hair, a steady stream visiting throughout the day. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list But Mario has noticed that he isn’t as busy as he used to be. Israel’s war on Lebanon and the US-Israel war on Iran are damaging Lebanon’s economy. Prices are rising as a result of supply issues – particularly of oil from the Gulf region, which has largely stopped since the US and Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. And, in Lebanon, which had already been suffering from an economic crisis, there is less work, and people are losing their jobs. “The price of running the generator is killing me,” he said. “Everything has gotten more expensive, the price of petrol doubled, …

Walmart Tumbles On Disappointing Guidance; Warns Low-Income Consumers Drowning, High Fuel Costs Will Hit Profit

Walmart Tumbles On Disappointing Guidance; Warns Low-Income Consumers Drowning, High Fuel Costs Will Hit Profit

Published by Jenni Sidey

Extending concerns about US consumer weakness – now that the bumper OBBBA tax refund period is over – after yesterday’s earnings by Home Depot and Target, this morning Walmart reported Q1 earnings (the last big company to report, rounding out earnings season) and warned that fuel costs are squeezing the company’s bottom line and could lead to higher prices for shoppers.  In the latest quarter, the world’s largest retailer said comparable sales in US stores rose 4.1%, excluding fuel, in the latest quarter, slightly better than the 4.0% Wall Street analysts were expecting. That was the good news; the bad news is that this was the slowest growth in comp store sales since 2024; Walmart also forecast adjusted profit for the second quarter that missed analysts’ expectations. That, together with several warnings on the state of the low-income consumer and that prices will rise unless input costs drop slammed shares. The results show that the company continues to gain market share across income levels with its focus on low prices, fast delivery and wide assortment. But the emphasis on …

How Wet Weather in Argentina Helped Fuel the Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak

How Wet Weather in Argentina Helped Fuel the Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak

Published by skeptic

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has created a global public health crisis. But the driver of it is a rodent that weighs about an ounce, and climate shifts this year that have helped increase the odds of transmission. Across the Southern Cone, researchers have long associated wetter years with explosive rodent population booms—known locally as ratadas—that can amplify hantavirus transmission. This year’s boom reflects a broader pattern of disease outbreaks shaped by climate change, environmental disruption, and a hyperconnected world. “These are emerging diseases because the distribution of both the reservoirs and the viruses is expanding,” says Karina Hodara, a researcher at the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Buenos Aires who studies hantavirus ecology. “Humans travel across continents in a matter of hours.” The long-tailed pygmy rice rat is the common name for several species that live in Chile and Argentina that can harbor hantavirus. Each species is associated with different hantaviruses depending on geography. It’s still unclear where the first passengers that got sick with the Andes virus …

White hydrogen found in billion-year-old Canadian rock could fuel clean energy production

White hydrogen found in billion-year-old Canadian rock could fuel clean energy production

Published by Jenni Sidey

Deep beneath northern Ontario, some of Earth’s oldest rocks are quietly giving off hydrogen. At Kidd Creek mine near Timmins, geochemists tracked gas seeping from boreholes drilled two to nearly three kilometers below the surface. What they found was not a one-off puff or a short-lived flare. The hydrogen kept coming, in measurable amounts, over months. In some cases, it lasted for more than a decade. That matters because hydrogen already plays a central role in modern industry, especially in fertilizer, methanol, and steel production. Yet most of it still comes from fossil fuels or other energy-intensive processes. The new work suggests some of that supply might instead come straight from the crust. This would be possible in places where the right rocks already lie under active mining districts. Researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa report that all 35 boreholes they analyzed at Kidd Creek released hydrogen. Across the dataset, the average discharge came to 0.008 tonnes per borehole per year. When extrapolated across the mine’s 14,801 boreholes, that works …

Keir Starmer confirms huge new change for UK petrol and diesel drivers | Politics | News

Keir Starmer confirms huge new change for UK petrol and diesel drivers | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

An increase in fuel duty planned for September has been scrapped. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told MPs the 5p per litre fuel duty cut introduced by the Conservative government in March 2022 would be extended for the rest of the year. Rates were previously planned to increase from September, gradually returning to previous levels over the next five years. Iran’s restrictions on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz means the average price of a litre of petrol and diesel at UK forecourts is 26p and 44p respectively more expensive than before the conflict started on February 28. Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: “Although today’s news on fuel duty won’t have the immediate effect of bringing forecourt prices down, at least it shows that ministers have registered the financial pain caused by rampant pump prices for individuals and for business. “Since the start of the Iran conflict drivers have already paid a war premium of a staggering £3 billion in inflated fuel prices, half a billion of which …

Photos: Cuba Runs out of Fuel

Photos: Cuba Runs out of Fuel

Published by José Betancourt

A man bangs a pot while walking past a fire set during a protest against the lack of energy in the Lawton neighborhood in Havana on May 14, 2026. Cuban authorities blamed the United States for the “particularly tense” situation in its electricity grid after the country’s east was hit by another widespread power cut on May 14. When the Atlantic reporter Gisela Salim-Peyer recently spoke with Cubans, they told her that they wanted to set the record straight: “The anger they feel toward Trump, they told me, was not as fervent as the anger they feel toward their own government.” Source link

Flatbed Truck Rates Hit New Highs As These Drivers Fuel Boom

Flatbed Truck Rates Hit New Highs As These Drivers Fuel Boom

Published by Jenni Sidey

Flatbed trucking conditions have never looked stronger, with spot rates surging to record highs amid a mix of tightening capacity and rising industrial freight demand. “Flatbed trucking rates have hit a new all-time high as industrial demand and a crackdown on bad actors continue to shape trucking economics,” said FreightWaves founder Craig Fuller. Fuller added, “It is a great time to be a compliant trucker in America.” There are two drivers behind why U.S. flatbed spot trucking rates (via SONAR Flatbed Truckload Index) have surged to $4.21 per mile, well above the index’s $2.87 average and to record highs: Data center and AI infrastructure boom, which is driving higher volumes of steel, transformers, generators, construction materials, and other open-deck freight; And the crackdown on foreign truck drivers, which is shrinking the available labor pool and tightening capacity further, is creating a more favorable pricing backdrop for American owner-operators. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that freight brokers now face state-law negligent hiring claims when they hire unsafe trucking firms that later cause crashes. This …