Energy news in brief

** Flames engulfed a chemical plant in Northern Illinois on Monday, forcing the evacuation of neighbors, sending massive plumes of smoke into the sky and threatening an “environmental nightmare,” authorities said.

** The Supreme Court deals a blow to the oil industry by refusing to hear a climate case pitting California cities against fossil fuel companies.

** The future of Ohio’s Lordstown Motors is in question after the electric vehicle startup’s CEO and CFO resign amid an internal fraud investigation, causing shares to drop 19% on Monday.

** Brazil is set to flood the world market with sugar as the transition to electric vehicles slashes demand for crop-based biofuels, according to a study led by an influential industry executive.

** Illinois is poised to become the first Midwest state to ban energy companies from burning coal under a 2035 sunset date.

** Traders from Exxon Mobil Corp’s natural gas liquids and gasoline units have left, according to three people familiar with the matter, the latest in a stream of departures from its downsized trading operations.

** As Israeli relations improve with Gulf states oil tankers have begun quietly arriving at the Israeli port of Eilat on the Red Sea. It’s a new arrangement with Emirati partners. The ships unload oil to be transferred through a pipeline across Israel to the Mediterranean.

** General Motors Co will supply electric batteries and hydrogen fuel cell systems for rail supplier Wabtec Corp’s locomotives, in a move extending the No. 1 U.S. automaker’s reach outside the automotive sector.

** Europe is so short of natural gas that the continent — usually seen as the poster child for the global fight against emissions — is turning to coal to meet electricity demand that is now back to pre-pandemic levels.

** The president of General Motors says his company plans to announce more U.S. battery factories later this week. Mark Reuss gave no details of where the factories would be located or exactly what they would manufacture.

** The catastrophic drought that’s gripping the U.S. West is claiming a new victim: the hydropower dams that much of the region depends on for electricity supplies.

** The world’s longest undersea electric cable is set to be switched on this week, as testing begins for the 720km interconnector that will trade power between the UK and Norway.

** Vertical Aerospace, a British electric aircraft manufacturer, announced last Thursday that it intends to go public via a $2.2 billion SPAC deal with Broadstone Acquisition.