** The nation’s ethanol plants produce more than double the climate-damaging pollution, per gallon of fuel production capacity, than the nation’s oil refineries, according to a Reuters analysis of federal data.
** New Jersey state regulators have approved double-digit rate increases for four gas providers, a move that will see millions of customers experiencing soaring heating bills this winter.
** Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled a plan on Friday to reopen the Palisades Nuclear facility in South Haven months after it was shut down.
** North Carolina -based semiconductor company Wolfspeed Inc. announced Friday it will build a $5 billion manufacturing plant in its home state to produce silicon carbide wafers, which is emerging as a favored part for renewable energy products. It will create 1,800 new jobs by the end of 2030.
** U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said falling gasoline prices may put further downward pressure on headline consumer price inflation for August but there is a lot of uncertainty over the inflation outlook due to Russia’s war in Ukraine and energy supplies.
World
** Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned that Europe needs to act immediately to address the energy crisis or risk the kind of fundamental economic shutdown that the bloc would struggle to recover from.
** China’s auto sales reached 2.38 million units in August, increasing 32.1% from a year ago, as they extended a recovery led by electric vehicles (EV) whose sales have been boosted by government incentives.
** Hope is dimming in Germany that it will be able clinch more gas solidarity agreements with European Union partners beyond the ones already in place with Denmark and Austria.
** OCI NV, a Dutch fertilizer and chemical maker, said on Thursday it will invest several hundred million dollars to convert U.S. natural gas to ammonia in the face of sky-high European gas prices.
** A Dutch city will become the first in the world to ban most, if not all, meat advertisements from public spaces in an attempt to affect climate change.