The Daily Chronicle

The explosion of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has resulted in a slowdown of the economic growth of China, and with China being a world manufacturing center is containing a negative effect on global economic growth as well. The outbreak of Coronavirus reduced the number of workforce in industries as a way of preventing person-to-person contact, which believed to fasten the spread of the virus. As a result, production has reduced in one blink of an eye, and this will affect consumers at large. 

The ongoing scenario in China will have an impact on the global sector of clean energy, including sources of recyclable energy, electric vehicles, battery energy storage, and renewable heat and cooling. China is a worldwide leader when it comes to renewable energy ventures that observed in the nation’s installation of wind power, wind turbine development, and solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing. The country is enhancing its portfolio or recyclables, decreasing the consumption of coal, and increasing the competence to compact carbon emissions. The government of China also involved in several measures to strengthen healthy battery production to be a global battery market leader.

Battery manufacturers of China, backed up by the industrial expansion dream, are emerging with large battery production companies. CATL and BYD, two of the biggest battery producers in China, are broadening their production capabilities abroad supported by the government of China. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries stay being the undisputed leader in the market of the electrochemical storage projects all over the world. The world lithium-ion battery marketplace dominated by players like Panasonic, Samsung, and LG. Their place will reinforce over in the coming five years but with a tilt on the direction of the suppliers of China led by BYD and CATL.

During December of 2019, the number of Li-ion battery big factories that were in conduit to the year 2029 was at 115, with 88 of the factories in China. The planned Li-ion battery capacity of Europe is 348GWh by the year 2029. Motivating government policies, the enormous base of manufacturing, protectionist measures, along with the growing batteries demand to go well for the battery market of China.

China, which is the battery production powerhouse in the globe, is currently experiencing a slow down with the outbreak of the Coronavirus. The most prominent Li-ion production players of China, CATL, and BYD, confronted with a high likelihood of additional manufacturing delays.

Climatic change has turned into an issue of concern for almost every financial institution alongside the drive for environmental sustainability. Be it out of a catalyst such as extreme weather or a mere 2020 resolution; there has been a notable change on this issue by financial institutions. Many have stepped up to publicize their concern for environmental change and degradation.

Such complaints came up into the attention of the public when 631 institutions under a union entrusted with over $37 trillion assets worth of value presented the united nations climate conference with a joint statement. The joint statement was a call to governments to wake up and tackle the environmental change to realize the Paris agreements objectives. While different players in the financial sector clamor for a position just to be heard, the problem is growing huge.

One of the biggest problems that have hit this action is the absence of action. Politicians are presenting an image of something that is underway while there is little or no action being taken. All that is being presented is accretive PR and clever accounting with literally no action on the ground. This raises an essential question on the motive behind financial institutions raising the issue of climatic and environmental crises.

Many like global environmental executive Alex Liftman agree that tackling the problem of climatic change goes beyond usual business. It needs a shift in operation strategy and shifting to use of innovative and working strategy to handle environmental and climatic crisis that has gripped the world. There are, however, banks that have managed to achieve this objective, such as the bank of America, which achieved its set objectives and focuses on achieving more by 2030.

The key to tackling climatic change is understanding how it will affect the world and the global systems and then building solutions from the same.  Failure to embrace this cause is likely to bring in a financial crisis that will see the closure or clashing of many financial institutions when the levels get to extreme. These financial institutions will need to focus on considerable investments in this area to curtail the extent of climatic and environmental change.

Carbon neutral status is a mark that every organization in the finance field needs to have in the coming years. It will be a lead on the compliance with the goals or governments, public nongovernmental organizations, among other groups that they serve. This status will be an indicator of commitment to delivering not only for the profits but also for the good of the entire world.

A spaceflight company of California pursues to win the $12 million DARPA Launch Challenge is currently set for Saturday, February 29, following a delay of four days.

Astra which is a startup located in the Bay Area had targeted to launch its initial orbital operation on Tuesday, February 25 from the Pacific Spaceport Complex based in Alaska, as a component of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) send-off challenge, however, unfavorable weather intervened, resulting to a delay. 

According to the website of the DARPA Launch Challenge, Astra is currently aiming for the launch to be held on Saturday, for the duration of a three-hour window that avails at 3:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT).

The company was famous for working in almost total secrecy. Very few information was known about their spaceships, launch attempts, and tests. The only unrestricted Astra spaceship sighting was by news aircraft in early 2018. Their initial spaceship called Rocket 1.0 was seeing being ready for an experiment at the ex-Naval Air Station Alameda located in California. Nevertheless, Astra lately came out of the gloom and has given some of the details about their missions.

As a result of a major winter weather occasion anticipated to affect the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska on 2/25, the subsequently available launch window for the @DARPA #LaunchChallenge would be unwavering when the circumstances get better, and the countdown clock of the launch would be tuned accordingly.

The Lunch Challenge of DARPA targets to encourage the development of private American spaceships that can launch little military satellites less costly, effectively, and regularly. The challenge calls for two send-offs on the short note and a fast turnaround. The initial timeline requested for the new 38-foot long Rocket 3.0 of Astra to launch the initial operation between February 25 and March 1 and the subsequent by March 18.

A triumphant initial launch would award the syndicate $2 million, and on top of that, the subsequent launch would give a supplementary of $10 million.

Astra was invented in the year 2016. However, it only came out of stealth mode in the current month. Meanwhile, the company has conducted various ground tests; it has not yet launched an orbital operation.

Eighteen syndicates showed interest in the Launch Challenge of DARPA after its announcement in the year 2018; however, only three syndicates namely, Virgin Orbit, Astra and Vector Launch enhanced to become full contestants. Astra is the only company still pursuing the prize.

Back in the year 2019, the Space Force of the United States of America was officially established, NASA got a deadline of 2024 for returning America astronauts to the surface of the moon and private syndicates the globe over contributed billions of dollars to cater for ever y thing, starting from the spaceships to antennas. There is no sign of a let-up in the current year in the sector of space momentum. The following are twenty forecasts for the year 2020, as observed by SpaceNews journalists and correspondents.

Suborbital space sightseeing eventually reaches

After several years of delaying, both leading syndicates in human suborbital spaceflight might eventually join commercial missions. Virgin Galactic strategizes on moving VSS Unity, its rocket two suborbital space planes, to the America Spaceport located in New Mexico early in the current year for the last test flight series. The syndicate that became openly traded in October stated in fillings it anticipates commencing tourism flights by June. Blue Origin noted in the early days of 2019 that it is expected to begin crewed flight tests of its new Sheppard suborbital car before the end of the year. However, administrators later stated that it needed to execute a few more flight tests first without astronauts aboard. The syndicate has yet to unveil information regarding when the astronauts will begin commercial flights on the car and for what cost.

A flotilla of the Red Planet operations takes off

As much as four Red Planet operations are set for a send-off in the current year; the most determined activities are the NASA’s Red Planet 2020 rover that would gather samples for homecoming on two missions in the first half of 2020 in collaboration with ESA. The main question, although, surround ExoMars 2020 operation of ESA that suffered difficulties with its parachutes. A first set of tests near the beginning of the current year would decide if the operation could launch on a Russian Proton spaceship during the forthcoming summer or if it would have to linger until the year 2022. China is strategizing on its initial Red Planet mission, which would comprise an orbiter as well as a rover and a lander. The United Arab Emirates would send off its initial planetary operation, a Red Planet orbiter named Hope, on H-2A space ship belonging to Japan. Assuming they send off on set, all the spaceship would reach the Red Planet in the early days of 2021.

The President of the United States of America gave a statement requesting Congress to allow for an additional allocation of funds towards NASA’s efforts in space exploration. These funds would boost the NASA space exploration program Artemis in its mandate to scout the deep space. The mission is part of a lunar landing schedule that the agency set for 2024 and a further Mars landing happening later on in the program. 

However, things are not as smooth as they seem with the Artemis program as NASA’s administrative head has been in the spotlight over the running of the operation. NASA chief Executive Jim Bridenstine managed to tactfully maneuver out of a probe that seeks to establish the agency’s purported spending on the Artemis and what outcomes have been achieved so far in terms of performance. Regarding the Artemis program probe, Bridenstine turned the information seekers’ attention towards the slow budgeting process and the prospects that lay in the new document.

However, the document recently reached congressional hearing and managed to raise interests. It comes with concern to the readers that the report looks to examine the expense as a wholesome mission instead of focusing on the Artemis budgetary expense program. 

Congress will, however, want to know how much the Artemis moon landing has consumed since its launch. A look into the included budgetary allocation in the document shows that the program will consist of an $8.8 billion funding for the current year and a planned budget of $12.4billion for the next year. The space agency is also set to receive a potential increase in funding to $13.3 billion for 2022 while a scheduled 2023 $15.8billion budgetary allocation. The subsequent year, 2024, would see a decrease in the space agency’s spending to $15.3billion with subsequent drops in fiscal distribution to $13.5billion for the year 2025.

According to the plans laid out by NASA, the space agency would need a total of $87billion in an elongated period of 10 years. However, NASA speculates that the money, when allocated, will be used to get the agency a sure footing on the moon. Should the NASA Artemis program become a success, humanity will have achieved to build a space-based colony in terms of an operation base on the moon. NASA plans to use the station as a stopover for deep space voyages. Should the allocation go through, the agency will be on a timeline to have its program cleared in due time 

This article major on the transformation of the whole world into using renewable energy entirely. Michael Barnard, a Chief Strategist of TFIE Strategy Inc. and Mark Z. Jacobson Professor at Stanford and co-founder of The Solutions Project University, discussed developing energy roadmaps for 143 states where this represents 99.7 percent of all anthropogenic orangery gas productions. The idea of Mark was to talk about universal warming, pollution of air, and energy production. The two specialists discussed the ways that energy could be saved on a global gauge. There was also the idea of using electrification as it reduces social expenditures related to the current production of energy.  

Mark says that by use of electrification, the universe can save energy, whether it focuses on how electric heat pumps consume less energy or the preference of electric car over fuel or diesel-driven vehicles. Mark aims to achieve the electrification mission by the end of 2050. He states that by making everything use electricity, there will be a power demand reduction of 57 percent. 

Mark notes that lots of people rush to support the 100 percent renewable energy transition even before they consider anthropogenic climate change as a factor here. The two professionals protracted the discussion to talk about the impending renewable energy carriers for the safety of global energy by providing benefits like unconventionality of energy and constant energy costs despite global disagreement.  

They embarked on Mark’s research on electrification, which he carried out in 2015 and 2017. In 2017’s study, it entailed an analysis of 139 states and 20 sections of the world. He linked the power demand-supply by using three different approaches and explored varied methods towards the demand of power conveyance and storage. They researched the differences between the two studies and the methods used by Mark and his team on the provision of heating materials and techniques for digging out the heat.  

The transition of 100 percent reusable energy in a given state is classically a puzzling aim to achieve as opposed to carbon impartiality. The latter is extenuating climatic changes whose accomplishment is through the delivery of balance to the whole track of carbon emanation in given nations. 

In the last six years, sources of reusable energy like wind, geothermal, sun, biomass, and burnt waste products conveyed 19 percent of sum energy used globally, having approximately half of it originating from the customary use of biomass. Renewable energy is a center of focus since reusable materials present in the U.S can provide huge portions of electricity as compared to the existing anticipated domestic demand. 

Tesla revealed its Hidden Master Plan, Part Deux, roughly four years ago. Here it is as a whole:

1. Creating a small volume car that will inevitably cost less.
2. Create a medium volume automobile at a lower price.
3. Use that money to develop an inexpensive, high volume vehicle 
4. Supply solar power. No joke, actually for ten years this has been on our page.

This plan was quite a nice one with the arrangements. Right now, Tesla can be the only maker of every car sold in the globe in 20 years.

Toyota may be the world’s biggest automotive company based on how you measure things-like cars manufactured, corporate profits, or employee washrooms-but Toyota appears to be purposely dismissing Elon Musk, and his partners spearheaded electric car revolt. It focuses instead on hybrid powertrains and fuel cells using hydrogen. Are the top officials incompetent, deluded, or just deliberately ignorant? 

Last week, at the opening ceremonies of this year’s Canadian International Auto Show, Larry Hutchinson, Toyota Canada’s President, and CEO, gave a speech. David Booth, who has been a car correspondent with the Canadian website of Driving, for the last 20 years, summarized and reproduced the statement.

Hutchinson acknowledges that carbon emissions in the world overflow hence a big problem (many of which are produced on the road worldwide by millions of Toyota vehicles). He states that the Canadian sales of electric battery vehicles collapsed with an expiry of government incentives.

In other models, including the Lexus Luxury brand, Toyota continues to offer hybrid-powered motors. Recently it unveiled the small hybrid RAV4 SUV. With 219 horsepower and a combined fuel saving of 40 miles per gallon, several buyers would be surprised. On the road, few other precious SUVs suck a gallon of fuel several miles away. It even has a tow rating of 1,750 pounds, which is absent from many battery-electric cars.

The US government did just that as memory serves. In 2015 and 2016, it set the targets. Then Toyota and many other major car firms protested and pleaded with the new government to help them from the expectations they had agreed on. The argument by Hutchinson makes perfect sense, but nothing he or Toyota suggests can be trusted.

Perhaps he ought to consider something here. Every EV is much more fun to drive than any hybrid Toyota vehicle with its petrol engines continually cutting in and out and the rumbling of its continuously variable low-tech motor flooding the passenger cabin whenever the driver whistles to the engine room for extra power. Once Toyota renders a vehicle as quiet and silent as an electric battery car, then, and only then, can it argue that it gives consumers options as good or better than an electric vehicle. (I’ve been a Prius Owner for three years. I understand what I speak of).

Security is perhaps an essential modern-day commodity. Its usefulness cannot be overstated enough. With the constant spread to intergalactic and deep space travel, preparation for the unknown is the essential part of innovation

Enter the Space Force, the American answer to interplanetary threats from the galaxy. Up until recently, space travel was a high and dandy affair, however possible risks from other life forms. However, the real question to ask is not what but why. With the establishment of such a force, it forces them to ask what the objective of such a force will be

According to America, the Space Force will be the United States first frontier line of defense in case of threats from space. The authority will also be tasked with representing the interests of the United States in space-based matters against opposing forces like Russia and China

Yet the primary role of the Space Force is not known. Recent postings online show that the force already has a uniform in place. The logo consists of a space photo of blue earth; with two infer crossing white likes at obtuse angles. The uniform will be an original camouflage design that comes with a blue space US Space Force badge on the torso area and a full American flag on the left shoulder

This era has been particularly suitable for the Space Force after it received its very first general, Gen John Jay Raymond, as the chief of space operations. He has reported that this new branch is expected to be a tech induced force

According to US Secretary of Defence, Mark Esper, countries have been warring if out since time immemorial. The move solidifies the space to tier as a means of defending the interests of the American public

In a speech after his confirmation as the Chief of Space Operations, John Raymond took the opportunity to be grateful for the new task ahead

However, word has it that the security force is a brainchild of a rogue statement made by President Donald Trump in 2018 March. Experts divulge that the space force indeed providers the notion that rye United States is farther ahead in tyre space race compared to its rivals

As the situation is at the moment, the space force is still in its initial stages. However, there is high speculation that the force will grow. The Space Force has full backing from trumps deferral government and space agency NASA

Before proceeding with the mission to the Red Planet, NASA has come up with a newly designed plan to land humans back on the moon. Following that, will the mission to Mars will be planned accordingly. Read More