Business News

New Google geothermal electricity project could be a milestone for clean energy

Google announced Tuesday that an advanced geothermal project has begun pumping carbon-free electricity onto the Nevada electric grid to feed Google data centers there. Google and Houston-based Fervo Energy partnered to develop next-generation geothermal power that runs 24 hours a day. Fervo says getting electrons onto the grid for the first time is a milestone many new energy companies never reach. The International Energy Agency has long projected geothermal could be a serious solution to climate change but its potential has been mostly unrealized until now. Today’s announcement could mark a turning point. Fervo is using a first pilot project in Nevada to launch others, including one in Utah that will deliver far more carbon-free electricity to the grid.

Supporting nonprofits on GivingTuesday this year could have a bigger impact than usual

Supporting nonprofits on GivingTuesday this year could have a bigger impact than usual. That’s because nonprofits and industry groups say donations so far are down compared with previous years. Many organizations will be looking to make up the difference on GivingTuesday, which is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Some run matching campaigns, meaning a supporter has pledged to double or sometimes triple the donation of other, smaller donors. A large amount of charitable giving happens at the end of the calendar year, so it’s still too soon to tell if this year will follow the trend in 2022, when overall donations dropped for only the fourth time in 40 years.

Cyber Monday marks the year’s biggest online shopping day, and one more chance to save on gifts

Consumers are scouring the internet for online deals as they begin to cap off the five-day post-Thanksgiving shopping bonanza with Cyber Monday. Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of our everyday lives, Cyber Monday – a term coined back in 2005 by the National Retail Federation – continues to be the biggest online shopping day of the year. Adobe Analytics expects consumers to spend between $12 billion and $12.4 billion on Monday, making it the biggest online shopping day of all time. For several major retailers, the “Cyber Monday” sale is a days-long event that began over the weekend. Consumer spending for Cyber Week — the five days between Thanksgiving and Monday — provides a strong indication on how much shoppers are willing to spend during the holidays.

Germany’s leader vows fixes for a budget crisis as the economy struggles. But he offers few details

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed that his government will work “as fast as possible” to solve a budget crisis. But in a speech to parliament Tuesday, he offered few details on how he would achieve his goals of promoting clean energy and modernizing the struggling economy after a court decision struck down billions in planned spending. Scholz and his governing coalition must decide what to cut next year after Germany’s top court ruled that some 60 billion euros in spending violated debt limits set out in the constitution. The budget slashing could further slow down what is already the world’s worst-performing major economy.

Kenya court strikes out key clauses of a finance law as economic woes deepen from rising public debt

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Kenyan High Court has struck out key clauses of a contentious finance law that has been blamed for significantly raising taxes and the cost of living in East Africa’s largest economy. A trio of high court judges said Tuesday that parts of the Finance Act 2023 that touched on a mandatory housing levy were unconstitutional and couldn’t be enforced. The law has been backed by the International Monetary Fund. It’s part of the government’s efforts to increase revenue collection to pay for a ballooning foreign debt that now stands at $70 billion. Some of it is due next year.

Stock market today: World shares mixed ahead of US consumer confidence and price data

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares have opened lower in Europe after a mixed day in Asia as investors looked ahead to updates on inflation and how American consumers are feeling about the economy. U.S. futures edged lower while oil prices gained. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due to speak to parliament and lay out how the governing coalition plans to improve the struggling economy and resolve a budget crisis. The Conference Board will issue its latest report on consumer confidence on Tuesday. On Thursday, the government will release October data on the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% on Monday but is on track for November to be its best month this year.

Elon Musk visits Israel to meet top leaders as accusations of antisemitism on X grow

JERUSALEM (AP) — Elon Musk has visited Israel, where he toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas militants. The billionaire also met Monday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who scolded him over content on his social media platform X. Musk has been under fire for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory and for wider accusations of hatred flourishing on the platform previously known as Twitter. Musk joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a tour of a rural village that Hamas militants stormed on Oct. 7 in a deadly assault that launched the war. Musk says “it was jarring” to see the where the attack took place and that it had been a “difficult day emotionally.”

Ukraine has a new way to get its grain to the world despite Russia’s threat in the Black Sea

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Increasing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and explosive mines. It’s happening under a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war. The exports are giving a boost to Ukraine’s agriculture-dependent economy and bringing back a key source of affordable food products for developing nations where food insecurity is growing. The head of one of Ukraine’s biggest agricultural producers and exporters says he’s feeling positive about the future because two months ago “it was “completely unclear how to survive.”

New incentives could boost satisfaction with in-person work, but few employers are making changes

NEW YORK (AP) — The COVID-19 pandemic upended the work habits of people around the world, with millions working from home, at least for part of their week. Workers have returned in waves back to the office on some days, but navigating that transition is a significant hurdle for employers and workers alike. And many simply don’t want to restore the pre-COVID status quo. Top factors behind this resistance include a sense of losing flexibility or throwing off a better work-life balance, as well as often lengthy and costly commutes. Two surveys conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago give a glimpse into the challenges and tensions that arrive with return to office plans.

US airports saw record passenger volumes, but fewer headaches, over Thanksgiving weekend

A record number of passengers traveled through U.S. airports over Thanksgiving weekend, the Transportation Security Administration said Monday. The TSA said it screened just over 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 2.88 million set on June 30. That was 10% more than the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year. Travel was relatively smooth despite the crowds. On Sunday, just 55 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were cancelled, according to FlightAware, a tracking service.