demand-commodity

2024 is the year the world could reach peak coal use. But it’s a tough habit to quit

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2024 is the year the world could reach peak coal use. But it’s a tough habit to quit

With the COP28 climate summit now in the rearview mirror, some researchers say the moment is here when coal consumption in power plants around the world will finally peak before beginning a perpetual fall. For more than a century, coal has been used to produce electricity, and to this day remains the workhorse of the global power … Read more

Helium startups on the Prairies hope to keep domestic supplies afloat

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Helium startups on the Prairies hope to keep domestic supplies afloat

To the untrained eye, the collection of pipes and structures rising out of the prairie 200 kilometres east of Calgary looks like any other natural gas processing plant in southern Alberta.  But the Steveville plant isn’t focused on extracting hydrocarbons. Instead, the prize it’s seeking deep underground is helium.  The element is most commonly associated with … Read more