Astrala

Good news for German wind, quick subsidy cuts are shelved

Germany has done a U-turn on plans to scrap wind energy subsidies, now planning to make cuts later than originally announced. The change of direction comes as part of aims to boost investment in the sector. Talks amongst the German government, Thursday, have culminated in news that the annual reduction in feed-in tariffs (FIT) will remain at its current one per cent year-on-year reduction rate as of 2012 instead of opting for a move to two per cent.

U.S. EPA renewable standard targets are proposed

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced proposed standards for four categories of renewable energy targets under its RFS2 Renewable Fuels Standards for 2012.

The categories and suggested standards read as follows:

CNPC is in ground in Iraq oil operations start

As Chinese resource houses continue to trawl the world for resources capable of bolstering the economy’s mass plans for infrastructural investment and the overall growing need, the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has begun operations at Iraq's Al-Ahdab oil field.

Ford set to export 110,000 Rangers from South Africa every year

Ford Motor Co. plans to export as many as 110,000 of its Ranger pickup trucks a year from South Africa to 148 countries, as part of a $500 million export program, Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth has revealed.

Over the past two years Ford has expanded its assembly plant in Pretoria, the nation’s capital, to an annual production capacity of 110,000 vehicles. Last year the motoring giant, which also has a plant in Port Elizabeth in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, sold about 48,000 vehicles from its South African operations into southern Africa.

Standard bank tops trade chart

Standard Bank has been named best trade bank in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa, in a poll of businesses trading into and out of Africa.

The online poll was conducted by Trade Finance Magazine, a global media title in the Euromoney Group, for its annual Awards for Excellence.