< Back In Michigan and Wisconsin, cities are finding rooftops alone may not achieve solar energy goals Curated By Renewable Energy World 12 Dec 2024 A new contract between Kalamazoo, Michigan, and utility Consumers Energy signals a change in direction for the city’s clean energy strategy as it seeks to become carbon neutral by 2040. Solar was seen as a pillar of the city’s plans when it declared a climate emergency in 2019 and set a goal of zeroing out carbon emissions by 2040. After spending years exploring its options, though, the Michigan city is tempering a vision for rooftop solar in favor of large, more distant solar projects built and owned by the utility. It’s not alone either, with Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Muskegon and other cities taking a similar approach. “Folks want to see solar panels on parking lots and buildings, but there’s no way as a city we can accomplish our net-zero buildings just putting solar panels on a roof,” said Justin Gish, Kalamazoo’s sustainability planner. “Working with the utility seemed to make the most sense.” Initially there was skepticism, Gish said — “environmentalists tend to not trust utilities and large corporate entities” — but the math just didn’t work out for going it alone with rooftop solar. The city’s largest power user, the wastewater treatment pumping station, has a roof of only 225 square feet. Kalamazoo’s largest city-owned roof, at the public service station, is 26,000 square feet. Spending an estimated $750,000 to cover that with solar would only provide 14% of the power the city uses annually — a financial “non-starter,” he said. So the city decided to partner with Consumers Energy, joining a solar subscription program wherein Kalamazoo will tell Consumers how much solar energy it wants, starting in 2028, and the utility will use funds from its subscription fee to construct new solar farms, like a 250 MW project Consumers is building in Muskegon . Under the 20-year contract, Kalamazoo will pay a set rate of 15.8 cents per kWh — 6.4 cents more than what it currently pays — for 43 million kWh of solar power per year. If electricity market rates rise, the city will save money, and Kalamazoo receives Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to help meet its energy goals. The subscription is expected to eliminate about 80% of Kalamazoo’s emissions from electricity, Gish said. The electricity used to power streetlights and traffic signals couldn’t be covered since it is not metered. As the city acquires more electric vehicles — it currently has two — electricity demand may increase, but city leaders hope to offset any increases by improving energy efficiency of city buildings. Consumers Energy spokesperson Matt Johnson said the company relies “in part” on funds from customers specifically to build solar, and considers it a better deal for cities than building it themselves, “which would be more costly for them, and they have to do their own maintenance.” “We can do it in a more cost-effective way, we maintain it, they’re helping us fund it and do it in the right way, and those benefits get passed on to arguably everybody,” Johnson said. Grand Rapids, Michigan, joined the subscription program at the same time as Kalamazoo. Corporate customers including 7-Eleven, Walmart and General Motors are part of the same Consumers Energy solar subscription program, as is the state of Michigan. Costs and benefits “There’s a growing movement of cities trying to figure out solar — ‘Yes we want to do this, it could save us money over time, but the cost is prohibitive,’” said John Farrell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Until the Inflation Reduction Act, cities couldn’t directly access federal tax credits. The direct-pay incentives under the IRA have simplified financing, Farrell said, but cities still face other financial and logistical barriers, such as whether they have sufficient rooftop space. Advocates acknowledge deals with utilities may be the most practical way for budget-strapped cities to move the needle on clean energy, but they emphasize that cities should also strive to develop their own solar, and question whether utilities should charge more for clean power that is increasingly a cheaper option than fossil fuels. “Our position is rooftop and distributed generation is best — it’s best for the customers, in this case the cities; it’s best for the grid, because you’re putting those resources directly on the grid where it’s needed most; and it’s best for the planet because it can deploy a lot faster,” said John Delurey, Midwest deputy director of the advocacy group Vote Solar. “I believe customers in general and perhaps cities in particular should exhaust all resources and opportunities for distributed generation before they start to explore utility-scale resources. It’s the lowest hanging fruit and very likely to provide the most bang for their buck.” Utility-scale solar is more cost-effective per kilowatt, but Delurey notes that when a public building is large enough for solar, “you are putting that generation directly on load, you’re consuming onsite. Anything that is concurrent consumption or paired with a battery, you are getting the full retail value of that energy. That is a feature you can’t really beat no matter how good the contract is with some utility-scale projects that are farther away.” Delurey also noted that Michigan law mandates all energy be from clean sources by 2040; and 50% by 2030. That means Consumers needs to be building or buying renewable power, whether or not customers pay extra for it. “So there are diminishing returns [to a subscription deal] at that point,” Delurey said. “You better be getting a price benefit, because the power on their grid would be clean anyways.” “Some folks are asking ‘Why do anything now? Just wait until Consumers cleans up the grid,’” Gish acknowledged. “But our purchase shows we have skin in the game.” A complement to rooftop In 2009, Milwaukee adopted a goal of powering 25% of city operations — excluding waterworks — with solar by 2025. The city’s Climate and Equity Plan adopted in 2023 also enshrined that goal. For a decade, the city has been battling We Energies over Milwaukee’s plan to install rooftop solar on City Hall and other buildings through a third-party owner, Eagle Point Solar. The city sought the arrangement — common in many states — to tap federal tax incentives that a nonprofit public entity couldn’t reap. But We Energies argued that third party ownership would mean Eagle Point would be acting as a utility and infringing on We Energies’ territory. A lawsuit over Milwaukee’s plans with Eagle Point is still pending. In 2018, We Energies launched a pilot solar program in Milwaukee known by critics as “rent a roof,” in which the utility leased rooftop space for its own solar arrays. Advocates and Milwaukee officials opposed the program, arguing that it encouraged the utility to suppress the private market or publicly-owned solar. In 2023, the state Public Service Commission denied the utility’s request to expand the program. Wisconsin Citizens Utility Board opposed the rent-a-roof arrangement since it passed costs they viewed as unfair on to ratepayers. But Wisconsin CUB executive director Tom Content said the city’s current partnership with We Energies is different, since it is just the city, not ratepayers, footing the cost for solar that helps the city meet its goals.Milwaukee is paying about $84,000 extra per year for We Energies to build solar farms on a city landfill near the airport and outside the city limits in the town of Caledonia. The deal includes a requirement that We Energies hire underemployed or unemployed Milwaukee residents. The Caledonia project is nearly complete, and will provide over 11 million kWh of energy annually, “enough to make 57 municipal police stations, fire stations, and health clinics 100% renewable electricity,” said Milwaukee Environmental Collaboration Office director Erick Shambarger. The landfill project is slated to break ground in 2025. The two arrays will total 11 MW and provide enough power for 83 city buildings, including City Hall – where Milwaukee had hoped to do the rooftop array with Eagle Point. Meanwhile Milwaukee is building its own rooftop solar on the Martin Luther King Jr. library and later other public buildings, and Shambarger said they will apply for direct pay tax credits made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act — basically eliminating the need for a third-party agreement. “Utility-scale is the complement to rooftop,” said Shambarger. “They own it and maintain it, we get the RECs. It worked out pretty well. If you think about it from a big picture standpoint, to now have the utility offer a big customer like the city an option to source their power from renewable energy — that didn’t exist five years ago. If you were a big customer in Wisconsin five years ago, you really had no option except for buying RECs from who knows where. We worked hard with them to make sure we could see our renewable energy being built.” We Energies already owns a smaller 2.25 MW solar farm on the same landfill, under a similar arrangement. Building solar on the landfill is less efficient than other types of land, since special mounting is needed to avoid puncturing the landfill’s clay cap, and the panels can’t turn to follow the sun. But Shambarger said the sacrifice is worth it to have solar within the city limits, on land useful for little else. “We do think it’s important to have some of this where people can see it and understand it,” he said. “We also have the workforce requirements, it’s nice to have it close to home for our local workers.” Madison is also pursuing a mix of city-owned distributed solar and utility-scale partnerships. On Earth Day 2024, Madison announced it has installed 2 MW of solar on 38 city rooftops. But a utility-scale solar partnership with utility MGE is also crucial to the goal of 100% clean energy for city operations by 2030. Through MGE’s Renewable Energy Rider program, Madison helped pay for the 8 MW Hermsdorf Solar Fields on a city landfill, with 5 MW devoted to city operations and 3 MW devoted to the school district. The 53-acre project went online in 2022. Farrell said such “all of the above” approaches are ideal. “The lesson we’ve seen generally is the more any entity can directly own the solar project, the more financial benefit you’ll get,” he said. “Ownership comes with privileges, and with risks. “Energy is in addition to a lot of other challenging issues that cities have to work on. The gold standard is solar on a couple public buildings with battery storage, so these are resiliency places if the grid goes down.” This article first appeared on Energy News Network and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. Previous Next

MUNICH, Germany – Analog AI chip company Blumind showed off test silicon for its keyword spotting chip, which uses 10 nJ per inference, at electronica 2024. < Back Chiplet Marketplace, Sustainability Top Discussions at OCP Summit 7 Dec 2024 MUNICH, Germany – Analog AI chip company Blumind showed off test silicon for its keyword spotting chip, which uses 10 nJ per inference, at electronica 2024. The 2024 Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) Global Summit drew some 7,000 visitors, and its success was apparent at registration: long lines of people trying to get their badges, no nearby parking if you were coming by car, and a packed show floor keen to learn about the latest initiatives from OCP members and exhibitors. The main opening announcement from OCP was the expansion of its “Open Systems for AI Strategic Initiative,” with contributions from Nvidia with its MGX-based GB200-NVL72 platform and “in-progress contributions” from Meta. This specific community effort was launched in January 2024, with leadership provided by Intel, Microsoft, Google, Meta, NVIDIA, AMD, ARM, Ampere, Samsung, Seagate, SuperMicro, Dell, and Broadcom, with the objective being to establish commonalities and develop open standardizations for AI clusters and the data center facilities that host them. At the show, Meta announced what it said were two new milestones for its data centers: a next-generation network fabric for AI and a new portfolio of network hardware developed in conjunction with multiple vendors. The company’s disaggregated scheduled fabric (DSF) for AI clusters is aimed at open, vendor-agnostic systems with interchangeable building blocks from vendors across the industry, allowing them to build large, non-blocking fabrics to support high-bandwidth AI clusters, according to Meta. Among the products Meta announced are an ASIC for FBNIC. The FBNIC is a multi-host foundational NIC designed by Marvell and contains the first of Meta’s own network ASICs for the company’s server fleet and MTIA solutions, supporting up to four hosts with complete data path isolation for each host. The FBNIC driver has been upstreamed (available from v6.11 kernel) Through the show, the themes I kept hearing were around “advancing efficiency, sustainability and enabling the development of a multi-vendor supply chain.” Chiplet markeplace One of the bigger announcements from OCP was the launch of the foundation’s chiplet marketplace, which it said would be an important step in establishing an open chiplet economy. The site, which currently lists 17 chiplet and IP products, is intended to provide a place where system-in-package (SiP) designers and builders can find the latest available standalone chiplets, design and manufacturing services, chiplet-aware EDA tools, and reference material needed to build chiplet-based products. In its press statement, the OCP quoted its open chiplet economy project co-leads, Anu Ramamurthy and Jawad Nasrullah, saying, “While incorporating third-party known-good dies into a chip design is not yet straightforward, ongoing efforts at OCP are paving the way for this future. Current near-term challenges being addressed by the OCP community include developing advanced 3D-IC design kits that streamline chiplet integration with today’s EDA tools, establishing standardized form factors to simplify chiplet-based designs, and extending chiplet interconnect standards to serve high-volume markets, including automotive sectors using older nodes. Additionally, the OCP community is exploring new solutions for chiplet-based testing and creating specialized chiplets tailored for HPC and AI applications, bringing us closer to a more accessible and innovative chiplet ecosystem.” To understand this more, we caught up with Steve Helvie, VP of emerging markets at OCP, to learn more about the chiplet marketplace announcement, and more. Previous Next

TIMES FORESIGHT News & Magazine Home Magazines Conferences About Contact Industries More Stock Latest % ChangeNVIDIA CORP. $138.25 +2.2%SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC. $32.64 -6.9%TESLA INC. $345.1+3.7%INTEL CORP. $24.05 +1.7%PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. $67.08 +1.6%FORD MOTOR CO. $11.13 +0.3%APPLE INC. $237.33 +1.0%AMAZON.COM INC. $207.89 +1.0%TOP GAINERSStock Latest % ChangeRALPH LAUREN CORP. $231.40 +3.9%TESLA INC. $345.16 +3.7%FIRST SOLAR INC. $199.27 +3.5%VISTRA CORP $159.84 +3.4%LAM RESEARCH CORP. $73.88 +3.2%LAS VEG Play Refund Policy A legal disclaimer The explanations and information provided on this page are only general and high-level explanations and information on how to write your own document of a Refund Policy. You should not rely on this article as legal advice or as recommendations regarding what you should actually do, because we cannot know in advance what are the specific refund policies that you wish to establish between your business and your customers. We recommend that you seek legal advice to help you understand and to assist you in the creation of your own Refund Policy. Refund Policy - the basics Having said that, a Refund Policy is a legally binding document that is meant to establish the legal relations between you and your customers regarding how and if you will provide them with a refund. Online businesses selling products are sometimes required (depending on local laws and regulations) to present their product return policy and refund policy. In some jurisdictions, this is needed in order to comply with consumer protection laws. It may also help you avoid legal claims from customers that are not satisfied with the products they purchased. What to include in the Refund Policy Generally speaking, a Refund Policy often addresses these types of issues: the timeframe for asking for a refund; will the refund be full or partial; under which conditions will the customer receive a refund; and much, much more.

Bitcoin is Just the Beginning: The Valuable Potential of Blockchain Technology While many have solely thought of Bitcoin when the term “cryptocurrency” is referenced, today it is the system they are built on that is disrupting many entities in the financial industry and beyond. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are programmed on a system called blockchain. This system facilitates a peer-to-peer transaction network that operates directly between users without an intermediary. And even though Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency are a Soft Trend—one whose future is open to influence—the existence of the blockchain and the concept of cryptocurrency is definitely a Hard Trend. It is here to stay with abundant applications. The rapidly evolving technology of blockchain holds enormous promise for game-changing disruption across any number of industries and fields; it just takes some understanding to figure out how you and your organization can use my Anticipatory Organization Model to leverage this disruptive Hard Trend to your advantage. Blockchain Broken Down For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, the blockchain is made up of a system of decentralized transaction records called blocks used to create a transaction without any input from any sort of controlling entity. Banks and financial institutions are the most known examples of said controlling entities, especially given the common application of blockchain in the financial world. Currently, most people store their savings in a bank account at a bank, and said bank makes money by charging overdraft fees if need be and interest on loans. The blockchain effectively eliminates the need for the bank in this example by using peer-to-peer connectivity for a secure, direct connection between all involved parties. Many wonder just how secure peer-to-peer transactions could be, as I’m sure many are remembering the peer-to-peer networks of music sharing in the very early 2000s and the warnings of how it could make your computer susceptible to hacking. However, the blockchain is far more secure in that it utilizes cryptography to keep exchanges secure and a decentralized database of transactions, known as a “digital ledger,” that everyone on the network can see. Essentially, if someone tries to tamper with a ledger entry, the rest of the network will disagree on the integrity of that particular transaction and will not incorporate it into the larger blockchain. In and of itself, that’s a genuinely revolutionary form of security. Multiple Uses of Blockchain I have spoken at length about blockchain technology and how disruptive it can be in the financial industry; however, other applications of blockchain technology are ready and waiting to be leveraged by the right Anticipatory Organization or entrepreneur. Most are stuck in the current paradigm of cryptocurrency and even the future potential of digital currency implemented by the Federal Reserve. This is likely because, in their minds, a physical, tangible thing that blockchain facilitates is currency exchange, which they are already used to in some capacity with their banking apps or even Venmo. However, here are some new applications of blockchain technology that can and will significantly disrupt the associated industries: Communication – In early 2020, the world’s first blockchain-powered smartphone was debuted by a company called Pundi X. The beauty of this device is that all of the apps and services involved are decentralized on the blockchain, allowing users to switch to “blockchain mode” to control their own data usage. Food – During CES 2020, the IBM Food Trust was introduced by IBM to the food industry. This system was built to facilitate authentic records in the food supply chain, allowing companies to accurately trace the specific origin of ingredients. Imagine how this can scale to help those with very specific dietary needs and maybe even help identify areas where cross-contamination of allergens potentially occur. Healthcare – Whether it has to do with processing insurance or admitting patients to a hospital, blockchain technology can greatly improve antiquated processes in the healthcare industry. HIPAA laws are strict, so decentralizing data that only the patient and doctor can access is tremendously secure. Personal Identification – This goes hand in hand with voting and even paying taxes. If we have our height, weight, Social Security number, voter ID, or any other information on a decentralized network, imagine how easily we can authenticate who an individual is in any case and, likewise, prevent identity theft more quickly. This may even expedite the long process of legal immigration. Our Digital Footprint Given the fact that up until this point, the most notable use of blockchain technology has been in the financial industry with cryptocurrency and now digital currency specific to a country, one must use an Anticipatory mindset when considering other valuable applications of the software. Essentially, blockchain technology creates a virtually unhackable ledger of transactions; an undisturbed digital footprint in place for accountability. The debut of the Internet was similar to the Wild West; right away, parents and educators pleaded with children and young adults to “not believe everything they read on the Internet,” as it could so easily be altered and fabricated. The blockchain is what the Internet should be, and applied to the antiquated and dangerously unreliable systems of yesterday corrects much of society for the better. Understanding this simple concept, we can keep our disruptive opportunity antennas up while we look into how blockchain can positively disrupt a multitude of industries beyond the four previously mentioned. The blockchain is a definite Hard Trend; it is here to stay and will continue to disrupt. The question is, how will you or your organization leverage this profound Hard Trend while it is still in its infancy stage and either pre-solve any problems it will cause your industry or determine how it can fix problems your industry faces.

< Back FedEx aims for ‘seamless’ customer transition with Freight spinoff The less-than-truckload unit aims to sustain or improve service levels while also bolstering its sales ranks. FedEx noted in its quarterly report that retaining existing relationships with customers is a risk factor of the spinoff, but Subramaniam vowed that “it’s business as usual” for shippers using FedEx Freight. The carrier will look to sustain or improve service to shippers while keeping FedEx Freight President Lance Moll at the helm. “We’re excited to create a leading LTL pure-play, the largest carrier by revenue with the broadest network and the fastest transit times,” Subramaniam said. “FedEx Freight has deep relationships with customers who turn to us for our reliability, simplicity and choice of services.” FedEx Freight will also begin hiring more than 300 LTL specialists on its sales force starting in January, which will result in better customer support, FedEx EVP and Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere said. The hires will add to the 75 sales reps FedEx currently employs to handle large accounts at Freight. Most of FedEx Freight’s volume from customers is tied to standalone LTL contracts, according to Carere. “Those contracts will be honored” as FedEx advances the spinoff process, she said. Despite various ties with FedEx’s other operations, FedEx Freight has long pushed to negotiate Freight contracts separately. This was the result of a pivot the company made several years ago to better compete in a fragmented market, according to Carere. However, most small customers using FedEx Freight have a bundled contract that also includes parcel shipping services, according to Carere. The company’s approach for these shippers amid the spinoff process “will be slightly nuanced,” she added, because FedEx’s earned discount program is prominently featured in small customer agreements. “The way the earned discount program works is that as they ship more FedEx Freight or more LTL, you actually get incremental benefit on your parcel side,” Carere said. “So there is some potential benefit from small customer improvement, too.” Previous Next

TIMES FORESIGHT News & Magazine Home Magazines Conferences About Contact More More Stock Latest % ChangeNVIDIA CORP. $138.25 +2.2%SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC. $32.64 -6.9%TESLA INC. $345.1+3.7%INTEL CORP. $24.05 +1.7%PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. $67.08 +1.6%FORD MOTOR CO. $11.13 +0.3%APPLE INC. $237.33 +1.0%AMAZON.COM INC. $207.89 +1.0%TOP GAINERSStock Latest % ChangeRALPH LAUREN CORP. $231.40 +3.9%TESLA INC. $345.16 +3.7%FIRST SOLAR INC. $199.27 +3.5%VISTRA CORP $159.84 +3.4%LAM RESEARCH CORP. $73.88 +3.2%LAS VEG Play Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk The German mobile market will likely experience disruption in 2025, and investors need to be prepared, Berenberg analysts Usman Ghazi and Shekhan Ali write in a note . While Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica Deutschland have engineered a larger market share along with tariff innovations, competitors such as 1&1 have an urgent need to re-accelerate growth going into 2025, they say. 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Weekly U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (Jan 1990 – Jun 2020) million barrels Jun 19 541 million barrels U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Fall Amid Decline in Imports Crude oil stockpiles fell by 1.8 million barrels to 428.4 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 22 Volkswagen Workers to Begin Striking Monday, Union Says VW is at loggerheads with the IG Metall union as it seeks to implement sweeping cost cuts across its domestic business General Motors agrees deal to enter F1 in 2026 A new team will be named after GM's Cadillac brand UK electric car production drops with firms 'under pressure' UK car production fell sharply in October amid industry concerns about "intense pressure" on investment in electric vehicle-making. Read More Uber probed by US regulator over subscription plan The ride-hailing giant says it received inquiries about Uber One's cancellation procedures Australia approves social media ban on under-16s Australia will ban children under 16 from using social media, after its parliament approved the world's strictest laws. Al Fayed 'used cash gifts in bid to own directors' Mohamed Al Fayed manipulated Harrods managers to conceal his crimes, sacking those he could not control, an ex-director has told the Timesforesight Canada’s oil patch rattled by Trump's tariff threat In Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta, there is a deep sense of unease over President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods. Russia-Ukraine Standoff Over POWs Leaves Thousands Stuck in ‘Gray Zone’ Kyiv says Russia is using the prisoners to put pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyc

TIMES FORESIGHT News & Magazine Home Magazines Conferences About Contact More More Trump praises 'very productive' Mar-a-Lago meeting with Trudeau Donald Trump said he had a "very productive meeting" with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after the two leaders met at Trump's Florida estate Mar-a-Lago. The men discussed "many important topics", Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, including fentanyl, illegal immigration, and trade. Earlier on Saturday, Trudeau told reporters he had an "excellent conversation" with the American president-elect but declined to answer any questions. He later wrote on X: "Thanks for dinner last night, President Trump. I look forward to the work we can do together, again." Trudeau travelled to West Palm Beach as Canada seeks to head off the president-elect's threat to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, a source has confirmed to the timesforesight. Canadian media reported that Trudeau landed in Palm Beach International Airport on Friday evening to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The two spoke by phone earlier in the week after Trump announced that, upon taking office in January, he would slap an across-the-board tariff on all products entering the US from Mexico and Canada. But much of Trump's Saturday afternoon statement following the meeting focused on the "drug crisis that has decimated so many lives". "I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China," Trump wrote. "Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation." Neither the prime minister's office nor Trump's team responded to the request for comment on the visit. Leaving his hotel in Palm Beach on Saturday morning, Trudeau ignored questions from reporters about whether he and Trump had discussed potential tariffs. The trip was not included on Trudeau's public itinerary for Friday. Trump has been at his Mar-a-Lago estate meeting with his transition team. Trudeau is reported to be the first G7 leader to visit the president-elect since the election. The two men reportedly had dinner, alongside Trump's pick for commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and Canada's public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc. Trudeau has often underscored that the two countries were able to successfully renegotiate a major trade pact during Trump's first term, though the relationship between the two leaders has occasionally been rocky. On Friday, speaking at an event in Prince Edward Island, Trudeau said the two countries "rolled up our sleeves and were able to create jobs on both sides of the border". He said looked forward to having many "great" conversations with Trump. The Florida visit is the latest move by Canada as it seeks to avoid the hefty tariffs, which could have wide-reaching economic impacts. It remains unclear whether the incoming Trump administration will actually move ahead with the threatened tariffs, as analysts note that the president-elect has been known to use such threats in the past as a negotiating tactic to achieve his goals. Trump - who has also threatened the same levy against Mexico - has signalled that they would remain in place until both countries work to secure their shared borders with the US. Trudeau said on Friday that "when Trump makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out". He said his goal was to point out the tariff would not just harm Canadians but also raise prices for Americans and hurt that country's economy. Trudeau was accompanied on the trip by Dominic LeBlanc, the minister in charge of border security. US media reported that Trudeau and Trump were joined at dinner by Howard Lutnick, Trump's nominee for commerce secretary; Doug Burgum, tapped to lead the Department of the Interior; and Mike Waltz, who has been selected as the next national security adviser.Canada is one of America's largest trading partners and it sends about 75% of its total exports to the US. The two countries also share deeply integrated supply chains. After the phone call with Trump, Trudeau held an emergency meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of Canada's provinces and territories over how to manage the US-Canada relationship. Trudeau is promising to present a united "Team Canada" approach to working with the US to make the case against the levy. Several leaders of Canadian provinces have criticised Trump's plan , saying it would be devastating to the country's economy, including the oil and gas and automotive industries. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also had a phone call with Trump this week.

Cate Blanchett 'deeply concerned' by AI impact Cate Blanchett has told the Timesforesight she is "deeply concerned" about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the Australian actress said: "I'm looking at these robots and driverless cars and I don't really know what that's bringing anybody." Blanchett, 55, was promoting her new film Rumours - an apocalyptic comedy about a group of world leaders trapped in a forest. "Our film looks like a sweet little documentary compared to what's going on in the world," she said. Advertisement Asked whether she was worried about the impact of AI on her job she said she was "less concerned" about that and more "about the impact it will have on the average person". "I'm worried about us as a species, it's a much bigger problem." She added the threat of AI was "very real" as "you can totally replace anyone". "Forget whether they're an actor or not, if you've recorded yourself for three or four seconds your voice can be replicated." The actress, who has won two Oscars for her roles in The Aviator and Blue Jasmine, said she thought AI advancements were "experimentation for its own sake". "When you look at it one way it's creativity, but it's also incredibly destructive, which of course is the other side of it." In Rumours, Blanchett plays the Chancellor of Germany who hosts a G7 summit for other world leaders. She said the political characters were not based on real politicians and she "deliberately stepped away from that as that's what an audience is going to bring to bear". The film's director, Guy Maddin, added that he intentionally does not reveal the ideologies or allegories of the characters because "there's an attempt when making sense of a movie for an audience to project on to it a message, a lesson, to find themselves in it". Maddin explained that he started creating the characters "from a point of sheer contempt", but as the film progresses and more ludicrous things start to happen "you feel for them a little bit". "They're not politicians for very long, the structures that make them world leaders evaporate incredibly quickly," Blanchet told the timesforesight "What you witness is that they don't know who they are and that's part of the artificiality of the way they have very little to do with the real world. "People talk about actors being infantilised and indulged, but there's something about politicians being infantilised and indulged by the system." IN PRINT www.TimesForesight.com-2 www.TimesForesight.com www.TimesForesight.com-2 1/3 In Michigan and Wisconsin, cities are finding rooftops alone may not achieve solar energy goals Read More A ‘new climate era’ – This Week in Cleantech Read More BLM approves Lava Ridge; Idaho legislators still hope Trump kills it Read More Florida has installed the second most solar power capacity in the country in 2024 Read More Swiatek was 'scared' of reaction after doping ban Read More ‘Raygun: The Musical’ pulled after controversial breakdancer calls in lawyers Read More Records broken, QB return to Minnesota ends in heavy defeat, Chiefs’ ‘doink for the division’ kick: NFL Week 14 Sunday review Read More Gjert Ingebrigtsen, father and former coach of Olympic champion Jakob, to stand trial over physical and mental abuse charges Read More Tiger Woods says he’s ‘got a long way to go’ before being ready to return to competitive golf Read More

TIMES FORESIGHT News & Magazine Home Magazines Conferences About Contact More More Stock Latest % ChangeNVIDIA CORP. $138.25 +2.2%SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC. $32.64 -6.9%TESLA INC. $345.1+3.7%INTEL CORP. $24.05 +1.7%PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. $67.08 +1.6%FORD MOTOR CO. $11.13 +0.3%APPLE INC. $237.33 +1.0%AMAZON.COM INC. $207.89 +1.0%TOP GAINERSStock Latest % ChangeRALPH LAUREN CORP. $231.40 +3.9%TESLA INC. $345.16 +3.7%FIRST SOLAR INC. $199.27 +3.5%VISTRA CORP $159.84 +3.4%LAM RESEARCH CORP. $73.88 +3.2%LAS VEG Play

< Back Dive Brief DHL Supply Chain deploys Volvo autonomous trucks in Texas The logistics company is using the technology along two routes in the state as it seeks to increase freight capacity. DHL Supply Chain’s move to launch autonomous trucking is aimed at increasing freight capacity and optimizing supply chain efficiencies as the company aligns with digital transformation across the logistics sector. The company is focusing on Texas to start. “It’s an important state in trucking: it moves more freight than any other state in the U.S and is also strategically located,” Gillespie said. The logistics company also has a large warehouse footprint in Texas and serves several customers in the region as well, Gillespie said. Other companies also aim to deploy AV operations in the state. Transportation company Ryder System and Kodiak Robots planned to launch autonomous trucks without human operators in Texas this year. Driver shortages, increased freight demand and long transit times are additional hurdles DHL Supply Chain hopes to tackle with autonomous trucking, according to Gillespie. “We believe that through autonomous transport solutions, we can address these challenges and pave the way for a safe, sustainable, and efficient future in which autonomous trucking will play an important role,” Gillespie said. The transition to autonomous trucks in the transportation industry still faces a long road, particularly when it comes to insurance considerations, experts told Trucking Dive. “Plenty of questions remain unanswered, like whether premiums will go up or down, how risk will be assessed, and who or what is to blame in a crash,” Timothy Good, president of Good’s Insurance Agency said. Previous Next

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