| I'm Christina Sterbenz, and this is Bloomberg Opinion Today, some much-needed alone time of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Commodity is the word of the year. OK, no it's not. According to Oxford, it's actually brain rot (for better or worse). But for columnist Javier Blas, commodity is the word to know this year — and every year, actually. This is the guy who predicted the chocolate meltdown, held our hands through the olive oil crisis and even warned us about rising coffee prices. In case it's not clear, he's a hot commodity here at Bloomberg Opinion. (See what I did there?) On the precipice of a new year, Javier has some thoughts on what's to come for certain products and raw materials — and why. As he wrote himself, no one has a crystal ball (not even Elphaba or Glinda). But if you paid attention this year, especially to the geopolitical plate tectonics, some products and materials are looking a little shaky in the next one. First up, if you have any very last-minute holiday gifts to buy, I have two suggestions: espresso and chocolate. The price of coffee has been high this year for a few reasons, namely climate change and China's newfound love of the bean. And it's not going to get any better in 2025, thanks to the simple rules of supply and demand. When it comes to chocolate, costs will likely stay high because cocoa crops in West Africa, which account for 70% of the world's production, are still struggling from drought and disease. Also on the rise: coal. Let me remind you that the world is using more of the stuff than ever before — despite all the rhetoric about green energy. We're talking enough coal to fill 10 dump trucks every second, or to build a replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza every six hours. As with java, China plays a role: It consumes 30% of the world's coal — and since it has no plans to stop, the trend in usage likely won't either. Read Javier's (free) column for more of his predictions about oil, iron ore and other key commodities here. The Dam China Wants, Not the One It Needs | Speaking of China and its love of dirty fuel, climate and energy columnist David Fickling writes that the country's plans for a giant new dam in Tibet are a symptom, not a solution. Actually, the project is more than giant — it will be the biggest renewable power plant the world has ever seen. The plan was finally approved on Christmas Day. Here are some numbers from David for perspective: -
"It could generate as much as 70 gigawatts of clean energy, sufficient to power the UK or Taiwan and three times what's produced by the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze, currently the biggest power plant on the planet." -
"It would be about eight times bigger than Jebel Ali, the largest non-hydro generator and the provider of more or less all of Dubai's grid power."  This is where the dam will be built, on the Yarlung Tsangpo river. Photographer: China News Service/China News Service And it's not just this dam. China generates about a third of the world's hydroelectricity. That's good, right? Well, not to be a downer, but despite the country's increasing reliance on hydroelectricity, production hasn't gone up nearly as much. And the only power source that can make up the difference is — you guessed it — coal. Read more from David about China's fundamental energy problems here. I wasn't alive when Jimmy Carter was president. But there are two facts I've known about him for as long as I can remember: He grew up on a peanut farm, and he was a genuinely good person. Indeed, the prevailing view seems to be that he was a better former president than president. As political columnist Frank Wilkinson writes: He was a politician so supple and skilled that he forged peace between Egypt and Israel, and so stubborn and hapless that he managed to lose the support of much of his own party in Congress, essentially sabotaging the legislative majority that might have changed his trajectory, and ultimate place, in history.
(Read the rest of his free piece here.)  Jimmy Carter in 2008. Photographer: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images But while Carter's accomplishments in office were offset by failures, his civilian life that came after was defined by a boldness and humanity that only deepened with age. "Who could deny the evocative power of an aging former president, stooped but vibrant, building homes for the poor, teaching Sunday school, simply getting on with the business of life after so many often-brutal setbacks?" asks the Bloomberg Opinion Editorial Board. (Read the whole thing for free here.) Want to understand the wars in Ukraine and Gaza better? Read these books. — James Stavridis These are the 10 most intriguing scientific breakthroughs of 2024. — F.D. Flam The Fed has a communication problem. — Clive Crook Is democracy dying? These states will tell us. — Mary Ellen Klas What we know about South Korea's worst plane crash in history. Russia has all but rejected Trump's peace plan for Ukraine. Nvidia's $700 million acquisition of an Israeli startup will offer open-source software. It Ends With Us star Justin Baldoni's lawyer told Deadline they're planning to file a countersuit against co-star Blake Lively that will "shock everyone." Happy 40th, LeBron! What now? Buddy the Elf is a hockey fan. Musk, MAGA and "contemptible fools." The US finally, officially has an official bird. Note: Please send caffeine alternatives, clean power solutions and any feedback to csterbenz@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and find us on Bluesky, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment