US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accepted an exclusive interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on the online X platform. Real-time data showed that more than 1.3 million people listened to the approximately 45-minute conversation. The two share political views on climate and energy policy, but their remarks on climate change have drawn criticism. Veteran climate activist and co-founder of 350.org Bill McKibben called it the dumbest climate conversation in history. Electric car dialogue focus Musk spoke out in support of Trump after the assassination attempt on Trump in July. This led Trump, who has always been skeptical about electric vehicles (EVs) in the past, to say at a campaign rally, "I support electric vehicles. I have to support them because Elon (Musk) strongly supports me, so I have no choice." This time, Trump also admitted during the live broadcast that Tesla produces "a great product", but "this does not mean that everyone should own an electric car, but these are small details, and your product is great." Trump also did not forget to remind that fossil fuels are also needed to produce electric vehicles. The Democrats offer tax credits of up to $7,500 for people who buy electric vehicles, and Tesla is one of the automakers that benefits. However, Trump has repeatedly questioned the Green Energy Subsidy Act in public campaigns, saying that the subsidies for electric vehicles, solar photovoltaics and other renewable energy generation equipment are too excessive and seriously waste US tax revenues, and he will abolish it once he takes office. However, in yesterday's conversation,

The summers in Japan are getting hotter and hotter. The glass insulation paper is not strong enough, and cars parked under the scorching sun are like big ovens. In August, Nissan announced the test results of a new paint called cool paint, claiming that it can cool the car by 5-12°C, making it more comfortable while also reducing air conditioning energy consumption. New research and development has moved from the laboratory to feasibility testing. Starting in November 2023, Nissan will conduct outdoor tests at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, applying cold paint to airport service vehicles of its partner All Nippon Airways (ANA). This Nissan NV100 service vehicle often drives on the tarmac, where there are no trees, making it a perfect testing ground for high temperature exposure. NISSAN said the outdoor test results were satisfactory. The temperature on the car's surface can be reduced by up to 12°C, while the temperature inside the car can be reduced by 5°C. Nissan points out that cold paint is particularly effective for vehicles that have been parked in the sun for a long time. You will feel cool when you enter the car, and there is no need to turn the air conditioner to high cooling, which can reduce the load on the engine or the consumption of the electric vehicle battery. Research and development of metamaterials taking into account vehicle characteristics The new cold paint uses "metamaterial" (also known as "supermaterial"), which is an artificially designed structure with properties that natural materials do not have. Nissan explained that there are two kinds of special microstructure particles in the cold paint. One kind reflects the near infrared (NIR) of sunlight to reduce heat, and the other is the most important breakthrough technology this time.

Cows' burps and farts produce the greenhouse gas methane. Some countries are planning to impose a tax on cow farts, and some scientists are studying how to reduce methane emissions from cows. Now, the first low-methane milk "Eco-Milk" is on sale in Tasmania, Australia, and consumers can buy it in supermarkets. Eco-Milk was developed in collaboration between Tasmanian family-owned ranch Ashgrove and startup Sea Forest. Adding special seaweed to cattle feed can reduce methane emissions by 25%. A 2-liter bottle costs 5.5 Australian dollars, about NT$118, which is about NT$5 more than regular whole milk. Ruminant livestock such as cattle and sheep produced when they digest cellulose produce methane, the second most powerful greenhouse gas, which is more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 20-year period. The global livestock industry has more than 1 billion cattle and 1.2 billion sheep, and the methane they emit accounts for about 30% of the global total. Ashgrove general manager Richard Bennett told Reuters that they began adding SeaFeed, a seaweed extract, to their cattle feed in February this year. One-fifth of the ranch's cows, about 500 heads, are participating in the project, producing 10,000 liters of milk a day. "We've reduced our methane emissions by approximately 25%," Bennett said, adding that sales are currently going well but no decision has been made on whether to expand production. SeaFeed, a seaweed additive, is a product developed by Sea Forest and is produced by Tasmania.

Hydrogen energy is a battleground for net-zero carbon emissions. Australia has excellent wind and solar conditions and noticed hydrogen energy very early on. It proposed a hydrogen energy strategy in 2019. However, five years later, Australia has not become a hydrogen energy power, but has fallen behind the United States and the Middle East. In May this year, Australia once again increased subsidies for green hydrogen. At a time when Asian hydrogen buyers are aggressively deploying hydrogen supply chains, can Australia win back hydrogen orders? Australia's hydrogen energy is "too expensive" and investors are deterred. In April this year, SP Global reported that Australia's green hydrogen was expensive and was about to lose supply chain orders. Australia has about 156 green or low-carbon hydrogen projects with a total estimated capacity of about 10 million tonnes, of which about 146 are green hydrogen projects. But in reality, investors were reluctant to move forward, with only three projects reaching the Final Investment Decision. S&P Global pointed out that since 2021, the cost of green hydrogen relying on electrolysis has risen accordingly due to the increase in electrolyzer costs by 20%~45%. Global inflation has also greatly increased the cost of building factories, which is not good for Australia. In contrast, low-carbon hydrogen in Middle Eastern countries utilizes existing facilities and has a lower impact. Although hydrogen is a low-carbon energy source, its carbon emissions vary depending on how it is produced. Hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water using renewable energy such as photovoltaic or wind power is called "green hydrogen". Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is called "grey hydrogen" and does not meet the needs of low-carbon energy. However, if grey hydrogen is processed using carbon capture, reuse and storage (CCUS) technology, carbon emissions will be reduced and it will be called low-carbon hydrogen or "blue hydrogen." US and Europe compete

Amazon's Prime Day 2024 will be held in July and is expected to stimulate a large amount of online shopping consumption in North America. How can we make large orders and billions of packaging materials more sustainable than they are now? Online shopping has become the norm for people - no need to go out, easy to place orders and able to compare prices. The variety of goods is wide and bizarre, and many people rely on e-commerce platforms because they can buy high-quality and low-priced goods without leaving home. But online shopping has also become one of the main culprits of ecological destruction. Can plastic air pillows definitely protect products? In order to reduce plastic and replace plastic air pillows, multinational e-commerce company Amazon has switched to paper fillings in North America. In October 2023, Amazon announced that it would begin testing environmentally friendly materials in its automated fulfillment center in Ohio. In order to completely reduce plastic, the Amazon team worked with multiple suppliers to use paper fillers made from 100% recyclable materials, and also coordinated hundreds of distribution centers to make the transition. After multiple tests, Amazon found that paper fillers made from 100% recyclable content are both curbside recyclable and provide better protection during product transportation than plastic air pillows. In addition to testing different possibilities for reducing plastic, thousands of employees will work together to replace new systems and systems and participate in employee training. AI and Eternal

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the Paris Agreement to reduce fossil fuels and control global warming. The world is pushing electric vehicles and green energy, but this has unexpectedly led to a surge in copper prices. In 2021, Goldman Sachs published a report titled "Copper is the New Oil", alerting the public to this trend and the imbalance between supply and demand. Three years later, the AI wave has emerged, data centers have exploded, and copper prices have risen this year. Bank of America expects copper prices to rise again in 2026, and copper is still regarded as the "new oil" by analysts. Green industries drive up copper prices. Copper has a wide range of uses, high thermal and electrical conductivity, is easy to process, and is also a durable metal that is widely used in daily life. Therefore, it is often used to measure the global economic situation and is known as "Dr. Copper." In April 2021, a Goldman Sachs report pointed out that copper plays a key role if the world wants to achieve the Paris Agreement and reduce oil use. Copper is used in clean energy such as wind power, solar power and electric vehicles. Goldman Sachs warned that copper prices have risen by 80% in the past year as supply has not kept up with demand, showing that the market is not prepared enough. At that time, Goldman Sachs estimated that by 2030, demand for copper from green-related technologies would grow 6 to 9 times to 5.4 to 8.7 million tons. But in mid-2022, due to rising energy prices and pressure from rising interest rates, copper prices plummeted as people worried about an economic recession. Copper prices rose strongly in May this year, hitting an all-time high of US$11,104.5 per ton on May 20. One of the analysts who wrote the report is now working for Carlyle Group.

2024 is a shining year for Earth’s digital twin. Nvidia launched Earth-2, a digital twin platform for the Earth's climate, in March. The first phase of the European Union's DestinE (full name: Destination Earth) was also launched in June. Data will continue to be added to become a "complete" digital twin Earth in 2030. With the assistance of AI, the development of the Earth's digital twin is accelerating. Typhoon paths can be predicted faster and more accurately; scientists can repeatedly simulate landslides to find the best way to prevent disasters; and industry players can calculate the best locations for wind farms. The EU also intends to use it to protect biodiversity, assess the impact of climate change on society and the economy, and even apply it to policy adjustments. How to build Earth-2? Nvidia experts tell you that Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun visited Taiwan in May and created a "Nvidia whirlwind" wherever he went. His speech at National Taiwan University in June brought Earth-2, known as one of the "most ambitious projects in human history," to the world stage. Earth-2 uses artificial intelligence and high-resolution interactive simulations to accelerate climate and weather forecasting, increasing the resolution of satellite images by more than 12 times. It can also reduce the error in typhoon prediction range from the original 25 kilometers to 2 kilometers, and more accurately predict the landing location. Digital twins are not a new technology and were first used in manufacturing in 2002. With the development of AI, its applications have exploded. A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical product. For example, a

Expecting continued growth in domestic electricity demand, Singapore plans to add two new hydrogen-blended natural gas power plants by 2030 to ensure a stable and secure power supply. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore has invited the private sector to participate in the construction and operation of the power plants, each expected to have a capacity of 600MW (kilowatts), capable of supplying electricity to 864,000 households. Singapore will require new and upgraded natural gas power plants this year to incorporate a 30% hydrogen blend. Traditional natural gas power plants can reduce carbon emissions by blending hydrogen. Starting this year (2024), the Energy Market Authority (EMA) will require all new and upgraded natural gas power plants to improve their carbon efficiency by 10% and operate with a 30% hydrogen blend. In the future, these power plants must be able to fully convert to hydrogen fuel. By 2030, Singapore will have at least nine hydrogen-fired natural gas power plants with an estimated power generation capacity of more than 3.7GW (million kilowatts). These include four power plants built by Singapore power companies PacificLight and Meranti, which are expected to be operational in 2025. Others include the Sakra Cogen power plant of Singapore multinational group Keppel Corporation, Singapore power plant YTL PowerSeraya, and Sembcorp Industries. Among them, Sembcorp Industries is expected to be online in 2026-2027. The short-term cost of hydrogen-fired technology is high, but in the long run it will offset the cost of carbon tax. Currently, 90% of Singapore's power structure comes from natural gas power generation. In the past few years, Singapore has

While scientists have acknowledged the health risks of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), research on ultrafine particles (UFPs) remains limited. These particles, finer than PM2.5, are more susceptible to human penetration. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of their potential 15 years ago, yet safety standards for UFP concentrations remain. A June study published by the non-governmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E) Europe indicated that over 10% of Europeans, approximately 52 million people, live near busy airports and are potentially exposed to UFPs emitted by aircraft during takeoff and landing. High blood pressure, diabetes, and dementia in these individuals may be linked to UFPs. PM2.5 refers to particulate pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less. UFPs are even finer than PM2.5, with a diameter of less than 0.1 microns, 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, making them more susceptible to entering the body. A 2019 study linked UFPs to brain cancer. In addition to vehicles, aircraft also emit UFPs during flight, takeoff, and landing. According to T&E, the amount of UFP emitted by aircraft in the air breathed by people within a 5 km radius of an airport is about 3,000 to 10,000 particles per cubic centimeter. UFP may be associated with the risk of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and pregnancy. T&E pointed out that this is the first study to investigate UFP emissions from aviation in Europe.