Most of the drinking water in Keene, N.H., flows from two reservoirs at an elevation several hundred feet above the city’s water treatment plant. It arrives there at a high pressure that needs to be reduced nearly tenfold for treatment. In February, Keene began using that excess water pressure to spin two turbines plugged into the pipe by a New York City startup called Rentricity, using small generators to make electricity from water pressure that was previously dissipated by a mechanical valve. “What we’re really trying to do is recover energy that’s just not being tapped into and use it to make [utilities] more efficient,” says Rentricity founder Frank Zammataro.
The 53-year-old former Merrill Lynch technology executive is one of dozens of entrepreneurs trying to capture so-called hydrokinetic power from moving water in rivers, oceans, or, in Rentricity’s case, pipes. Such projects are distinct from traditional hydroelectric power because they tap into existing flows, rather than dam rivers. Joe Sweet, a researcher at the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation who co-authored a report on hydrokinetics last year, says the industry is young and “it hasn’t been really settled what’s going to be the best commercially applied technology.” Zammataro says the economics of Rentricity’s projects are more appealing than other types of clean energy because they can count on consistent and predictable water flows. The equipment has a 40-year life span, and energy savings will cover the cost in three to 16 years, depending on the size of the installation and the clean energy incentives in place, he adds.
Rentricity posted a small profit on revenue of almost $500,000 in 2010, Zammataro says. The 10-employee company doesn’t develop any unique technology. Instead, he says, Rentricity uses off-the-shelf equipment such as pumps that can run in reverse to keep project costs low. The generator in Keene can create about 62 kilowatts of electricity at peak flow, about the same amount of energy needed to power roughly 50 homes. It cost the city about $500,000, about half of which was paid for by a federal clean-energy grant under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to Kürt Blomquist, Keene’s public works director. The energy savings will pay for the city’s investment in eight to 11 years, he says.
In addition to the Keene site, Rentricity has a 30-kilowatt installation in western Pennsylvania and three more projects in development. The largest, a 325-kilowatt installation at a water transfer station in Palos Verdes, Calif., is scheduled to start operating later this year. Zammataro says the company can harvest energy anywhere a water system needs to reduce pressure, including in pipelines beneath the streets, at transfer stations, or at treatment plants for clean or waste water. The electricity can power the water system’s needs or be delivered back to the grid.
By targeting pipelines rather than natural water bodies, Rentricity avoids much of the red tape that other hydrokinetic companies encounter. No fish swim through the water pipes it taps, though Zammataro says he still has to get projects approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
His biggest hurdle is convincing wary water managers that his systems won’t interfere with their operations. Zammataro has testified twice before the New York City Council, recently joining executives from three other energy startups on June 20, to urge the city to evaluate the energy potential of its water system.
Zammataro understands why water utilities hesitate. “This is a conservative lot for all the right reasons,” he says. Still, vast water systems like New York’s, mostly powered by gravity pulling water from sources upstate, represent tremendous opportunity for hydrokinetic outfits. Keene’s water treatment plant processes 6 million gallons a day at peak times. New York’s water, Zammataro estimates, might provide up to 1 percent of the city’s energy needs: “Over 1 billion gallons of water a day flow through this city,” he says.
Social Justice: Current Affairs, Business, Politics, and all the reasons in the world to Thrive on Creative Discontent!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
自業自得 Just desserts
High oil prices and the desire to reduce energy dependence in the United States – so where is the coal-to-liquid (CTL) discussion about alternative fuel sources?
Nearly 100 years old, CTL processes have long been used by countries lacking access to oil, most notably Germany, where production peaked during the 1940s; South Africa, which has been using CTL technology for fuel since the 1950s; and, more recently, China, where the Shenhua Group LLC began trial operation of the world’s first direct CTL facility in December 2008, and intends to eventually produce 1 million tons of coal-based liquid fuel a year.
The U.S. Government promoted the development of CTL technologies following the oil shocks of the 1970s, but shelved the projects after the price of oil fell during the 1980s. In the current economic and political environment of the United States, with oil prices surpassing $90 per barrel and generally projected to rise in the long term, synthetic fuel derived from coal is once again become economically viable, and several projects are in the initial design phase around the country.
From an environmental standpoint, however, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced throughout the lifecycle of coal-based liquid fuel make it a less desirable option.
In terms of economics, coal-based liquid fuel becomes viable when the per-barrel price of oil exceeds the $45-50 range, according to separate studies. This is because of high front-end expenditures—a 10,000 barrel-a-day plant could cost $600-700 million and $6.5 billion for a world-scale 80,000 barrel/day plant with a five-seven year lead time.
All told, the refinement process is three to four times more expensive than refining an equivalent amount of oil. When biomass is mixed with coal, the process becomes even more expensive, and is only viable with oil prices above $90 per barrel, according to the Department of Energy.
Not included in the above estimate is the cost of sequestrating the captured CO2, which would increase the price of the end product by a projected $5 a barrel. The imposition of a strict carbon cap and trade regime would also raise the cost of fuel produced with CTL technology, because of the CO2 emissions associated with it. While there is significant uncertainty, a RAND study estimated that CTL production plus carbon storage could produce fuel at a cost of anywhere from $1.40 to $2.20 per gallon.
The same RAND study found no difference between CTL and petroleum emissions, and a Department of Energy study found that CTL emissions with sequestration were actually 5-12% lower.
Four companies for coal-based synfuel: Headwaters (NYSE: HW), Syntroleum Corp (NASDAQ: SYNM), and Rentech (AMEX: RTK) and . South African company Sasol (NYSE: SSL)
Nearly 100 years old, CTL processes have long been used by countries lacking access to oil, most notably Germany, where production peaked during the 1940s; South Africa, which has been using CTL technology for fuel since the 1950s; and, more recently, China, where the Shenhua Group LLC began trial operation of the world’s first direct CTL facility in December 2008, and intends to eventually produce 1 million tons of coal-based liquid fuel a year.
The U.S. Government promoted the development of CTL technologies following the oil shocks of the 1970s, but shelved the projects after the price of oil fell during the 1980s. In the current economic and political environment of the United States, with oil prices surpassing $90 per barrel and generally projected to rise in the long term, synthetic fuel derived from coal is once again become economically viable, and several projects are in the initial design phase around the country.
From an environmental standpoint, however, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced throughout the lifecycle of coal-based liquid fuel make it a less desirable option.
In terms of economics, coal-based liquid fuel becomes viable when the per-barrel price of oil exceeds the $45-50 range, according to separate studies. This is because of high front-end expenditures—a 10,000 barrel-a-day plant could cost $600-700 million and $6.5 billion for a world-scale 80,000 barrel/day plant with a five-seven year lead time.
All told, the refinement process is three to four times more expensive than refining an equivalent amount of oil. When biomass is mixed with coal, the process becomes even more expensive, and is only viable with oil prices above $90 per barrel, according to the Department of Energy.
Not included in the above estimate is the cost of sequestrating the captured CO2, which would increase the price of the end product by a projected $5 a barrel. The imposition of a strict carbon cap and trade regime would also raise the cost of fuel produced with CTL technology, because of the CO2 emissions associated with it. While there is significant uncertainty, a RAND study estimated that CTL production plus carbon storage could produce fuel at a cost of anywhere from $1.40 to $2.20 per gallon.
The same RAND study found no difference between CTL and petroleum emissions, and a Department of Energy study found that CTL emissions with sequestration were actually 5-12% lower.
Four companies for coal-based synfuel: Headwaters (NYSE: HW), Syntroleum Corp (NASDAQ: SYNM), and Rentech (AMEX: RTK) and . South African company Sasol (NYSE: SSL)
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Dream, Learning, Knowledge, Action
Founded in 2006, General Compression was launched with a vision of creating Dispatchable Wind to integrate low-cost bulk storage with wind farms to eliminate the issues of intermittent renewable power generation. General Compression has made patent-pending advancements in the fields of isothermal compression and expansion to provide utility-scale storage for both renewable and conventional electricity sources.
General Compression (GC) is a project development company enabled by proprietary technology. Dispatchable Wind is firm, cost-competitive energy available on demand for any curve and time scale. Their projects are designed to set clean, domestic wind power on a path to become the dominant electric power generation source in the United States and abroad.
To be cost-effective for utility-scale operations, efficiency is crucial. In 2009 GC landed a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Energy Dept., enabling the company to test a critical refinement of their air- compression technology. “That [money] gave us a significant boost, going from ‘this looks like it is working,’ to ‘this is definitely working and it’s bankable,’” says Ingersoll, now chief executive officer and co-founder of the 40-employee General Compression in Newton, Mass.
This is just the kind of creative transformational-energy research the DOE is trying to support through its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). First funded in 2009, the 21-employee agency is a critical part of the Obama Administration’s response to the specter of a tripling in global energy demand by 2025. Explicitly modeled on the Pentagon’s counterpart, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E functions as a funding agency that supports the most promising breakthrough-research proposals coming out of universities, corporations, and nonprofits, as well as from its network of 17 national labs. The grants target early stage technology, nurturing proof-of-concept units into pilot stages and later, into demonstration projects backed by venture capital.
General Compression may not need further help from Uncle Sam. In early June the company closed a $54.5 million round led by Northwater Capital Management in Toronto. That’s helping to launch a pilot project in Texas undertaken with ConocoPhilipps (COP), which is also an investor. US Renewables Group, Duke Energy (DUK), and Serious Change are also partners. The pilot will start at 2MW, the output of the average wind turbine -- enough to power 200 homes at peak demand -- but should be able to go up to 1,000MW, the power of two conventional coal-fired power plants, says Ingersoll.
General Compression (GC) is a project development company enabled by proprietary technology. Dispatchable Wind is firm, cost-competitive energy available on demand for any curve and time scale. Their projects are designed to set clean, domestic wind power on a path to become the dominant electric power generation source in the United States and abroad.
To be cost-effective for utility-scale operations, efficiency is crucial. In 2009 GC landed a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Energy Dept., enabling the company to test a critical refinement of their air- compression technology. “That [money] gave us a significant boost, going from ‘this looks like it is working,’ to ‘this is definitely working and it’s bankable,’” says Ingersoll, now chief executive officer and co-founder of the 40-employee General Compression in Newton, Mass.
This is just the kind of creative transformational-energy research the DOE is trying to support through its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). First funded in 2009, the 21-employee agency is a critical part of the Obama Administration’s response to the specter of a tripling in global energy demand by 2025. Explicitly modeled on the Pentagon’s counterpart, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E functions as a funding agency that supports the most promising breakthrough-research proposals coming out of universities, corporations, and nonprofits, as well as from its network of 17 national labs. The grants target early stage technology, nurturing proof-of-concept units into pilot stages and later, into demonstration projects backed by venture capital.
General Compression may not need further help from Uncle Sam. In early June the company closed a $54.5 million round led by Northwater Capital Management in Toronto. That’s helping to launch a pilot project in Texas undertaken with ConocoPhilipps (COP), which is also an investor. US Renewables Group, Duke Energy (DUK), and Serious Change are also partners. The pilot will start at 2MW, the output of the average wind turbine -- enough to power 200 homes at peak demand -- but should be able to go up to 1,000MW, the power of two conventional coal-fired power plants, says Ingersoll.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Odd that Brazil (former Portuguese colony) has a higher credit rating than Portugal; how times change!
Somehow I think the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso needs a) to get his facts correct. One rating agency, Fitch, is majority held by a French Company. Yes, S&P and Moody’s clearly American; and b) the point of a downgrade is to make it more difficult to issue debt.
The cost of insuring all weaker euro zone states' debt against default rose after Moody's announced the downgrade of Portugal to junk on Tuesday.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called for limits to be placed on the rating agencies' "oligopoly."
The European Union's executive body is drafting proposals to regulate rating agencies; there has been political talk, but no action so far, about creating a European agency.
Michel Barnier, the EU official in charge of regulation, said later he could examine how to suspend the rating of countries that are getting bailout funds from the EU and International Monetary Fund. These are Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
Moody's said Portugal may need a second round of rescue funds before it can return to capital markets, just as European governments and banks are haggling over a second 120 billion euro ($172 billion) bailout for Greece, which has a much higher debt ratio.
Ireland, the other euro zone country to have received a bailout, said on Tuesday it may have to make additional spending cuts next year to meet deficit reduction targets in its 85 billion euro bailout plan due to an economic slowdown.
A Reuters analysis last week found that Dublin may also need a second bailout because it is unlikely to grow fast enough to make the envisaged full return to market funding in 2013.
Moody's cited the EU's crisis management, and specifically the attempt to make private creditors share the burden of all future rescues, as one reason for its steep downgrade.
The demand that banks and insurers share the risk is driven by growing public hostility in north European creditor nations to any further bailouts for south European states seen as having lived beyond their means.
Rating agencies have warned they would be likely to treat any "voluntary" rollover of Greek bonds as a distressed debt exchange and declare it, at least temporarily, to be a selective default.
French banks have offered a plan under which banks would roll over about half of Greek debt that matures in 2011-14, putting another 20 percent into a "guarantee fund" of zero-coupon AAA bonds, and cashing out the remaining 30 percent.
German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen put Berlin's alternative proposal for a debt swap extending existing bonds' maturities by seven years back on the table on Wednesday, even though the European Central Bank has warned against it.
Underlying the debate is an increasingly prevalent view in financial markets -- disputed publicly by EU governments -- that Greece, and possibly also Portugal and Ireland, will have to restructure debt sooner or later and force significant losses on bondholders.
The more widespread that assumption becomes, the harder it will be to negotiate further official funding for Greece.
The IMF's new managing director, former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, warned the crisis could be comparable to the collapse of Lehman Brothers nearly three years ago unless action is taken to stave off a Greek default.
"It goes to show that this whole crisis isn't over just yet. Even if they cough up some more money for Greece, and that looks like it's a done deal, it's not over," said Jay Bryson, global economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
"I would think it's bad news for Spain and Italy as well."
The cost of insuring all weaker euro zone states' debt against default rose after Moody's announced the downgrade of Portugal to junk on Tuesday.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called for limits to be placed on the rating agencies' "oligopoly."
The European Union's executive body is drafting proposals to regulate rating agencies; there has been political talk, but no action so far, about creating a European agency.
Michel Barnier, the EU official in charge of regulation, said later he could examine how to suspend the rating of countries that are getting bailout funds from the EU and International Monetary Fund. These are Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
Moody's said Portugal may need a second round of rescue funds before it can return to capital markets, just as European governments and banks are haggling over a second 120 billion euro ($172 billion) bailout for Greece, which has a much higher debt ratio.
Ireland, the other euro zone country to have received a bailout, said on Tuesday it may have to make additional spending cuts next year to meet deficit reduction targets in its 85 billion euro bailout plan due to an economic slowdown.
A Reuters analysis last week found that Dublin may also need a second bailout because it is unlikely to grow fast enough to make the envisaged full return to market funding in 2013.
Moody's cited the EU's crisis management, and specifically the attempt to make private creditors share the burden of all future rescues, as one reason for its steep downgrade.
The demand that banks and insurers share the risk is driven by growing public hostility in north European creditor nations to any further bailouts for south European states seen as having lived beyond their means.
Rating agencies have warned they would be likely to treat any "voluntary" rollover of Greek bonds as a distressed debt exchange and declare it, at least temporarily, to be a selective default.
French banks have offered a plan under which banks would roll over about half of Greek debt that matures in 2011-14, putting another 20 percent into a "guarantee fund" of zero-coupon AAA bonds, and cashing out the remaining 30 percent.
German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen put Berlin's alternative proposal for a debt swap extending existing bonds' maturities by seven years back on the table on Wednesday, even though the European Central Bank has warned against it.
Underlying the debate is an increasingly prevalent view in financial markets -- disputed publicly by EU governments -- that Greece, and possibly also Portugal and Ireland, will have to restructure debt sooner or later and force significant losses on bondholders.
The more widespread that assumption becomes, the harder it will be to negotiate further official funding for Greece.
The IMF's new managing director, former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, warned the crisis could be comparable to the collapse of Lehman Brothers nearly three years ago unless action is taken to stave off a Greek default.
"It goes to show that this whole crisis isn't over just yet. Even if they cough up some more money for Greece, and that looks like it's a done deal, it's not over," said Jay Bryson, global economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
"I would think it's bad news for Spain and Italy as well."
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Fra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare...
What are the implications for the U.S given the weaknesses in Eurozone? Think about the market turbulence over Greece, Ireland and Portugal, and multiply.
All of this means the U.S. needs another round of stress tests. It would be wise for U.S. banks to raise enough capital now to withstand any trans- Atlantic storms, such as say hmmm Italy!
Italy has close to 2 trillion euros in debt outstanding. It’s inconceivable that Germany or the IMF could provide a rescue to protect its creditors. Such a package would have to involve loans and guarantees of at least 500 billion, and possibly 1 trillion, euros to impress the markets. This would be a significant fraction of Germany’s gross domestic product of about 2.5 trillion euros. With a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 80 percent, Germany’s ability to take on new debt is limited. Also let’s not forget east of Berlin issues.
The Netherlands, Finland and Austria, combined with Germany, have a GDP of about 3.5 trillion euros. France adds 2 trillion more, but its debt, already 85 percent of output, is expected to grow over the next several years.
Europe does not have enough fiscal firepower to handle an Italian crisis -- at least in such a way as to protect creditors completely. Why would Germany or other EU countries lend to Italy, particularly when its politicians show no sign of coming to grips with their reality?
Italian banks aren’t likely to fail. Regulators will offer plenty of forbearance, so the banks won’t have to value assets at true market values. But the overhang of sovereign-debt losses and a potential ratings downgrade (after a recent warning on Italy from Moody’s Investor Service) could cause banks to cut back on private-sector lending. This would lower GDP growth and further worsen Italy’s debt-to-GDP projections.
What Italy needs is industry, jobs, real value creation equaling real growth. Debt management without social transformation will only delay an inevitable default.
All of this means the U.S. needs another round of stress tests. It would be wise for U.S. banks to raise enough capital now to withstand any trans- Atlantic storms, such as say hmmm Italy!
Italy has close to 2 trillion euros in debt outstanding. It’s inconceivable that Germany or the IMF could provide a rescue to protect its creditors. Such a package would have to involve loans and guarantees of at least 500 billion, and possibly 1 trillion, euros to impress the markets. This would be a significant fraction of Germany’s gross domestic product of about 2.5 trillion euros. With a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 80 percent, Germany’s ability to take on new debt is limited. Also let’s not forget east of Berlin issues.
The Netherlands, Finland and Austria, combined with Germany, have a GDP of about 3.5 trillion euros. France adds 2 trillion more, but its debt, already 85 percent of output, is expected to grow over the next several years.
Europe does not have enough fiscal firepower to handle an Italian crisis -- at least in such a way as to protect creditors completely. Why would Germany or other EU countries lend to Italy, particularly when its politicians show no sign of coming to grips with their reality?
Italian banks aren’t likely to fail. Regulators will offer plenty of forbearance, so the banks won’t have to value assets at true market values. But the overhang of sovereign-debt losses and a potential ratings downgrade (after a recent warning on Italy from Moody’s Investor Service) could cause banks to cut back on private-sector lending. This would lower GDP growth and further worsen Italy’s debt-to-GDP projections.
What Italy needs is industry, jobs, real value creation equaling real growth. Debt management without social transformation will only delay an inevitable default.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses, G.Washington
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. (Excerpt USA Declaration of Independence)
A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Thomas Jefferson
A government of laws, and not of men.
John Adams
All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
Benjamin Franklin
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln
A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.
Theodore Roosevelt
A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.
Herbert Hoover
A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.
John F. Kennedy
In the new economy, information, education, and motivation are everything.
William J. Clinton
Happy Birthday America!!!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. (Excerpt USA Declaration of Independence)
A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Thomas Jefferson
A government of laws, and not of men.
John Adams
All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
Benjamin Franklin
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln
A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.
Theodore Roosevelt
A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.
Herbert Hoover
A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.
John F. Kennedy
In the new economy, information, education, and motivation are everything.
William J. Clinton
Happy Birthday America!!!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Summer Heat!!!
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up three points in screen trade.
The Tokyo market was buoyed by optimism over the U.S. manufacturing data and on buying in exporter stocks as yen weakened against the euro.
All 33 Topix subindexes were higher with Honda Motor up 2.7%, Sony 0.9% higher and Mitsui Fudosan up 3.6%.
Bridgestone advanced 2.9% after it announced a hike in truck and bus tire prices. Hitachi Zosen tacked on 3.2% on a Nikkei report over the weekend that the company has received an order worth an estimated ¥20 billion to build a plant in the U.K.
South Korean tech shares rose as the firm U.S. data raised hopes for stronger global demand-growth, analysts said; Samsung Electronics tacked on 3.0% and LG Electronics added 2.0%. Auto shares were also higher after Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors posted solid sales growth in the U.S. for June; the stocks were up 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively.
In Sydney, BHP Billiton rose 0.9%, Origin Energy added 0.9% and major banks were up 0.7%-0.8%.
Treasury Wine Estates jumped 10% after Bloomberg reported that China's Bright Food is considering a takeover bid.
Murchison Metals bucked the market and slumped 12% after it said costs for the Oakajee iron ore export project, which it jointly manages with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp., have increased by more than a third to A$5.94 billion (US$6.40 billion) and that the first ore won't be delivered until 2015.
Qantas Airways surged 4.1% after Australia's airline safety regulator grounded Tiger Airways Australia flights for a week on safety concerns, and engineers cancelled industrial action against Qantas. Shares of the Singaporean budget airline Tiger Airways Holdings, the parent of Tiger Airways Australia, slumped 8.4% on the Singapore bourse on the regulatory action.
In foreign exchange markets, stronger equities and further progress in resolving Greece's debt crisis drove risk-sensitive currencies higher, with the euro tapping a one-month high of $1.4580 against the U.S. dollar in early Asian trade.
Over the weekend euro-zone finance ministers signed off on a new slice of bailout money for Greece. They also decided they would agree by September on arrangements for a new bailout to supplement the €110 billion package (US$159.79 billion) they agreed on last year, but which fell short, mainly because Greece is unable to raise money in the financial markets, as had been expected.
Investment ideas: commodities and manufacturing.
The Tokyo market was buoyed by optimism over the U.S. manufacturing data and on buying in exporter stocks as yen weakened against the euro.
All 33 Topix subindexes were higher with Honda Motor up 2.7%, Sony 0.9% higher and Mitsui Fudosan up 3.6%.
Bridgestone advanced 2.9% after it announced a hike in truck and bus tire prices. Hitachi Zosen tacked on 3.2% on a Nikkei report over the weekend that the company has received an order worth an estimated ¥20 billion to build a plant in the U.K.
South Korean tech shares rose as the firm U.S. data raised hopes for stronger global demand-growth, analysts said; Samsung Electronics tacked on 3.0% and LG Electronics added 2.0%. Auto shares were also higher after Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors posted solid sales growth in the U.S. for June; the stocks were up 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively.
In Sydney, BHP Billiton rose 0.9%, Origin Energy added 0.9% and major banks were up 0.7%-0.8%.
Treasury Wine Estates jumped 10% after Bloomberg reported that China's Bright Food is considering a takeover bid.
Murchison Metals bucked the market and slumped 12% after it said costs for the Oakajee iron ore export project, which it jointly manages with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp., have increased by more than a third to A$5.94 billion (US$6.40 billion) and that the first ore won't be delivered until 2015.
Qantas Airways surged 4.1% after Australia's airline safety regulator grounded Tiger Airways Australia flights for a week on safety concerns, and engineers cancelled industrial action against Qantas. Shares of the Singaporean budget airline Tiger Airways Holdings, the parent of Tiger Airways Australia, slumped 8.4% on the Singapore bourse on the regulatory action.
In foreign exchange markets, stronger equities and further progress in resolving Greece's debt crisis drove risk-sensitive currencies higher, with the euro tapping a one-month high of $1.4580 against the U.S. dollar in early Asian trade.
Over the weekend euro-zone finance ministers signed off on a new slice of bailout money for Greece. They also decided they would agree by September on arrangements for a new bailout to supplement the €110 billion package (US$159.79 billion) they agreed on last year, but which fell short, mainly because Greece is unable to raise money in the financial markets, as had been expected.
Investment ideas: commodities and manufacturing.
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