Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Renewable Diesel Fuel Growth Projected


According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable diesel production is projected to increase through 2024 in anticipation of several projects under development. By the end of 2020, renewable diesel production capacity was 600 million gallons a year or 38,000 barrels a day. With the addition of these current projects and accompanying incentives (state and federal targets for this energy source and tax credits), the projected production figure is 5.1 billion gallons by the end of 2024.

Diesel emissions have been reduced by 95 percent in response to stricter federal regulations. Furthermore, the government intends to decrease diesel emissions by 25 percent by 2027.

In addition to these measures, the demand for cleaner fuels is growing, and as a result, more businesses have invested in renewable diesel globally, including in the United States. On the west coast, such as California, Oregon, and Washington, the expectation is a large part of the demand for energy produced on the Gulf Coast will come from these states. The EIA also stated that some of these projects requiring renewable diesel would be located on the Gulf Coast.

The fuel source offers both advantages and disadvantages. It is has been referred to as a “next-generation synthetic diesel fuel.” In actuality, renewable diesel is not petroleum-based. Instead, it is made from vegetable oil or other biomass, such as wood, agricultural waste, or garbage. It can also be made from coal or natural gas.

Renewable diesel is made from either hydrogenation or Fischer-Tropsch. Through either one of these processes, renewable diesel is created by taking each molecule, breaking it into smaller parts, and then reforming it, but this time including hydrogen. It is a process of taking vegetables in turning them into cleaner fuel.

The process does come with a few caveats. First, it is more expensive to produce than standard diesel, and these costs are usually passed on to consumers. The second disadvantage is that some of the product's sources have raised environmental concerns. For instance, in the case of harvesting palm oil, these concerns relate to deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats.

Even with these disadvantages, the fuel source has several benefits, especially for industry. One of its more immediate advantages is that it can be used by itself or with regular diesel fuel without impacting the specification of the fuel.

Furthermore, there are no compatibility issues with the vehicle either. The fuel can be stored for a long time without risking deterioration in quality or water accumulation, which creates microbial growth. In heavy-duty diesel engines, the fuel can be used directly without any modifications.

Moreover, this high-quality diesel fuel offers up to between 50 and 80 percent of lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions in comparison to petroleum diesel fuel. The fuel allows for better vehicle performance with a lower carbon dioxide footprint. In fact, renewable diesel offers drivers better performance in cold weather, ensuring faster starts, improved throttle response, and less noise.

These benefits make the fuel compatible with vehicles that experience idling and stopping, for example, utility budget trucks and garbage haulers. Renewable diesel has cost savings in that it can reduce maintenance costs on a modern, clean diesel truck.

Friday, January 28, 2022

History and Development of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency, Business, Finance, Money

Cryptocurrency is a virtual currency that serves as a digital means of exchange. It is a collection of binary data owned by private individuals or groups. Since national governments do not regulate them, they are regarded as alternative currencies, existing outside the states’ monetary policy bounds. Generally, they are not fiat currencies, not backed by or convertible into goods or commodities.

The origin of cryptocurrencies began in 1980 when people knew them as cyber currencies. In 1989, cryptocurrency was mentioned for the first time, and in 1980, David Chaum invented digital cash, which used cryptography to verify and secure transactions. In 1995, he implemented Diggy cash, making it the earliest worthy digital currency. After that, other attempts at cryptocurrencies emerged including, Bit Gold, Hashcash, Flooz, and B-money.

Software engineer, Wei Dai, first described modern cryptocurrencies in 1998. He released a white paper publication on b-money, a digital currency architecture featuring many modern cryptocurrency components like the distributed electronic cash system. However, the concept did not entirely emerge until 2009 with the release of Bitcoin. In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto, presumably a pseudonymous person or group, published the white paper explaining the foundations of blockchain and Bitcoin and released Bitcoin in 2009. On the release of the currency, enthusiasts and supporters began mining and exchanging with it. The first transaction took place on the 12th of January, 2009, between Nakamoto and Hal Finney.

In the early parts of 2010, Bitcoin was still the only cryptocurrency in the market; however, later that year, Litecoin emerged. Over the next few years, more digital currencies came into the market. In 2012, WordPress accepted payment in Bitcoin, making it the first major merchant to do so.

Over the next couple of years, digital currencies continued to rise and fall along with Bitcoin. This period of volatility caused many people to lose faith in crypto as a form of investment. However, in 2017, cryptocurrency witnessed an unprecedented rise, and the value of several digital coins skyrocketed. By January 2018, the total market cap for all the currencies got to $820 billion, and although it crashed later that same month, the market continued to witness steady growth. This era also saw a rise in crypto scams; thieves stole millions of dollars from phishing attacks to Fake Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).

Countless merchants worldwide view cryptocurrency as a legitimate means of payment, including Tesla, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Amazon, and PayPal. Cryptocurrencies offer the advantages of political independence and impenetrable data security, which traditional fiat currencies do not necessarily offer. For example, governments cannot easily freeze or seize crypto accounts, whereas they can easily do so when a bank account is within their jurisdiction. However, unlike many fiat currencies, many countries are wary about cryptocurrencies because their value is unpredictable; and you can’t easily change them for cash without suffering a significant loss in value.

Nevertheless, cryptocurrency remains a practical work in progress. The market continues to boom, and people expect it to get even bigger, with more widespread adoption. Many people believe that crypto is here to stay and will play a massive role in the future of the money system.



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Looking Back at Global Oil Prices


Global oil prices rose significantly in 2021, making up for the losses clocked in 2020. The benchmark Brent crude oil went up 55 percent in 2021. It kicked off the year at $55 per barrel, rose to $70/b in Q1, rallied to just below $80/b mid-year, then ripped upward to $86/b in October before closing the year at $75/b. Brent’s average price for 2021 was $71/b, a three-year high.

Another benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, followed a similar pattern as Brent crude. It started the year at $47/b, hit about $75/b mid-year, peaked at $86/b in October, then closed the year at about $75/b. Its average price for 2021 was 68/b. Overall, WTI was up 62 percent for the year.

Oil prices started the year positively, rising on the back of a global re-opening of economies after months of COVID-19-related lockdowns. High vaccination rates and loosening travel restrictions unleashed a demand for oil much higher than producers could supply, prompting upward price action.

The global mismatch in demand and supply at the start of 2021 was largely because of a December 2020 resolution by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to limit oil production by 0.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) to shore up prices that had taken a beating in 2020 (Brent fell about 27 percent in 2020).

In the United States, high crude prices were propped up by low production from United States producers (up to 1.3mb/d less) because of adverse weather in February and producers' general decline in investment. Data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that since Q3 2018, the 47 publicly traded United States energy and petroleum explorers and producers have generally been winding down capital expenditure from over $23 billion to about $6 billion in Q3 2020. Though they increased capital expenditure for most of 2021, this still lagged behind their 2015-2018 investments. The ratio of capital expenditure to cash flow for the 47 producers was 41 percent in Q3 2021, the lowest in 26 years.

These local and global factors contributed to such a low crude supply at the start of 2021 that by March 2021, Brent prices had recovered to their January 2020 highs of $70/b and by mid-year, were just shy of $80/b.

In July 2021, OPEC announced that it would start increasing crude oil production every month by 0.4mb/d. This calmed the markets, with Brent withdrawing to below $70/b in Q3. However, the reprieve was short-lived. Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall on the United States coast of Louisiana on Aug. 29, shutting down 96 percent of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. This, combined with commercial oil inventory shortages and high demand in Asian markets, triggered an energy shortage that was the catalyst for the final crude oil rally of the year, where Brent prices hit a seven-year high of $86/b in October.

Toward the end of the year, the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, caused tension. Renewed lockdowns and travel restrictions in parts of the world dealt a blow to oil, and Brent declined from its multi-year high to close the year at about $77/b.

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

An Overview of Trading Binary Options


A binary option is a financial option in which the reward is either a predetermined monetary sum or zero. The asset-or-nothing binary option and cash-or-nothing binary option are the primary forms of binary options. If the option expires in-the-money, the former pays a predetermined sum of cash, whereas in the latter case, the trader pays the value of the underlying security.

Traders make predictions on whether an underlying asset is above a specified price at a given time. A trader buys a binary option if they believe the price of an underlying asset will be above a certain price at a specific time but sells it if they think it will fall below that price. Until the option expires, the bid and offer vary. To lock in a profit or minimize a loss, one can close a position at any point before expiry.

However, there are disadvantages: Binary options are vulnerable to fraud in practice and are prohibited as a form of gambling in some jurisdictions. Because of their negative cumulative payout and the fact that they are touted as requiring little or no market knowledge, binary options are looked at as a type of gambling rather than an investment. Unfortunately, many binary option brokers use the surface-level simplicity as scams.

Some brokers also manipulate price data to defraud customers. Even though binary options are sometimes traded on a licensed exchange, many are unregulated and vulnerable to fraud. Traders should be wary when selecting a broker and only pick a reputable one.

Binary options traders profit from properly forecasting whether a market will be over a certain price at a specific time. Traders either gain a predetermined profit or lose the money paid to open the trade when it expires. Because risk is capped, traders can lose their capital and nothing else. A binary option contract comprises three main components: the underlying market, the price at which the strike is made, and the time and date of expiration.

Binary options traders can trade a variety of asset classes. Major indexes are available for trading through brokers. Global indices, forex pairs, and commodities are also available to binary options traders. Intraday options give day traders the chance to earn a guaranteed return even in quiet market conditions.

Day traders who wish to hedge other stock or commodity holdings against that day's movements can employ daily options, which expire after the trading day. Weekly options expire after the trading week and are traded by swing traders throughout the week.

Unlike the stock or foreign exchange markets, where price slippage might occur, binary options risk is limited. It's impossible to lose more than the trade's cost. Experts recommend that individuals trade with money they can afford to lose and use a demo account to understand how binary options work before using real money entirely.

Every binary options trader has their judgments based on what has already occurred and what they believe this signifies for future market moves. Of course, no one can predict the future, and even seasoned traders can't guarantee what will happen. Traders should learn the various forms of market analysis (including fundamental analysis and technical analysis) to trade options successfully.

Renewable Diesel Fuel Growth Projected

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable diesel production is projected to increase through 2024 in anticipat...