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(Bloomberg) — Satellite data showing methane emissions near a Glencore Plc coal mine in Australia is putting pressure on one of the world’s largest commodity trading houses to explain the global hotspot.

Scientists at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research estimated the Hail Creek mine spewed between 123,000 and 263,000 metric tons of methane last year based on concentrations of the super-potent greenhouse gas detected by satellite. That’s in line with the previous year, for which the researchers estimated the mine emitted 133,000 to 223,000 tons of methane.The Swiss-based commodities giant, which has continued to mine the dirtiest fossil fuel even as rivals have looked to sell out, posted its highest-ever profit Tuesday. The amount of methane the researchers estimated spewed from Hail Creek would have the same short-term warming impact as the annual emissions from anywhere between about 2.2 million and 4.8 million U.S. cars each year.

Glencore didn’t confirm the SRON estimate or say how much methane the mine emits. The mine reported net emissions of 503,591 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in the year ended June 2020 to Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator. Even if that figure only accounted for methane it would fall far short of the SRON estimate. Using a global warming potential factor of 28 — the multiplier used to show the impact over 100 years — it equates to only about 18,000 tons of methane emissions.The CER said “the agency is of the view that emissions and energy data for the Hail Creek Mine has been reported compliantly.” The department said emissions reports filed by operators are reviewed and assessed for wrongdoing and the vast majority meet their requirements.Mounting investor pressure will motivate Glencore and other miners to curb methane emissions, said Leonard Quong, an analyst with BloombergNEF in Sydney. “This pressure will grow as more accurate methane measuring technologies become available and as emissions reduction goals get closer.”Satellite observations of methane have exposed large-scale releases of the potent greenhouse gas globally from coal, oil and natural gas operations. About 75% of methane releases from the fossil fuel industry must be eliminated by 2030 to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and to maintain a pathway toward a net zero energy system by mid-century, according to the International Energy Agency.The same SRON scientists who estimated the Hail Creek mine emissions for the last two years were among a larger group of researchers who found that the mine spewed similar levels of methane in 2018 and 2019, according to a paper published in November in Environmental Science & Technology. The scientists called for the on-the-ground measurements to validate their findings after releasing the new estimates for 2021 and 2020 to Bloomberg.

READ MORE: These Australian Coal Mines Are Methane Super-Emitters“You have to try to get closer to your source with measuring equipment to try to find out what is happening,” Ilse Aben, a scientist with SRON said.Geologically older and deeper coal deposits tend to contain more methane than shallower seams, which is why emissions from surface mines, such as Hail Creek, tend to be lower than underground mines. But the analysis of satellite data suggests that conventional wisdom may not always hold.Glencore said “questions have been raised about the ability of satellite imagery to correctly or accurately identify, quantify, isolate or attribute different emission sources, particularly in an area with numerous mining operations and without ground based or low level aerial monitoring.” The operator added that emissions from its Bowen Basin operations are accounted for in its climate targets, which include a 15% reduction in total emissions by 2026 and a 50% cut by 2035.Other scientists have have also looked at emissions from mines in Australia. Kayrros SAS estimated last year that for every ton of coal produced in the Bowen Basin, an average of 7.5 kilograms of methane is released. That was 47% higher than the average global methane intensity estimated by the IEA, the French geoanalytics firm said at the time.

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(Bloomberg) — Pakistan’s central bank said that risks posed by cryptocurrencies outweigh its benefits, doubling down on its earlier message to stay away from investments in digital currencies.

In emerging markets and developing countries struggling with large informal economies, there is a risk of unregulated currencies being used for transactions instead of the nation’s legal currency, Reza Baqir, governor of State Bank of Pakistan, said. Their speculative nature, acute price fluctuations, and decentralized nature can pose a risk to financial and monetary stability for a developing country, he said in a speech on Feb. 14.

“Because of their anonymous nature, some cryptocurrencies are prone to be used for illegal economic activities,” said Baqir. “In such cases for countries like Pakistan, there is a risk of a widening grey economy and a risk of capital flight.”

The nation’s central bank’s four-year-old stance of discouraging cryptocurrencies is currently being challenged in a local court. However, Baqir is still open to the idea of central bank digital currencies. 

“The work underway in many countries in many international institutions on CBDCs, is welcome,” said Baqir. “This work in our view should be evaluated from the perspective of how CBDCs can contribute to each regulator’s goals.”

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(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk gifted almost $6 billion worth of Tesla Inc. stock to charity late last year in one of the largest philanthropic donations in history.

The world’s richest man donated more than 5 million shares in the electric-car maker from Nov. 19 to Nov. 29, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The gift was worth about $5.7 billion, based on average prices the days he sold the securities. The filing doesn’t name the charity and shows an unidentified trust was involved in the transaction.

The donation occurred as Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, sparred with politicians including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over inequality and a proposed wealth tax. In the weeks leading up to the gift, Musk suggested he’d sell stock if the United Nations proved $6 billion would help solve world hunger, after the head of the organization’s World Food Programme called for billionaires like Musk to “step up.”

A large gift to charity would help reduce what Musk has said would be the biggest tax bill in U.S. history. Days before he completed a series of stock sales worth more than $16 billion — much of which was to cover the exercise of almost 23 million options — the CEO tweeted he would pay more than $11 billion in taxes for the year.

Much of Musk’s wealth is tied to Tesla, which overtook Toyota Motor Corp. as the world’s most valuable automaker in July 2020 and joined a select group of companies with trillion-dollar valuations in October. Tesla’s market capitalization has slipped since then to about $905 billion at Monday’s close. The shares advanced as much as 3.7% before the start of regular trading Tuesday.

As his net worth has grown, Musk has bristled at criticism of billionaires and said he’d sell his homes and most of his possessions. With a $227.3 billion fortune, he’s more than $47 billion richer than the world’s second-wealthiest person, Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Musk has an eponymous foundation that’s become more active over recent years, with large, eight-figure gifts promised to the city near his South Texas spaceport, a $100 million competition for carbon removal and a $5 million contribution to two scientists researching Covid-19. Before then, his foundation’s largest contributions were to donor-advised funds, or DAFs, where charitable money can sit in perpetuity.

The Musk Foundation, which used to count Musk’s brother Kimbal as a director, has recently added a new face to its roster. Several grant recipients Bloomberg News spoke with have said their primary point of contact at the foundation is Igor Kurganov, a professional poker player-turned-philanthropist who is active in the effective altruism space.

(Updates with context on Musk’s wealth starting in the fifth paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) — Next Gen Foods Pte, a Singapore-based maker of faux chicken meat, raised $100 million to expand in the U.S., the world’s biggest market for plant-based protein foods.

Investors in the Series A round included Alpha JWC, EDBI and MPL Ventures, with existing backers Temasek Holdings Pte, GGV Capital, K3 Ventures and Bits x Bites participating. The fresh capital brings the total raised by the startup to more than $130 million and follows a seed round last year.

A move into the U.S. pits Next Gen Foods against Impossible Foods Inc. and Beyond Meat Inc., whose meatless offerings have gained ground in many eateries and homes. The alternative protein market has been on the rise as consumers look for options that might be more sustainable than traditional animal products.

Next Gen Foods’ product, called Tindle, contains “lipi,” a signature mix of plant-based ingredients the startup says imparts a chicken-like taste the same way heme is considered key to the Impossible Burger’s flavor.

Next Gen plans to distribute to restaurants in major cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, hoping to win over fans before expanding to more locations and stores. The company will also use the fresh funds for research and development, education and to build up its supply chain.

The bigger U.S. rivals are also expanding in faux chicken meat. Impossible Foods introduced a line of faux chicken nuggets in 2021, while Beyond Meat partnered with KFC to market its soy-based meatless nuggets.

Yet Next Gen is confident there’s room for more brands in the market. The company is betting that it can win over restaurants and consumers by giving them more than one type of plant-based chicken product.

The U.S. “is the most mature and the biggest market in the world for this industry, but it’s far from being truly competitive,” Andre Menezes, co-founder and chief executive officer of Next Gen, said in a video interview. “If you show me one chef that’s genuinely excited with nuggets to put it on the center of the plate, I would be very surprised.”

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(Bloomberg) — A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S’s chairman, Jim Hagemann Snabe, is leaving his position to pave the way for a Maersk family member to take over the job of overseeing the Danish shipping giant.

Robert Maersk Uggla, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, has been nominated to become chairman at next month’s annual general meeting. Uggla, 43, is chief executive officer of AP Moller Holding A/S, which invests the wealth of the Maersk family.

Snabe, the chairman of Siemens AG and a former executive at software giant SAP SE, joined Maersk’s board in 2016 to help drive a digital transformation of the Copenhagen-based shipping line. Earlier this month, Snabe said he will step down as deputy chairman of Allianz SE amid investor concerns that he sits on too many boards.

Snabe, 56, said it’s the right time for a “generational change” at Maersk, according to a statement on Tuesday. Uggla, who has been a board member since 2014, “has played a central role in the restructuring and transformation,” Snabe said.

The Maersk family controls about 55% of the share capital and 71% of the votes in the transport company, through AP Moller Holding and two other funds.

Maersk also said that Vice Chairman Ane Maersk McKinney Uggla, who’s the mother of Robert Maersk Uggla, won’t stand for re-election at next month’s AGM. Marc Engel, the outgoing chief chief supply chain officer at Unilever Plc, has been nominated to become the new vice-chairman.

Robert Maersk Uggla will probably continue the shipping line’s current strategy of expanding land-based logistics, including via takeovers, Brian Borsting a credit analyst at Danske Bank, said in a note.

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