Daily Business Report: Oct. 2, 2023
Visual Capitalist
What Electricity Sources Power the World?
By Chris Dickert; Graphics/Design: Sam Parker
In 2022, 29,165.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity was generated around the world, an increase of 2.3 percent from the previous year.
In this visualization, we look at data from the latest Statistical Review of World Energy and ask what powered the world in 2022.
Coal is Still King
Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35.4 percent of global power generation in 2022, followed by natural gas at 22.7 percent, and hydroelectric at 14.9 percent.
Over three-quarters of the world’s total coal-generated electricity is consumed in just three countries. China is the top user of coal, making up 53.3 percent of global coal demand, followed by India at 13.6 percent, and the U.S. at 8.9 percent.
Burning coal—for electricity, as well as metallurgy and cement production—is the world’s single largest source of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, its use in electricity generation has actually grown 91.2 percent since 1997, the year when the first global climate agreement was signed in Kyoto, Japan.
Renewables on the Rise
However, even as non-renewables enjoy their time in the sun, their days could be numbered.
In 2022, renewables, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, represented 14.4 percent of total electricity generation with an extraordinary annual growth rate of 14.7 percent, driven by big gains in solar and wind. Non-renewables, by contrast, only managed an anemic 0.4 percent.
Groundbreaking Tuesday for first park
in the Chula Vista Bayfront development
The Port of San Diego and City of Chula Vista will hold a groundbreaking celebration Tuesday at 10 a.m. for Sweetwater Park — the first park space to be completed as part of the Chula Vista Bayfront redevelopment.
Sweetwater Park will be built near E Street and Bay Boulevard, just north of the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center where construction is currently underway.
The total cost for Sweetwater Park, including design and construction support, is just under $19.7 million, part of which will be funded through a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund through the National Parks Service and the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
San Diego Computer Center selects
Rick Wagner as its new chief technology officer
Rick Wagner begins his new job today as chief technology officer for the San Diego Computer Center at UC San Diego.
As a member of the center’s leadership team, Wagner will play a key role in the development of SDSC’s high-performance computing and data technology vision and roadmap, bringing together expertise across the center to drive technology innovation and its application to a wide range of research challenges.
Wagner is not new to SDSC. He served as HPC Systems Engineer and then HPC Systems Manager at SDSC between 2010 and 2016 before joining the University of Chicago as a member of the Globus management team. In 2020, Wagner returned to UC San Diego, where he has been serving as principal systems integration engineer in the Research IT Services group, helping campus researchers and faculty adopt new technologies and services
EPA settles with San Diego company over emissions violations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Integrated DNA Technologies Inc. for claims of violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act tied to emissions at the company’s San Diego facility. The company has agreed to pay a $15,890 civil penalty and has certified it is now in compliance with the requirements of federal law. As part of the settlement, the company agreed to perform a supplemental environmental project valued at $61,388 to purchase equipment for the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department’s use in safely responding to emergencies involving airborne contaminants.
Two Salk Institute faculty members earn
V Foundation awards for cancer research
Salk Institute Assistant Professors Christina Towers and Deepshika Ramanan were named V Scholars by the V Foundation for Cancer Research. They will each receive $600,000 over three years to fund their unique cancer research goals.
Towers was named to the first class of recipients of V Foundation’s A Grant of Her Own: The Women Scientists Innovation Award for Cancer Research, which was created to help counteract longstanding gender disparities in research.
With her V Scholar Award, Ramanan will study the mechanisms by which breastmilk factors can shape intestinal microbes and immune cells and potentially protect generations from colorectal cancer.
What’s at risk: Climate change’s potential
on all things mortgage — lenders, servicing
rights and mortgage-backed securities
By Douglas Page
What makes a house in a woodsy California town captivating – it’s a primal sanctuary returning people to nature – also comes with exorbitant risk: The possibility of a whipped-up wildfire.
“The characteristics of a place that heighten its risk of wildfire damage are often simultaneously the very environmental amenities that draw people to live there,” said the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in a 2021 report. “As a result, it is not clear whether local wildfire destruction would be significant enough to alter the draw of such regions.”
A survey, conducted by a Stanford University doctoral candidate and professor, confirms that, saying most people aren’t about to pick up for areas less prone to burning.
Published last year, it looked at more than 1,100 California residents living in areas where a wildfire is a possibility, asking them if they intended to move after the 2020 wildfire season. Only about a third, the study’s authors wrote, said yes.
City of Chula Vista breaks ground on phase one of UniverCity
Together with Chesnut Properties, McCarthy, and Gensler, the City of Chula Vista broke ground on the first phase of the UniverCity located in its mixed-use Millenia master-planned community. With phase one set to deliver in 2025, UniverCity can accommodate 4 million square feet of academic space for 20,000 students and 6,000 faculty/staff, 2 million square feet of innovation district for 8,000 jobs, nearly 3 million square feet of residental and 160 acres of open space preserve.
Swiss-based Enclustra opens San Diego operations
Swiss-based tech company Enclustra Inc. announced the official opening of its U.S. operations in San Diego. When it comes to realizing the next big thing in aerospace & defense, medical, vision systems, and wireless communications, Enclustra provides design services and embeds System-on-Chips modules on boards the size of a credit card to help customers reduce time-to-market, mitigate risk, and create solutions that improve business and life. Enclustra plans to recruit and hire more than 30 positions in sales, engineering, local sourcing, and manufacturing over the next 12-18 months.
Rejuvenation opens new store in San Diego
Rejuvenation, a portfolio brand of Williams-Sonoma Inc., the world’s largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer, announced the opening of a new store in the Westfield University Town Center Shopping Center. Rejuvenation San Diego is the 11th retail location for the Portland-based lighting, hardware, and home furnishings company.
The new 7,500 square-foot store will showcase more than 240 light fixtures and 40 collections of hardware designed for cabinets, doors, windows and outdoor spaces.
Datron World Communications
acquired by Cyberlux Corporation
San Diego-based Datron World Communications Inc., a U.S. based supplier of tactical communications products, announced its recent acquisition by Cyberlux Corporation, a leading provider of innovative defense technology systems. This milestone marks the union of two industry pioneers, creating a powerhouse of integrated technologies to meet the complex needs of modern defense and communication landscapes.
1Strand, EDC launch RNA cluster economic impact report
Together with 1Strand, EDC released a comprehensive overview and economic impact assessment of San Diego’s RNA cluster. Supporting more than 11,000 jobs and sitting at the intersection of R&D, manufacturing, trade, and health care, RNA therapeutics innovation is a key part of the region’s life sciences ecosystem and broader economy.
SchoolsFirst Federal Credit union donates 2,500 filled backpacks
SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union serving school employees and their families, announced its Membership Development and Advocacy teams delivered 2,500 backpacks filled with school supplies – including pencils, erasers, notebooks and other necessities – to 11 county offices of education, including San Diego, or a designated school district, throughout California.
ESET’s Cameron Tousley is honored
ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity, announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Cameron Tousley, director of MSP Channels at ESET North America, as one of the IT channel’s 100 People You Don’t Know But Should for 2023. Every year, this list honors the people working tirelessly behind the scenes to craft and maintain the channel, sales and marketing programs and processes their company’s partners need to succeed.
SeaWorld Howl-O-Scream voted No. 1
Best Theme Park Halloween Event
Sinister scares are everywhere at SeaWorld Howl-O-Scream, recently named the #1 Best Theme Park Halloween Event by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. SeaWorld Howl-O-Scream was voted to the top by theme park enthusiasts and fans of fear across the country. Howl-O-Scream events in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego boast menacing scare zones, terrifying haunted houses, signature shows and more horrifying fun throughout the three SeaWorld parks.
Jandy adds more horsepower to its pump lineup
Fluidra, a leading manufacturer of innovative automatic pool cleaners and pool equipment, has increased its residential pool pump offering under the Jandy brand to include more efficient and powerful pumps capable of operating a greater variety of pools. Now offering pumps with a horsepower as high as 3.8 THP, Jandy offers a wide-range of variable-speed pumps to suit any system. The newest pumps are designed with advanced technologies that cater to pool owners seeking more power and efficiency in running their pools.
SBA to open Disaster Loan Outreach Center in Bonita
The U.S. Small Business Administration will open its Disaster Loan Outreach Center beginning today at the San Diego County Library Bonita-Sunnyside to meet the nees of businesses and individuals who were affected by Tropical Storm Hilary that occurred Aug. 19-21. The center will be open today from 1 to 6 p.m., Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
