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The Renault Group’s CEO, Luca de Meo, describes plans for company’s Douai plant as “one of the most ambitious decarbonisation projects on a European industrial site.”
The U.S. Department of Energy says geothermal energy “supplies renewable power around the clock and emits little or no greenhouse gases.”
Renault says it’s targeting carbon neutrality in Europe by the year 2040 and globally by 2050.

A Renault logo photographed in Bavaria, Germany. The French automotive giant says it’s targeting carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040 and globally by 2050.
Igor Golovniov/Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

The Renault Group is working with French utility Engie on the development of a geothermal energy project at the automaker’s Douai facility, with the collaboration set to last 15 years.
In a statement, Renault said Thursday a subsidiary of Engie would start drilling work at Douai — which was established in 1970 and focuses on bodywork assembly — in late 2023.

The plan centers around taking hot water from a depth of 4,000 meters, or more than 13,100 feet.
According to Renault, this water will be used to help meet the Douai site’s “industrial and heating process needs from 2025.” The temperature of the water will be between 130 and 140 degrees Celsius.
“Once implemented, this geothermal technology would provide a power of nearly 40 MW continuously,” the company said.
“In summer, when the need for heat is lower, geothermal energy could be used to produce carbon-free electricity,” it added.

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The Renault Group’s CEO, Luca de Meo, described the program planned for Douai as “one of the most ambitious decarbonisation projects on a European industrial site.”

According to the International Energy Agency, geothermal energy refers to “energy available as heat contained in or discharged from the earth’s crust” which can be utilized to produce electricity and provide direct heat.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Energy says geothermal energy “supplies renewable power around the clock and emits little or no greenhouse gases.”
News about Renault’s geothermal project with Engie was accompanied by details of other projects centered around decarbonizing operations at a number of the automotive giant’s industrial facilities.
Looking at the bigger picture, Renault says it’s targeting carbon neutrality in Europe by the year 2040 and globally by 2050.
Despite these aims, a top executive at the firm recently told CNBC that the firm saw the internal combustion engine as continuing to play a crucial role in its business over the coming years.
Earlier this month, it was announced the Renault Group and Chinese firm Geely had signed a non-binding framework agreement to establish a company focused on the development, production and supply of “hybrid powertrains and highly efficient ICE [internal combustion engine] powertrains.”
Speaking to CNBC’s Charlotte Reed, Renault Chief Financial Officer Thierry Pieton sought to explain some of the reasoning behind the planned partnership with Geely.
“In our view, and according to all the studies that we’ve got, there is no scenario where ICE and hybrid engines represent less than 40% of the market with a horizon of 2040,” he said. “So it’s actually … a market that’s going to continue to grow.”

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Renault’s continued focus on the internal combustion engine comes at a time when some big economies are looking to move away from vehicles that use fossil fuels.
The U.K., for example, wants to stop the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans by 2030. It will require, from 2035, all new cars and vans to have zero tailpipe emissions.
The European Union, which the U.K. left on Jan. 31, 2020, is pursuing similar targets. Over in the United States, California is banning the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles starting in 2035. More

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EDF says the 480-megawatt Saint-Nazaire Offshore Wind Farm would help to “support the French State’s energy transition goals.”
For decades, France has been something of a powerhouse when it comes to nuclear.
In wind power, the country has an established onshore sector. Its offshore industry is, by contrast, very small.

This image, from Sept. 2022, shows French President Emmanuel Macron speaking with workers on board a boat during a visit to the Saint-Nazaire Offshore Wind Farm.
Stephane Mahe | AFP | Getty Images

A facility described as “France’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project” is fully operational, multinational utility EDF said this week.
The news represents a significant step forward for the country’s offshore wind sector, with more projects set to come online in the years ahead.

In a statement Wednesday, EDF said the 480-megawatt Saint-Nazaire Offshore Wind Farm would help to “support the French State’s energy transition goals, which include targets to generate 32% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.” EDF’s majority shareholder is the French state.
Located in waters off the south west coast of France, the Saint-Nazaire project consists of 80 turbines. Its first electricity was generated in June 2022.
Looking ahead, EDF said the wind farm would “supply the equivalent of the consumption of 700,000 people with electricity every year.”

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While the Saint-Nazaire project represents a significant shot in the arm for France’s nascent offshore wind sector, the country has for decades been something of a powerhouse when it comes to nuclear.
According to the World Nuclear Association, France is home to 56 operable reactors. “France derives about 70% of its electricity from nuclear energy,” it adds.

In wind power, the country has an established onshore sector. Its offshore industry is by contrast miniscule, with a cumulative capacity of just 2 MW in 2021, according to figures from industry body WindEurope.
This is set to change in the coming years. “Offshore installations are finally set to take off as of 2022, and we expect 3.3 GW of offshore wind installations from now until 2026,” WindEurope’s Wind Energy in Europe report, which was published in Feb. 2022, said.
In a statement, EDF Renewables’ CEO Bruno Bensasson expressed pride in commissioning what he called “France’s first industrial offshore wind farm.”
“Over the past 10 years, this project has contributed to the construction of the offshore wind power industry in France and has mobilized a significant number of jobs during construction and now in the operating phase,” he later added. More

Georgia — a small Caucasus nation on Russia’s southern border — alongside Armenia and Turkey, has seen its economy boom amid an influx of Russians and their wealth.
The IMF increased its 2022 growth forecast for Georgia to 10%, while the U.N. agency sees the economies of Armenia and Turkey growing 11% and 5%, respectively.
The recent influx risks being a “boom turned bang,” Mikheil Kukava, head of economic and social policy at think tank IDFI, told CNBC.

Russians cross the border between Russia and Georgia days after President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization drive on September 21.
Daro Sulakauri | Getty Images News | Getty Images

As many economies reel from the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a select few countries are benefiting from an influx of Russian migrants and their accompanying wealth.
Georgia, a small former Soviet republic on Russia’s southern border, is among several Caucasus and surrounding countries, including Armenia and Turkey, to have seen their economies boom amid the ongoing turmoil.

At least 112,000 Russians have emigrated to Georgia this year, according to reports. A first wave of almost 43,000 arrived following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, while a second wave — whose number is harder to determine — entered after Putin’s military mobilization drive in September.
The country’s initial wave accounts for almost a quarter (23.4%) of all emigres out of Russia up to September, according to an online survey of 2,000 Russian migrants conducted by research group Ponars Eurasia. The majority of the remaining Russian migrants have fled to Turkey (24.9%), Armenia (15.1%) and uncited “other” countries (19%).
The influx has had an outsized impact on Georgia’s economy — already on the up following a Covid-19 slowdown — and the Georgian lari, which has risen 15% against a strong U.S. dollar so far this year.

We’ve had double-digit growth, which no one expected.

Mikheil Kukava
head of economic and social policy, Institute for Development of Freedom of Information

The International Monetary Fund now expects Georgia’s economy to grow by 10% in 2022, having revised up its estimate again this month and more than tripled its 3% forecast from April.
“A surge in immigration and financial inflows triggered by the war,” were among the reasons cited for the uptick. The IMF also sees fellow host country Turkey growing 5% this year, while Armenia is set to surge 11% on the back of “large inflows of external income, capital, and labor into the country.”

Georgia has benefitted from a dramatic surge in capital inflows this year, primarily from Russia. Russia accounted for three-fifths (59.6%) of Georgia’s foreign capital inflows in October alone — the total volumes of which rose 725% year-on-year.
Between February and October, Russians transferred $1.412 billion to Georgian accounts — more than four times the $314 million transferred over the same period in 2021 — according to the National Bank of Georgia.
Meanwhile, Russians opened more than 45,000 bank accounts in Georgia up to September, almost doubling the number of Russian-held accounts in the country.

‘Highly active’ migrants

Georgia’s strategic location and its historic and economic ties with Russia make it an obvious entry point for Russian migrants. Meanwhile, its liberal immigration policy allows foreigners to live, work and set up businesses without the need for a visa.
Like Armenia and Turkey, too, the country has resisted enforcing Western sanctions on the pariah state, leaving Russians and their money to move freely across its border.
Turkey, for its part, has granted residence permits to 118,626 Russians this year, according to government data, while one-fifth of its foreign property sales in 2022 have been by Russians. The Armenian government did not provide data on its migration figures or property purchases when contacted by CNBC.
Still, the economic impact has surprised even experts.

Both Ukrainian refugees and Russian emigres have fled to Georgia, a former Soviet republic with its own history of conflict with Russia, following that country’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Daro Sulakauri | Getty Images News | Getty Images

“We’ve had double-digit growth, which no one expected,” Mikheil Kukava, head of economic and social policy at Georgian think tank the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), told CNBC via zoom.
To be sure, a significant proportion of the uptick comes after growth was decimated during the coronavirus pandemic. But Kukava said it is also indicative of the economic activity of the new arrivals. And while an inflow of tens of thousands may appear minimal — even for a country like Georgia, with a modest population of 3.7 million — it is more than 10 times the 10,881 Russians who arrived through all of 2021.
“They’re highly active. 42,000 randomly selected Russian citizens wouldn’t have had this impact on the Georgian economy,” Kukava said, referring to the first wave of migrants, many of them wealthy and highly educated. The second wave, by comparison, were more likely to be motivated to leave by “fear,” he said, than economic means.

‘Boom turned bang’

One of the most visible impacts of the new arrivals has been on Georgia’s housing market. Property prices in the capital, Tbilisi, rose 20% year-on-year in September and transactions were up 30%, according to Georgian bank TBC. Rents soared 74% over the year.
Elsewhere, 12,093 new Russian companies were registered in Georgia from January and November this year, more than 13 times the total number set up in 2021, according to Georgia’s National Statistics Office.
The Georgian lari is now trading at a three-year high.

The Kremlin could use their presence as a pretext for further interference or aggression.

Hudson Institute

However, not everyone is enthusiastic about the new outlook for Georgia. As an ex-Soviet republic that fought a short war with Russia in 2008, Georgia’s relationship with Russia is complex, and some Georgians fear the socio-political impact the arrivals could have.
Indeed, Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Hudson Institute has warned that “the Kremlin could use their presence as a pretext for further interference or aggression.”
IDFI’s Kukava worries that could also mark a “boom turned bang” for the Georgian economy: “‘Boom turned bang’ is when the Russian plutocratic government and this pariah country comes after them,” he said, referring to Russian emigres. “That’s the basic concern in Georgia.”
“Even though they are not a threat per se,” Kukava continued, describing the majority of migrants as “new generation” Russians, “the Kremlin might use this as a pretext to come and protect them. That’s what outweighs any economic effect that might have.”

Bracing for a slowdown

Forecasters appear to be taking that uncertainty into account. Both the Georgian government and the National Bank have said they expect growth to slow in 2023.
The IMF also sees growth falling to around 5% next year.
“Growth and inflation are expected to slow in 2023, on the back of moderating external inflows, deteriorating global economic and financial conditions,” the IMF said in its note earlier this month.
“[That] indicates that the Georgian government does not expect they are going to stay,” Kukava said of the Russian arrivals.
According to Ponars Eurasia’s survey, conducted between March and April, less than half (43%) of Russian migrants said at the time that they planned to stay in their initial host country long term. Over a third (35%) were undecided, almost one-fifth (18%) intended to move elsewhere, and just 3% planned to return to Russia.
“We are better off — both the government and the National Bank — if we don’t base our economic assumptions on the basis that these people will stay,” Kukava added.

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Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United in action during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool FC on Aug. 22, 2022 in Manchester, England.
Ash Donelon | Manchester United | Getty Images

Saudi Arabia says it wants its investors to take over Manchester United and Liverpool – and hopes Cristiano Ronaldo comes to play in its domestic league.
Sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal revealed the country’s latest sporting ambitions in an interview with Sky News — with the sovereign wealth fund already owning Newcastle and now funding a breakaway golf series.

It is the availability of United — after the Glazers announced plans for a potential sale — and Ronaldo that is interesting Prince Abdulaziz.
He would be keen on Ronaldo signing for a Saudi Pro League team after the World Cup, with the 37-year-old a free agent following a fraught departure this week from United.
“Who wouldn’t want him to play in their league?” Prince Abdulaziz told Sky News. “He’s a role model to a lot of young players — him and Messi.”
Sky Sports News understands Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal are exploring a deal to sign Ronaldo.

The vision would see the Saudi league featuring both Ronaldo and Messi, who is still signed up to Paris Saint-Germain but is already signed up to promote Saudi Arabia.

“That’s benefited a lot in terms of tourism for the kingdom,” Prince Abdulaziz said. “If they can, I’d love to see them both play in the Saudi league.”
Newcastle was bought by the Saudis last year through the Public Investment Fund, which the Premier League claims is not controlled by the government despite being headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Now two other Premier League clubs are on the market — Liverpool and United — and the sports minister wants either — or both — to fall under Saudi ownership.
“I hope so, if there are investors and the numbers add up, and it makes a good business,” he said. “Then the private sector could come in, or companies could come in, from the kingdom.”

He added: “The Premier League is the best league in the world. Everyone’s watching the Premier League. It’s the most watched league and there are diehard fans of these teams in the kingdom. So it would be a benefit for everyone.”
“I can say that we have a strong league. It’s not one of the strongest in Asia. You know, we’re building towards a better future. And we see how the future holds up for that.”
He continued: “And you know, I heard about these speculations in the news as, as everyone else. I don’t have any details about any of the reports that have been coming out. But you know, what I can say is that we have Messi as an ambassador for tourism in the kingdom with the ministry of tourism — and that’s benefited a lot.
“In terms of tourism for the kingdom, if they can, I’d love to see them both play in the Saudi league, and, you know, if top players come into the Saudi league and play that will reinforce the programs that we’re doing.”

Avram Glazer confronted on Man Utd sale and Ronaldo

Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer has spoken for the first time since announcing the club could be up for sale.
Sky News tracked him down near his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he was asked why now was the right time to sell the club.
He said: “As we announced yesterday, the board went through a process and decided it’s going to look at different strategic alternatives — and that’s what we’re doing.”
He repeated the answer when questioned why the club had not been sold earlier and added: “We’ll see where that leads us.”
The Glazers were reportedly furious at the remarks from Cristiano Ronaldo in his recent interview and Ronaldo this week left United by mutual consent.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United walks on the pitch during a Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool FC on Aug. 22, 2022 in Manchester, England.
Ash Donelon | Manchester United | Getty Images

But Avram Glazer refused to be drawn on the striker’s claim — echoed by many fans — that his family “don’t care about the club.”
He told Sky News: “Well, I’ll tell you about Cristiano Ronaldo — he’s a great Manchester United player, I appreciate everything he’s done for the club and I wish him the best luck in the future.”
How everything has changed in 16 days…
November 8: Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group say they are “open to investors” to come in and help the club – which they remain “fully committed to”. Reports had previously claimed that FSG were open to selling the club.
November 11: Liverpool announce director Mike Gordon, who is FSG’s president, is stepping back from his role amid reports of a club sale.
November 13: Cristiano Ronaldo’s bombshell interview with TalkTV is announced, in which he criticizes Manchester United, the Glazer family and manager Erik ten Hag among others.
November 17: The second part of Ronaldo’s interview is broadcast, in which he claims the Glazers “do not care” about United.

November 22, 5:30pm: After taking legal advice, Manchester United announce they have terminated Ronaldo’s contract at United by mutual consent, with the 37-year-old becoming a free agent.
November 22, 7:30pm: Two hours after Ronaldo’s exit is confirmed, Sky News break the story that the Glazer family are open to selling Manchester United.
November 22, 9:30pm: Two hours later, Manchester United release a statement revealing the Glazers are open to identifying “strategic alternatives… including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company.”
November 23: Reports in the UK claim British billionaire and lifelong Manchester United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has previously expressed his interest in taking over at Old Trafford, will enter the bidding race to buy United.
November 24: Liverpool announce sporting director Julian Ward, who only replaced Michael Edwards in the role a year ago, is set to leave the club at the end of the season. Director of research Ian Graham is also to step away from his role.
November 24: Saudi Arabia sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal reveals to Sky News his country’s ambition to take over both Manchester United and Liverpool.

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Black Friday may offer an opportunity to bag a bargain, but many shoppers will be expecting steeper discounts this year.
U.S. consumers are alone in planning to increase their spend this year, while European shoppers expect to cut back by as much as 18%, according to research.
The findings come as the global economic outlook darkens, particularly in the U.K., which is already in recession, and Europe more broadly.

Many shoppers say they plan to spend less this Black Friday as the cost-of-living crisis bites.
Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty Images

Black Friday may offer an opportunity to bag a bargain ahead of the festive period, but many shoppers will be expecting retailers to cut prices by a greater margin this year as they tighten their belts amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis.
Shoppers in Europe plan to spend almost one-fifth less during this year’s annual discount period as inflationary pressures weigh on consumer sentiment, according to research from Boston Consulting Group this month.

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U.K. consumers are set to cut back by the greatest margin in the region, spending 18% less, while those in France and Germany both plan to reduce their spend by 15% and Spain by 13%.
U.S. consumers were alone in the survey of nine nations, which also included Australia, in saying they expect to spend more this year, upping their expenditure by 6%.

Retailers under pressure

The findings come as the global economic outlook darkens, particularly in Europe, where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has weighed on growth and sent energy prices rocketing.
The U.K. is already in a recession, the country’s independent Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed last week.
That is piling the pressure on retailers, already struggling to recover from a Covid-19 slowdown and attract increasingly cost-conscious consumers. Meantime, many companies, seeking to correct shortcomings and supply issues from last year, have built up vast inventories of stock that they are now under pressure to shift.

What we have seen is the Black Friday trend spread.

Kristy Morris
managing director of commercial solutions, Barclays Payments

“Black Friday is a vital moment in the shopping calendar for physical and online retailers still recovering from the Covid pandemic and now facing consumers in many markets who are reducing their spending plans for many non-essential items,” Jessica Distler, BCG managing director and partner, said in the report.
That could see retailers extend their discounts across the month, increasing buying opportunities for consumers who have the money to spend.

Rising risk of shopping scams

U.K. transactions rose 3.8% annually in the week leading up to Black Friday, according to new data from Barclays Payments, one of the country’s leading payment processors.
Kristy Morris, managing director of commercial solutions at Barclays Payments, told CNBC Thursday that could mean shoppers are more inclined to spread out their purchases over the Christmas season.
“What we have seen is the Black Friday trend spread. We’ve seen that spread across the week and actually even further into the month,” Morris said.
“Some of it is around potentially bringing forward some of that Christmas shopping and consumers thinking about being more savvy about how they might spend for Christmas,” she added.

Still, experts have urged shoppers to exert caution when seeking to take advantage of discounts this festive period.
John Davis, director for the U.K. and Ireland at cybersecurity organization Sans Institute, said that online hackers are known to “turn up the heat” during discount periods, particularly when shoppers are under pressure to clinch a deal.
Indeed, shopping scams rose by 34% following last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, according to Barclays research.
“Cybercriminals are levelling up with attacks that are more prevalent, more sophisticated and harder to detect than ever before,” he said.
Davis urged consumers to be extra vigilant when shopping online and avoid making rushed or panicked decisions out of “fear of missing out.”
“Opportunistic hackers will try to create a false sense of urgency, so it’s important to exercise caution by staying scam-aware, trusting gut instinct and building security into all of our online behavior,” he added.

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It’s not just Twitter. The pink slips are piling up at some of the biggest names in tech. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, is eliminating more than 11,000 roles, around 13% of the social-media company’s workforce. On November 22nd HP announced up to 6,000 job losses, which would be around 10% of the IT firm’s staff. Amazon’s boss, Andy Jassy, has warned of more cuts next year, on top of those already unveiled in the retailer’s devices and books businesses. Stripe revealed that 14% of the staff at the digital-payments firm were being let go. Snap and Shopify announced their own rounds of lay-offs earlier in the summer. Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

The flight, a 90km sub-orbital jaunt, was over in minutes. But for India the rocket launched by Skyroot Aerospace on November 18th, the first by a private company in the country, was a moonshot. Numerous other flights in the coming months will signal an industry ready for take-off.Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

“On the whole we are pretty happy with the deal,” says Stefan Wolf, boss of Gesamtmetall, the metal-engineering industry’s employers’ association, about an agreement on pay struck on November 18th for workers in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. IG Metall, Germany’s mightiest trade union, had asked for a hefty annual pay increase of 8%. Bosses managed to buy time by granting them an increase of 8.5% spread over two years. That deal was mirrored by Volkswagen and IG Metall when they struck a deal on November 23rd.The agreement is likely to be adopted by most if not all 3.9m workers and their employers in the country’s metal-bending companies and influence wage deals in other industries in Germany and neighbouring countries. Pay rises are now set until September 2024, giving employers much-needed certainty about at least one important aspect of their input costs. “It’s on the high side, but bearable,” states Holger Schmieding, chief economist of Berenberg, a German private bank. Workers will receive a 5.2% pay increase in June next year and a 3.3% raise in May 2024 and two tax-free bonus payments of €1,500 ($1,550). This is hardly keeping pace with inflation, which reached an annual rate of 11.6% in October in Germany, but looks generous considering the numerous other headwinds faced by businesses including an energy crisis, supply-chain bottlenecks and a looming recession. The deal offers reassurance that Germany’s social partnership between bosses and workers is alive and well. It comes at a time when the country’s economic model is being called into question by sky-high energy prices and an increasingly testy relationship with China, Germany’s biggest trading partner. Collective “tariff” agreements (the periodic deals that set wage levels for each industry) help to keep relations between bosses and workers harmonious. It came as a surprise to some pundits, who had previously also forecast a “hot autumn” of violent strikes and walkouts, but with a few isolated exceptions workers haven’t downed tools.The cost of keeping workers happy is nonetheless being borne elsewhere. “The model is working so well because the government is spending tens of billions to ease the burden of sky-high inflation for workers,” says Philippa More