Author Archives: Reuters News Agency

SpaceX set to make history with first all-civilian crew launched into orbit

By Julio-Cesar Chavez and Steve Gorman

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – The latest in a recent line of space-obsessed billionaires was set for liftoff on Wednesday with three less wealthy private citizens along for the ride aboard a SpaceX rocket ship, seeking to become the first all-civilian crew launched into Earth orbit.

The quartet of amateur space travelers, led by the American founder and chief executive of e-commerce firm Shift4 Payments Inc, Jared Isaacman, were due for blastoff as early as 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

SpaceX’s senior director of human spaceflight, Benji Reed, told reporters at the Cape on Tuesday that “everything looked great” following a final “static” test-firing of the rocket engines on Monday morning.

“Right now the weather is trending well” for an on-time launch, he said.

The flight, with no professional astronauts accompanying SpaceX’s paying customers, is expected to last about three days from liftoff to splashdown in the Atlantic.

They will fly aboard a gleaming white SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, perched atop one of the company’s reusable Falcon 9 rockets and fitted with a special observation dome in place of the usual docking hatch.

Isaacman, 38, the trip’s benefactor, has forked over an undisclosed but presumably hefty sum to fellow billionaire and SpaceX owner Elon Musk to send himself and his three crewmates aloft. Time magazine has put the ticket price for all four seats at $200 million.

The so-called Inspiration4 mission was conceived by Isaacman mainly to raise awareness and support for one of his favorite causes, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a leading pediatric cancer center in Memphis, Tennessee.

It marks the debut flight of Musk’s new orbital tourism business, and a leap ahead of competitors likewise offering rides on rocket ships to well-heeled customers willing to pay a small fortune for the exhilaration, and bragging rights, of spaceflight.

Inspiration4 is aiming for an orbital altitude of 360 miles (575 km) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station or Hubble Space Telescope. At that height, the Crew Dragon will circle the globe once every 90 minutes at a speed of some 17,000 miles per hour (27,360 kph), or roughly 22 times the speed of sound.

LEAP AHEAD OF RIVALS

Rival companies Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin inaugurated their own private-astronaut services this summer, with their respective founding executives, billionaires Richard Branson https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/virgin-galactics-branson-ready-space-launch-aboard-rocket-plane-2021-07-11 and Jeff Bezos https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-blueorigin-idAFKBN2EQ0EP, each going along for the ride.

But those suborbital flights, lasting a matter of minutes, were short hops compared with Inspiration4’s spaceflight profile.

SpaceX already ranks as the most well-established player in the burgeoning constellation of commercial rocket ventures, having launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. Two of its Dragon capsules are docked there already.

Despite some largely honorary titles, the Inspiration4 crew will have no part to play in flying the spacecraft, which will be operated by ground-based flight teams and onboard guidance systems, even though two crew members are licensed pilots.

Isaacman, who is rated to fly commercial and military jets, has assumed the role of mission “commander,” while geoscientist Sian Proctor, 51, a former NASA astronaut candidate, has been designated as the mission “pilot.”

Rounding out the crew are “chief medical officer” Hayley Arceneaux, 29, a bone cancer survivor turned St. Jude physicians’ assistant, and mission “specialist” Chris Sembroski, 42, a U.S. Air Force veteran and aerospace data engineer.

The four crewmates have spent five months in rigorous preparations, including altitude fitness, centrifuge (G-force), microgravity and simulator training, emergency drills, classroom work and medical exams.

Inspiration4 officials stress that the mission is more than a joyride.

Once in orbit, the crew will perform a series of medical experiments with “potential applications for human health on Earth and during future spaceflights,” the group said in media materials.

Biomedical data and biological samples, including ultrasound scans, will also be collected from crew members before, during and after the flight.

“The crew of Inspiration4 is eager to use our mission to help make a better future for those who will launch in the years and decades to come,” Isaacman said in a statement.

(Reporting by Julio-Cesar Chavez in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)

North and South Korea conduct duelling missile tests as arms race heats up

By Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea and South Korea test fired ballistic missiles on Wednesday, the latest volley in an arms race https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-southkorea-analys-idUSKBN2BM0G8 that has seen both countries develop increasingly sophisticated weapons while efforts to get talks going on defusing tension prove fruitless.

South Korea tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-blazes-new-path-with-most-potent-conventional-missile-submarine-2021-09-08(SLBM), becoming the first country without nuclear weapons to develop such a system.

South Korean President Moon was attending that test firing when word came of the North Korean launches, its first ballistic missile tests since March https://tmsnrt.rs/2PFT4eW.

North Korea fired a pair of ballistic missiles that landed in the sea off its east coast, according to officials in South Korea and Japan, just days after it tested a cruise missile https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-test-fires-long-range-cruise-missile-kcna-2021-09-12 that is believed to have nuclear capabilities.

Japan’s defence ministry said late on Wednesday the missiles had landed inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), contradicting earlier government comments that they fell outside its waters.

North Korea has been steadily developing its weapons systems amid a stand-off over talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals in return for U.S. sanctions relief. The negotiations, initiated between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018, have stalled since 2019.

“North Korea fired two unidentified ballistic missiles from its central inland region towards the east coast, and intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting detailed analysis for further information,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.

The missiles were fired just after 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT), flying 800 km (497 miles) to a maximum altitude of 60 km (37 miles), the JCS reported.

‘THE STRONGEST KOREA’

The United States condemned North Korea’s missile launch, saying it was in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and posed a threat to Pyongyang’s neighbours, a State Department spokesperson said, without mentioning South Korea’s tests.

The U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command said North Korea’s missile launches did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory or allies, but highlighted the destabilising impact of its illicit weapons programme.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called the missile launch “outrageous” and strongly condemned it as a threat to peace and security in the region.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing that China hoped “relevant parties” would “exercise restraint”.

South Korea has been splurging on a range of new military systems, including ballistic missiles, submarines and its first aircraft carrier. It has a stated policy of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

The arms race has accelerated under Moon for a number of reasons, including his push for more foreign policy autonomy, wariness of relying on the United States after Trump’s presidency and military developments in both North Korea and China, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Korea expert at King’s College London.

“South Korea would face many political and legal obstacles to develop nuclear weapons, both internal and external,” he said. “So it will develop all other capabilities to deter North Korea and show who the strongest Korea is.”

President Moon cited the nuclear-armed North’s “asymmetric capabilities” as a reason for South Korea to develop better missiles.

“Enhancing our missile capability is exactly what’s needed as deterrence against North Korea’s provocation,” he said, while stressing that the SLBM test had been planned and was not in response to the North’s launches.

‘FOOLISH ATTITUDE’

In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, criticised Moon’s speech, saying his talk of North Korean provocations was inappropriate.

Without mentioning the latest launches by the North, Kim Yo Jong said North Korea’s activities were routine defensive measures, and that inter-Korean ties could break down if Moon continues to “slander” the North.

She complained of an “illogical… foolish attitude” that portrayed South Korean behaviour as a legitimate action to support peace and North Korea’s actions as a threat to peace.

Unlike the South, North Korea’s ballistic missile systems have been banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions.

In November 2017, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the entire United States and declared it had become a nuclear power.

North Korea said it successfully tested a new long-range cruise missile last weekend. Analysts say that weapon could be its first cruise missile with a nuclear capability.

The latest launch came as foreign ministers of South Korea and China held talks in Seoul amid concern over North Korea’s tests and the stalled denuclearisation negotiations.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, when asked about the cruise missile tests, said all parties should work to promote peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.

“Not only North Korea but other countries are carrying out military activity,” he told reporters.

In a meeting with Wang on Wednesday, Moon asked for China’s support to restart dialogue, saying North Korea had not been responding to South Korean and U.S. offers for talks or engagement such as humanitarian aid, Moon’s spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando in Tokyo, Emily Chow in Beijing, and David Brunnstrom in Washington; editing by Lincoln Feast, Robert Birsel and Alex Richardson)

Tears, joy and surprise guests as Broadway’s big musicals return

By Alicia Powell

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Broadway’s biggest musicals roared back to life on Tuesday, banishing the eerie silence of the last 18 months in New York’s pandemic-hit theater district with screams, tears and standing ovations.

Emotions were giddy as the curtain rose again on top musicals “Hamilton,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked” before packed audiences welcoming back live theater after the coronavirus shutdown.

“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda received a standing ovation when he appeared on stage before the start of his Tony Award-winning hip-hop show about America’s founding fathers.

“I don’t ever want to take live theater for granted ever again, do you? It’s so sacred,” said Miranda, tearing up with emotion. “I’m so grateful to you and I hope you go see as many shows as you can and keep supporting our industry.”

A few blocks away, Kristin Chenoweth made a surprise appearance before the start of “Wicked,” in which she originated the role of Glinda about 20 years ago. Composer Steven Schwartz joined a prolonged curtain call.

“There’s no place like home,” said Chenoweth, to wild cheers and audible weeping. “I wanted to be here to welcome New York and all of the theatergoers back to what is my favorite show.”

Julie Taymor, director of “The Lion King,” opened the show by telling the audience, “As Rafiki says, it is time.” The long-running musical “Chicago” also re-opened to long applause after every song.

“I didn’t think I would be so emotional, but you really felt everything in such a different way coming back in. Being back on Broadway was amazing,” said Richard Saenz, who was in the audience for “The Lion King.”

Broadway was one of the first institutions to close when the pandemic hit in mid-March 2020 and is the last to re-open in the United States.

It has taken months to upgrade air filter systems and ensure social distancing on stages full of blood, sweat and tears. Audiences, actors, musicians and backstage crew must show proof of full vaccinations and wear masks.

“Hamilton,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked” were the biggest box office earners, each taking in more than $1 million a week, before the pandemic shut about 40 theaters, throwing thousands of actors, stagehands, musicians and dancers out of work.

“Every single nerve is tingling with joy and world peace. How lucky we are to be back at work,” “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller said on Tuesday.

“It has been 700,000, 100 and 25 minutes since we’ve last been able to perform for a live audience.”

Musicals “Hadestown” and “Waitress” returned 10 days ago, and the first new play, “Pass Over,” opened its doors in August. The discount TKTS ticket booth in Times Square also re-opened on Tuesday.

Another dozen musicals and plays will re-open during September, bringing back one of the city’s biggest cultural attractions.

City authorities hope their return will spur tourism and revitalize once-crowded restaurants, bars and hotels near Times Square.

(Reporting by Alicia Powell and Jill Serjeant; Editing by Leslie Adler and Clarence Fernandez)

Pope rejects German archbishop’s resignation after abuse scandal

BERLIN (Reuters) – Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of the Archbishop of Hamburg who had offered to step down after a report named him among several senior officials in Germany’s Catholic Church to have breached their duty in handling sexual abuse cases.

In a statement, the Vatican said it had thoroughly examined documents relating to the archbishop, Stefan Hesse, formerly head of personnel and administration at the Cologne archdiocese.

While it had identified deficiencies in the organisation of his office and personal procedural errors, it had not found any intention to cover up abuse, the Vatican said in a statement posted on the German Bishops’ Conference website.

“The basic problem, in the larger context of the administration of the archdiocese, was the lack of attention and sensitivity towards victims of abuse,” it said.

The archbishop offered to resign in March after the publication of an 800-page report into the handling of abuse cases in the archdiocese of Cologne which found more than 200 abusers and more than 300 victims between 1975 and 2018.

“In view of the fact that the Archbishop recognises mistakes he made in the past with humility and offered his resignation, the Holy Father has … decided not to accept the resignation,” said the Vatican.

Bishops have said that a row over the report into abuse in the Cologne archdiocese, which has the largest membership of any diocese in the German-speaking world, is damaging the Catholic Church across the country.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Editing by William Maclean)

Biden to meet Disney chief, other CEOs in ‘rallying cry’ for vaccine mandates

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will meet on Wednesday with business leaders as he pushes companies to require workers to be vaccinated amid a surge in COVID-19 infections among those without a dose.

Participants in the meeting include the chief executives of Walt Disney Co, Microsoft Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, the White House said.

Biden last week announced https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-deliver-six-step-plan-covid-19-pandemic-2021-09-09 vaccine mandates for nearly all federal employees, federal contractors, and larger companies as the number of U.S. infections continued to rise, hospital beds in some parts of the country filled up and mask requirements returned.

Some Republican-led states are defying recommendations from health officials, citing economic or freedom-of-choice arguments. Biden, a Democrat, has chosen to dig in on the issue, embracing vaccine requirements despite fierce opposition.

Still, opinion polls have shown a majority Americans support some form of mandates.

Biden told reporters https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-says-it-is-encouraging-state-local-covid-vaccine-mandates-2021-09-14 on Tuesday that he had seen “positive support for mandates, by and large,” although he conceded that there would always be a small percentage of people who would refuse to get inoculated.

The White House hopes Wednesday’s meeting will serve “as a rallying cry for more businesses across the country to step up and institute similar measures,” an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The meeting involves business leaders and chief executives who have instituted vaccine requirements or are working to implement the new rules, the person said.

The policies announced last week require nearly all federal workers and federal contractors to get COVID-19 vaccinations and push large employers to have workers inoculated or tested weekly. The new measures would apply to businesses with more than 100 employees, about two-thirds of all U.S. workers.

Also among those slated to meet with Biden are the CEOs of the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream.

Josh Bolten, president of the Business Roundtable representing employers of 20 million workers, will attend, the White House said. The Business Roundtable has welcomed Biden’s announcement on mandates. Bolten was a chief of staff to Republican former President George W. Bush.

The fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus has sparked a new wave of sickness and death, posing increased risk not just to the country but to a president who as a candidate promised to get control of the pandemic.

Some small employers have voiced frustration with the mandate. Large employers like U.S. automakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co and rare-earths producer MP Materials Corp said they are encouraging employees to get the vaccine, but they were quiet about Biden’s executive order.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)

Biden to announce alliance with Britain, Australia on tech, cyber, defense -Politico

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday plans to announce a plan to share advanced technologies in a working group with Britain and Australia, Politico reported, in a possible move to push back on China.

Biden was due to give a 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) address on national security, but the White House would not provide details.

The working group, to be known as AUUKUS, will enable the three countries to share information in areas including artificial intelligence, cyber, underwater systems and long-range strike capabilities, Politico reported, citing a White House official and a congressional staffer.

As part of the pact, the U.S. and U.K. share their knowledge of how to maintain nuclear-defense infrastructure, one of the unidentified sources said.

Both characterized the plan as a move by Western allies to counter China’s rise in the military and technology sectors.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Tim Ahmann)

Taliban seize $12.4 million from former top Afghan officials

LONDON (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled central bank said it had seized nearly $12.4 million in cash and gold from former top government officials on Wednesday, including former vice president Amrullah Saleh.

In a statement, the central bank said the money and gold had been kept in officials’ houses, although it did not yet know for what purpose.

Saleh’s whereabouts are unknown. He has vowed to resist the Taliban, who stormed to power a month ago, and last week a family member said the Taliban had executed his brother Rohullah Azizi.

In a separate statement, the bank urged Afghans to use the country’s local Afghani currency. It comes amid growing worries that the country’s banks and firms are running short of money, especially dollars, which are widely used.

In a sign that the Taliban are looking to recoup assets belonging to former government officials, the central bank issued a circular to local banks last week asking them to freeze the accounts of politically exposed individuals linked to the previous government, two commercial bankers said.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Tom Arnold and Mike Collett-White)

Canada inflation hits 18-year-high with election just days away

By Julie Gordon

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated to an 18-year-high in August, driven by broad upward price pressures, data showed on Wednesday, just days before a hotly contested federal election that could see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals ousted.

The rate rose to 4.1% in August, its fastest clip since March 2003, Statistics Canada said, beating analyst estimates and prompting Trudeau’s main rival to pounce over the rising cost of living.

“The numbers released today make it clear that under Justin Trudeau, Canadians are experiencing an affordability crisis,” said Erin O’Toole, leader of the main opposition Conservatives, in a statement.

The Conservatives have a narrow lead https://reut.rs/2Xl5D30 over Trudeau’s Liberals at 31.2% to 30.5% just days before the Sept. 20 vote, according to a new Nanos Research poll. The left-leaning New Democrats are in third at 21.4%.

Countries around the world are grappling with hot inflation amid supply chain hurdles and labor shortages as restrictions are eased and tightened with each new wave of the virus, leading to choppy demand and supply bottlenecks.

The Bank of Canada has said it expects headline inflation to remain above its 1%-3% control range this year, before easing back to the 2% target in 2022.

“This doesn’t mean anything short-term for the Bank of Canada. They’ve been very insistent that the inflation shock is transitory,” said Andrew Kelvin, chief Canada strategist at TD Securities.

In Canada, the hot inflation print was driven by high gasoline prices, rising housing costs and a surge in the prices of goods like furniture, appliances and vehicles, along with high travel-related costs as restrictions eased.

That was the opposite of the United States https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-core-consumer-prices-slow-sharply-august-2021-09-14, where a harsh fourth wave has put a damper on travel.

“It is really the mirror opposite of what we saw in the U.S. yesterday, where we had the travel components showing signs of cooling. Here, they are showing signs of heating up,” said Jimmy Jean, chief economist at Desjardins Group.

“It is still part of the reopening effect. In August we were still getting back to normal,” Jean added.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the annual inflation rate to rise to 3.9% in August. At 4.1%, it was the highest since the 4.2% recorded in March 2003.

The three measures of core inflation all posted gains. CPI common, which the Bank of Canada calls the best gauge of the economy’s underperformance, edged up to 1.8% from 1.7% in July.

The Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% higher at 1.2663 to the greenback, or 78.97 U.S. cents.

(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Fergal Smith and Nichola Saminather in Toronto;Editing by Andrew Heavens, Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)

Gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman appear in U.S. Senate hearing on sex abuse probe

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman appeared on Wednesday to testify about the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, as the U.S. Senate examines why the FBI failed to investigate his crimes sooner.

Biles and Raisman appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside their fellow former Olympic teammate McKayla Maroney and former gymnast Maggie Nichols, who was the first victim to report the abuse to USA Gymnastics.

The hearing comes after the Justice Department’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz in July issued a scathing report https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/21-093.pdf which blasted the FBI for botching its investigation https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-watchdog-release-report-into-fbi-probe-ex-usa-gymnastics-doctor-2021-07-14 in a series of errors that allowed the abuse to continue for months.

Horowitz will also testify on Wednesday as will FBI Director Chris Wray, who is expected to face sharp bipartisan questioning about why the agents who botched the probe were never prosecuted for their misconduct.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said the FBI’s failures “shock the conscience.”

The inspector general’s findings “paint a shocking picture of FBI dereliction of duty and gross incompetence,” he said.

The FBI’s investigation into Nassar started in July 2015, after USA Gymnastics President and CEO Stephen Penny reported the allegations to the FBI’s Indianapolis field office and provided agents with the names of three victims willing to be interviewed.

That office, then led by Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott, did not formally open an investigation. The FBI only interviewed one witness months later, in September 2015, and failed to formally document that interview in an official report known as a “302” until February 2017 – well after the FBI had arrested Nassar on charges of possessing sexually explicit images of children in December 2016.

When the interview was finally documented in 2017 by an unnamed supervisory special agent, the report was filled with “materially false information and omitted material information,” Horowitz’s report determined.

The office also failed to share the allegations with state or local law enforcement agencies.

“Children suffered needlessly because multiple agents in multiple offices at the FBI neglected to share the Nassar allegations with their law enforcement counterparts at state and local agencies,” ranking Republican Charles Grassley said in prepared remarks.

“Disturbingly, the abuse occurred at the hands of someone who was entrusted with their medical treatment and well-being,” he added.

Horowitz also said that Abbott, who retired from the FBI in 2018, also violated the FBI’s conflict of interest policy by discussing a possible job with the U.S. Olympic Committee while he was involved with the Nassar investigation.

Neither Abbott nor the other unnamed supervisory special agent who botched the Nassar probe were prosecuted for their actions.

The FBI previously called Abbott’s behavior “appalling” and said the supervisory special agent remains with the FBI but is no longer a supervisor and is “not working on any more FBI matters.”

An attorney for Abbott previously said in a statement he is thankful to prosecutors for bringing Nassar to justice.

Nassar, who had been the main doctor for Olympic gymnasts, was sentenced in federal court in 2017 to 60 years in prison on charges of possessing child sex abuse material.

The following year, he was also sentenced up to 175 years and up to 125 years, respectively, in two separate Michigan courts for molesting female gymnasts under his care. Prosecutors have estimated he sexually assaulted hundreds of women.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker)

Largest U.S. biofuels producer pledges carbon neutrality by 2050

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – POET, the largest biofuels producer in the United States, said on Wednesday it is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions at its bioprocessing facilities by 2050, making it the latest company to pledge to reduce its carbon footprint to fight climate change.

The Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based company also said it would ensure its ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by at least 70% compared to gasoline by 2030, up from about 46% today, the company said. Refiners and biofuels producers are grappling with producing fuel in the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer, that will be less harmful to the environment.

Ethanol’s effect on carbon dioxide emissions depends on how the fuel is made and whether its effect on land use is considered, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Department of Agriculture said in July that greenhouse gas emissions from corn-based ethanol are about 39% lower than gasoline on energy equivalent basis.

POET has several ways to reach its goals, including carbon sequestration and the use of biomass and methane digestion to help power plant operations, said Jeff Broin, chief executive.

“The cars that are being produced and sold today will be on the road for close to 20 years,” Broin said. “We’re going to have a significant volume of gasoline for our vehicles for decades to come, and in addition we have fuel for trucks, for aircrafts, for ships, all of which needs to be low-carbon in the future.”

Governments need to offer more incentives to help companies reach climate targets, Broin said, such as ways to encourage the sector to use agricultural waste for power generation.

POET operates 33 facilities across eight states. At full run rates, it produces 3 billion gallons of ethanol, 14 billion pounds of distillers dried grains, and 975 million pounds of corn oil annually.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Aurora Ellis)