Daily Shorts: US may tighten emissions for new gas plants, Nissan will pour $660 mn into Ampere EV

The US Environmental Protection Agency is considering new rules to cut nitrogen oxide emissions from new gas power plants, court documents showed. Under a planned settlement, the agency could propose new limits by November 2024 and have a year to finalize them. The EPA has called nitrogen oxide emissions "poisonous, highly reactive gasses", responsible for smog. In March, it finalized tougher emissions standards for existing power plants in 25 US states, which it said would cut N-oxide emissions and reduce CO2 emissions by 16 million tonnes annually.

Nissan will invest up to €600 million or $663 million into Renault's electric vehicle unit Ampere, the companies announced. The decision will put both partners of the 25 year old Franco-Japanese automotive alliance on a more equal footing, as Nissan had been seeking. The Japanese company will be a strategic investor in Ampere and also receive a board seat. Renault is spinning Ampere out as a separate company, and expects the unit to become profitable by 2025. It is also reducing its stake in Nissan.

General Motors announced plans to assemble EV battery packs in Ingersoll, Canada, from the second quarter of 2024 as the company seeks to overcome a shortage of batteries that has hampered EV production. The company currently makes battery cells through its joint venture Ultium at Ohio, USA, but issues at the plant have restricted manufacturing of the Hummer EV, the Cadillac Lyriq SUV and BrightDrop vans. Announcing financial results on Tuesday, the company outlined a new cost-cutting drive and reversed plans to stop making its cheapest EV, the Chevrolet Bolt.

The US Department of Energy has proposed new efficiency standards for water heaters, saying the move could lower power and water bills by $11.4 billion a year. The department estimates its new standards could reduce more than 500 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over 30 years, or half the amount that US homes release together every year. Other countries are also pushing incrementally efficient appliances to notch up national savings. India is seeing a push for more efficient ceiling fans.