AstraZeneca signs deal with Waltham-based firm for renewable ... - The Boston Globe
AstraZeneca signs deal with Waltham-based firm for renewable natural gas - The Boston Globe
ENERGY
AstraZeneca signs deal with Waltham-based firm for renewable natural gas
Vanguard Renewables has signed a contract with drug giant AstraZeneca to deliver renewable natural gas to all of AstraZeneca’s 12 sites in the United States. Waltham-based Vanguard is developing anaerobic digesters at three farms in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia that will serve the drug company, by harnessing the gas released by food waste and cow manure, much like at the company’s anaerobic digesters in New England. Vanguard said AstraZeneca will become the first major company in the United States to “decarbonize” its natural gas supply by turning to renewable sources. The gas is mixed in with the fossil fuel gas in the existing pipeline system, and AstraZeneca gets credits to reflect the purchase. The deal with AstraZeneca will extend to all of the company’s US sites by the end of 2026, and will start with purchasing renewable natural gas for a campus in Delaware. Pam Cheng, an executive vice president at the British company, said the company recognizes the interconnection between the health of people and the health of the planet, and wants to collaborate with companies like Vanguard to reduce AstraZeneca’s environmental footprint and eventually reach net zero for global carbon emissions. — JON CHESTO
DEVELOPMENT
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Life science building proposed near North Station
Woburn-based real estate firm KS Partners has proposed an 11-story life-science building with ground-floor retail space at 141 Portland St. and 222 Friend St. near North Station in Boston. The 160,195-square-foot lab would be around 170 feet tall with a mechanical penthouse and have no onsite parking. The site is home to a 32-space surface parking lot and the former location of 2Twenty2, a restaurant and nightclub that has since relocated to 4 Liberty Square. KS Partners bought the site at 141 Portland St. and 222 Friend St. through an affiliate LLC in September 2014 for $7.2 million, according to a Suffolk County deed. “During this post-pandemic time when many downtown employees are still working remotely, the Project’s proposed development of a new life sciences building with numerous onsite jobs will help renew the vibrancy of the Downtown North area,” wrote Johanna Schneider, a partner at law firm Hemenway & Barnes, in a June 9 letter of intent to the Boston Planning and Development Agency. The ground-floor retail would be located on Portland Street and the corner of Friend Street and Valenti Way, the letter of intent states. While life-science construction and development activity has “remained robust” throughout the region, demand from lab tenants has “seen a sharp slowdown from the 2022 peak,” wrote Suzanne Duca, CBRE’s director of research for New England, in a recent report. — CATHERINE CARLOCK
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AUTOMOTIVE
Jeeps recalled over rear coil springs problem
Stellantis is recalling more than 354,000 Jeeps worldwide because the rear coil springs can fall off while they’re being driven. The recall covers certain 2022 and 2023 Grand Cherokee and 2021 to 2023 Grand Cherokee L SUVs. The company says in documents posted Tuesday by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the springs may have been installed incorrectly in production. They can detach from the vehicle while it’s moving, increasing the risk of a crash and possibly creating a hazard for other drivers. Owners are to be notified by letter starting July 28. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
ENTERTAINMENT
Artificial intelligence used to recapture John Lennon’s voice for Beatles record
Artificial intelligence has been used to extract John Lennon’s voice from an old demo to create “the last Beatles record,” decades after the band broke up, Paul McCartney said Tuesday. McCartney, 80, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate the Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.” The “new” song is set to be released later this year, he said. Jackson was “able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette and a piano,” McCartney told BBC radio. “He could separate them with AI, he’d tell the machine ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar’.” “So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had that we worked on,” he added. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI so then we could mix the record as you would do. It gives you some sort of leeway.” McCartney didn’t identify the name of the demo, but the BBC and others said it was likely to be an unfinished 1978 love song by Lennon called “Now and Then.” — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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SMALL BUSINESS
Gloomy outlook persists
US small-business sentiment in May held close to the lowest level in a decade on dimmer views about the outlook for sales, the economy, and credit conditions. The National Federation of Independent Business optimism index ticked up to 89.4 from an April reading of 89 that was the weakest since January 2013, the group said Tuesday. A measure of sales expectations fell for a third month to the lowest since July. Sentiment about future business conditions also deteriorated and a gauge of expected credit conditions slid to the lowest level since the end of 2012. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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AIRLINES
United says offer to pilots union to cost more than $8 billion
United Airlines is offering its pilots a contract with an incremental value in excess of $8 billion over four years, a figure that would make it the richest deal ever for a mainline US carrier. The company is negotiating weekly as it tries to reach a formal agreement with the union, chief executive Scott Kirby said in a wide-ranging interview Monday with Bloomberg News. He didn’t detail the value of the pay, benefits, and quality-of-life improvements included in the proposal other than to say that it would top the recent deals agreed to by its two biggest rivals. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
AUTOMOTIVE
Toyota aims to make battery that quickly charges electric vehicles
Toyota plans to make an all solid-state battery as part of its ambitious plans for battery electric vehicles, the company said Tuesday, amid mounting criticism Japan’s top automaker needs to do more to fight climate change. Toyota aims for a commercial solid-state battery as soon as 2027. Charging time, one of the main drawbacks of electric vehicles, will get shortened to 10 minutes or less, the company said in a statement. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
CONSULTING
Accenture to double AI staff
Accenture announced plans to double its AI staff to 80,000, just three months after shedding 19,000 jobs in a cost-cutting effort. The professional-services company will invest $3 billion in its Data & AI practice over the next three years to help companies develop the new strategies they’ll need to capitalize on the boom in artificial intelligence, Accenture said in a statement on Tuesday. Much of the investment will focus on helping clients maximize generative AI, which creates visual works or text based on simple prompts. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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