WeekWise LXXVIII
#78 WW: China’s Thorium 60,000 Years of Energy Discovery, Why Solar Panels May Stop Tracking the Sun, and the U.S. Approves CRISPR-Edited Pigs for Food.
Hey! 👋
I'm Adolfo Güell, and every week, I spend countless hours selecting curated content—whether it's posts, news, or podcasts—centered around my passions: technology, macroeconomics, innovation, and more. This newsletter is my way of sharing the top-notch content I've come across.
I hope this weekly newsletter introduces you to exciting new content and talented creators.
If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me at adolfoguell@substack.com.
My top picks 🔝
This week, China revealed a major energy breakthrough: over one million tons of thorium discovered at the Bayan Obo mining complex in Inner Mongolia. This vast reserve could potentially power the country for 60,000 years—thanks to thorium’s potential as a cleaner, safer alternative to uranium for nuclear power generation.
Thorium isn’t new, but it has been historically overlooked in favor of uranium. When used in molten salt reactors, thorium can be converted into uranium-233, a fissile material capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction. The process generates large amounts of energy while producing significantly less long-lived radioactive waste compared to conventional uranium reactors. Molten salt reactors also operate at atmospheric pressure, reducing the risk of catastrophic failures.
The environmental impact? If widely adopted, thorium-based nuclear power could drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, and produce far less nuclear waste—making it an attractive solution in the fight against climate change.
China’s discovery puts it at the center of global attention, but it’s not the only country with significant thorium reserves. Here’s a comparison of estimated reserves among major players:
India: ~846,000 tons
Brazil: ~632,000 tons
United States: ~595,000 tons
Russia: ~155,000 tons
European Union (incl. Finland, Norway, Greenland): ~233,000 tons
China: ~1,000,000 tons
This discovery is likely to spark renewed global interest in thorium energy. While molten salt reactors are still in development, progress is accelerating, and China's announcement may catalyze new investments worldwide.
Sources: Scientists in China Stumble Upon a Secret Energy Source—Massive “Thorium Reserves” That Could Make Fossil Fuels Obsolete [Daily Galaxy] & China’s thorium survey finds ‘endless energy source right under our feet’ [SCMP]
This week, I read an interesting piece from Terraform Industries challenging one of the solar industry’s most common assumptions: that solar panels should track the sun to be most efficient.
Traditionally, many large solar installations use single-axis trackers—mechanical systems that rotate panels to follow the sun across the sky. But as Terraform points out, the economics of solar have changed dramatically. Module prices have fallen over 85% since 2010, and another 58% over the past few years. As panels become cheaper, maximizing every last drop of efficiency becomes less important than keeping systems simple and cost-effective.
That’s where fixed East-West arrays come in. Instead of tilting throughout the day, these panels are installed in a dense formation—half facing east, half facing west—capturing sunlight in the morning and afternoon with minimal moving parts. They’re cheaper to install, easier to maintain, and allow for more panels per square meter of land.
The takeaway? In today’s world of abundant, cheap solar panels, simplicity might beat complexity. While sun-tracking still has niche uses (like hail protection), fixed installations could define the next generation of large-scale solar.
Source: The Future Of Solar Doesn’t Track The Sun [Terraform Industries Blog]
This week, the U.S. took a historic step in biotech and food production. The FDA has officially approved gene-edited pigs for human consumption, marking the first time CRISPR-modified livestock has received the green light for the American dinner table.
The pigs were developed by U.K.-based company Genus, and have been genetically edited to resist a devastating disease called PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome), which costs the pork industry over $1 billion annually. The edit doesn’t involve inserting foreign DNA but rather uses CRISPR to disable a specific receptor that the virus uses to infect pigs. That means the pigs are not classified as traditional GMOs, a point that may ease some consumer skepticism.
The FDA’s decision is a major milestone in the integration of CRISPR into the food supply. While the gene-edited pork won't hit shelves until at least 2026, Genus is already seeking similar approvals in Canada, Japan, Mexico, and China.
Beyond its implications for food safety and animal welfare, this development opens the door to future innovations in agriculture—disease-resistant livestock, improved sustainability, and reduced need for antibiotics. For now, it’s another sign that gene editing is moving from the lab into everyday life.
Source: The FDA just approved CRISPR-edited pigs for the dinner table [MIT Review]
Some other reads I enjoyed…
Chinese AI Startup Manus Scores Funding at $500 Million Value [Bloomberg]
Antarctica reverses trend and gains ice for the first time in decades [Collin Rugg on X]
🇪🇸 BBVA-Sabadell: a political takeover bid in the hands of Pedro Sánchez [El Confidencial]
🇪🇸 Differences in the purchasing power of the average full-time salary in the different OECD countries compared to that in Spain [Jon González on X]
🇪🇸 Social Security accumulates a debt of almost 100,000 million for pension spending [Expansion]