Coal-fired power is losing some of its heat around the world. Global power generation from coal fell 1.2% during the first half of 2022, the WSJ’s Sha Hua reports, as an economic slowdown in China and a surge in coal prices around the world crimped demand. The report from S&P Global Commodity Insights says power generation from renewable sources increased 17% year-over-year in the first half, one sign of the upheaval in global energy markets. China’s sputtering consumption this year has contributed to weakness in the bulk shipping sector. Europe has increased coal use since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And coal transports in the U.S. are up this year, including a 5.2% increase in coal carloads hauled by U.S. railroads in August, according to the Association of American Railroads. But in the longer run, sustained high prices for coal appear to be accelerating a global shift to cleaner energy.

• Australia’s earnings from coal exports tumbled 17% last month and iron ore exports fell almost 15%. (Bloomberg)

Rivian Automotive and Mercedes-Benz plan to work together to establish a factory to build commercial electric delivery vans. The U.S. startup and the iconic German brand are setting up a joint venture to develop and operate a plant in Europe, the WSJ’s Will Feuer reports, as they look to share the costs and spread out the risks while ramping up production for the still-young technology. The companies say they hope to design electric vans that can be produced efficiently on common assembly lines at the plant using shared suppliers. They plan to produce two separate large vans, one based on Mercedes’ electric-vehicle platform and the other based on the Rivian Light Van platform. The stakes are high for Rivian. The Michigan-based company has started producing vehicles for Amazon but faces growing competition in a package-delivery market that looks primed for electric vans.

• Tesla’s vehicle deliveries from its Shanghai plant were up 74% in August, with more than half the cars targeted for export. (WSJ)
• Honda is cutting car output by up to 40% at two Japanese plants this month due to supply chain problems. (Japan Times)