Global Scans · Resources · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: The world is depleting its natural resources at an alarming rate due to population growth and over consumption. Increased competition for ever-diminishing food and water resources may amplify socio-economically motivated armed conflicts and causing quests for more efficient resources on and beyond Planet Earth.

• [New] The 2026 PLMA Fall Conference will offer real-world insights into flexible load management, DERs as grid resources, equitable access through flex load, decarbonization, EV managed charging, and much more! PLMA
• [New] Google Labs maintains an AI Futures Fund that supports AI startups with equity funding and strategic resources, with potential for direct investment at growth stages. Blockchain Council
• [New] Drones have the potential to contribute to the improvement of the health rates of the underserved populations in Rajasthan by making sure that the needed resources are moving in the shortest time possible and at minimum costs. The Open Public Health Journal
• [New] Unconventional Oil Project with EOG Resources and Petronas: A separate FID is expected to follow the gas project decision. Discovery Alert
• [New] Macron framed it explicitly: Africa will no longer be seen as a source of rare earth elements and other resources, but rather as a partner. The Rio Times
• [New] A China that can rely on aligned disruption in the Middle East has a way of stretching American focus, resources, and response capacity across multiple theaters at once. Manara Magazine
• [New] Natura Resources plans to implement a molten-salt microreactor to generate electricity and conduct research. Certrec | Regulatory & Technology Solutions for the Ene
• [New] WAF has committed to over 100,000 meters of exploration drilling in 2026, focused on converting inferred resources within the 10-year mine plan and testing expansion potential. Orecast Intelligence
• [New] West African Resources Ltd has reaffirmed its 10-year production outlook at its annual general meeting, targeting average annual gold output of 533,000 ounces from 2026 to 2035 across its Sanbrado and Kiaka operations in Burkina Faso. Orecast Intelligence
• [New] Shell's cash capital expenditure for 2026 is projected to be between $24bn and $26bn, including approximately $4bn for the acquisition of ARC Resources. Yahoo Finance
• [New] GPT-4 required approximately 31.5 times more GPU resources for training than GPT-3.5 (2515 vs. 80 GPUs), representing a more than 3000% increase in computational resources. Nature
• [New] The core challenge for European policymakers is no longer simply to spend more, but to channel new resources into interoperable multidomain capabilities that will provide battlefield advantage and thereby deter adversaries in the coming decades. CEPA
• [New] Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Nvidia, OpenAI, Reflection and SpaceX will provide resources to help augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments. BNN Bloomberg
• [New] Developing compliance programs adaptable to both US state variations and EU harmonization without requiring complete reformulation will save significant resources. QIMA
• [New] The redeployment of U.S. military resources toward the war in the Middle East has generated a palpable fear of abandonment among allies such as Japan and South Korea. Daily Sabah
• [New] Clean hydrogen presents a transformative opportunity for energy-intensive industries worldwide, especially in regions with abundant renewable-energy resources. Mining Weekly
• [New] As the world needs more copper and lithium to make electric vehicles and renewable energy, Argentina's resources could help international markets get more of what they need. Mining Frontier
• [New] Australia Post has launched its 2030 Sustainability Framework, setting new targets to reduce carbon emissions and keep resources in use across its fleet, properties and operations over the next five years. International Post Corporation
• [New] Paired with the CRA's published tax-gap reduction strategy, which commits additional resources to corporate tax audits in Canada and cross-border enforcement, the proposals signal that audit activity will increase materially for fiscal years 2026 and beyond. Global Law Experts
• [New] One standout story is Planview's launch of Agent Resource Management, designed to optimize human and AI resources in an era where Gartner predicts 40% of enterprise applications will leverage AI agents by 2027. Coaio Limited
• [New] The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Geothermal has announced a funding opportunity of $171.5 million to support next-generation geothermal field tests for electricity generation as well as characterization and confirmation drilling for next-generation and hydrothermal resources. Energy.gov
• [New] New World Resources Institute analysis, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, reveals that every $1 invested in preparing for climate-caused health risks can yield up to $68 in benefits for communities in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Cision PR Newswire
• [New] Brockman stated in court that OpenAI plans to spend $50 billion on computing resources in 2026. IndexBox Inc.

Last updated: 20 May 2026