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TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) – Iran’s capital is suffering its worst drought in half a century, a water resources official said Tuesday, citing a 97 percent drop in monthly rainfall compared with last year. Tehran has had 0.4 millimetres of rain since September 23, compared with 14.3 mm over the same period in 2020, said Mohammad Shahriari, deputy director of the company that supplies the region. “Groundwater and surface water are at a critical state and […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – China is targeting an ambitious clean energy goal of reducing fossil fuel use to under 20 percent by 2060, according to an official plan published by state media on Sunday. The cabinet document follows a pledge by President Xi Jinping to wean the world’s biggest polluter off coal, with a target of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality 30 years later. But the country has been criticised for pushing […]
KAMPALA, Uganda (AFP) – Environmental watchdogs Saturday condemned the arrest of six Ugandan rights campaigners as a coordinated effort to silence critics of a contested energy project involving French oil giant Total. The activists from Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), the country’s highest-profile environmental defenders group, were detained without charge at a police station outside Kampala on Friday, the organisation said in a statement. Its French partners, Amis de la Terre France (Friends of the […]
by Khaliun Bayartsogt Agence France-Presse TSAGAAN KHAD, Mongolia (AFP) – Snaking across the barren Mongolian desert, a convoy crawls along the once-busy highway to the Chinese border — its truckers desperate to finally deliver their cargo of coal after months of brutal Covid-19 delays and no pay. Pre-pandemic, the route was packed with drivers delivering the vital fuel to China — the world’s biggest coal importer — currently grappling with widespread power cuts threatening its […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – The French oil and gas major Total deliberately downplayed the threat of global warming from the 1970s onwards, according to research based on interviews with former company executives and internal company documents. The findings, published by a trio of historians Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Global Environment Change, follow similar revelations about US oil giant ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell. The pattern that emerges is one of oil and gas giants […]
by Véronique DUPONT LERWICK, United Kingdom (AFP) — In the far north of the United Kingdom, where the wind blows and the sea rages, the islands of Orkney and Shetland have long relied on oil and gas for prosperity. But as supplies dwindle and the fight against climate change becomes more urgent, the islands off the northeast coast of Scotland are increasingly turning to renewables. Daniel Wise is head of offshore operations at Orbital Marine […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Shortages of natural gas and coal have triggered a switch to oil, boosting demand for crude and fuelling a rise in prices, the International Energy Agency said Thursday. The IEA, which advises governments on energy policy, said it now expects global oil demand for this year and 2022 to be higher than in its previous forecast. “Oil prices are scaling multi-year highs as a shortage of natural gas, LNG (liquefied natural […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday it was “very important” to stabilize the gas market, as Europe faces a gas crisis ahead of winter due to a surge in prices and a drop in reserves. Speaking at an energy forum in Moscow, Putin said it was “very important” to “suggest a long-term mechanism to stabilizRuse the energy market” in what he called a “difficult situation.” © Agence France-Presse
by Olivier DEVOS Agence France-Presse Dawdon coalmine in northeast England was abandoned three decades ago, but is being brought back to life as the unlikely setting for a green energy revolution. The carbon-intensive colliery, near the town of Seaham on the windswept northeast English coast, hauled coal from deep underground until its closure in 1991. Dawdon has long since flooded with water because part of the mine is below sea level, and is heated by […]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – Power-short Iraq inked an agreement on Wednesday for the UAE to build five solar electricity plants with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi presided over the signing in Baghdad with renewable energy company Masdar, which is based in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital. Iraq is rich in oil but its dilapidated grid battles daily blackouts. Iraqi authorities aim to sign several similar accords by 2023 […]
by Roland JACKSON Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – European and UK gas prices surged Wednesday to record peaks, energised by fears of runaway demand in the upcoming northern hemisphere winter. Europe’s reference Dutch TTF gas price hit 162.12 euros per megawatt hour and UK prices leapt to 407.82 pence per therm in morning deals. However, prices later reversed as supply concerns eased somewhat. “It’s panic and fear with winter just around the corner,” […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India is facing possible energy supply problems in the coming months due to coal shortages and a post-pandemic surge in demand, the power minister said in a report published Tuesday. His comments come as China and European countries face energy crises that are disrupting global supply chains and sending prices soaring. “Normally the demand starts coming down in the second half of October… when (the weather) starts cooling,” R. K. […]
