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Tag: fossil fuels
Red Sea coral reefs ‘under threat’ – 2 articles
France24: Red Sea coral reefs ‘under threat’ from Israel-UAE oil deal. Israeli environmentalists are warning that a UAE-Israeli oil pipeline deal threatens unique Red Sea coral reefs and could lead to “the next ecological disaster”. The agreement to bring Emirati crude oil by tanker to a pipeline in the Red Sea port of Eilat was signed after Israel normalised ties with the Gulf Arab nation late last year and should come into force within months. With experts warning of possible leaks and spills at the ageing Eilat port, and the Israeli environmental protection ministry demanding “urgent” talks on the deal, activists mobilised last week.
The Atlantic: The Mediterranean’s Red Gold Is Running Out. For centuries, red coral was traded all over the world. Now it’s disappearing. On a golden day last September, I visited the ruins of the first Greek city on the Iberian Peninsula, a settlement from the sixth century B.C. called Empúries. Traders venturing down present-day Spain’s Costa Brava, a rugged stretch of coastline in northeastern Catalonia, had recognized the advantages of the location: a natural port, some protection from the fierce tramontana winds blowing off the Pyrenees, and access to local trade networks established by native Iberians. But as the Greek settlers discovered, another attribute of their new home lay just offshore.
Supreme Court to Review Refinery Waivers From Biofuel Quotas
Bloomberg discusses Supreme Court to Review Refinery Waivers From Biofuel Quotas.
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Appeal to be heard in case limiting biofuel-blending waivers
- Move is a blow to ethanol producers that challenged exemptions
The Supreme Court will review the ability of oil refineries to win exemptions from federal biofuel-blending quotas, a blow to producers of ethanol and biodiesel that had challenged the waivers.
The justices, without comment, agreed to hear an appeal by units of HollyFrontier Corp. and Wynnewood Refining Co., which said a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling wrongly deprived small refineries of economic relief specifically authorized by Congress.
Climate Stories that flew under the radar in 2020
DeSmogBlog discusses These Are Some Climate Stories That Flew Under the Radar in 2020: disasters, world-wide fires, plummeting fossil fuel prices, cheap renewable energy, exposing risk and denialism, and activism.
UN Report: Despite Falling Energy Demand, Governments Set on Increasing Fossil Fuel Production
Inside Climate News discusses UN Report: Despite Falling Energy Demand, Governments Set on Increasing Fossil Fuel Production. Top countries are projected to produce twice the limit on oil, gas and coal required to meet Paris climate agreement goals.
The coronavirus pandemic has sent global energy demand plummeting, and led many analysts and oil executives to conclude that a transition away from fossil fuels is marching nearer. But a new United Nations report says the world’s leading fossil fuel producers still appear set on expanding their output to levels that would send temperatures soaring past global climate goals.
The report, published Wednesday by the U.N. Environment Program and written by researchers from several universities, think tanks and advocacy groups, looked at national plans and projections for fossil fuel production. It found that top producing governments were set to produce twice as much oil, gas and coal by 2030 as would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the more ambitious goal of the Paris climate agreement. The countries are on track to expand output by 2 percent per year, the report said, while production needs to decline by about 6 percent per year to meet the Paris goal.
What could a good green recovery plan actually look like?
The Guardian discusses What could a good green recovery plan actually look like? What do governments across the world need to do to shift economies away from fossil fuels?
What does a green recovery look like? That is the question governments around the world are considering as they decide how to align their $12tn worth of economic rescue packages for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic with their obligations under the Paris climate accord.
The UK is expected to announce a 10-point recovery plan this week, and observers have warned that if it lacks ambition, it could undermine the world’s goals of limiting catastrophic climate breakdown.
While some countries – notably the EU, and especially member states France and Germany – have emphasised a push for low-carbon economic growth, prioritising renewable energy, green transport, nature restoration and other environmentally beneficial projects, others – including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – have not.
Guardian analysis has also revealed that in some countries – such as South Korea, the US and China – the green part of a national economic rescue package has been outweighed by the high-carbon elements, including bailouts for fossil fuel companies or carbon-intensive industries such as airlines.
Report: Oil and gas leads New Mexico in greenhouse gas emissions, renewable sector growing
Carlesbad Current Argus discusses a report on Oil and gas leads New Mexico in greenhouse gas emissions, renewable sector growing. [No report link is provided.]
State efforts to reduce the impact of climate change in New Mexico took the form of three major initiatives: cutting emissions from oil and gas operations, pushing more renewable energy and updating regulations such as building codes and vehicle standards to be more environmentally sound.
On Friday, New Mexico’s Climate Change Task Force released its annual report, updating progress on the state’s climate change efforts and the Task Force’s recommendations on how to meet New Mexico’s goals.
The Task Force, made up of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), was formed in January 2019 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham via executive order as she assumed office.
Moscow pushes for more Arctic drilling
The Barents Observer discusses how Moscow pushes for more Arctic drilling. Prime Minister Mishustin wants to tap into vast oil and gas resources on the Arctic shelf and commissions his cabinet ministers to make a plan for big drilling.
While governments and energy companies in Europe rapidly scale down investment in petroleum, the Russian side moves in the opposite direction.
The new Russian Arctic Strategy signed by President Putin on the 26th October includes big stress on hydrocarbon development, including Rosneft’s grand oil projects in the Taymyr Peninsula and Novatek’s expansion in Arctic LNG.
The document includes an ambition to produce up to 91 million tons of LNG per year by 2035 and a boost of Arctic oil production to 26 percent of total national output.
On Monday this week, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin followed up with a series of instructions for his cabinet ministers.
Report: Alternative Energy
Lazard issues 2020 report on the cost of wind and solar compared to new and existing fossil and nuclear. The report is titled: Levelized Cost of Energy and Levelized Cost of Storage – 2020.
Rethinkx discusses the cheapest way to transition to clean energy – build 4x as much generation as you need. Their analysis can be found here and their report can be found here.
Report: Dramatic increase in fuel consumption in Arctic shipping
Radio Canada discusses a Report highlights dramatic increase in fuel consumption in Arctic shipping.
Fuel consumption by ships plying Arctic waters grew by 82 per cent in recent years, according to a new report by the Arctic Council’s Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) Working Group.
The report looked at fuel consumption by marine traffic in Arctic waters as defined by the Polar Code, which includes all of North American and Russian Arctic above 60 degrees north, but excludes Iceland and large chunks of the Norwegian and Barents seas in the European Arctic.
The report shows that between 2016-2019 most ships in the Arctic used distillate marine
fuel oil.