Category Archives: Fossil fuels

Santos whistleblower accuses company of covering up extent of Australian oil spill that killed dolphins

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David Pocock tables anonymous statement in parliament describing 25,000L spill of condensate off northern WA in 2022

A Santos employee has sought protection from federal parliament to accuse the Australian oil and gas company of covering up the severity of an oil spill that killed dolphins off the northern Western Australian coast.

A statement by an anonymous whistleblower, tabled in federal parliament by the independent senator David Pocock, described witnessing a 25,000L spill of condensate – a light form of oil – near the Lowendal Islands in March last year.

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UAE ‘running towards’ renewable future, says oil boss Cop28 president

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Climate groups have accused head of national oil company, Sultan Al Jaber, of conflict of interest

The United Arab Emirates, the oil-rich Gulf nation that is hosting the next UN climate summit, is “running towards” a renewable energy future, the president of the summit has said.

“The UAE has always made progress by getting ahead of the future,” said Sultan Al Jaber, who will oversee the Cop28 conference beginning this November, at an international meeting in Dubai on Tuesday. “We believe that gamechanging solutions can be achieved if the collective political will is there. It certainly is from the UAE. We in the UAE are not shying away from the energy transition. We are running towards it.”

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UK must quit climate-harming energy charter treaty, experts say

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Secret international court system enables fossil fuel firms to sue governments for lost future profits

Experts have urged the UK to leave the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT), a secret court system that enables fossil fuel companies to sue governments for huge sums over policies that could affect future profits.

The European Commission said this week that remaining part of the treaty would “clearly undermine” climate targets and that an exit by EU countries appeared “inevitable”. Seven EU countries, including France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, have already said they will quit the ECT.

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Britain’s biggest gas supplier accused of ‘profiteering’ from energy crisis

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Climate campaigners hit out at Norwegian state-owned Equinor’s record £62bn profits as household bills rise

Britain’s biggest gas supplier, the Norwegian state-owned oil company Equinor, has been accused of “profiteering” from the energy crisis and higher household bills after posting record annual earnings of £62bn.

The oil and gas producer said on Wednesday that adjusted profits hit $15.1bn (£12.5bn) in the final three months of last year, bringing total annual profits to $74.9bn, the highest in its 51-year history.

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Billionaire investor Křetínský and trader Vitol eye fortune in British power plant subsidies

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Exclusive: Looming auction to earmark £1.5bn to put power generators on standby and keep the lights on

The billionaire West Ham United investor Daniel Křetínský and Swiss commodities giant Vitol are among bidders hoping to land hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidies to keep the lights on in Great Britain.

National Grid’s electricity system operator is preparing to announce successful bidders in a “capacity market” auction this month for 2026.

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Teals and other NSW independents seek to kill controversial Pep-11 gas permit

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Exclusive: Candidates hoping to hold the balance of power to push for state-level development bans

The “kingmaker” Sydney MP, Alex Greenwich, and a coalition of independent political hopefuls will attempt to kill the controversial Pep-11 gas exploration licence by banning development of the area through a change in New South Wales law.

The six independents, who could hold the balance of power in under two months, will on Saturday unveil a bill that would amend the State Planning Act to ban certain types of development on land and at sea, negating possible future federal approval.

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The man in charge of how the US spends $400bn to shift away from fossil fuels

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The Department of Energy’s loan programs office was ‘essentially dormant’, says Jigar Shah, its head – but now it’s ready to bankroll clean energy projects

Deep in the confines of the hulking, brutalist headquarters of the US Department of Energy, down one of its long, starkly lit corridors, sits a small, unheralded office that is poised to play a pivotal role in America’s shift away from fossil fuels and help the world stave off disastrous global heating.

The department’s loan programs office (LPO) was “essentially dormant” under Donald Trump, according to its head, Jigar Shah, but has now come roaring back with a huge war chest to bankroll emerging clean energy projects and technology.

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‘A serious threat’: calls grow for urgent review of damage done by wood burning stoves

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Government plan to educate owners and encourage fines not enough to effectively tackle air pollution

• Study links air pollution to mental ill-health

Politicians and campaigners have called for an urgent review of wood-burning stoves, which cause large amounts of pollution in urban areas.

The calls follow the admission by the environment secretary that the government had set weaker air pollution targets than it would like. The admission came as she announced a new environmental plan for England that held back from banning wood-burning stoves and settled instead for “educating” people on their use.

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Outrage as US government advances $8bn Alaska oil drilling plan

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Interior department report recommends scaled-back version of ConocoPhillips’ Willow project despite Biden campaign pledge

The Biden administration has advanced a $8bn drilling project on Alaska’s north slope. The ConocoPhillips Willow project, which would be one of the largest oil and gas developments on federal territory, has drawn fierce opposition from environmentalists, who say its approval runs counter to the president’s ambitious climate goals.

An environmental assessment released by the interior department on Wednesday recommends a scaled-back version of the project ConocoPhillips originally proposed, and would produce about 600m barrels of oil over 30 years, with a peak of 180,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

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Coal power stations warmed up for third time this week as UK cold snap persists

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National Grid put Drax and EDF’s West Burton generator on standby, with the latter stood down at 5am

National Grid asked coal-fired power stations to warm up on Thursday for the third time this week in case they are needed as cold weather across the UK continues.

Two units at Drax in Yorkshire and one at West Burton in Nottinghamshire were asked to fire up just before midnight on Wednesday. The West Burton unit was stood down at 5:13am, but the Drax units have continued to heat up, according to notifications sent to the industry.

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Celebrities call on UK banks to stop financing new oil, gas and coalfields

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Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Mark Rylance add their voices to Richard Curtis’s Make My Money Matter campaign

Famous names including Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Mark Rylance have joined activists and businesses in calling on the UK’s big five banks to stop financing new oil, gas and coal expansion.

Make My Money Matter, a campaign set up by Richard Curtis, the screenwriter, director and Comic Relief co-founder, has written to the chief executives of HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds to urge these banks to “stop financing fossil fuel expansion”.

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Colombia announces halt on fossil fuel exploration for a greener economy

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The minister for mines, Irene Vélez, told world leaders the country will shift away from fossil fuels to begin a sustainable chapter

Colombia’s leftwing government has announced that it will not approve any new oil and gas exploration projects as it seeks to shift away from fossil fuels and toward a new sustainable economy.

Irene Vélez, the minister for mines told world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the time had come for the Andean nation to move away from its reliance on oil and gas and begin a new, greener chapter in the country’s history.

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Wood banks emerge as vital source of heat while US gas bills still on the rise

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Wood banks distribute firewood to people in need as the average US gas bill goes up by 28% this winter

Inflation may be going down in the US, dropping to 6.5% from last month’s 7.1%, but the cost of keeping a home warm this winter is still on the rise. The average gas bill will increase by 28% this winter compared to last, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration.

In some places across the country, people are returning to a surprising source of heat to keep costs down: wood. In areas where wood is more widely available and used for heating – such as forested parts of New England – wood banks are emerging as a vital way to stay warm this winter.

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NSW to intervene in coal market to ‘even playing field’ among producers

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Miners to be required to set aside up to 10% of production for domestic users, state energy minister Matt Kean says

New South Wales will require thermal coalminers reserve as much as 10% of their output for domestic coal-fired power stations and other users in a bid to share the burden more fairly among producers.

The move, announced on Thursday, is the latest government intervention in energy markets in a bid to limit price increases and avoid a repeat of last June’s supply shortages that helped trigger a suspension of the national electricity market.

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Climate activists vow to take to streets to stop fossil fuel extraction

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‘Cease and desist’ letter signed by over 650,000 people sent to oil and gas CEOs follows removal of Greta Thunberg from coal protest

Hundreds of thousands of young climate activists have said they will continue “protesting in the streets in huge numbers” against fossil fuels, a day after Greta Thunberg was removed by German police from a condemned village atop a massive coal deposit.

In a cease-and-desist letter to the CEOs of fossil fuel companies, youth campaigners accuse them of a “direct violation of our human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, your duties of care, as well as the rights of Indigenous people”.

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UAE’s Cop28 president will keep role as head of national oil company

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Campaigners warn ‘breathtaking conflict of interest’ could jeopardise climate negotiating process

Sultan Al Jaber, the government minister for United Arab Emirates who will preside over this year’s crucial UN climate talks, will retain his roles as head of the country’s oil company and sustainable energy businesses, UAE has confirmed.

Campaigners have been angered by the decision, revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday and confirmed on Thursday by the UAE government, which they see as a clear conflict of interest, with some likening it to putting a tobacco company head in charge of an anti-smoking treaty, and warning it could jeopardise the negotiating process and hasten climate breakdown.

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UK coal-burning power plant to stay open two years longer than planned

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Ratcliffe-on-Soar to be kept viable until late 2024 after ministers make request prompted by energy crisis

A Nottinghamshire coal-burning power plant will stay open for two years beyond its planned closure date after a call from ministers prompted by the UK’s energy crisis.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar had initially been pencilled in to shut in 2022, but last year said it would have an initial extension until 31 March 2023.

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UAE to launch Cop28 presidency with oil boss tipped for leading role

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Sultan Al Jaber, chief of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, expected to be named president of global climate talks

The United Arab Emirates will launch its presidency of global climate talks on Thursday, with the head of its national oil company likely to be given the leading role.

Sultan Al Jaber has served as climate envoy to the country, and is chief of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the world’s twelfth-largest oil company by production, and is hotly tipped to take on the pivotal role of president of the talks.

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Australia’s big polluters must cut emissions by nearly 5% a year, but can use offsets to get there

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Plan that is key to Albanese government’s 2030 target will focus on emissions intensity to encourage cleaner practices rather than cutting production

Australia’s big polluting sites will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 5% a year but will face no limits on the use of carbon offsets under the Albanese government’s plan to deal with industrial emitters.

The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, on Tuesday released the government’s plan to revamp the safeguard mechanism, a Coalition policy that was promised to limit emissions from more than 200 industrial facilities, but in practice has failed.

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Energy efficiency ‘war effort’ needed to cut bills and emissions, say MPs

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Ministers missed crucial opportunities but should use energy windfall tax to speed up insulation efforts, committee says

A national “war effort” on energy efficiency is required to cut energy bills, reduce climate-heating emissions and ensure energy security, according to a cross-party committee of MPs.

Boosting efficiency in homes and businesses is the fastest way to cut energy use but the government missed a “crucial window of opportunity” last summer, the report from the environmental audit committee (EAC) said. The energy bills crisis was sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, while political turmoil in the UK resulted in three prime ministers in office between July and October.

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