Category Archives: Fossil fuels

Major partnership between science centre Questacon and Shell to end after four decades

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Climate campaigners welcome move as community pressure over fossil fuel sponsorships and advertising grows

A 37-year partnership between fossil fuel giant Shell and Australia’s national science and technology centre Questacon – which branded and delivered science activities for children – is ending.

Canberra-based Questacon has also confirmed a four-year, $1m sponsorship deal with Japanese oil and gas company Inpex will not be renewed when it runs out at the end of the financial year.

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Aboriginal cultural heritage protected as NSW rejects Glendell coalmine expansion

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Wonnarua people want Ravensworth Homestead added to the state heritage register and to become a site of reconciliation

The New South Wales independent planning commission has for the first time ruled against a coalmine extension in Singleton.

Scott Franks and Robert Lester, representatives of the Plains Clans of the Wonnarua People (PCWP), learned this week that priceless Wonnarua cultural heritage in the Upper Hunter region – centred on the Ravensworth Homestead – would be protected because the planning commission had denied Glencore’s Glendell coalmine expansion.

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Sophie Nicholls is a freelance writer based in the Hunter Valley

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Australian schools science roadshow drops Santos as naming rights sponsor

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Exclusive: Organiser says income from gas company was tied to deal and ‘we are now searching for a new sponsor’

Organisers of a nationwide schools science roadshow say they have dropped gas company Santos as its main sponsor after a senior climate scientist said the fossil fuel funding was inappropriate.

The Science Schools Foundation, which runs the Santos Science Experience, told Guardian Australia its board had decided not to renew the gas company as its naming rights sponsor for next year.

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‘Monstrous’ east African oil project will emit vast amounts of carbon, data shows

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Experts say crude oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania will produce 25 times host nations’ combined annual emissions

An oil pipeline under construction in east Africa will produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide, according to new analysis. The project will result in 379m tonnes of climate-heating pollution, according to an expert assessment, more than 25 times the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania, the host nations.

The East African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) will transport oil drilled in a biodiverse national park in Uganda more than 870 miles to a port in Tanzania for export. The main backers of the multibillion dollar project are the French oil company TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

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Rishi Sunak will keep ban on fracking in UK, No 10 confirms

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PM said he stood by Tories’ 2019 manifesto policy when asked in Commons, in rebuff to Liz Truss

Fracking will in effect remain banned under Rishi Sunak’s government, his spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday, saying the new prime minister was committed to the policy in the 2019 manifesto.

The confirmation came after the prime minister told the Commons that he “stands by” the manifesto, which put a moratorium on shale gas extraction.

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France becomes latest country to leave controversial energy charter treaty

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Quitting the ECT, which protects fossil fuel investors from policy changes that might threaten their profits, was ‘coherent’ with Paris climate deal, Macron said

France has become the latest country to pull out of the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT), which protects fossil fuel investors from policy changes that might threaten their profits.

Speaking after an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, French president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “France has decided to withdraw from the energy charter treaty.” Quitting the ECT was “coherent” with the Paris climate deal, he added.

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Queensland government clears way for controversial New Acland coalmine expansion

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Stage three of New Hope Group’s open-cut mine granted a water licence, allowing work to proceed

Work can begin on the expansion of the controversial New Acland thermal coalmine after the Queensland government granted a water licence for the project.

Stage three of New Hope Group’s open-cut mine was on Thursday granted a water licence, clearing the final hurdle for work to start.

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Tim Winton urges Fremantle Dockers to drop Woodside Energy sponsorship

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Group of fans including former WA premier Carmen Lawrence say having fossil fuel company as major sponsor is ‘no longer appropriate’

High profile Fremantle Dockers fans, including Tim Winton and former Western Australian premier Carmen Lawrence, have called on the club to end its partnership with Woodside Energy.

In a letter to the club’s president, Dale Alcock, and other board members, the group wrote it “it is no longer appropriate to have a fossil fuel company as our major sponsor moving forward”.

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Tory MPs mull backing Labour attempt to force binding fracking vote

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Opposition motion drafted to make it very difficult for government to ignore or allow mass abstentions

Labour will attempt to force a binding vote on fracking on Wednesday, as Tory MPs mull backing a bid which would allow the opposition to put down a bill banning shale gas extraction.

The motion submitted by Labour for its opposition day debate is drafted to make it very difficult for the government to ignore the vote or allow mass abstentions.

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Santos to end Darwin festival sponsorship as anti-fossil fuel backers emerge

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A group of philanthropists, artists and First Nations representatives have offered $200,000 if the gas company is dropped by the festival board

Santos has backed out of its sponsorship of Darwin festival, preempting a move by a cohort of philanthropists, artists and First Nations representatives, who were offering a $200,000 funding deal on the condition the festival cut ties with its fossil fuel partner.

The deal was scheduled to be discussed at a meeting late on Tuesday, but earlier in the day, Jane Norman, Santos chief of staff and vice president of strategy, contacted the chair of the festival board, Ian Kew, to inform him the company would not be seeking to renew its sponsorship deal, which expires at the end of the year.

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Billionaire Mo Ibrahim attacks ‘hypocrisy’ over Africa’s gas

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Telecoms entrepreneur says continent’s people should be allowed to use their vast reserves

One of Africa’s richest entrepreneurs, the telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim, has criticised developed countries for seeking to dissuade African nations from exploiting their vast reserves of gas.

Ibrahim told the Guardian in an interview: “We need a balanced and a fair policy for everybody. Gas can be useful to our transition … [Those who say otherwise] are hypocrites.”

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Public ownership of power assets key to smooth shift to renewables, Queensland energy minister says

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Government also able to offset impact of higher energy prices globally following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mick de Brenni says

Retaining control of its electricity assets has given Queensland an edge over other regions in coordinating and funding the race to decarbonise the economy, the state’s energy minister, Mick de Brenni, says.

Queensland last month unveiled a $62bn plan to rid its power grid of coal by 2036, replacing the generation with 25GW of large-scale wind and solar farms, new transmission lines and two giant pumped hydro plants for storage.

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Labor ramps up pressure on gas industry as energy prices rise but stops short of price caps

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Unions accuse resource minister Madeline King of signing ‘dud deal’ with multinational gas companies

Labor is ratcheting up pressure on the gas industry as it contemplates a workable policy mechanism to lower prices.

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, on Tuesday night ruled out intervening in the market with price caps after the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, confirmed the government was revisiting the problem of gas prices given soaring energy costs are driving domestic inflation and punching a hole in household budgets.

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British Museum urged to drop BP sponsor deal for Egypt exhibition

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Brian Eno, Ahdaf Soueif and Miriam Margolyes sign open letter about exhibition opening shortly before Cop27

Campaigners including the musician Brian Eno, the author Ahdaf Soueif and the actor Miriam Margolyes have criticised BP’s sponsorship of an exhibition of Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum.

The exhibition opens shortly before the critical Cop27 climate summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh this November.

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Kwasi Kwarteng’s secret meetings with Saudi oil firms revealed

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Exclusive: Meetings while in Saudi Arabia undisclosed due to ‘administrative oversight’, says business department

The chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, held undisclosed meetings with senior executives of Saudi Arabian firms when he was the business secretary, documents acquired by the Guardian show.

The meetings occurred in January, when Kwarteng visited the kingdom for a two-day trip under his previous ministerial role.

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Labor’s deal with gas exporters will lock in high prices, consumer groups say

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Agreement raises concerns transition to lower emissions energy sector will be harder and more expensive

Energy user groups have condemned the Albanese government’s agreement with gas exporters saying it will lock in high prices that will force businesses to close, hurt households and hobble the transition of the electricity sector off fossil fuels.

The resource minister, Madeleine King, on Thursday said the government had signed a new agreement with the big gas exporters from eastern Australia that would ensure there was sufficient supplies to meet local demand.

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AGL will close Victoria’s coal-fired power station Loy Yang A a decade early

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Energy company accelerates its exit from coal, although timeline for closure of Bayswater in the NSW Hunter Valley remains unchanged

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AGL Energy will shut down Australia’s biggest single carbon polluting power plant a decade earlier than planned, changing the closure date of its coal-fired Loy Yang A power station in Victoria from 2045 to 2035.

The company, Australia’s biggest electricity generator and polluter, is accelerating its exit from coal, according to plan released to the stock exchange on Thursday. . The strategy details its transition to renewable energy after opposition from its largest shareholder, billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, forced it in May to ditch plans to demerge.

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Nord Stream gas leaks may be biggest ever, with warning of ‘large climate risk’

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‘Colossal amount’ of leaked methane, twice initial estimates, is equivalent to third of Denmark’s annual CO2 emissions or 1.3m cars

Scientists fear methane erupting from the burst Nord Stream pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks.

Neither of the two breached Nord Stream pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, was operational, but both contained natural gas. This mostly consists of methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of climate heating after carbon dioxide.

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Queensland government pledges to end reliance on coal-fired power by 2035

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Annastacia Palaszczuk says state is facing a ‘climate emergency’ while unveiling $62bn energy plan

Queensland will end its reliance on coal-fired power by 2035 under a 10-year $62bn energy plan to create a clean “super-grid” of solar, wind and hydroelectric power.

In a historic announcement for a state known for its coal mining, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said Queensland was facing a “climate emergency” and a bold vision was needed.

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Senate advances funding bill to avert shutdown after Manchin measure scrapped

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Both parties opposed the measure on energy permits, which critics said would gut environmental protections

The US Senate has voted to advance a funding bill to avert a federal government shutdown, after a tense standoff over a controversial energy-permitting provision proposed by the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin ended with its withdrawal.

A procedural vote on Tuesday to move forward with the funding bill succeeded easily, 72-23, after Democrats announced that the West Virginia senator’s proposal, which faced opposition from both parties, would be stripped from the final legislation. It was clear that, with Manchin’s plan included, Democrats were falling far short of the 60 votes needed to proceed, as most Republicans objected to it.

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