Category Archives: Fossil fuels

Australia’s oil and gas regulator criticised after chief hands out environmental ‘excellence’ awards at industry dinner

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Regulator says outgoing boss Stuart Smith had no role in selecting winners and was invited to acknowledge his work over eight years

The outgoing head of Australia’s offshore oil and gas regulator has helped hand out awards to fossil fuel companies, including Santos, Inpex and Beach Energy, prompting criticism the body could be seen as “too close” to industry.

Stuart Smith, chief executive of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema), attended an industry conference dinner in Brisbane on Wednesday and assisted in handing out environmental and safety awards.

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EU plans ‘massive’ increase in green energy to help end reliance on Russia

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European Commission says extra €210bn needed over next five years to pay for phasing out of Russian fossil fuels

The EU plans a “massive” increase in solar and wind power, and a short-term boost for coal, to end its reliance on Russian oil and gas as fast as possible.

In a plan outlined on Wednesday, the European Commission said the EU needed to find an extra €210bn (£178bn) over the next five years to pay for phasing out Russian fossil fuels and speeding up the switch to green energy.

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Industry call for Australia to ‘unlock wealth’ of new oil and gas fields at odds with IEA warning

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Increasing supply is ‘absolutely part of the solution’ to decarbonising the economy, Appea chair tells conference

Fossil fuel representatives have joined the Morrison government in rejecting scientific warnings that no new oil and gas fields should be opened if the world is to deal with the climate crisis, with a national conference hearing Australia should be “smart enough” to back continued expansion.

Increased gas and oil supply was “absolutely part of the solution” to decarbonising the economy, the annual conference of gas industry group the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) was told.

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John Kerry warns a long Ukraine war would threaten climate efforts

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Exclusive: US presidential envoy says limiting global heating to 1.5C could be made harder by conflict

The longer the war in Ukraine carries on, the worse the consequences will be for the climate, the US presidential envoy John Kerry has warned.

Many countries are struggling with an energy crisis while also urgently needing to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit global heating to 1.5C, he said.

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Keeping coal-fired power plants running is a ‘dangerous game’ for Queensland Labor, expert says

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Political scientist says state’s decision to rule out closing power stations shows major parties are ‘wedged’ on climate change

Queensland’s Labor government is playing “a dangerous game” with coal that could hurt the party’s chances in inner-city Brisbane in the federal election, according a political expert.

On Wednesday, the state energy minister, Mick de Brenni, ruled out closing any of Queensland’s eight coal-fired power plants, despite plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

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How the oil and gas industry is trying to hold US public schools hostage

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Fossil fuel interest groups are telling New Mexicans: let us keep drilling or the state’s education system will collapse

The oil and gas industry wants to play a word-and-picture association game with you. Think of four images: a brightly-colored backpack stuffed with pencils, a smiling teacher with a tablet tucked under her arm, a pair of glasses resting on a stack of pastel notebooks, and a gleaming school bus welcoming a young student aboard.

“What do all of these have in common?” an April 6 Facebook post by the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA), asked. “They are powered by oil and natural gas!”

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Mike Cannon-Brookes buys up AGL shares in bid to block energy giant’s demerger

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AGL says it’s determined to go ahead with the merger despite the purchase, which has made Cannon-Brookes the company’s largest single shareholder

AGL Energy, Australia’s biggest electricity generator, says it remains determined to pursue its plan to split despite a bid for a blocking stake by technology billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.

In a second tilt at the company in three months, Cannon-Brookes bought 11.28% of the AGL shares through his family’s Grok Ventures firm, making him the largest single shareholder.

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Four climate activists charged over protests at motorway service stations

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Protesters charged with causing criminal damage of more than £5,000, Surrey Police said

Four climate activists have been charged after protests at two motorway service stations in Surrey.

Nathan McGovern, 22, Amber Alexander, 18, Louis Hawkins, 22, and Rosa Sharkey, 22, have been charged with causing criminal damage of more than £5,000, Surrey police said.

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Barnaby Joyce refuses to use term energy ‘transition’ because it ‘equals unemployment’

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Deputy prime minister made comments in coal community of Gladstone in Queensland as Scott Morrison makes $300m NT energy and jobs announcement

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce believes a “transition” from coal to cleaner energy “equals unemployment” in the regions, declaring the Coalition would not use the term during the election.

The Nationals leader has also backed the government’s clean energy fund to support coal, and for other government infrastructure funds to finance the construction of coal-fired power stations, but not for the building of cleaner hydrogen plants.

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More than 90% of Australia’s fuel imported – leaving country vulnerable to shortages, report says

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Experts say not enough is being done to reduce petrol consumption and encourage uptake of electric vehicles

Almost all of Australia’s fuel supply is imported, leaving the country vulnerable to shortages, a thinktank has warned in a new report accusing the government of not doing enough to reduce and replace demand.

As the war in Ukraine puts the global fuel supply in sharp focus, the Australia Institute found that 91% of Australia’s fuel in the 2021 financial year was imported (including 68% imported as refined crude, as well as 71% of the fuel refined here).

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Australia’s coal export boom forecast to end abruptly amid big drop in demand from China

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Study finds Chinese consumption will fall within two to three years as Australian coalmining communities warned to reduce dependence on industry

Australia’s coal export boom will come to an abrupt end because of an “imminent and substantial” drop in purchases by China, and local coal mining communities should brace for the change, the lead author of a new study says.

The peer-reviewed paper, published on Thursday in the journal Joule, forecasts China’s thermal coal imports will contract at least a quarter from 2019 levels of 210m tonnes by 2025, mostly as improved transport links will give local suppliers an edge.

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Climate and heritage experts call on British Museum to end BP sponsorship

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Culture Unstained put together submission stating oil company ‘falls short’ in response to climate crisis

A group of climate scientists, archaeologists and those familiar with the museum industry have written to the British Museum’s board of trustees to urge them to sever a sponsorship deal with BP, arguing that it goes against the museum’s own policies and that a renewal would damage its reputation.

The submission, put together by the group Culture Unstained, is part of an escalating campaign against the oil firm’s sponsorship of the museum, which is expected to make a decision about renewing the deal imminently.

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Australian wholesale power costs soaring despite Morrison government’s budget claims

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Spike in prices in part caused by coal-fired power plants cutting output, says analyst

Australia’s wholesale power costs are soaring, with prices for most of the national electricity market running at double the rate promoted by the Morrison government in last month’s budget.

April prices are forecast at $175 per megawatt-hour in Queensland, the most among the major east coast states, ASX futures data shows. New South Wales isn’t far behind at $173/MWh, while South Australia at $150 and Victoria just above $100.

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Tunisia’s neighbours offer help to contain damage after fuel ship sank

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Divers find no leaks and government says ‘outlook is positive’ as navies try to limit environmental harm from sinking of vessel carrying 750-1,000 tonnes

Some neighbouring countries have offered to help Tunisia prevent damage to the environment after a merchant ship carrying up to 1,000 tonnes of fuel sank off the country’s coast, the Tunisian defence ministry has said.

The ship, which was travelling from Equatorial Guinea to Malta, requested entry to Tunisian waters on Friday evening due to bad weather. It sank near Gabes, and the Tunisian navy rescued all seven crew members. After being checked in hospital, all seven were taken to a hotel.

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Diesel tanker sinks off Tunisia risking environmental disaster

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Ship carrying 750 tonnes of fuel from Egypt to Malta ran into difficulty in bad weather on Friday evening

A tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel fuel from Egypt to Malta sank in the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia’s south-east coast, sparking a rush to avoid a spill.

The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo was sailing from the Egyptian port of Damietta to Malta when it requested entry to Tunisian waters on Friday evening owing to bad weather.

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No 10 condemns ‘guerrilla tactics’ of Just Stop Oil blocking fuel deliveries

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Shortages at filling stations reported as campaign obstructs deliveries from fuel terminals in England

Downing Street has condemned the “guerrilla tactics” of protesters who have blockaded fuel distribution terminals, as reports of shortages at petrol station forecourts spread and figures showed a fall in fuel deliveries.

Supporters of the Just Stop Oil campaign have taken action at 11 different fuel terminals in England since the start of the month, blockading and trespassing on sites to stop tankers entering, filling up or leaving to deliver fuel.

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Climate activists ‘disrupt supplies from three oil terminals in England’

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Just Stop Oil says action will affect fuel availability at petrol pumps across south-east and Midlands

Clean energy campaigners claim to have disrupted supplies from three oil terminals in the Midlands and south-east of England, as motorists complain that some petrol stations are running short of fuel.

The government said only one terminal was out of action on Sunday afternoon as a result of the Just Stop Oil protests, and that local police forces were working with the industry to ensure that fuel supplies can be maintained.

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Extinction Rebellion stages mass protest in central London

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Activists call for end to fossil fuel investment at sit-down demonstration in Regent Street and Oxford Circus

Supporters of the environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion have taken part in a mass sit-down protest in the heart of London’s shopping district.

Several thousand demonstrators with multicoloured flags bearing the group’s “extinction” symbol gathered near Marble Arch on Saturday morning as samba bands warmed up.

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‘It’s a media war’: the UK’s top anti-oil campaigner fights on aged 80

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In 50 years, Canvey Island’s George Whatley has won five victories against oil and gas firms trying to expand operations

George Whatley is probably Britain’s most successful anti-oil campaigner, but you won’t find him at Extinction Rebellion’s latest wave of protests or the Just Stop Oil campaign which has blocked fossil fuel infrastructure recently.

At 80 years old and after a recent spell in hospital, he will be taking it easy at his bungalow on Canvey Island, Essex. But if anyone can claim a place in the annals of successful environmental protests, it is this former Bank of England security guard.

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PM to put nuclear power at heart of UK’s energy strategy

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Plan will not please environmental campaigners, who say it fails to meet government’s net-zero targets

Boris Johnson is to put nuclear energy at the heart of the UK’s new energy strategy, but ministers have refused to set targets for onshore wind and vowed to continue the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas.

Amid deep divisions among senior Conservatives, the strategy will enrage environmentalists, who say the government’s plans are in defiance of its own net-zero targets and neglect alternative measures that experts say would provide much quicker relief from high energy bills.

Increasing nuclear capacity from 7 gigawatts to 24GW

Offshore wind target raised from 40GW to 50GW (from 11GW today)

Solar could grow five times from 14GW to 70GW by 2035

An “impartial” review into whether fracking is safe

Up to 10GW of hydrogen power by 2030

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