Leaders announce partnership to reduce global dependence on Russian energy
Joe Biden has agreed a deal to ramp up gas exports from the US to the UK as part of a joint effort to cut bills and limit Russia’s impact on western energy supplies.
Sunak and Biden announced an “energy security and affordability partnership” and set up a joint action group, led by Westminster and White House officials, with the aim of reducing global dependence on Russian energy.
Continue reading...Racing to wean itself off Russian gas supplies, Germany is set to buy 2m tonnes of liquid gas from Gulf state
German firms have signed a 15-year deal to buy 2m tonnes of liquid gas from Qatar, sending out mixed signals over the priority Germany places on human rights in the Gulf and its commitment to a carbon neutral energy supply.
The deal was announced by state-owned Qatar Energy and deliveries will start from 2026. The gas will be sold by Qatar to the US company ConocoPhillips, which will then deliver it to the LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel, Qatar’s energy minister said in the capital, Doha.
Continue reading...Regulator raises cap for start of 2023 by £730 but government limits typical bill to £3,000 from April
The energy regulator Ofgem has said its price cap will reach £4,279 from January – but households will be shielded by the government’s emergency intervention to keep a lid on bills.
Ofgem said the cap, which is adjusted every quarter, will increase by £730 for the three months from the start of next year. However, the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) will limit typical household bills to £2,500. Analysts had expected the cap to sit at about £4,200.
Continue reading...The heavy presence of lobbyists from Moscow suggests Russia is using the climate talks to drum up business
Russian oligarchs and executives from multiple companies under international sanctions are among the lobbyists currently attending Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Among those at the pivotal climate talks are the billionaire and former aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska, who is under UK sanctions, and the billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, the former head of the Russian fertiliser company the EuroChem group, who has been targeted with individual sanctions by the European Union which he disputed, calling them “absurd and nonsensical”.
Continue reading...Officials interested in deal that would allow two countries to bail each other out in event of shortages
Germany is keen to talk to Britain about a solidarity pact that would allow Europe’s largest consumers of natural gas to bail each other out if an extreme cold snap were to create shortages this winter, German officials have said.
Such an agreement could be mutually beneficial for both London and Berlin, the German civil servant in charge of rationing in the case of a supply crisis told the Guardian in an interview.
Continue reading...Recent flooding is believed to have caused the pipeline outage in central-west NSW and is hampering repair
It could take weeks to completely fix a pipeline outage that has left more than 20,000 New South Wales residents without natural gas during an unseasonal cold snap, with recent flooding believed to have caused the outage as well as hampering its repair.
Residents in the central-west towns of Bathurst, Lithgow and Wallerawang woke up on Thursday to find their homes without natural gas, a day after snow fell in the region and a temperature of 1C was recorded in Lithgow. The towns of Portland and Oberon are also affected.
Continue reading...Queensland environment group had asked federal minister to revisit decisions made going back to 2011
Federal environment officials have agreed to look again at 18 proposed new coal and gas projects after a Queensland environment group submitted requests to have the effects of climate change considered.
None of the 18 projects has been approved under the country’s environment law, but have been through a process where the environment minister determines the nature and scale of their likely impacts.
Continue reading...Calls by countries such as UK and US to halt auction for drilling permits in the world’s second-largest rainforest branded ‘galling’
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has criticised the west for pressuring it to halt oil and gas exploration in the Congo basin rainforest, while continuing to search for fossil fuels in their own countries.
The Congo basin, more than half of which is located in DRC, is the last rainforest on Earth that sucks in more carbon than it releases and is second only to the Amazon in size. The DRC announced in July that oil and gas permits in parts of the rainforest would be auctioned off. The blocks up for sale include areas in Virunga national park, as well as critically endangered gorilla habitats and the world’s largest tropical peatlands, which store the equivalent of three years of the world’s fossil fuel emissions.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Joint venture with Centrica is aimed ultimately at reducing carbon intensity at the site
Hydrogen will be injected into an emergency gas-fired power station for the first time in a pilot backed by the owner of British Gas.
Centrica has invested in an industry joint venture which will trial using hydrogen at an existing “peaking plant” at its Brigg station in Lincolnshire, the Guardian can reveal.
Continue reading...Baltic states and Poland have a long shopping list, but host of others seen as cautious of new measures
• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates
Since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been subjected to the heaviest sanctions of any country in the world.
A fossil fuel superpower, Russia is no longer able to export coal to the European Union and will soon lose 90% of its oil sales to the bloc. In the other direction, the EU has banned the export of hundreds of goods to Russia, from hi-tech military kit and semiconductors that could aid Russia’s military, to makeup, handbags and clothes that may turn a handsome profit for Russian entrepreneurs.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...Economy in focus: America has a love affair with cars – but soaring prices are causing a rift. In the midwest, Adam Gabbatt asks voters what they think
The Henry Ford museum, in Dearborn, Michigan, is a tribute to America’s obsession with the motor vehicle.
The sprawling complex, set across 12 acres, is home to early examples of the Ford Model T, the mass-produced, affordable vehicle that set the US on the path of a car-dominant culture, as well as other era-defining vehicles right up to today.
Continue reading...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.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Russia is suspected to have carried out explosions to put pressure on western energy supplies
Liz Truss has said a series of explosions that severely damaged Russia’s undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines were an act of sabotage.
In a joint report delivered to the United Nations last week, the Danish and Swedish governments have claimed that the leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which can carry gas to Germany, were caused by blasts equivalent to the power of “several hundred kilograms of explosive”.
Continue reading...Experts suggest maintenance robots may have planted bombs, as concern grows over methane buildup
Denmark and Sweden have said leaks from the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea were caused by blasts equivalent to the power of “several hundred kilograms of explosive”.
The conclusions were made in a joint report by Denmark and Sweden which was delivered to the United Nations. The UN environment programme said on Friday the ruptures are likely to have led to the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane ever recorded.
Continue reading...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.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...As Norway steps up seabed security, experts say underwater cables carrying world’s internet traffic are also at risk
Nato countries are scrambling to improve security of highly vulnerable undersea pipelines and communications cables after the apparent Nord Stream attack in the Baltic Sea underlines the west’s extreme vulnerability.
Four gas leaks on two Nord Stream pipelines have now been reported after blasts were detected on Monday. According to several reports citing European officials, Russian vessels were seen in the vicinity of the Nord Stream I and II pipelines where they were damaged, but an examination of the damage may not be possible for weeks for safety reasons, and no proof of Moscow’s involvement has been presented.
Continue reading...‘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.
Continue reading...