Chief Scientist & Professor of Exploration Geoscience, Heriot-Watt University
Assistant Professor, Durham University
Chair of Urban & Regional Planning and Director of Canberra Urban & Regional Futures, University of Canberra, Visiting Professor, University of Warwick
Associate Professor in Biophysics, University of Pretoria
Production
Gazprom: China pipeline to be ready three months early
Russia’s de-facto gas export monopoly Gazprom says it will start filling the Power of Siberia pipeline to China from September 1, rather than December, as was initially proposed. Gazprom and CNPC signed a contract worth US$400 billion to supply 38 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year over 30 years through the pipeline (pictured). […]
Transmission
Shetland renewable link approval likely
A £709-million underwater electricity link to help Shetland export renewable electricity to mainland Britain has moved a step closer with the UK regulator Ofgem saying it is likely to approve the project and will make a final decision before the end of the year. The project, which would link Shetland to the UK mainland electricity […]
Storage
Volkswagen eyes 50% EV boost
Volkswagen’s CEO Herbert Diess says the German car giant is increasing by 50 per cent the number of electric vehicles it plans to produce over the next 10 years. In an unfortunate fossil-fuel based analogy, he likened Volkswagen to a “supertanker…picking up speed”. The firm’s target is to build 22 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) […]
Consumption
Will Europe Really Quit Coal?
Within the last two years, governments across Europe have pledged to rid their power sectors of coal. In January 2018, Britain announced it would phase out coal entirely by 2025. Not to be outdone, the French government announced in November 2018 a similar intent by 2022. Italy pledged to quit coal by 2022 one year […]
Policy
EIB looks to fund Cyprus gas infrastructure
Cypriot Finance Minister Harris Georgiades says the Republic of Cyprus is in talks with the European Investment Bank (EIB) over the financing of natural gas infrastructure. EIB president Werner Hoyer, who is visiting the divided island, said he was optimistic about a role for the bank in unlocking the disputed fossil fuels off the Cypriot […]
Environment
Ireland offshore potential ‘massive’: renewables boss
Offshore wind energy over the next decade could enable Ireland to decarbonise its heat, transport and industry, argued sustainable energy company SSE Ireland managing director Stephen Wheeler. Ireland had the potential to boost renewables to meet its carbon reduction targets if the island’s offshore wind potential was harnessed, Wheeler told an Irish Wind Energy Association […]
Industry
Gazprom’s 2019 European exports fall
Russian gas supplies to Europe and Turkey for this year are 8.2 per cent lower year on year as warmer temperatures reduced demand, according to state-run Gazprom. Until March 15, Gazprom’s sales to Europe plus Turkey, but without members of the former Soviet Union, reached 40.8 billion cubic metres (bcm), the de-facto Russian gas export […]
Opinion
Will Europe Really Quit Coal?
Within the last two years, governments across Europe have pledged to rid their power sectors of coal. In January 2018, Britain announced it would phase out coal entirely by 2025. Not to be outdone, the French government announced in November 2018 a similar intent by 2022. Italy pledged to quit coal by 2022 one year […]
Green New Deal Learns From Europe’s Climate Missteps
In early February, American Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), flanked by veteran climate activists and supported by a host of environmental groups, stood on the steps of Congress to announce a far-reaching new effort to combat climate change. The Green New Deal (GND), as it has come to be known, seems at first glance to be […]