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
Qatar dumps Opec ahead of summit
Qatar says it is leaving the oil cartel Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) next month after 57 years to focus on liquefied natural gas (LNG) as tensions continue with Saudi Arabia, the organisation’s principal member. The cartel, which supplies about a third of the world’s crude oil, is meeting in Austria this week. […]
Transmission
1GW Belgium-UK link due for 2019 opening
A £600-million cable connecting the UK and Belgium national grids is about to be switched on, becoming the first of a new generation of interconnectors that will deepen the UK’s ties to continental Europe. It is due to enable up to 1 gigawatt of electricity to flow between countries, enough to power around a million […]
Storage
Arsenal opts for battery power
Arsenal Football Club in north London has installed large-scale batteries in a bid to cut electricity costs and boost renewable energy. Installed below the Emirates stadium (pictured), the system is capable of powering the 60,000-seat ground for a match – the equivalent of 2,700 homes for two hours. Arsenal has worked in partnership with renewable […]
Consumption
Macron fuel tax sparks protests
Demonstrators from the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement have blocked France’s road network to oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s new fuel taxes. Diesel, the most commonly used fuel in French cars, currently costs around 23 cents more than a year ago, rising to about €1.51 per litre, reportedly the highest point since the early 2000s. World […]
Policy
Members states agree to renewable targets
By 2030, the EU will have to generate 32 per cent of its energy from renewable sources and reach an energy-efficiency target of 32.5 per cent, according to new guidelines that have been agreed by the European Council. The targets are set out in a revised directive on energy efficiency and renewables, which were adopted […]
Environment
COP 24 activists condemn wealthy hypocrisy
Environmentalists have organised a “toxic tour” on the sidelines of the UN COP 24 climate talks to expose the gap between the green claims of some countries and their actions on the ground. The protests at the event in the Polish city of Katowice come as delegates aim to agree before Christmas a rule book […]
Industry
Faroe shareholders ditch shares
Three institutional shareholders in Faroe Petroleum have sold a slice of their shares before a hostile bid for the oil company is expected to be formally proposed to investors this week. JP Morgan Asset Management, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and River and Mercantile Asset Management sold about a third of their holdings in the […]
Opinion
Tempering the Alarm about Sea Level Rise
New report on Sea Level Rise and Climate Change challenges the alarming predictions of 21st century sea level rise. “Antarctica meltdown could double sea level rise”. “The planet could become ungovernable”. Such headlines reflect the growing alarm over sea level rise. How worried should energy companies be about sea level rise? There are 287 energy […]
Scrub, Scrub, Scrub Your Boat: Oilmen and Shippers Brace for IMO 2020
Shipping drives the global economy and nurtures the fossil fuel-dominated global energy system. Oil-powered ships account for over 80% of global trade by volume and 70% by value. It is strange, then, how little attention ships’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have received from the global community. The urgency of climate change, however, is finally changing […]