(EnergyAsia, December 18, Tuesday) — Germany’s Linde Nippon Sanso (LNS) is helping to promote solar power in Austria with a contract to supply the country’s first solar cell manufacturing plant. LNS has an exclusive contract to supply Blue Chip Energy GmbH in Guessing with all of the gases needed to make solar cells. Linde Nippon...
(EnergyAsia, December 18, Tuesday) — Consultant Wood Mackenzie said Asian refiners would have to invest as much as $25 billion to produce Euro IV-grade gasoline and diesel. In its latest report, “Clean Fuels Race in Asia Pacific – Following the Leaders?”, Wood Mackenzie assesses the different countries in the region and their progress in moving...
(EnergyAsia, December 18, Tuesday) — Electricity generated from green energy sources in India’s West Bengal state will be paid preferential tariffs to encourage more investment in the sector. The West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission has set the tariff for power generated from bio-mass at Rs3.55 per unit. (US$1=Rs39). The tariff for mini-hydro power is Rs3.60...
(EnergyAsia, December 18, Tuesday) — Expressing their “deepest concern”, the three Rome-based UN Agencies – FAO, the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development – has warned that climate change is a major challenge to world food security and will increase hunger and malnutrition unless immediate action is taken. FAO Director-General Jacques...
(EnergyAsia, December 18, Tuesday) – Economic growth in emerging East Asia will ease to 8% in 2008 from 8.5% in 2007 as expansion in key industrialised nations moderates amid volatility in financial markets and rising oil prices, according to a new report issued by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The risks are tilted more to...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — The Middle East is set to become the epicenter of global petrochemicals manufacturing, producing essential materials for packaging, healthcare, pipes, electronics goods, personal care, construction, and many other industrial or consumer requirements, according to a forecast by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA). In a statement, the Dubai-based association...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — Climate change is likely to have an adverse impact on economic growth over the long run and will set back efforts to help the poorest countries, unless the international community takes decisive action, IMF deputy managing director Takatoshi Kato told last week’s UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia.He...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — US President George Bush could well have a surprise for the world after his representative at the UN climate change forum in Bali, Indonesia seemingly “caved in” at the last minute to international demand that the US join in efforts to combat global warming.At the end of the two-week forum...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — Chongqing city has been chosen as one of the key locations for the next phase in China’s expansion of its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR).While the size of the planned depot and other details have yet to be unveiled, analysts said the depot would most likely be supplied with domestic crude...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — China has approved the construction of a $5-billion joint oil refinery-petrochemical project between Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum Corp in Guangdong province.The complex to be sited in Nansha city could help relieve the tightening fuel crunch in the high-growth province when it comes onstream after 2010. The complex will include a...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — Palm oil producers in Southeast Asia have teamed up with environmental groups and other stakeholders to set up a certification system to prove that their products are ecologically sustainable.The Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil certification is aimed mostly at growers in Malaysia and Indonesia, who account for 85% of...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — Australia’s new government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol as his first act in taking office on December 3.As a Kyoto signatory, the Australian government participated in last week’s landmark UN summit on drawing up the road map to dealing with climate change after the expiry of...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is exploring ways to develop a future carbon fund beyond the 2012 expiry of the Kyoto Protocol as part of its commitment to help its member countries and development partners address climate change issues.At last week’s 13th Conference of Parties to the UN Climate Change...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — French major Total has announced the start-up of a new distillate hydrocracker at the Wepec refinery in Dalian, China, in which the group holds a 22.4% stake.The $240 million conversion unit increases the refinery’s annual diesel fuel production capacity by 40% to 3.5 million metric tonnes to meet the growing...
(EnergyAsia, December 17, Monday) — China could become the world’s largest user of renewable energy by 2020, according to projections by Washington-based WorldWatch Institute.It said that by 2020, over 15% of China’s energy requirement could be met by renewables.Key renewable energy sources in China are wind and solar power. Last year, China doubled its production...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — The Middle East and North Africa are the fastest growing producers and exporters of natural gas, according to the Arab Petroleum Research Centre. The two regions have seen a significant rise in their natural gas reserves over the years, attracting growing interest from potential investors from around the world.Natural Gas...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — Leaders of 16 Asia nations, including India and China, have agreed on a declaration to enhance energy savings and improve the environment.The agreement was reached at the East Asian Summit just before this week’s UN climate change forum in Bali, Indonesia to produce a new environmental blueprint after the expiration...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — The government of Sharjah emirate and Air BP will build a $32-million terminal to expand jet fuel storage at the Sharjah International Airport.Located on a 45,000-sq m site in the Hamriyah Free Zone, the storage terminal is linked directly by pipeline to the airport.Air BP, a unit of the UK...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — NYMEX Holdings Inc, the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc (NYMEX), has announced the formation of The Green Exchange(TM) venture, with Evolution Markets Inc, Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Tudor Investment Corp., ICAP and Constellation Energy.The new exchange will offer a comprehensive...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — Two Indian firms, Financial Technologies (FTIL) and Power Trading Corporation (PTC), have launched an energy exchange for electricity serving power generators, traders and consumers, the first such venture of its kind in an emerging economy.Set up with an initial investment of Rs250 million, the New Delhi-based Indian Energy Exchange (IEX)...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — US independent ConocoPhillips and Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar’s state-owned company, Qatar Petroleum, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to pursue and develop international energy projects outside of Qatar.The MOU was signed on behalf of QPI by Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — Profits for the western oil majors, led by ExxonMobil, appear to have reached a peak as high crude oil prices are cutting into refining margins amid weaker demand.The majors are finding it increasingly hard to pass on the high cost of crude to consumers and, at the same time, have...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — The US Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA) and China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) have agreed to strengthen and expand cooperation on biofuels production and use.The two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate just before the start of the third US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue in...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — Chinese government planners are working on a new strategy to improve energy access and projects in the country’s rural regions.An estimated 10 million people in the countryside do not have access to reliable energy. They use poor quality coal and low-efficiency biomass including straws and firewood.The Energy Bureau of China’s...
(EnergyAsia, December 14, Friday) — Pratt & Whitney Power Systems, Inc, a United Technologies Corp company, said it has signed an agreement with Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) to provide one 50-Megawatt Pratt & Whitney Power Systems FT8(R) SWIFTPAC(R) gas turbine to be located in Khorfakkan, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Financial terms were not...