(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Air New Zealand said it plans to be the world’s first airline to fly a large passenger aircraft using fuel produced from the jatropha crop. This is in line with its goal of producing and commercialising sustainable fuels for use in air travel. The airline said it expects to use...
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the world would need to invest a total of US$45 trillion in new technology, carbon capture and renewable energy sources to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. Calling for an “energy revolution”, IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka said the world needed...
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reduced its forecast for world oil consumption this year to 86.8 million b/d, down from its previous forecast of 87.6 million b/d. The Paris-based agency attributed the downward revision to the reduction in fuel subsidies in several countries, mostly in Asia, in response to...
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — NYSE-listed Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a world leading vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer, said it has entered into a sales contract with Germany’s EN-NEO NEUE ENERGIEN GmbH (EN-NEO), a leader in PV energy projects. Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply 9.19 MW of PV modules to...
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — More than 120 groups have banded together to jointly criticise and oppose the World Bank’s proposed ‘climate funds’ which aims to address climate change and its impacts in many developing countries. The groups issued a joint statement during the recent UN climate change talks in Bonn, Germany that coincided with...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — US agriculture secretary Edward Schafer has defended his country’s biofuel policies amid rising criticism that growing food crops for fuel is causing food shortages around the world. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Schafer said biofuels are needed to combat the high price of crude oil. He said ethanol production...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said high oil prices, rather than biofuels, are driving up world food prices. Samak Sundaravej wants the UN and the Word Bank to deal with the world food crisis by targeting oil exporting countries instead of criticising biofuels producing countries like Thailand. The UN Food...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — The state government of Pakistan’s Punjab region has ordered bureaucrats to speed up the implementation of small hydropower projects. The government has announced plans to build five hydropower projects with a total capacity of 25 MW. The projects are expected to receive Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding. However, the government...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — India’s Tata Power is investing Rs5 billion to build up an additional 115 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity. (US$1 = Rs43). The new wind farms will be set up in the states of Gujarat and Karnataka. The company has 85 MW of wind power capacity in operation in Maharashtra...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — India’s state of Haryana is developing 20 biomass-based projects for a total additional power capacity of 183 megawatts (MW). Haryana wants to cut back on its expensive power imports from other Indian states. Officials said the plants and other renewable energy projects could generate up to 10% of the state’s...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — A joint study by the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned of the worsening impact biofuels production will have on world food prices and supplies. In addition, biofuels would do little to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the study said....
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — Mercator Lines (Singapore) Limited said it has renegotiated the freight terms of its October 2006 contract with Tata Power Company Limited for the transportation of 1.9 million tons coal annually from Indonesia to India for four years. The enhanced deal is worth US$320 million. Based on Tata’s growing demand for...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for a ‘global energy technology revolution’ to put the world on a sustainable path to 2050. Its ‘blue scenario’, indicating what would be needed to reduce world carbon emissions by 50% by 2050, implies the need for US$45 trillion of investment in clean...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — A leading Indian chemicals group, SRF Ltd, said it has started up nine units of a 14 MW wind power plant in Tamil Nadu state. The Rs900 million plant in Tirunelveli district is expected to meet nearly half the company’s power requirement in Tamil Nadu, and reduce the emission of...
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — Keppel Integrated Engineering (KIE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corp Ltd, said it has signed an agreement to form a joint venture company, Tianjin Eco-City Environmental Protection Co Ltd (TECEP) with two Chinese firms, Tianjin TEDA Co Ltd and Tianjin Eco-City Investment & Development Co Ltd (TECID Co). With...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Nasdaq-listed energy technologies company American Superconductor Corporation said it has licensed one of its proprietary wind turbine designs to Taiwan-based TECO Electric & Machinery Co Ltd (TECO), the world’s third largest motor manufacturer. AMSC’s wholly owned AMSC Windtec™ subsidiary will license the design for its FC-2000, a proprietary 2...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan government are expected to help finance new micro and mini hydro power plants in the Negros Occidental province of the Philippines. Local officials said the plants, with capacities ranging from one kilowatt (KW) each to 10 megawatts (MW), would help address...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Philippines-listed Trans-Asia Power Generation Corp (TPGC) is evaluating a proposal to develop a 20-megawatt (MW) wind power project on the island province of Guimaras located in the Western Visayas region. TGPC said the project will be implemented by its sister company, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp (TA Oil),...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — To meet the needs of the fast-growing photovoltaic (PV) solar energy market, DuPont said it will expand production of its proprietary Solamet® thick film metallisation pastes at its Electronic Materials DuPont Dongguan Ltd (EMDD) facility in Dongguan city in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The company will more than...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Nasdaq-listed American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, said it has received a $450 million order from Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited for core electrical components for 1.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbines. The contract calls for shipments to begin in January 2009 and increase in amount year-over-year...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited said it has secured a US$385 million repeat order to build a semisubmersible drilling rig for Brazilian drilling contractor group Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás (QGOG). The price excludes the drilling and subsea equipment which will be supplied by QGOG. To be named Alpha Star,...
(EnergyAsia, June 3) — Japan’s JGC and South Korean firms GS, Daelim, Hyundai and SK Engineering have won various contracts to build Kuwait’s planned 615,000 b/d grassroots refinery. The contracts are worth a total of around $9 billion. Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said construction is due to begin within weeks, with completion of...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — MWH, a Colorado, US-based provider of environmental engineering, strategic consulting and construction services, said it has been selected by the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to provide engineering and construction management services for the Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project. MWH is leading a joint venture, Neelum-Jhelum Consultants, that includes...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Chinese module manufacturer Canadian Solar (CSI) said it has signed a five-year contract to procure solar cells from Taiwanese cell manufacturer, Neo Solar Power (NSP). NSP will supply several hundred megawatts (MW) of solar cells through 2013. The total contract value exceeds $500 million. Quincy Lin, NSP chairman and...
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Biofuels associations from Canada, Europe and the US have issued a joint statement in response to criticisms and comments from last week’s UN Food and Agricultural Organization summit on food in Rome, Italy. The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA), the European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBio), and the Renewable Fuels...