The world’s fossil fuel companies risk wasting billions of dollars by not taking action to combat climate change seriously, according to the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Fatih Birol, who will take the top job at the IEA in September and is one of the world’s most influential voices on energy, warned that companies making this mistake would also miss out on investment opportunities in clean energy.
Coal giant Peabody recently dismissed global warming as “an environmental crisis predicted by flawed computer models”, while another major coal producer Glencore Xstrata said governments would fail to implement measures to cut carbon emissions, as has oil and gas major ExxonMobil.” [The Guardian]
The Italian oil field contractor Saipem said on Thursday that Gazprom has canceled its contract to construct a pipeline under the Black Sea. “Gazprom is now seeking other potential contractors, but the move raised questions about the Russian state-owned company’s plans to build a pipeline from Russia to Turkey, a project known as Turkish Stream.
Nicholas Green, a senior research analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London, said that while the Turkish Stream project might still proceed, searching for a new contractor with the required pipe-laying ships would delay the project by at least six months. [The NY Times]
The town of Bottrop, Germany, whose 70,000 residents have seen the collapse of their coal industry over the past few decades is dramatically reducing its carbon output by serving as a test pod for a proposed EU policy. “Five years ago, city leaders won a competition to become an “Innovation City” with the goal of cutting carbon emissions in half by 2020.
The EU kicked in 500,000 euros ($553,000) to get things started, and a group of German companies like Bayer and GE agreed to use Bottrop as a testbed for more than 300 new energy-saving technologies in seven neighborhoods. Total cost so far: 240 million euros ($265 million), mostly private funding.” [Discovery News]
Oil pump photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
