Month: November 2020

The East African Rift: Realising the Region’s Geothermal Potential

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The East African Rift System (EARS) is one of the largest rifts in the world. Characterised by a spreading crust, the tectonically active region spans 6,400 kilometres in length and up to 64 kilometres in width and runs through several countries in Eastern Africa. The geological attributes of the EARS make it so rich in geothermal energy resources that – if harnessed – could provide a reliable, affordable and indigenous source of renewable energy to help meet the electricity requirements and direct use needs of several countries in the region.…

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Why you should care about seabed mining

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We know more about the moon and the surface of Mars than we know about the deep ocean. But increasing demand for rare metals and other valuable minerals could bring industrial-scale prospectors to seafloors off the Western U.S. before the consequences of ocean mining, let alone the nature of the ocean itself, are barely understood. Seabed mining (SBM) is an emerging type of mining for minerals and rare earth metals on the ocean floor. SBM could help meet humanity’s insatiable thirst for essential minerals and theoretically power a “greener” economy.…

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LNG reference: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s plea for live telecast of proceedings rejected

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ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Thursday rejected former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s plea seeking live telecast of LNG terminal case proceedings. PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had filed a petition in the accountability court and requested live coverage of the LNG reference against him and others by the NBA. Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, former managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haq, ex-chairperson of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Uzma Adil and others were named in the reference. On Nov 16, the…

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Of demand and austerity

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Growth in the petroleum industry has gradually moved from positive to negative over the last four years. Product-wise overall growth that recovered post FY16 has been falling in the last two fiscal years. FY20 has been the weakest year in terms of year-on-year growth that stood at -20 percent as per SBP’s Annual Report for FY20 released yesterday. Year-on-year growth in individual key fuels has been catching up with the overall trend where FY20 saw all petroleum products including petrol (or Motor Spirit) incurring a negative growth rate. This is…

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Sindh govt’s palm oil project to be a game changer: Murtaza Wahab

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The Sindh government announced on Wednesday the successful completion of its ground-breaking pilot project to extract palm oil from the indigenous plantation of oil palm trees in the Thatta district. It said the pilot project successfully completed by its Environment and Coastal Development Department had shown that the coastal strip of the country had the capability of growing oil palm trees. Environment and Coastal Development Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab visited the newly established mill in the Ghulamullah Town of Thatta for extracting palm oil from the nearby oil palm tree…

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