Year: 2021

As Thungela Resources’ CEO attempts to talk up the future of the Anglo American coal spin-off, SA’s second-largest coal export destination is planning to bring coal imports to an end. Thungela CEO July Ndlovu recently stated that a “just transition” for developing nations requires the continued operation of existing coal-fired power plants to avoid economic damage. However, even in the unlikely event that coal power stations can remain financially sustainable amid the ongoing wave of ever-cheaper renewable energy development globally, Ndlovu misses a key point. In some of SA’s key…

The days of promoting liquefied natural gas as “freedom gas” or “molecules of freedom” have ended at the U.S. Department of Energy. During a visit to Houston, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said the Biden administration would rather promote and sell a cleaner version of the superchilled fuel. The statement marks a policy shift from the Trump administration, which rolled back environmental regulations and heavily promoted U.S. LNG around the world. The energy industry has been under mounting pressure from investors and governments to step up efforts to reduce…

The installed capacity of offshore wind power connected to China’s grid network reached 10.42 million kilowatts by the end of April, according to the country’s National Energy Administration (NEA). China has made outstanding achievements in developing offshore wind power in recent years, the NEA said. In the first four months of 2021, the offshore wind power generation totaled 9.94 billion kilowatt-hours, NEA data showed.

European governments are drawing up plans to phase out coal, U.S. coal-fired power plants are being shuttered as prices of clean energy plummet, and new Asian projects are being scrapped as lenders back away from the dirtiest fossil fuel. And Russia? President Vladimir Putin’s government is spending more than $10 billion on railroad upgrades that will help boost exports of the commodity. Authorities will use prisoners to help speed the work, reviving a reviled Soviet-era tradition. The project to modernize and expand railroads that run to Russia’s Far Eastern ports…