I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like
Thomas Elmar Schuppe, CIM Integrated Expert on Energy, Observer Research Foundation
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his 35-year old rock hymn from “Queen” might evolve to the protest song of those cyclists in Kolkata who were recently banned to use their own means of transport in any of the city’s 174 busiest streets. To make things worse the ban is not only negatively affecting commuters but is also valid for cycle vans, handcarts, pull-carts and bakery vans. To realise the true value of this transport political intervention one has to recall the enormous significance of cycle traffic in India’s third largest metropolis as its share in the modal split significantly outperforms car traffic. Against this background the displacement of bikes off the city centre roads has at least three severe dimensions of impact which are of relevance also in current urban policy discourses:
(1) Urban development with regard to future transport planning: promotion of motorised traffic based urban sprawl versus multi modal transport system within the compact city.
(2) Environmental and energy as cycling is free of fuel use and zero-emission: resource consuming traffic versus the sustainable city concept.
(3) Social as it mainly hits the poor: exclusionary versus the inclusive city.
Actually there is much to be said for biking as a technically straightforward as well as fairly natural type of locomotion relying only on manpowered mechanical drive-train technology as WIKIPEDIA outlines:
“Cycling is widely regarded as a very effective and efficient mode of transportation optimal for short to moderate distances. Bicycles provide numerous benefits by comparison with motor vehicles, including the sustained physical exercise necessarily involved in cycling, that cycling involves a reduced consumption of fossil fuels, less air or noise pollution, much reduced traffic congestion, easier parking, greater manoeuvrability, and access to both roads and paths. The advantages also include reduced financial cost to the user as well as to society at large (negligible damage to roads, less road area required).”[1]
To put in a nutshell, all these various advantages together are driving municipal governments all over the world (as well as in India, e.g. Delhi and Mumbai) to proactively promote a higher share of bicycle traffic in local modal split. Let’s have a synoptic look on some of these conclusive arguments in favour of urban cycle traffic.[2]
First of all the ecological footprint is an absolute and relative powerful evidence, which is rather reasonable since the environmental impact is zero (or almost zero if one abstract from bicycle production process) due to the fact that there is no (fossil) fuel-fired internal combustion engine required. Graph 1 and Graph 2 are showing simple comparisons to the competing means of traffic. As a result from the green viewpoint riding the bike seems to be optimal means of transport for urban traffic as it is
· absolutely emission-free, with respect to both local pollutants and to climate
· non energy-consuming, thus the most economic option for road user
· nearly free of noise pollution as it has got no engine noises and no honks
· space saving and thus cost saving e.g. for providing parking lots and thoroughfares (depending on the source 6 or up to 7-9 bikes would fit into one car parking space).
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A rough estimation regarding to some negative ecological effects of the bicycle ban reveals that about 2.7 billion km per year have to be substituted by other means of transport (assuming only the 25 lakh daily commuter bike-rides in Kolkata city with an average mileage of 3 km are impacted). If these would be driven by car (instead of biking) more than half a million tonnes of CO2 would be emitted additionally (see Graph 3), which is about some 400,000 times the average emissions per capita in India in 2011.[3] In line with this calculation an extra of more 200 million litre of petrol/diesel might be consumed, which is an additional yearly economic burden to private households of approximately 1,250-1,750 lakh crore[4] (diesel and petrol respectively).[5]
Besides ecological issues cycling has proven to be good for health and prolongs life expectancy. Active exercise (optimally in the fresh and clean air) improves the personal fitness while simultaneously burning a lot of calories. Another study has demonstrated that cyclists are 2-3 times better off compared to car drivers inhaling less traffic-related air-pollutants (see Graph 4). Moreover cars are more dangerous than bikes due to the fact that the kinetic energy of a car at an impact is ten- to hundredfold higher (depending on the speed).[6] Putting together various arguments with respect to mortality risk data from Europe (see Graph 5) reveal that the expansion of bicycle traffic might mitigate the death risk based on a lack of physical exercise and pollutant deaths, too. Thus promoting bike traffic might lead to accumulated welfare gains in the national health sector, too.
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Last but not least bicycle traffic brings positive effects for all traffic participants especially in congested traffic (e.g. rush hours) as it is a flexible and efficient peak load means of traffic, therefore avoiding welfare losses due to time wasted unproductively in traffic jams. Up to a distance of 5 km (5.500 yards) cycling might be the fastest way to come around in the city centre (see Graph 6[7]). In combination with public transport (metro, commuter trains e.g.) it might get proved as the most convenient choice, because it’s flexible, fast, cheap, healthy and environmentally advantageous.
Considering that at the all-India level the growth of motor vehicles far outpaces the growth of new roads[8] - a situation certainly not too different in the central parts of Kolkata - it can be assumed that the “limits to growth” of car traffic on the newly created bike-free roads of Kolkata will be reached very soon, if they have not already done so. It is surprising to see that even though the ban decision was taken in conformity with the Kolkata City Development Plan (CDP) which aims to “(...) minimise the damaging effect of these modes [e.g. bicycles] on the mobility of traffic flow”[9] its conflicting nature becomes visible by looking at one of the specific considerations for a proposed Metropolitan Transportation Policy in Kolkata as stated in the same CDP: “Energy conservation and protection of environment”.
Last but not least, the “Kolkata bicycle ban” should be viewed in light of the recent recommendations of the Working Group on Urban Transport for the 12th Five Year Plan. It not only identifies the creation of facilities for walking and cycling in all cities with more than 2 lakhs inhabitants as one goal in line with the National Urban Transport Policy 2006, but even goes on to state that cycling should become a “fashion statement” including e.g. the launch of public bicycle sharing programs. Due to the limitation of road infrastructure and the risk of growing exhaust pollution the current lifestyle paradigm “I like to drive my car where I want to” is not only short-sighted but might also turn out to be short-lived.
Views are those of the author
Author can be contacted at [email protected]
ANALYSIS/ISSUES
Atomic Insurance for Atomic Insecurities
Nikhil Desai*
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uch fretting and fuming went on in India for a week, from 19th to 26th September 2013. The following week, the fury was doused. The nuclear bets were back to normal deception of a casino. The crux of the rancor was fly-sized civil financial liability limits for nuclear incidents that could cause elephant, or whale-sized damages or worse. Anti-nuclear activists in India seem to be happy that they were able to create a storm in a chai-cup rather than ashamed that they had been deceived legally.
There was an “exposé” by a TV channel that the Attorney General of India (AGI) had given a written opinion requested by the Government of India (GoI) on interpreting the 2010 Act on civil nuclear liability. This opinion in turn formed the basis of a “Note” presented to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) allegedly to approve “overriding nuclear liability for Westinghouse to seal a nuclear agreement with the US corporations” during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit last weekend to Washington (27-28 September 2013). The contents of the AGI opinion or the CCS Note are not public. Their existence has not been denied; whether the GoI “diluted” the provisions of the Indian law and if so how and by how much is unknown. Dr. Singh was blasted by some for carrying a “gift” to US companies, in particular Westinghouse. He was called “pliant”, giving in to pressure by the Obama administration, and worse.
There was a “preliminary agreement” between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and Westinghouse during Dr. Singh’s trip to Washington, just before the US Government Shutdown of non-essential activities. An “early works agreement” was signed, covering “preliminary regulatory and site-development work” for a planned six-unit power reactor complex on the coast of the western state of Gujarat, near a village called Mithi Virdi (“sweet stream”). The GOI denied that any “dilution” of “civil liability” – whereby, under the said Act, a nuclear supplier can be sued for providing patent or latent sub-standard equipment or service – just yet.
This was the first commercial agreement for a new nuclear power plant – even a “preliminary” one, of limited value – between India and private US nuclear suppliers, some 50 years after a fixed-price contract with General Electric (GE) for the supply and startup of two first-generation commercial Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs), still running near Mumbai at a de-rated level. It was also the first after much-ballyhooed “Indo-US Nuclear Deal” five years ago, whereby India, not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, was essentially forgiven for its past nuclear sins and errors and its nuclear weapons activities were exonerated, blessed, and left unaccounted for. After all, there were presumably worse – depending on the point of view – outlaws in the nuclear underworld, including India’s neighbors.
And with this cementing of so-called “civilian” partnership – which, as such things go, facilitates the military uses of nuclear technologies by India – came serious, real value bargains on the military side. Details are not available, but China and Pakistan could not have failed to appreciate the understated implications of the Obama-Singh joint statement, possibly the last for the two men for their countries.
Oh, yes, and by-the-way, they also discussed greenhouse gas emissions (HFCs, to be covered by the Montreal Protocol, since the Kyoto Protocol does not apply to the US or India) and India made some commitments. The instability and unpredictability of international agreements – whether the Kyoto Protocol or the NPT, or bilateral agreements that cover matters of state or business – is caution enough to read too much into governments’ intentions or actions.
To return to the subject, the “civil nuclear” part of this “partnership” is surreal, no matter what Dr Singh may have “given away” – no evidence yet – and what happens to NPCIL orders from Westinghouse or GE or for that matter any civilian nuclear deals in the future. Cooperation, complicity, and formal or silent acquiescence in military matters is likely to be the more far-reaching issue.
The Atomic Enterprise – like the Starship Enterprise – is a fantasy. For some, a heavenly dream, for others a hellish nightmare. The risks are real, whether from power reactors or from the rest of the fuel cycle, including diversion to weapons or other forms of violence; what is legalized and who is held liable for what is a murky area. The law may exist only in order to increase comfort levels for those who invest their own money; governments will be left holding the bag if needed.
In 2008, the Indian Parliament approved the so-called historic US-India deal on nuclear cooperation. The Bush Administration – as a part of a strategic policy shift that impacted worldwide nuclear activities and regimes – sold this deal to critics in the US in the name of huge commercial potential for US nuclear vendors. After all, it was then widely anticipated that “new, improved, fortified, tastier, scientists-endorsed” nuclear power would stage a renaissance in the industrial world, emerging as the savior of mankind from climate change.
The circumstances around the 2008 approval were murky if not outright dirty, but then corruption is business-as-usual worldwide. The 2010 law on civil liability was seen by some as creating a new path in the world, incorporating a right for a nuclear operator in India (NPCIL or other government enterprises) to sue the supplier entity – Russian or Chinese, American or French, public or private – for damages.
The precise wording of several sections of the law is open to interpretations, but the relevant facts of the Act are, simply, that i) the operator’s civil liability is capped at 300 million SDRs per incident, and that ii) the operator, after he has paid compensation for damages, may sue the supplier of goods and services for sub-standard, blatant or latent defects. The right to sue may be incorporated in contractual agreements, or may rise otherwise.
On its face, the Act’s open-ended “right to sue” cannot be interpreted as a license to burden all liability – which is limited to SDR 300 million, an atomic (small) sum for atomic risks, in the first place. It does not specify a time limit (though a later regulation set such limits), nor does it (or subsequent regulations) specify the standard of integrity, governing technical safety standards, or the burden of proof. The Parliament was unaware of Fukushima, of course, which alone is likely to cost SDR 1 trillion, and there is no provision for holding GE or other companies liable. The operator – TEPCO – is nationalized, and it is alleged his staff delayed some action during the early days of Fukushima crisis for fear of bankruptcy.
Indian power reactor deals so far have presumably been exempted from the provisions of the 2010 Act. For future orders, domestic or foreign, some suppliers may not care as much about its provisions. The Russian and French contenders are creations of their state and owned, implicitly and explicitly supported by their governments. These governments have taken trillion-dollar bets on their own people, and protecting their companies for some portion of a SDR 300 million would be “spare change” in the bigger, long-term view of the world.
This is not the case with US suppliers, and while it may be imprudent to discriminate among reactor suppliers, the technical and economic considerations in actual contracting will presumably matter more in reaching deals. The world nuclear industry is not dead, after all, and civilian and military deals together will keep it in business. That does not mean that any supplier would essentially grant a blank check to NPCIL – which can manage a SDR 300 million insurance, since it is sure to be bailed out and all the excess damage costs absorbed by the government.
The AGI, Goolam Vahanvati explained that exercise of a “right of recourse” for supplier liability is optional. This is the only valid interpretation of the law; a right is not an obligation, only an option.
Some commentator argued that this amounts to repudiating the right “to ensure that foreign suppliers don’t get away scot-free if a nuclear accident is traced back to ‘equipment or material with patent or latent defects or sub standard services.’” Another argued, "If American players get privileges that go against Indian laws then India will be very much be answerable to countries like France and Russia".
The ifs in such statements were happily ignored by anti-nuclear activists – seemingly as possessed, on their own, of the public interest as the pro-nuclear establishment, and seemingly equally given to self-deception and public deception as the enemies they despise. Some even screamed “brazen contempt for a democratically adopted Act by the sovereign parliament of India”. To them, this is nothing but “selling off Indian people’s lives and safety for nuclear profits”, and “unfortunate that India is choosing to miss the historic opportunity to go for sustainable, renewable decentralised and equitable forms of energy”, whatever that means.
For now, it is time for Indians to grow up to the obligations of global trade. No Indian software or pharmaceutical company is held liable for all the incidental or consequential damages due to its exports. To demand that a nuclear equipment supplier – whether in a turn-key mode or at any time during the operation of a power plant – be strictly liable is tantamount to demand that handgun vendors be liable for a customer’s suicide. The big question is whether the Indian power sector is viable, not whether nuclear power costs 10 or 20 US cents per kWh. All cost forecasts can go haywire within any time, and if the safety of nuclear power stations demands that they be shut down for changes, the replacement power cost alone can get far higher than the paltry damage liability cap. Even in the case of nuclear accidents, site selection, operational errors, and worse – ineffective disaster response by local authorities and the state/national governmental infrastructure – can multiply damages that no supplier can be legally held responsible for.
Or to reconsider whether nuclear disasters are worth the risk, whether they come from faulty power plant equipment or diversion of nuclear technology and material to mass destruction or threats.
The rhetorical excess of anti-nuclear activists combined resentment against the current coalition government and some of the opposition parties, against the US for all sins of commission and omission, against capitalism, against centralized power systems, against multi-national corporations, and perhaps against God (whose “acts” cannot be insured against).
As the joke goes among lawyers, “If you have the facts on your side, argue facts. If you have the law on your side, argue the law. If you have neither, pound the table and raise your voice."
Brazen ignorance is needed to charge the GoI with "brazen contempt". Tit for tat. Sometimes, nuclear zealots and anti-nuclear activists seem mirror images of each other when it comes to facts or laws. This is sad but not surprising – governments and scientists started the deception of nuclear power, and the activists may be only now waking up to the fact that double-speak combined with irrational faith are hallmarks of the nuclear establishment. To take an interpretation of the law that serves commercial interests is a policy choice, and GoI policy choice was predictable.
All hearsay and shouting from top of the roofs against civilian nuclear technologies is beside the point. The world is subject to civilian as well as military nuclear risks and will remain so for today’s children, even if their grandparents dream otherwise. The civil nuclear “dialogue” cannot go on where the government has all the powers, including information. The institutional fault that divides India – talking past each other, resorting to technical theories rather than establishing a framework for examination on merits – is a reminder that even 50, 60, or 70 years later, India simply hasn’t grasped how to live with its nuclear choices. The establishment merrily ignores the criticism, not because they are necessarily irresponsible but they are drugged on a fantasy of nuclear power being the responsible choice. Their self-delusion knows no limits, and they are protected by the police and the army.
Dr Singh may have done nothing improper - "dilution" or "gift" or "extravagance" – in the present instance. Still, in the broader scheme of things, with grassroots opposition at nuclear plant sites, the government may advance a few more steps toward a national security state, failure, and chaos, simply because it does not know how to manage its power sector.
Note: NPCIL is a public sector undertaking in possession and charge of India’s nuclear power reactors and thus liable for damages in case of nuclear incidents. As with early histories of nuclear power in US or France fuel enrichment or spent fuel reprocessing or heavy water production are in the hands of a government agency (a department, in India’s case). As with Russia or China still, nuclear fuel mining and power production are also in the hands of PSUs in India as of course the production and use of weapons-usable nuclear materials in the hands of the government, at least so far as anybody can tell.
Views are those of the author
*Nikhil Desai is an energy economist and environmentalist based in Ahmedabad and can be contacted at [email protected].
Courtesy: Nautilus Institute (http://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-policy-forum/atomic-insurance-for-atomic-insecurities/#ixzz2h6nJbRwf )
DATA INSIGHT
Piped Natural Gas Scenario in India
Akhilesh Sati, Observer Research Foundation
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State |
Number of Consumers (as on March 2013) |
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Domestic PNG |
Commercial PNG |
Industrial PNG |
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Delhi |
386226 |
962 |
418 |
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MAHARASHTRA |
647790 |
1990 |
98 |
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GUJRAT |
1144424 |
12693 |
3686 |
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UTTAR PRADESH |
7090 |
55 |
430 |
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TRIPURA |
11431 |
256 |
41 |
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MADHYA PRADESH |
1775 |
6 |
49 |
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RAJASTHAN |
177 |
0 |
16 |
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ASSAM |
23632 |
759 |
366 |
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ANDHRA PRADESH |
1802 |
15 |
1 |
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HARYANA |
11508 |
43 |
123 |
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Total |
2235855 |
16779 |
5228 |
% Share of Consumers
Source: Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell.
Oil & Gas: India’s Milestones
Dinesh Kumar Madhrey, Observer Research Foundation
Continued from Volume X, Issue 18......
1996:
ONGC's major projects include installed HX-HY platform for the development of Heera Phase III completion of Hazira terminal phase IIIA & the two EOR projects in the heavy oil belt in North Gujarat. In addition, ONGC submitted four new projects for government approval.
1997:
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) took up joint venture projects in the fields of exploration, development and production in seven countries: the United States, Russia, Vietnam, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt and Kazakshtan. The Institute of Oil and Gas Production Technology (IOGPT), a premier research and development institute of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd was awarded the prestigious certificate of ISO 9001 for design development and consultancy including lab study and training for hydrocarbon production, processing and refining. Royal Dutch Shell group, the world's largest oil company, joined hands with Oil & Natural Gas Corporation to help revive production at the Neelam oil field of the public sector company. For the first time in India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) installed a 24-hour video conferencing facility from its control room at Bandra to offshore platforms in Mumbai Offshore.
1997-98:
New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) was formulated by the Government of India, during 1997-98 to provide a level playing field to both Public and Private sector companies in exploration and production of hydrocarbons with Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) as a nodal agency for its implementation. This brought major liberalization in the sector and opened up E&P for private and foreign investment, where 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was allowed. Under NELP, which became effective in February 1999, acreages were offered to the participating companies through the process of open competitive bidding. The terms and conditions of this open and transparent policy ranked amongst the most attractive in the world.
1998:
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) launched a major oil hunt for the first time in the deep waters off the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin when its refurbished offshore rig, Sagar Vijay, commenced drilling operations at 530 metres depth in a structure off the Amalapuram coast in south Andhra Pradesh.
1999 (NELP-I):
Under the First round of New Exploration Licensing Policy, Government of India invited bids on 8th January 1999 for 48 blocks for exploration of oil and natural gas. Of these, 12 blocks were deepwater (beyond 400m isobath), 26 shallow offshore and 10 were onland blocks. PSC’s were signed for 24 exploration blocks comprising 7 deepwater, 16 shallow offshore and 1 onland.
to be continued…
NEWS BRIEF
NATIONAL
OIL & GAS
Upstream
ONGC shows interest in Russia's Arctic offshore
October 22, 2013. Indian state-owned oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is interested in exploring for oil and gas in the Arctic offshore with Russian partners, leaders of the two countries said after the summit talks in Moscow. The two sides will study the possibility of pumping Russian oil and gas by pipeline to India, while agreeing on the significance of supplying Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India. A joint statement, issued after President Vladimir Putin hosted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Kremlin, contained no energy breakthroughs, however. India has struggled to expand its upstream foothold in Russia, despite a security relationship dating back to the Cold War and the two countries’ membership in the BRICS caucus of emerging economies that includes India, Brazil and South Africa. ONGC’s overseas arm is a partner in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, which is operated by a unit of Exxon Mobil. State oil major Rosneft, another Sakhalin-1 partner, is lobbying for the right to export LNG to Asia-Pacific buyers. Rosneft and Exxon have announced plans to build a $15-billion LNG plant to process Sakhalin-1 gas, to be launched in 2018 with an initial capacity of five million tonnes a year. (www.thehindu.com)
BHP gives up nine O&G exploration blocks in India
October 21, 2013. Global miner BHP Billiton said it has given up nine oil and gas exploration blocks in India due to its inability to carry out exploration operations there. The company is withdrawing from those blocks because of delays in clearances, but BHP would not confirm the reason for its decision to relinquish its interest. BHP gave up its interest in six blocks awarded in India's NELP VII bid round, in which it held 26 percent interest and GVK held 74 percent interest as well as three blocks awarded in the NELP VIII bid round in which it held 100 percent interest. BHP Billiton will keep its 50 percent interest in its NELP IX block, operated by BG Group. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Oil discovery in BPCL-Videocon block in Brazil
October 21, 2013. A significant oil discovery has been made in an ultra-deep water block off Brazil where state- owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Videocon Industries together hold 40 per cent interest. Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, which is the operator of the block, has confirmed the Farfan-1 oil discovery in the ultra-deep waters of the Segipe-Alagoas basin, off Brazil, Videocon said. Farfan-1 is located 104 km north of Aracaju, the capital of the north-eastern Brazilian state of Sergipe. It lies in a water depth of 2476 metres, about 5 km from the Farfan discovery well. A 51-metre reservoir was discovered at Farfan-1 well, a year after a 44-metre hydrocarbon column was found in Farfan a year ago. The discovery has been estimated to hold more than 1 billion barrels of oil. Petrobras had previously said the BM-SEAL-11 concession could produce at least 100,000 barrels per day of oil, starting in 2018. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
OVL and Oil India to split Videocon stake equally
October 21, 2013. ONGC Videsh (OVL) and Oil India will split equally the 10 per cent stake they acquired in a giant Mozambique gas field from Videocon Group for $2.475 billion. OVL and OIL had jointly bought Videocon Group's 10% interest in the Rovuma Area-1 for $2.475 billion. This stake was originally envisaged to be split in 60:40 ratio with OVL getting the larger share. But with OVL on its own buying US energy major Anadarko Petroleum's 10 per cent stake in the same block for $2.64 billion, the Videocon stake will be split 50:50. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
RIL, BP promise to invest $10 bn more in O&G sector
October 19, 2013. BP CEO Bob Dudley and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani promised fresh investment of up to $10 billion in oil and gas but sought the government's support in tackling regulatory issues and allowing the companies to sell natural gas at market-linked prices. The two business leaders met Oil Minister Veerappa Moily, Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Law Minister Kapil Sibal. Dudley who is on his fourth visit to India, also had a separate meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in which Ambani was not present. The finance ministry has been at the forefront of moves to review the Cabinet's decision to substantially raise natural gas prices. After meeting ministers, Dudley said India had an enormous need for all forms of energy - oil, gas, coal and renewable. Dudley also expressed some concern about regulatory issues but was not directly critical. Dudley reiterated that BP was hoping to set up one of the world's largest acetic acid plants. The BP-Reliance joint venture has bid for GSPC's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Gujarat. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Policy / Performance
Petronas Lubricants to set up first blending plant in India
October 22, 2013. Malaysia's Petronas Lubricants International said it will invest $50 million in a lubricant oil blending plant near Mumbai, its first in India. The Malaysian company has signed a joint land lease agreement with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for a lubricant blending plant of 60 kilo tonnes per annum (KTA) capacity in Patalganga near Mumbai, Maharashtra. The first phase of the plant is likely to be completed by the end of 2015. MIDC and the Maharashtra government will extend all possible cooperation to the Malaysian company. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
After CBI case against PC Parakh, Birla oil ministry in a fix over RIL issue
October 21, 2013. The CBI case against former coal secretary PC Parakh for overturning his own recommendation and allegedly conspiring to help KM Birla's company win a coal block has cast a shadow on the oil ministry, which is contemplating reversing two of its own decisions. The decisions being reviewed by the oil ministry are - Cabinet's approval for higher gas prices for all firms, including Reliance Industries, and oil ministry's acceptance of a report by a consultant, who said RIL's gas output fell because the company did not drill the required number of wells. Both the decisions have a direct bearing on the ongoing dispute between Reliance Industries and the oil ministry over gas prices and the $1-billion penalty imposed on the company for the fall in gas output. In the current climate, they are reluctant to make any recommendation that may help Reliance, although oil minister Veerappa Moily said that there was only one contentious issue regarding Reliance Industries, which the Cabinet would soon decide. After the CBI's case against Parakh and Birla, the oil ministry are very reluctant to appoint a new consultant unless asked by the Cabinet. The consultant may give an opinion that is contrary to the tough position taken by the government since the time Jaipal Reddy was the oil minister. The appointment of a consultant was on the agenda of the management committee of the KG-D6 block, but government rejected the move. In the current environment, it is very difficult for bureaucrats to find a quick solution to the lingering dispute between the government and RIL-BP. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
OVL acquires two oil blocks in Bangladesh
October 18, 2013. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have won two shallow water oil and gas blocks in Bangladesh, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said. The production sharing contract (PSC) for the two blocks was initiated in September and formal signing will happen sometime this month, he said. Moily said OVL which had gone into a shell after its 2008 acquisition of Russia-focused Imperial Energy was criticised, has turned into an aggressive competition on the international scene during past one year. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
DGH find it difficult to pay ` 25.1 mn legal fees
October 18, 2013. Oil ministry's technical arm, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), which is embroiled in several arbitration cases with energy firms abroad, is unable to pay fees of advocates and law firms totalling ` 2.51 crore pending government approvals since July. DGH is fighting cases against several oil and gas operators in Federal Court of Malaysia; Queen's Bench, London, and Kuala Lumpur High Court, the directorate said. The directorate has almost exhausted the limit by spending ` 47.42 crore on account of arbitration cases abroad. The directorate has requested the oil ministry to immediately sanction ` 2.51 crore for payments towards pending bills of lawyers for the first four months of the current fiscal and approve an advance of ` 1.8 crore for the rest of the year. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Coal India is not an expert in CBM exploration: Moily
October 17, 2013. Oil minister Veerappa Moily has rejected a draft note for the Cabinet proposing exploration of coal-bed methane (CBM) rights to state-run Coal India without auction and directed bureaucrats to re-draft it to encourage competition and efficiency. Moily rejected the proposal saying Coal India should not get automatic rights of over CBM exploration only because most of coal blocks are held by the public sector firm, which is the single largest coal producing company in the world. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Jalandhar to get CNG in 12-18 months
October 16, 2013. After Delhi, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) supplies to automobiles and piped cooking gas for households will commence in Jalandhar in the next 18 months. Jalandhar will be the first city in Punjab to get CNG, an environment friendly fuel that is considered cheaper than diesel. City-based Jay Madhok Energy had outbid state-owned GAIL Gas, ONGC, Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Indian Oil-Adani combine and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) to win city gas distribution rights in Jalandhar. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
POWER
Generation
Mudajaya Group eyes mega power plants in India
October 21, 2013. Mudajaya Group Bhd has set its sights on building and operating two ultra mega power plant (UMPP) projects with a capacity of 4,000 MW each in India. The group is looking for a partner -- either from Malaysia or India -- to form a consortium with its current partner in India to bid for the projects. Currently, Mudajaya is undertaking 1,440 MW coal-fired power plant through its 26 per cent associate company, RKM Powergen Pvt Ltd (RKMP). The group and its existing partner in India, RK Power Pvt Ltd, are looking for another party to form a consortium and apply for a request for qualification (RFQ) document for the UMPP. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Capital goods' companies eye over ` 240 bn orders from UMPPs
October 18, 2013. Larsen & Toubro, Thermax and other companies that have invested heavily in setting up manufacturing units for core equipment for power projects, are pegging their hopes on the upcoming ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) for orders at a time when the order inflows have dried up. The government has revived its UMPP programme after five years by inviting initial bids for two 4,000 MW units each at Bedabahal in Orissa and Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu. The bid conditions now make it mandatory for developers to source power equipment from Indian or foreign companies, or joint ventures that have manufacturing units in India. The two projects would need to buy boiler and turbine generators, core equipment for a power plant, worth around ` 24,000 crore, which could be a shot in the arm for the local equipment making joint ventures — L&T-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, JSW Energy-Toshiba Corp, Bharat Forge-Alstom, Thermax-Babcock and Wilcox Co, among others. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Hindalco unlikely to get tapering coal linkage for power plant
October 18, 2013. Aditya Birla Group firm Hindalco is unlikely to get tapering coal linkage for its captive power plant in Odisha with the Coal Ministry conveying to the firm that Coal India Ltd (CIL) does not have sufficient fuel. The Coal Ministry has indicated to the company that it was not be possible for CIL to provide tapering linkage as it does not have sufficient coal. Hindalco has been in the news following CBI's lodging a case against its chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P C Parekh on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of Talabira coal blocks in Odisha. Tapering Linkage is the short-term linkage provided to those coal consumers who have been allocated captive coal blocks for meeting the fossil fuel requirements of their end use plants but production of coal from the allotted mines could not develop on time. The Coal Ministry had allocated Talabira-II mine in Odisha for 700 MW power generation of Aditya Aluminium, a division of Hindalco Industries Ltd and for 2000 MW power plant of Neyveli Liginte Corp (NLC). The Coal Ministry had in September 2010 issued show cause notices to Hindalco Industries, NLC and Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd for delaying the production from Talabira-II coal block. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Transmission / Distribution / Trade
Essar withdraws application for distribution licence in Gurgaon
October 22, 2013. Essar group company Essar Projects has withdrawn its application from Haryana power regulator for grant of power distribution license in Gurgaon's Municipal Corporation area. Essar Projects had sought license to distribute power in municipal area of Gurgaon in Haryana as the second energy supplier in the district. The company had filed the application for distribution licence in the area of Gurgaon Municipal Corporation as per the provision laid under section 14 read with section 15 of Electricity Act, in the month of March this year. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
PSPCL faces crisis as coal supplier curtails supply
October 21, 2013. Despite the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) having paid ` 100 crore as advance ad hoc payment to the coal supplier, the power corporation instead of getting a regular supply of coal has been threatened by the supplier to curtail the coal supply to the thermal plants in Punjab. Not only this, Panem, the coal supplier, has also threatened that whatever quantity of coal has been exposed will be dispatched by October end or mid-November and after that the PSPCL may take charge of the mine. (www.hindustantimes.com)
Alstom India will supply transformers for NTPC’s Supercritical Nabinagar Power Project
October 21, 2013. Alstom T&D India will supply a power transformer package for Nabinagar Power Generating Com Ltd' (NPGCL) super thermal power project located in Bihar. The project is part of a bulk tender which has been set up to accelerate the pace of thermal capacity addition. This order, worth approximately ` 105.5 crore, covers design, engineering, manufacture, supply, testing, erection and commissioning of generator transformers and associated power transformers and shunt reactor. The Nabingar power transformer package is due to be delivered by October 2017. All equipment will be manufactured by Alstom T&D India's transformer manufacturing and testing facility in Naini (Uttar Pradesh), the company said. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
NTPC increases power supply to Bangladesh
October 19 2013. NTPC has enhanced power supply to Bangladesh by another 25 MW after it started supplying 175 MW to the country. NTPC’s supply increased after a notification from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which worked on a Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB’s) request to enhance scheduled supply. BPDB requested NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) for enhancing the quantum of scheduled power and CEA gave the go ahead. (www.financialexpress.com)
Bhutan's power import need may touch 200 MU this winter
October 18, 2013. Hydropower rich Himalayan country Bhutan is anticipating its own power import need during approaching winter season to touch 200 Million unit (MU) and adjoining India is the best possible source. With estimated techno-economically exploitable potential of 23,760 MW in hand, Bhutan's present installed production capacity is around 1500 MW. Despite own generation of around 6500 MU against average annual domestic demand of only 1500 MU, Bhutan needs to import power. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
IL&FS Engineering bags ` 1.5 bn rural electrification project
October 17, 2013. Infrastructure company IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd said it has bagged project worth ` 149.68 crore for rural electrification works in Uttar Pradesh. IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (PVVNL) for rural electrification (RE) works in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, the company said. The turnkey project is to be completed in 18 months. The project is funded by Rural Electrification Corp Ltd (REC). The company recently won a rural electrification project from Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (MVVNL) in Uttar Pradesh. The company is already executing rural electrification works for West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd in Odisha. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
India test-starts Kudankulam nuclear reactor amid protests
October 22, 2013. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), the nation’s sole atomic energy producer, test-started part of a $2.84 billion reactor after a delay of six years amid protests from local residents. The first unit of the Kudankulam plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu was operated for two hours at a capacity of 175 MW. The unit should run at half its capacity by Oct. 26 and reach its maximum output of 1,000 MW in six weeks, while the second unit should start in a year. Public rallies against Kudankulam, the first two units of which are not covered by any liability law, increased after the meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant March 2011, the worst civil atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986. Concerns over the extent of liability equipment suppliers will have to bear in case of an accident is stalling India’s deals with Areva SA, General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Co., impeding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s goal to boost the nation’s nuclear generation capacity 13 times by 2032. The cost of generating power from the first unit will be ` 2.6 to ` 2.7. Singh met Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss cooperation between the two countries on energy and strategic matters. An accord for buying two more reactors for Kudankulam from Russia has been delayed because of Russia’s concern about India’s liability law. The law sets a ` 15 billion ($243 million) cap on payouts by Nuclear Power Corp., with the government responsible for damages beyond that. After paying compensation, Nuclear Power Corp. can seek money from suppliers for defective equipment or materials. (www.bloomberg.com)
UP, Karnataka cold to open access policy for power
October 21, 2013. While Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat have embraced the open access policy for bulk consumers, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and others continue to drag their feet on it despite facing huge power shortages. States can not only mitigate their power shortages, but also reduce their power procurement costs by allowing open access (OA) facility to bulk consumers (those with more than 1 MW demand). Andhra Pradesh is the latest to join the OA bandwagon. Taking cue from Tamil Nadu, AP has adopted the OA route to overcome its chronic power shortages. As many as 616 industrial and commercial units in AP took their power supply from sources other local discoms in September, a big jump for a state which had not even a single OA consumer to boast of just a year ago. (www.financialexpress.com)
Himachal's Sainj hydropower plant to be ready by 2015
October 19, 2013. The 100 MW Sainj hydroelectric project being constructed by the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) in Kullu district is likely to be commissioned by August 2015. The ` 800 crore hydro project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, will generate 322 MU per annum. The state is expected to earn revenue of ` 150 crore by selling electricity from it, HPPCL said. Power Minister Sujan Singh Pathania visited the project site and inspected the progress of construction. The run-of-the-river project is located on the Sainj river, a tributary of the Beas. The project comprises a diversion barrage on the river near Niharni village, and an underground powerhouse on the right bank of the river near Suind village. (www.ndtv.com)
Power Ministry seeks tax sops for hydropower gear
October 19, 2013. The power ministry has sought customs duty and service tax exemption for construction equipment of hydropower projects that are languishing due to problems like lack of forest clearances, local agitation and land acquisition problem. If accepted, the move would benefit companies like NHPC, NTPC, GMR and Jaiprakash Associates that are implementing hydroelectric projects. The plants attract basic customs duty of 5%, countervailing duty of 12%, and special additional duty of 4% among others. The duties work out to 23.08% of the value of the imported goods while indigenous capital goods attract excise duty of 12.36%. The ministry may approach the finance ministry for extending the benefits to companies that are executing hydropower plants. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Parliamentary panel slams AERB on radiation safety policy
October 18, 2013. A Parliamentary panel has slammed nuclear regulator Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for failing to bring out a comprehensive nuclear radiation safety policy for three decades and batted for giving it statutory status with enhanced legal powers. The panel said absence of such a policy at the macro level can hamper micro level planning of radiation safety in the country. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
NHPC to modify the design of 2 GW Lower Subansari hydro electric project
October 18, 2013. Assam chief minister, Tarun Gogoi said that NHPC Ltd has agreed to modification of design of 2000 MW Lower Subansari hydro electric project along Assam-Arunachal which is facing stiff resistance from anti dam groups and works in the projects site is stooped. The ministry of power has accepted the recommendation of expert panel which suggest modification in the dam designs. This was conveyed by Union Minister of State for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia to Gogoi in a letter. Gogoi said that the Central government had also decided to give another 300 MW of additional from unallocated power in addition to the already allocated 208 MW of paid and 25 MW of free power to the state from the project. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
India, China to sign MoU to encourage Chinese power gear service centres
October 17, 2013. The government will sign an agreement with China to encourage its power equipment makers to set up service centers in India. The Union cabinet cleared a proposal to sign an inter-governmental memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate setting up Chinese power equipment repair shops in India. The MoU will be signed between Indian power ministry and China's energy administration, possibly during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to that country later this month, the power ministry said. The move will help power plants that have been or are being built on Chinese equipment. Indian power developers have ordered nearly 60,000 MW equipment from Chinese companies of which nearly 20,000 MW plants have already been commissioned while another 40,000 MW are under various stages of implementation. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Govt eases norms for UMPP in Odisha, Tamil Nadu to attract developers in a slowing economy
October 16, 2013. The government has eased qualification norms for companies bidding for the two proposed ultra mega power projects in Odisha and Tamil Nadu and also amended a clause on fuel charge to attract developers in a slowing economy. The power ministry said the capital cost requirement has been brought down to 5 per cent from 10 per cent, which means a bidder will now be able to include in its experience a project executed by it that was worth 5 per cent of the proposed UMPP's cost. The two proposed UMPPs are estimated to cost ` 25,000 crore each. Last date for submitting technical bids for the projects is November 11. A bidder will now be able to include an infrastructure project executed by it worth ` 1,260 crore in its experience to participate in the bidding for the proposed UMPP at Bedhabahal in Odisha. This threshold was earlier ` 2,520 crore. Similarly, a project worth ` 1,210 crore can be included by a bidder as against ` 2,420 crore to bid for the Cheyyur UMPP in Tamil Nadu. The government has also asked bidders to include projects implemented by them over the past seven years against five years specified earlier to qualify for the UMPPs. It has also amended a clause indicating the fuel charge of both UMPPs. The fuel charge for the projects will be notified at the second stage of bidding. The government had specified a fuel charge of ` 0.356 per unit for the Odisha UMPP, which has three attached coal mines. The fuel cost for imported coal-based UMPP in Tamil Nadu will be fixed via South African index. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
PFC withdraws RFQ for Surguja UMPP in Chhattisgarh
October 16, 2013. The government has withdrawn the tender inviting preliminary bids for the proposed 4,000 MW ultra mega power project (UMPP) at Surguja in Chhattisgarh. The Request for Qualification (RFQ) for 4,000 MW Chhattisgarh UMPP issued on March 15, 2010 is withdrawn, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) said. The proposal to set up the UMPP in Chhattisgarh has been dropped as the coal blocks for the proposed project fall under dense forest area and will impact the environment adversely. However, there was no official information about the reason for the withdrawal notice. The process for invitation of initial bids for the Surguja UMPP has been delayed several times in the past due to lack of environment clearance for the allotted coal mines. Ministry of Environment and Forests had classified the Hasdeo-Arand coal blocks, allocated to the Surguja plant, as no-go which meant that mining cannot take place in those mines as it may cause damage to the environment. However, a committee headed by Planning Commission Member, B K Chaturvedi, in its report expressed reservations on the legal sanctity of "no-go". A Group of Ministers constituted for tackling environment issues impacting power projects accepted the suggestions of the Chaturvedi panel. Meanwhile, PFC has initiated the process of calling preliminary bids for the two proposed UMPPs -- Bedabahal (Odisha) and Cheyyur (Tamil Nadu). The last date for submission of RFQs (Request for Qualification) for both the projects is November 11, 2013. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
INTERNATIONAL
OIL & GAS
Upstream
OVL pulls out of Brazalian oilfield auction
October 22, 2013. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) pulled out of an auction of $ 184 billion oilfield in Brazil after it could not stitch an alliance to bid for the giant project. OVL was among the 11 companies shortlisted to bid for Brazil's Libra pre-salt block, one of the world's largest offshore oil discoveries. It however did not make a bid at the auction as it could not form a consortium with any of the other shortlisted companies. The auction attracted just one bid from a consortium led by Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, France's Total and China PetroChina and its sister company Cnooc. Brazilian state-run energy company Petrobras is also part of the consortia which got the giant field at auction start price or the minimum price. The offshore area holds between 8 billion and 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil, according to Brazil's oil regulator and Dallas-based oil certification company Degolyer & MacNaughton. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Repsol makes high quality oil discovery in Libya
October 21, 2013. A Repsol-led consortium of oil firms reported that they had made a high-quality oil discovery onshore Libya. The discovery well, drilled to a depth of 6,020 feet, found light oil (38-degree API) with very positive results from initial tests, Repsol said. The well flowed at 513 barrels of oil per day on a 32/64-inch choke. Repsol holds a 40-percent interest in the block, while Austria's OMV and France's Total each hold 30-percent stakes. (www.rigzone.com)
Russia lets China in on East Siberia oil production
October 18, 2013. Russia's top crude producer Rosneft has agreed to cede a share of its oil riches to China, the world's top oil importer, signing a memorandum to jointly develop East Siberia deposits. Russia, the world's top oil producer, has previously preferred to sign long-term supply deals with China backed by multi-billion-dollar loans. The Russian state-owned company said it signed a memorandum with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) to jointly tap oil reserves including the recently acquired Srednebotuobinsk field, part of Taas-Yuriakh oil producer. Rosneft, which in March acquired Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP for $55 billion, needs to increase its upstream base to honour its pledge to increase sales to China. Some analysts and observers doubt that Rosneft has enough resources to boost the supplies to China to the agreed level. According to Rosneft, Srednebotuobinsk deposits has oil and gas condensate reserves of more than 134 million tonnes and over 155 billion cubic metres of gas. Oil production from the field started earlier this month. Last month, China overtook the United States as the world's top net oil importer. According to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, China is on track to spend $500 billion on crude oil imports by 2020, far outstripping the peak cost ever incurred by the United States on crude imports of $335 billion. (www.rigzone.com)
Crude drillers shifting water use to focus on cost savings
October 18, 2013. Oil drillers are trying to reduce water costs as they try to improve margins for hydraulically fractured wells in shale fields. At first, everyone was running around the country drilling to maintain their leases and they didn’t care what they paid for water. (www.bloomberg.com)
Nigeria's Opuama field to restart production by year-end
October 16, 2013. West Africa-focused Eland Oil & Gas reported that final works on repairing the Opuama Production Facility in Nigeria are within weeks of being completed, meaning that the Opuama field – located on the firm's OML 40 license – is set to soon come back into production for the first time in seven years.
The Opuama flowstation rehabilitation work is currently underway and expected to be finished within five weeks. The year-end exit production rate is expected to be in excess of 2,500 barrels of oil per day from the planned restart of the two existing wells in the Opuama field. It is then anticipated that production will increase by around 3,000 bopd for each subsequent new well drilled during 2014. A designated rig is expected to become available in early 2014, from when the operator will drill six development wells within the Opuama field. (www.rigzone.com)
Downstream
Niger's SORAZ refinery on track to meet yr-end production target
October 21, 2013. Niger's SORAZ refinery, a joint venture between the state and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), refined 397,000 tonnes of crude oil in the first half of 2013, the company said, keeping it on track to meet a year-end production target. The company also posted revenue of $292 million on the sale of 353,000 tonnes of petroleum products, SORAZ said. SORAZ, Niger's sole refinery, is aiming to refine 800,000 tonnes of crude this year. Oil from the fields supplies the 20,000 bpd capacity SORAZ refinery in Zinder, 700 km east of the capital, Niamey, which is 60 percent owned by CNPC with Niger owning the remaining 40 percent. Under the partnership, 7,000 tonnes of SORAZ's output is destined for the domestic market while the rest is earmarked for export. The refinery did not meet its production targets last year. Output from CNPC's Agadem wells failed to meet expectations, leaving SORAZ to operate below capacity. CNPC has promised to bring three new wells online this year to make up for the shortfall. (www.downstreamtoday.com)
Transportation / Trade
Shale overload to spur US-China fuel trade
October 21, 2013. U.S. exports of natural gas liquids, already at a record amid surging output from shale deposits, are poised to quadruple by 2020 as the expansion of the Panama Canal cuts shipping costs to Asia. Deliveries of the fuels to foreign buyers averaged 555,000 barrels a day in July, the most in U.S. government data going back to 1981. China’s imports of propane, butane and isobutane, with uses as varied as home heating, chemical manufacturing and refrigeration, jumped 23 percent in August from a year earlier, customs data show. The Panama Canal expansion, slated for completion in 2015, will allow the transit of large tankers and put costs to ship U.S. gas liquids to Asia on a par with deliveries from the Middle East, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. U.S. exports would jump to 20 million metric tons by 2020 from the current 5 million tons, making the country the world’s largest exporter of those fuels, ahead of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Bernstein said. (www.bloomberg.com)
Myanmar to China gas pipeline goes operational
October 21, 2013. The gas pipeline between Myanmar and China has been completed, which will supply natural gas to the southwestern provinces of Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou. The 2,520km pipeline will start at Kyaukpyu in west coast of Myanmar, and will enter into China at Ruili in Yunnan province and ends at the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. (transportationandstorage.energy-business-review.com)
Quebec train fire prompts new oil railway-shipping costs
October 18, 2013. New rules will boost costs to transport crude by rail in North America as trains are forecast to carry as much as 2 million barrels a day, about equal to daily output from Norway. Regulators in Canada and the U.S. imposed emergency requirements and may seek stiffer rules after a runaway train carrying crude derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic. Energy companies are transporting more oil on rail cars as improved drilling methods extract more North American oil and new pipelines are delayed. Across the continent, trains are forecast to move as much as 2 million barrels a day of crude by the end of 2014, according to pipeline operator TransCanada Corp. (www.bloomberg.com)
Gas buyers poised to commit on South Korea atomic shift
October 16, 2013. South Korea’s plan to almost halve its use of atomic power will prompt the world’s second-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas to sign new supply deals for the fuel, according to Woodside Petroleum Ltd. The shift away from nuclear in Korea will give buyers such as Korea Gas Corp. confidence to commit to gas to comply with government policies. The company plans to decide in mid-2015 whether to proceed with its Browse project that would liquefy gas on a ship offshore Australia for delivery by vessel. Woodside will probably seek to sell LNG from its Browse project to South Korea. With PetroChina Co., Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. partners in Browse, China and Japan will likely be “anchor” customers. Liquefying gas from the Browse field on giant vessels offshore will cost an estimated $46 billion over the life of the project, compared with about $70 billion for an onshore plant, Citigroup Inc. said. Samsung Heavy Industries Co. will probably build the three floating LNG plants for the Browse project, according to a report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Samsung Heavy is now building its first floating LNG plant to tap Shell’s Prelude gas field in Australia. Korea Gas owns a stake in Prelude and is a partner in Santos Ltd.’s $18.5 billion LNG project on Australia’s east coast that’s scheduled to start exports in 2015. Driven by Asia, the outlook for LNG demand remains strong, with customers needing contracts for another 70 million tons a year by 2020 and 180 million tons by 2025, Goldman Sachs said. (www.bloomberg.com)
Policy / Performance
UAE's Dana Gas consortium files case against Kurdish govt
October 22, 2013. The largest oil and gas investor in Iraqi Kurdistan has initiated the first major legal case against the regional government over payments and production rights, just as the autonomous enclave is on the cusp of becoming a major energy exporter. Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas, leading a consortium of energy investors, has filed an arbitration case in London to clarify the amount of money they are owed for work already carried out in the area and on their rights to develop and market gas fields, the company said. The Kurdish Regional Government is due to start its first crude oil exports via a new pipeline by end-2013, bolstering its long search for independence as it will soon earn more from its exports than it receives from the central government in Baghdad. (www.arabianbusiness.com)
Hedge funds cut Brent net-longs for sixth time in seven weeks
October 21, 2013. Hedge funds and other money managers cut bullish bets on Brent crude for the sixth time in seven weeks, according to ICE Futures Europe. Speculative bets that prices will rise, in futures and options combined, outnumbered short positions by 162,012 lots in the week ended Oct. 15, the London-based exchange said. That’s a reduction of 2,982 contracts, or 1.8 percent, from the previous week. (www.bloomberg.com)
World economy a ‘major worry’ for OPEC oil producers, Badri says
October 21, 2013. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sees a possible drop in energy demand caused by a weaker world economy as its “main area of concern” for the next several months, the group’s secretary-general Abdalla El-Badri said. While the OPEC expects global economic growth to accelerate to 3.5 percent in 2014 from 2.9 percent this year, Europe faces a “major challenge” in its labor market, and growth in China and India has slowed, he said. A possible easing of U.S. monetary stimulus threatens investment in developing countries, El-Badri said. OPEC, supplier of about 40 percent of world oil, plans to meet on Dec. 4 to review output levels and policy. (www.bloomberg.com)
Oil patch activism to spur 2014 dealmaking and shakeups
October 18, 2013. Activist investors may spur a return to dealmaking in the energy industry as shareholders seek to reap greater value from oil and natural gas reserves. A new round of boardroom shakeups in the oil patch should force additional restructuring and asset sales in the next year, William D. Anderson Jr., a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker, said. Corporate takeovers may be less likely. U.S. energy deals were on a pace through June to reach about $116 billion this year, the lowest since 2009, according to an analysis by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Divestitures such as asset sales were a dominant factor in deals in the second quarter, the PwC analysis showed. (www.bloomberg.com)
Russia expects to liberalize LNG exports from Jan 1
October 16, 2013. Russia expects to liberalize its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Jan. 1, and a bill will be submitted to parliament shortly, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. Novak also said Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) are expected to reach an agreement on gas supplies by the end of this year. President Vladimir Putin said that Russia, the world's biggest energy supplier, would press ahead with opening up LNG exports in a move to meet growing demand from Asia-Pacific markets. Putin has said Russia is keen to expand in the region, where gas demand is driven by China, which expects to consume up to 230 billion cubic metres of gas by 2015. (www.downstreamtoday.com)
Iraq says China seeking 70 pc more crude in 2014
October 16, 2013. Iraq said China is seeking to increase purchases of its crude by more than two-thirds next year, stepping up the rivalry between Baghdad and top exporter Saudi Arabia for a bigger slice of the growing Asian market. Rapid increases in Iraq's oil output after years of unrest have helped cushion oil markets from wide price swings as shipments from OPEC-member Iran were halved due to tightening Western sanctions amid unstable output from other exporters such as Libya and Sudan. Iraq has provided crucial supplies, giving consumers another option besides Saudi Arabia as the main alternative exporter. China is seeking 850,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Iraq next year, Iraq’s deputy prime minister for energy Hussain Al-Shahristani said, significantly narrowing the gap between Iraqi and Saudi Arabian exports. The energy minister also said he expects more requests for 2014 supply from China. Saudi Arabia shipped 1.08 million bpd of crude to China in the first eight months of this year, while Baghdad has an annual term deal to sell about 500,000 bpd into China this year. (www.reuters.com)
South Africa seen facing legal battle over fracking rules
October 16, 2013. South Africa’s plans to exploit shale-gas reserves are “indefensible” and will lead to a legal battle, an environmental group said after the government published draft regulations on drilling in the Karoo region. South Africa published proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing, a year after lifting a ban on the drilling process known as fracking, as it seeks to tap as much as 485 trillion cubic feet of resources in the Karoo. Opponents of the practice, which blasts water, chemicals and sand into rock to release natural gas, say it risks contaminating ground water. The draft rules require drillers to meet American Petroleum Institute standards governing the type of equipment used and the disclosure of chemicals. The move to pursue exploration follows a shale boom in the U.S., while diverging from policy in France, the Netherlands and Bulgaria where fracking has been restricted or banned in response to public protests. (www.bloomberg.com)
POWER
EDF agrees to build UK’s first nuclear plant since 1995
October 21, 2013. Electricite de France SA (EDF) will build the U.K.’s first nuclear reactors since 1995 after reaching a deal with the government on guaranteed prices for the power they’ll generate. EDF, together with partners Areva SA and two Chinese nuclear companies, agreed to construct the plant at Hinkley Point in southwest England after the government offered a power price that’s almost double today’s market rate. The project will cost about 16 billion pounds ($26 billion) and take 10 years to build, the Paris-based company said. The decision caps more than a year of negotiations with the French utility and marks the cornerstone of Cameron’s effort to lure 110 billion pounds of investment into Britain’s aging electricity infrastructure by the end of the decade. Regulators have warned that the U.K. risks blackouts unless it speeds efforts to replace obsolete power plants. (www.bloomberg.com)
Transmission / Distribution / Trade
WPD invests £8mn on Burton power network upgrade
October 21, 2013. Western Power Distribution (WPD) has invested £8mn to upgrade equipment in a major substation that supplies power to 48,000 customers in Burton, Hatton, Bretby, Woodville, Marchington and surrounding localities in the UK. Besides enhancing supply reliability and customer service levels, the investment is also expected to address any increased demands placed in future on the power network for additional developments. WPD is investing approximately £2bn on its electricity network between 2010 and 2015. (utilitiesnetwork.energy-business-review.com)
EBay, Ellison embrace microgrids in threat to utilities
October 17, 2013. Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison plans to build one to power the Hawaiian island he bought last year. EBay Inc. has one to run a data center. The University of California at San Diego and the federal government have invested tens of millions of dollars in the technology. Microgrids are emerging as a credible threat to the dominance of America’s 100-year-old-plus utility monopoly. The small-scale versions of centralized power systems, once just used against blackouts, are now gaining thousands of customers as homeowners in states with high power costs turn to them as a way to manage rooftop solar systems, cut electricity bills and, in some cases, say goodbye to their power companies. (www.bloomberg.com)
Alstom to construct new production and R&D site in Italy
October 17, 2013. Alstom is currently constructing a project of the new grid site for electrical grid bushings in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan in Italy. To be built with an investment of €34mn, the project is aimed at catering needs of power transformer manufacturers worldwide as well as wall bushings used in worldwide utilities DC yards. The company will allocate €11mn of the total investment to develop and industrialize technologies such as high voltage direct current (HVDC) and resin impregnated paper (RIP). Once operational, the new project will become Alstom Grid's Bushings worldwide competence centre for R&D and production of transformer bushings (direct and alternating current), wall bushings, gas insulated substation bushings and high-voltage generator bushings, the company claims. (utilitiesnetwork.energy-business-review.com/news)
AECOM wins electricity T&D contract in Mauritania
October 16, 2013. AECOM, a leading provider of professional technical and management support services for public and private clients in more than 140 countries around the world, announced that it has been awarded a $CA2.4-million (US$2.3-million) contract by Société Mauritanienne d'Électricité (SOMELEC) for an electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) project. (utilitiesnetwork.energy-business-review.com)
Coal industry eyes comeback as efficient plants encourage use
October 22, 2013. Coal use in the U.S. is set to grow this year and next from a two-decade low as more efficient coal plants that can withstand new environmental regulations supplant old ones, an industry group predicted. Hal Quinn, the president of the National Mining Association, said coal use is projected to be up 7.5 percent this year compared to 2012, and its use will continue unabated through 2020, despite the boost in production of natural gas and a deadline of 2015 for a new set of regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Because of those rules, a number of older, smaller power plants will close, Quinn said. That doesn’t mean overall coal use will fall. (www.bloomberg.com)
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan mull new probe Nile dam impact
October 21, 2013. Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt agreed to examine the regional impact of a $4.2 billion dam being built on a Nile river tributary in Ethiopia after experts said earlier studies were inconclusive. A meeting of water ministers and delegates in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, on Nov. 4 will discuss conducting a new study of the hydropower project’s downstream effect and more detailed appraisals of its environmental and social impact. The 6,000 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, set to be Africa’s largest when completed in 2017, has raised concern in Cairo that it will reduce the flow of the Nile, which provides almost all of Egypt’s water. (www.bloomberg.com)
German power-price swings threaten growth engine
October 16, 2013. The lack of clarity on Germany’s energy policy is creating the most volatile power prices in seven months, boosting costs for industry in Europe’s largest economy. The 30-day historical volatility in the price of power for 2014 more than doubled in the past six weeks to the highest since March 4. Prices are being whipsawed because Chancellor Angela Merkel, re-elected almost a month ago, has yet to give details on her pledge to amend the nation’s $750 billion solar and wind power program. Price swings in Europe’s biggest power market, exacerbated by plunging fuel and carbon costs, are making it harder for industrial users to plan purchases. The volatility is boosting total costs and hindering investment in the $3.4 trillion economy. (www.bloomberg.com)
South Korea seeks broad fuel base for energy security, Yoon says
October 16, 2013. South Korea wants a broader energy mix as it seeks to solve recurring supply shortages in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, the country’s energy minister Yoon Sang Jick said. The government wants its long-term energy mix “not to be tilted too much toward a single fuel, in order to boost energy security,” Yoon Sang Jick said.
The government will also seek a “policy balance” between supply and demand, he said. Yoon’s remarks are the first by a top government official after the energy ministry’s proposal to almost halve the nation’s planned dependence on nuclear energy. The plan will force South Korea, which imports almost all of its energy and was this year threatened with power cuts, to increase use of other fuels, including gas, to cope with surging consumption. (www.bloomberg.com)
RENEWABLE ENERGY / CLIMATE CHANGE TRENDS
National
India sticks to its stand on HFC
October 22, 2013. Resisting pressure from the US and other developed countries, India stuck to its stand of handling hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) — climate-damaging refrigerant gas — issue under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and requested the participating nations to remove the controversial subject from the agenda of the 25th meeting of parties (MOP 25) to the Montreal Protocol on its inaugural day in Bangkok. Though the delegates from other countries agreed to retain the agenda item on proposed amendments to the Montreal Protocol, India refused to toe their line. Indian representatives, including senior officials from the ministry of environment and forests, are learnt to have reiterated New Delhi's stand arguing that the country would not be party to any change which defies the core of the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. New Delhi would first like to see the outcome of the Indo-US bilateral over the issue. Since the US is the prime mover of an amendment for addressing HFC under the Montreal Protocol, it's important to see what the country has to offer in terms of solutions (economically viable and safe technology) for its phase out. New Delhi would not at all go for any costly alternative as the burden will ultimately be passed on to consumers. Since HFC is not an ozone-depleting gas, it has been kept out of the Montreal Protocol that currently deals with phasing out ozone depleting substances like hydro-chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC). The HFC, however, contributes to global warming and its phase-out comes under the Kyoto Protocol, which put the onus of its replacement on developed countries. The US along with Canada and Mexico moved an amendment for addressing HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, arguing that the phasing out of the ozone-depleting substances has increased the use of HFC, which contributes to global warming. India, however, refused to be part of it. If HFC comes under the Montreal Protocol, it would be binding on emerging economies, including India, to go for phasing it out in an agreed time-bound legal framework. India has consistently maintained that the country will not phase out HFC unless there is availability of safe and economically-viable alternatives. New Delhi will go to the crucial climate conference in Warsaw next month with the same stand. As the stalemate continues, the prominent Delhi-based policy and advocacy group Central for Science and Environment (CSE) urged the Indian government to agree to set up a "contact group" to discuss the management of HFCs where countries can turn in their submissions on how the Montreal Protocol should address control of HFC. The CSE insisted that any move to shift HFC discussion to the Montreal Protocol should be agreed to by countries under the UNFCCC. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Waaree hopes to generate ` 7.5 bn revenue from solar power in FY'14
October 20, 2013. Diversified solar energy solution company Waaree Group expects revenues worth ` 750 crore from its solar power business this fiscal and would add 35 MW capacity by March 2014, the company said. The company is setting up a 25 MW solar power plant in Tamil Nadu and another 10 MW facility in Chhattisgarh. In the last financial year, revenue from solar business was ` 300 crore. The firm, which has an order book of ` 6,000 crore, will only indulge in executing solar power projects if they manage to get a tariff of about ` 9 per unit. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Rays Experts to execute 25 MW solar power projects in 2 months
October 20, 2013. Rays Experts, a turnkey contractor in the solar power sector, will execute 25 MW capacity solar power projects in the next two months, the company said. These projects for 34 investors are 1 MW, 2 MW, etc, capacity projects totalling 60 MW. The company is constructing these plants in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Green panel defers decision on NMDC's power plant proposal
October 20, 2013. A committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests has deferred its decision on NMDC's plan for setting up a 500 MW power plant in Uttar Pradesh on the grounds that the place where the project is proposed to come up is a fertile agriculture land. The committee also suggested that the Ministry to delist the proposal from the pending list as "exploration of alternatives sites may take a long time". NMDC Power Ltd, a subsidiary of the miner, approached the Ministry for clearances to set up 2x250 MW coal-based thermal power plant at Yankapur village in UP's Gonda district with an investment outlay of ` 3,000 crore. Gonda district is known for fertile agricultural land and NMDC Power is advised to explore alternative acceptable sites beyond Gonda. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
Indian climate change activist wins Commonwealth youth award
October 19, 2013. An Indian climate change activist who works with local communities and governments for environmental change has been awarded the Commonwealth youth award. Priti Rajagopalan received a 5,000-pound grant towards her work at a ceremony held at the Commonwealth secretariat headquarters in London, the Commonwealth said. She plans to use the grant to start an urban organic farming project to produce food for the local area and to invest in a solar powered farm in India. The Commonwealth Youth Awards for excellence in development work recognize the contribution of young people in achieving development goals. Rajagopalan received the award for the pan-Commonwealth and Asia region. Rajagopalan started a waste management programme in India with some friends, training students across 200 schools and more than 40 universities in separating waste and composting. The compost was sold cheaply to farmers. The Indian government now funds the project in more than 40 cities. Rajagopalan has also trained women and children in rural India to make and maintain their own solar powered goods and water purifiers, and to sterilize equipment for midwives. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Global
US rejects rigid rules as ‘roadblock’ to climate treaty
October 22, 2013. Rigid rules and emissions targets may hinder efforts to draft a new climate treaty by 2015, the lead U.S. envoy said, calling for a more flexible approach for nations to set individual goals. Climate envoys from 194 countries are seeking to devise by 2015 a global deal to fight climate change that includes binding commitments from all nations. The treaty would come into force after 2020, replacing the existing Kyoto Protocol, which set binding emissions targets only for developed countries. (www.bloomberg.com)
Global climate-change finance fell last year, study shows
October 22, 2013. Financing of projects that reduce carbon emissions and protect against the effects of climate change fell 1 percent last year, hampering efforts to slow global warming, according to a research report. Spending from governments and companies on renewable energy and other mitigation measures declined to $359 billion in 2012 from $364 billion a year earlier, according to the study by the Climate Policy Initiative, a San Francisco-based analysis firm. (www.bloomberg.com)
Phase 1 of Dubai's $3.3 bn solar park goes live
October 22, 2013. Phase one of Dubai's $3.3 bn Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park went live as part of a push to diversify energy supplies in the UAE. The 13 MW photovoltaic plant is the biggest of its type in the Middle East and North Africa. First Solar, the biggest US solar-panel manufacturer, built the facility which is expected to generate 24 million kw of power per year - enough to meet the average annual electricity needs of more than 500 households. (www.arabianbusiness.com)
Saudi Aramco buys Canadian solar panels for power plant
October 21, 2013. Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s largest crude exporter, agreed to buy 1.78 MW of photovoltaic panels from Canadian Solar Inc. to expand the country’s biggest solar project. The state-owned oil producer will add the panels to the solar system it began operating in December at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center. (www.bloomberg.com)
Germany’s coal reliance to last amid renewables drive, BDEW says
October 21, 2013. Germany’s reliance on coal-fired plants will last even as Europe’s biggest power user seeks to get more of its electricity from renewable sources, according to the energy lobby group BDEW. Germany covered about 45 percent of its 2012 power consumption with coal-fired power, while 22 percent came from renewable sources, according to BDEW. The government plans to meet at least 35 percent of its electricity requirement from clean energy supplies by 2020, from about 23 percent now. (www.bloomberg.com)
Estover gains approval for southeast UK wood-to-power plant
October 21, 2013. Estover Energy Ltd. won approval to build a 65 million-pound ($105 million) plant in southeast England that will use wood to produce heat and power. Construction of the plant in Kent is expected to begin early next year and will create about 100 jobs, the Edinburgh-based company said. Power will be fed into the national grid and should be sufficient to supply about 21,000 homes, it said. The U.K. expects 15 percent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020 compared with 9.4 percent now. The government estimates as much 30 percent of that may be sourced from biomass plants that use municipal waste, wood and straw. Estover’s plant will have power capacity of 11 MW to 15 MW and heat capacity of 8 MW to 12 MW. (www.bloomberg.com)
Wind may generate 18 pc of world electricity in 2050: IEA
October 21, 2013. Wind power may multiply more than sixfold to generate as much as 18 percent of the world’s electricity in 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, raising an earlier estimate by half. Spending on new wind farms would need to ramp up to about $150 billion a year from $78 billion last year to achieve the necessary level of installed capacity, the Paris-based IEA said. As much as 10 times the current capacity of almost 300 GW is needed, it said. The IEA estimated in 2009 that wind power may provide 12 percent of global power in 2050. Wind turbines currently provide about 2.6 percent of global electricity, the IEA said. (www.bloomberg.com)
Australia to review Santos, Glencore projects for water impacts
October 21, 2013. Coal and coal-seam gas projects in Australia planned by Santos Ltd., Arrow Energy Ltd., Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. and Glencore Xstrata Plc must face a federal environmental review of their impact on water, filings with the Australian government show. Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s decisions on the projects were dated Oct. 17 and lodged on the department’s website. Hunt said Sept. 26 that 47 projects will be assessed for their impact on water before they can gain government approval. (www.bloomberg.com)
Kior to get $100 mn from Khosla and Gates for biofuel plant
October 21, 2013. Kior Inc., operator of the first U.S. commercial-scale cellulosic biofuel plant, received commitments for $100 million in financing from Khosla Ventures LLC and Gates Ventures LLC to expand production at its Columbus, Mississippi, plant. Kior issued $42.5 million in convertible debt to Khosla Ventures, which also agreed to purchase as much as $42.5 million of shares in the Pasadena, Texas-based biofuel company after it raises enough to build its Columbus II project. Gates Ventures bought a $7.5 million equity stake and will purchase an additional $7.5 in stock when the plant is fully funded. (www.bloomberg.com)
Australian clean energy bank profitable before possible closing
October 18, 2013 Clean Energy Finance Corp. (CEFC), the Australian green development bank earmarked for closing by newly-elected Prime Minister Tony Abbott, is making a profit and prodding commercial banks to lend, according to Oliver Yates, chief executive officer CEO of the bank. Abbott has vowed to close the bank and repeal a law creating a carbon market passed by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2011. Canceling the legislation will save the average household A$521 in fiscal 2014-15 and cut costs for business and manufacturers, Environment Minister Greg Hunt said. (www.bloomberg.com)
China to increase short-distance solar-power distribution
October 18, 2013. China, Asia’s largest solar market, plans to add more generation projects in regions where the electricity can be distributed to customers who live nearby. The government intends to expand the total capacity of such projects to 20 GW by 2015, Wu Xinxiong, head of the National Energy Administration, said. That compares with just 2 GW at the end of last year. (www.bloomberg.com)
Gore says US likely to beat ‘inadequate’ carbon target
October 18, 2013. The U.S. will probably beat its own target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions as the costs of wind and solar power fall and coal becomes inviable, former Vice President Al Gore said. President Barack Obama’s administration has said the U.S. is on track to meet a pledge of cutting heat-trapping gases by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. (www.bloomberg.com)
California must add 1.3 GW of power storage by 2020
October 18, 2013. California regulators voted unanimously to require the state’s utilities to purchase 1.325 GW of storage capacity by 2020 to make renewable energy more reliable and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The state’s three biggest utilities must present plan for buying an initial 200 MW of storage capacity by March 1, the California Public Utilities Commission said. (www.bloomberg.com)
UK is warming faster than global average, LSE study shows
October 18, 2013. The U.K. is warming faster than the global average, adding urgency to its efforts to slash greenhouse gases. The average annual temperature in the U.K. rose at a rate of 0.18 degree Celsius (0.32 degree Fahrenheit) per decade from 1950 through 2012, according to a paper by the London School of Economics (LSE). That’s 1 1/2 times the global average rate of increase of 0.12 degree per decade. Britain aims to cut carbon emissions by 34 percent for the 30 years through 2020 as part of its contribution to global efforts to rein in temperatures. United Nations envoys are striving to agree on a treaty by 2015 to contain emissions worldwide and help limit global warming to 2 degrees. A study led by the University of Hawaii at Manoa found that from 2056 onwards, even the coolest year in London will be warmer than any year from 1860 through 2005, a phenomenon the researchers termed “climate departure.” They said that while the size of temperature changes rises toward the poles, the tropics will face climate departure earlier because they have a smaller historical range of temperatures. (www.bloomberg.com)
China tests CO2 emissions markets before tax, NDRC says
October 17, 2013. China, the top greenhouse-gas emitter, will continue to test carbon markets and may consider a tax at a later stage to reduce pollution levels, according to a National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC). Seven pilot programs for markets are going “pretty good,” Jiang Zhaoli, head of climate change at NDRC, said. China is seeking to cut emissions per unit of economic output by at least 40 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said there’s enough space in the atmosphere for about 309 billion metric tons of carbon, or about 22 years of emissions at current levels, for a chance to prevent runaway climate change. United Nations envoys are seeking to seal a climate agreement by 2015 that would curb emissions from 2020. (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan panel may propose taxing autos by emissions
October 17, 2013. A Japanese panel said it’s close to recommending that carbon dioxide emissions be included in calculating a car levy as part of an overhaul of the nation’s tax system. The advisory group, appointed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, will probably propose that the current automobile tax be based on emissions together with engine size to encourage sales of environmentally friendly vehicles, the panel said. The proposed new tax structure will be drafted as early as this month and submitted to the ministry, the panel said. (www.bloomberg.com)
Climate Change to cost East Asia 5.3 pc of GDP, ADB study says
October 17, 2013. Climate change could chop an average of 5.3 percent off annual gross domestic product in East Asia by the year 2100 if the four countries in the region don’t take measures to tackle it, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Rising temperatures in China, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea will spur more flooding and tropical storms in coastal areas and make northern agricultural regions more prone to drought, the ADB said in its “Economics of Climate Change in East Asia” report. The study underscores the risks of inaction on climate change faced by a region that was responsible for 30 percent of the world’s carbon emissions in 2010. China’s model of economic growth at all costs has made it the world’s biggest carbon emitter and has blanketed cities in smog that can surpass World Health Organization recommendations by almost 40 times. Current projections suggest that regional mean temperatures in 2090 will be 3.8 to 5.2 degrees Celsius higher than the 1961-1990 average, according to the report. The region is already vulnerable to once-every-hundred-years floods that could affect 12 million people in 23 cities, threatening $864 billion in assets, the report said. (www.bloomberg.com)
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling#cite_note-6
[2] Please take note that the author is all too aware of the fact that all views and all data given are from an European background. Thus full applicability to Asian context may at times be somewhat restricted and refutable. However the general intention and argumentation will be unaffected from this.
[3] IEA, http://www.iea.org/statistics/statisticssearch/report/?country=INDIA&product=indicators&year=2011
[4] Equivalent to 9-12.6 million USD
[5] Petrol prices in Kolkata 19/10/2013, www.mypetrolprice.com
[6] Competence 2004, www.transportlearning.net, found in: trendy cycling, www.trendy-travel.eu, 2010.
[7] Source: FGM 2010, found in: “Radverkehr in Zahlen”, BMVIT 2013 (Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie, Austria), p. 86.
[8] Due to MoRTH 2012, the growth rate of registered motor vehicles was almost three times the growth
rate of the road network 2001-2011.
[9] Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), 2006
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