Washington, United States | AFP | Crude oil prices are expected to jump 23 percent this year amid strong economic growth, while metals prices are rising, hit by ongoing trade tensions, the World Bank said Tuesday. The World Bank raised its forecast for oil prices to an average of $65 a …
Read More »Macron pledges 700 million euros for new solar projects
New Delhi, India | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for solar projects in developing countries, as world leaders met in India to promote greater investment in renewable energy. Macron, who in December warned that the global shift to a green energy future …
Read More »Erdogan hails Algeria trade deals on Africa tour
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the signing of trade deals with Algeria on Tuesday as he visited the country on the first leg of a tour of Africa. Erdogan said the agreements would allow Ankara and Algiers to diversify trade pending the signing of “an …
Read More »UK’s top energy supplier Centrica says cutting 4,000 jobs
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s top energy supplier Centrica said Thursday it would cut 4,000 jobs by 2020 after announcing a 17-percent drop in profits in 2017 due to a loss of customers and poor performance in North America. “We expected the new programme to involve reduction in …
Read More »Israel announces ‘historic’ gas contract with Egypt
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel has struck an “historic” contract to supply natural gas to Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday, in a deal one firm said was worth $15 billion over 10 years. “This will bring billions of dollars to state coffers,” Netanyahu said in a statement …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Eskom, the power giant at the core of S.Africa’s state rot
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The name of Eskom, Africa’s largest electricity company, has become synonymous with the worst corruption scandals in South Africa and the utility could well become the final nail in the political coffin of President Jacob Zuma. The sacking of yet another of its short-lived …
Read More »US to overtake Saudi as crude oil producer: IEA
Paris, France | AFP | The United States are set to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s number two oil producer after Russia this year, as shale companies, attracted by rising prices, ramp up drilling, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. “This year promises to be a record-setting one …
Read More »‘Microwave ovens are cooking the environment’
Paris, France | AFP | Small electrical appliances such as microwave ovens, kettles and hair dryers harm the environment in a dozen different ways, and consumers can do far more to reduce the impacts, researchers said Thursday. In the European Union, the electricity used by 130 million microwaves puts 7.7 …
Read More »Investors turn back on fossil fuels at Paris climate summit
Paris, France | AFP | Major investors vowed Tuesday to move away from Earth-warming fossil fuels as world leaders met in Paris seeking to unlock new cash to save humanity from climate “doom”. Two years to the day since 195 nations sealed the Paris Agreement to avert worst-case-scenario climate change, …
Read More »Burkina Faso launches Sahel region’s largest solar power plant
Zagtouli, Burkina Faso | AFP | West Africa’s biggest solar power plant goes onstream on Wednesday as Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, inaugurates a novel scheme to boost renewables and cut energy dependence on its neighbours. The 55-hectare (135-acre) plant at Zagtouli on the outskirts of the …
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