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☆ A methane well that leaked for 6 months has released a year's worth of emissions for 791,000 cars: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A well in Kazakhstan leaked 140,000 tons of methane into Earth's atmosphere in 2023, scientists say. Methane is estimated to be about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide in global warming. AdvertisementThat amount of methane is equal to emissions from 791,318 gas-powered cars being driven over a year, per the Environment Protection Agency website's calculators. They detected 115 methane emissions over the six months of the Kazakh leak, their analysis said. AdvertisementBuzachi Neft, the operator of the well, denied to the outlet that such a vast amount of methane was leaked, saying only a "negligible" amount was released.

Persons: it's, Luis Guanter, Buzachi Neft Organizations: Service, BBC, Environment Protection Agency, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Business Locations: Kazakhstan, France, Spain, Netherlands, Europe

☆ Spanish archaeologists plan rescue of 2,500-year-old Phoenician shipwreck
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A diver from Valencia University maps and assesses the state of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician vessel that is submerged 60 meters from the beach of Mazarron, Spain, June 20, 2023. Jose A Moya/Regional Government of Murcia/Handout via REUTERSMADRID, June 30 (Reuters) - A group of Spanish archaeologists have made detailed diagrams of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician shipwreck to help work out how best to recover it from the sea before a storm destroys it forever. Later this year, the experts will recommend how to protect and retrieve the wreck, possibly as early as next summer. It now lies under about 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) of crystal-clear Mediterranean water, surrounded by sandbags and a metal structure built for protection. Reporting by Emma Pinedo, editing by Inti Landauro and Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jose A Moya, Carlos de Juan, Emma Pinedo, Inti Landauro, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Valencia University, Regional Government of, REUTERS, University of Valencia, University of Valencia - Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Mazarron, Spain, Regional Government of Murcia, Handout, REUTERS MADRID, Spanish, Murcia, la, Lebanon, Syria

☆ Two sea turtles nest on Spain's Mediterranean coast as waters warm
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

One turtle laid 80 eggs in the town of Denia on Saturday, and another laid 62 in Gandia on Monday, which are both in the eastern Valencia region, the Oceanographic Foundation said. Loggerheads turtles used to nest mainly in the eastern Mediterranean, in countries such as Turkey, Cyprus and Greece, but for some years the coasts of Spain, France and Italy have been recording an increased presence of loggerhead turtle egg clutches. Warmer waters have attracted the turtles, biologist Ana Liria, head of ADS Biodiversidad, a charity based in Gran Canaria, told Reuters in April. When those turtles grow up, they will form part of program to help their survival. The remainder of the eggs were taken to a protected beach in the Albufera Natural Park to avoid contact with passers-by.

Persons: Read, Ana Liria, Emma Pinedo, Joan Faus, Sharon Singleton Organizations: University of Valencia, Oceanographic Foundation, Gran Canaria, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Gandia, Valencia Spain, MADRID, Denia, Valencia, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Gran, Tunisia

☆ In Paraguay, calls for change test Colorado Party's political machine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Daniela Desantis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ASUNCION, March 28 (Reuters) - Paraguay's ruling Colorado Party - a conservative political machine that has dominated government in Asuncion for some eight decades - could be facing a major challenge at the ballot box next month. Many voters say they feel it is time for something new. Pena may also be impacted by a U.S.-led graft probe into Horacio Cartes, a former Colorado president who led the country from 2013 to 2018. However, the Colorado party retains a powerful election campaign machine and supporter base that goes back generations. Adelina Caceres, director of a public school in the town of Guarambare, on the outskirts of the capital, said she supported the Colorado party mainly because "her grandfather had been Colorado," and despite being often frustrated by them.

☆ Youth in Spain see jobs gain after years of instability
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Belén Carreño | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Youth unemployment rates that reached more than 55% in the years after the financial crisis fell to 31% in the third quarter - against an overall unemployment rate of 12.6%, according to the National Statistics Office, INE. Youth unemployment is a chronic problem in southern European countries. Greece, whose rates of youth unemployment are similar to Spain's, wants to reduce its youth unemployment rate to 18% by 2030 and is introducing subsidies for pension and health fund costs to reduce labour costs, as well as special training programmes. Previously, employers used temporary contracts as a safety net in times of crisis. Before the labour reform, the rate of temporary contracts, which in the last decade has been around 25% of all jobs, resulted in a high turnover of jobs, inflating the overall unemployment rate.

☆ Mexico's Pemex had a plan to fix its flaring problem, but abandoned it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Stefanie Eschenbacher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

The broken commitment, which has not previously been reported, highlights the struggles of Mexico's oil regulator to rein in Pemex, a powerful state monopoly that is always closely connected to the government. The oil company has in recent quarterly reports stressed it was making efforts to clean up its operations and bring down flaring and other waste. Earlier this year, under increasing international criticism, Lopez Obrador said Pemex would invest $2 billion to improve infrastructure to reduce flaring and methane emissions. The regulator said in 2020 the company wasted 37.7% of the gas from Ku alone through flaring, venting or otherwise. One source said the regulator fined Pemex again for recurrence in 2021 but the oil company started legal proceedings to annul the fine, which are still pending.

☆ Mexican senator files criminal complaint against energy minister, Pemex CEO over methane leak
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Stefanie Eschenbacher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Opposition Senator Xochitl Galvez, who sits on committees for the environment and energy, filed the complaint to the attorney general's office against Energy Minister Rocio Nahle, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero and Angel Carrizales, who heads environmental regulator ASEA. Reuters sought comment from Nahle, Romero and Carrizales through the press teams at the energy ministry, Pemex and the regulator. Reuters also contacted Nahle, Romero and Carrizales via email and Twitter without response. The methane leak at the Zaap-C platform, which first appeared on Dec. 8, was uncovered by researchers led by Itziar Irakulis Loitxate from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. The criminal complaint filed by Galvez on Wednesday is the third complaint the senator has submitted in recent weeks after Reuters reports on Pemex methane leaks.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Mexican regulator has no record of Pemex reporting methane leak, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Stefanie Eschenbacher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A fuel burner is seen at Mexico's state-run oil monopoly Pemex platform "Ku Maloob Zaap" in the Northeast Marine Region of Pemex Exploration and Production in the Bay of Campeche April 19, 2013. REUTERS/Victor Ruiz Garcia/File PhotoMEXICO CITY, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Mexico's environmental regulator has no records of state oil company Pemex reporting a methane leak last December at the country's top oil field, according to the regulator's response to a freedom of information request filed by Reuters. The methane leak at the Zaap-C platform, which first appeared on Dec. 8, was uncovered by researchers led by Itziar Irakulis Loitxate from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. The methane leak from the Zaap-C platform was not among the 5,235 incidents ASEA disclosed to Reuters in its response. Pemex, the world's most indebted oil company, has acknowledged in public statements the challenges it faces in maintaining and repairing ailing infrastructure.

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