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☆ As oil output peaks, US Gulf of Mexico makes room for carbon capture
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Some companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), have been dumping assets in the Gulf, the nation's primary offshore source of oil, and are instead targeting capturing and storing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases underground. The region, soon could became contested ground for oil, carbon sequestration and renewable energy, say analysts. The gain reflects a flurry of new platforms from Shell (SHEL.L), BP (BP.L), Chevron (CVX.N) and others, budgeted before the pandemic hit global demand and made companies reduce investments. Reuters GraphicsAt this week's Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which annually attracts more than 50,000 people, nearly a quarter of the presentations will involve offshore wind, renewables, carbon capture and energy transition, say organizers. Oil development will still dominate the basin, but should coexist with CCS and renewables such as offshore wind and solar.

ALCARACEJOS, Spain, April 27 (Reuters) - Residents of a small town in southern Spain gathered at the main square to collect drinking water as large swathes of the Iberian Peninsula braved unseasonally hot weather that have exacerbated a long drought. Meteorologists expected temperatures to hit almost 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in some areas of Spain this week. She recalled times when they had running water for only a few hours a day, but never needing to carry the bottles home. [1/5] A bird walks at the Sierra Boyera Reservoir, which is at 0.01% of its capacity, in Belmez, southern Spain, April 26. Residents can receive up to five litres (1.3 gallons) per day from a truck that drives through the affected villages.

Solis, 64, lives on the banks of Mexico's Villa Victoria reservoir, which supplies water to the bustling capital hours away but does not reach her own faucets. Villa Victoria is part of the Cutzamala System, the source of water for about six million people in Mexico City and the surrounding state of Mexico. Climate change, chaotic urban growth and inefficient infrastructure have strained Mexico's water supplies, pushing the Cutzamala System's stores to their lowest level in 27 years. Mexico City is also tapping alternative sources of water outside the Cutzamala System, including by replacing wells in the Zumpango area in the state of Mexico. But for people like Israel, who lives just a few minutes' drive from the Cutzamala System's water treatment plant and asked not to use his last name, the constitution's promise is increasingly distant.

Temperatures this week are expected to be 15 to 20 degrees Celsius above normal for this time of year, with a chance they could hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places. In large parts of Spain, temperatures have exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Nighttime temperatures are also forecast to remain high, not dipping below 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places. Schools in central and southern Spain are concerned about protecting students and staff from overheated classrooms that don’t have air conditioning, Spanish media reported. The high temperatures come as a prolonged drought has gripped parts of southern Spain, as well as the northeast of the country, near Barcelona.

April 25 (Reuters) - Most of the vast, scenic valley at the heart of Yosemite National Park in California will close to visitors this weekend in a rare shutdown prompted by forecasts of floods from rapid snowmelt. The closure will start at 10 p.m. on Friday and last at least until Wednesday, May 3, possibly longer, depending on how swiftly melting mountain snow runs off into the Merced River through Yosemite Valley, the National Park Service said on Tuesday. About 100 miles to the north, the Merced River at the Pohono Bridge at the west end of the Yosemite Valley was forecast to top flood stage late this week, the park service said. The vast glacial Yosemite valley received a record 40 inches of snow during the winter, prompting the closure of the entire park to the public on Feb. 25 for three weeks. That shutdown marked one of the longest and most expansive weather-related closures in the park, according to park spokeswoman Nancy Phillipe.

☆ Opinion | Finding the Origin of a Pandemic Is Difficult. Preventing One Shouldn’t Be.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( W. Ian Lipkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Similarly, in 2008 my team investigated a hemorrhagic fever outbreak with an 80‌‌ percent case fatality rate in Zambia and South Africa. Finding the origin of a viral outbreak can be incredibly difficult, even with full government cooperation and the best available technologies. It’s important to try, because the insights into how a virus emerged may be useful in reducing the risk of future outbreaks. We cannot wait for answers that may never come before doing what must be done to prevent the next pandemic. And yet very little has been done in the wake of this pandemic to better either source of risk.

☆ Gogoro says it wants to create a 'big scale' energy storage solution
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailGogoro says it wants to create a 'big scale' energy storage solutionHorace Luke, CEO of Gogoro, discusses its partnership with Enel X and plans to create a "gigantic reservoir" for sustainable energy.

[1/4] A view of a computer-rendered image of Climeworks' Mammoth direct air capture plant is seen in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters, June 28, 2022. Leading the charge, the U.S. government has offered $3.5 billion in grants to build the factories that will capture and permanently store the gas - the largest such effort globally to help halt climate change through Direct Air Capture (DAC) and expanded a tax credit to $180/tonne to bolster the burgeoning technology. The sums involved dwarf funding available in other regions, such as Britain which has pledged up to 100 million pounds ($124 million) for DAC research and development. That compares with $12 billion in federal spending to drive demand for personal and commercial electric vehicles, Boston Consulting Group estimated. Occidental Petroleum has said it is well positioned for federal grants for what could be the biggest Direct Air Capture plants in the world.

☆ Inside the Rise and Fall of Kittyhawk, Larry Page's Failed Flying Car Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Killing off projects had become something of a tradition at Kittyhawk, the secretive flying-car startup launched by the Google cofounder Larry Page. Larry Page has used his Google money to found a series of flying car companies with one common goal: "to free the world of traffic." "When Bloomberg did their original exposé, that's when urban air mobility became a thing," a former Kittyhawk employee recalled. Everyone thought: If Larry Page is in this space, there must be something here." Interpreting "Larry-isms" or "learning to speak Larry" were essential skills for any Kittyhawk employee who wanted to retain their sanity.

☆ Feds propose options for managing Colorado River water shortage: 'Failure is not an option'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Photo taken on March 13, 2023 shows the Colorado River near Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border, the United States. The Biden administration on Tuesday released a document exploring potential solutions for managing the ongoing drought in the Colorado River Basin, which could be a step forward to imposing water delivery cuts from the Colorado River. "The Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million Americans. The Colorado River has long been over-allocated, but climate change has worsened drought conditions in the region and reservoir levels have plummeted over the past couple decades. Responding to the drought will require compromise from all of the states that depend on the 1,450-mile-long Colorado River for water.

☆ Record snowpack in California poses severe flood risk, officials warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

California's statewide snowpack could top records after a recent series of powerful storms, state water officials said Monday, and melting snow from the Sierra Nevada range poses a severe flood risk to some areas. This year's major snowfall provides some relief to California, which was three years into a prolonged drought and grappling with plummeting reservoir levels. "This year's result will go down as one of the largest snowpack years on record in California," said Sean de Guzman, manager of DWR's Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. California's snowpack levels varied by region, with the Southern Sierra snowpack reaching 300% of its April 1 average and the Central Sierra reaching 237% of its April 1 average, officials said. And the critical Northern Sierra, home to the state's largest surface water reservoirs, is at 192% of its April 1 average.

☆ France's Macron announces water saving plan, says protests will not stop reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to members of the media as he visits Savines-Le-Lac, South Eastern France, March 30, 2023. With the water plan, Macron and his government are looking to move to other topics. "There are protests, but it does not mean everything must stop," Macron said. Before his speech, Macron told reporters that protests would not stop him from adopting new policies. In some towns, half the water is lost to water leaks, with a nationwide average of 20%.

☆ Australia passes tougher emissions reduction law that hits gas investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, March 30 (Reuters) - New rules that cap total Australian greenhouse gas emissions and curb some new gas and coal investments in the country will come into effect on 1 July after parliament passed an upgraded emissions reduction plan on Thursday. Negotiations with the Greens, who wanted a ban on all new fossil fuel investments, resulted in a law including a hard total emissions cap, ministerial review for projects that raise total emissions and compulsory disclosures for polluters that rely heavily on carbon offsets to meet their targets. Under the revised legislation, projects such as the massive Browse field that Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) wants to develop would have to have carbon capture and storage to achieve net zero. The legislation also requires all new gas projects in the Beetaloo Basin to have net zero carbon emissions and new gas fields supplying existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants to have net zero reservoir emissions, imposing new costs. Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Europe drought: This once-thriving lake has all but dried up -- a story repeated across Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

While in the United States, the snow and rain that have pummeled California have helped fill reservoirs and ease unrelenting drought, winter has been far from kind to many parts of Europe. A buoy is seen on the banks of the partially dry Lake Montbel as France faces a record winter dry spell. “Lake Montbel remains at an abnormally low level,” Franck Solacroup, the regional director of the Adour-Garonne Water Agency, which covers the area that includes Lake Montbel, told CNN. Farmers like Rouquet, who rely on the lake, are having to make tough decisions on what to grow. “This is the most extreme winter in terms of low snow cover,” she told CNN.

☆ Perenco UK says 60% of oil spill in southern England recovered
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] General view of Poole Harbour after about 200 barrels of reservoir fluid leaked into the water in Dorset, Britain, March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Peter CziborraMarch 29 (Reuters) - Anglo-French oil company Perenco's UK unit said on Wednesday it had recovered about 60% of the estimated oil leaked on Sunday at one of its well sites in Wytch Farm in Dorset, southern England. The location of the leak was identified and operations at Wytch Farm remain suspended, the company said in a statement. Perenco UK said it was investigating the cause of the spill, in consultation with the environment agency and local authorities. Perenco UK produces about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, with Wytch Farm accounting for about 14,000 barrels.

☆ French police clash with protesters opposed to reservoir plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Airports and bus and train stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday, causing disruption for millions at the start of the working week during one of the largest walkouts in decades as Europe's biggest economy reels from inflation.

☆ Intriguing moon water source found in glass beads from impacts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The researchers see promise in obtaining water from the glass beads, perhaps through a heating process to release vapor that would then turn into liquid through condensation. "We can simply heat these glass beads to free the water stored in them," said planetary scientist and study co-author Hejiu Hui of Nanjing University in China. The glass beads were found to hold a water content of up to about 2,000 parts per million by weight. Hu said he believes that such impact glass beads are a common part of lunar soils, found globally and spread evenly. The interaction of the solar wind with lunar surface materials could sustain a water cycle on the moon, with the glass beads absorbing the water and acting as a repository for it, the researchers said.

SYDNEY, March 27 (Reuters) - Australia's lower house on Monday passed an emissions reduction plan with curbs on some new gas and coal investments and a cap on total greenhouse gas emissions from the country's biggest polluters after a key deal with the Greens Party. The updated legislation also requires all new gas projects in the Beetaloo Basin to have net zero carbon emissions and new gas fields supplying existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants to have net zero reservoir emissions, imposing new costs. "Today, we are a step closer to achieving net zero by 2050," Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. Under the revised legislation, projects such as the massive Browse field that Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) wants to develop would have to have carbon capture and storage to achieve net zero. The government said it would tip in A$400 million ($266 million) to help the cement, steel and aluminium industries decarbonise.

☆ Perenco UK says oil leak occurred at well site in Southern England
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 26 (Reuters) - Anglo-French oil company Perenco's UK unit said on Sunday that a limited oil leak occurred at one of its well sites in Wytch Farm in Dorset, southern England. Perenco UK said the spill was being contained and an investigation will be launched. BBC reported that a major incident was declared after about 200 barrels of reservoir fluid leaked into the water at Poole Harbour. Perenco UK produces about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, of which about 14,000 barrels is from Wytch Farm. Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) has activated an oil spill plan and the pipeline had been shut down, with booms placed on either side of the leak, BBC said.

☆ French police clash with protesters opposed to farm reservoir
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Yves HermanSAINTE-SOLINE, France, March 25 (Reuters) - Police in western France clashed with protesters on Saturday opposed to the creation of a large water reservoir for farm irrigation. Thousands of protesters converged on the site of the planned reservoir in the rural district of Sainte-Soline, where a similar protest last October resulted in injuries. Police fired tear gas to repel some protesters who threw fireworks and other projectiles as they crossed fields to approach the fenced-off construction area. Supporters say artificial reservoirs are a way to use water efficiently when needed, while critics argue they are outsized and favour large farms. Reporting by Yves Herman and Marco Trujillo; Writing by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Mike HarrisonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] Don Cameron stands next to one of his flood capture projects on his Terranova Ranch in Helm, California, U.S., January 25, 2023. Today, California water experts see Cameron as a pioneer. Terra Nova's basins are filled with 1.5 to 3.5 feet of water, Cameron said Wednesday. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on March 10 making it easier for farmers to divert floodwaters onto their lands until June. "We're at the beginning of a lot of momentum for groundwater recharge programs," said Gosselin, of the state groundwater office.

☆ Nevada approves $333 million natural gas plant as historic drought pressures state's power grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Looking east to the Tracy Power Plant, a natural gas and oil-fired power plant owned and operated by Sierra Pacific Power, located near Interstate 80 and the Truckee River between Reno and Fernley, Nevada. Nevada's largest electricity provider has been approved for a $333 million project to develop a natural gas plant north of Las Vegas, as extreme drought conditions put mounting pressure on the region's power grid. Natural gas presents its own challenges. The state has committed to a carbon-free power grid by 2050 and hasn't built a new natural gas plant in over a decade. More than two-thirds of Nevada's electricity is produced by natural gas-fired power plants, while renewables comprise most of the rest, according to the state's energy report.

☆ UN warns 'vampiric overconsumption' is draining world's water
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Isla Binnie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

UNITED NATIONS, March 22 (Reuters) - The United Nations opened its first conference on water security in almost half a century on Wednesday with a plea to governments to better manage one of humanity's shared resources. A quarter of the world's population relies on unsafe drinking water while half lacks basic sanitation, the U.N. said. "We are draining humanity's lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, and evaporating it through global heating," said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. But Guterres said it must "result in a bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world's lifeblood the commitment it deserves". The United States quickly responded to Guterres' call.

☆ Church tower reemerges from parched reservoir in drought-hit Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The weather will be drier and hotter than usual this spring along the northeastern Mediterranean coast that includes Catalonia. The dry weather will heighten the risk of wildfires even as it brings average rainfall nationwide, Spain's meteorological agency AEMET said. "Heat waves in this geographical area of the planet are more frequent, are increasing more frequently than in other regions," he said. Spain's drought nationwide measured over 12 months is no worse than it was in 2017, 2012 and 2005. But the average water level in Catalonia's reservoirs stands at just 27%, slightly above the level in parts of the southern region of Andalucia.

☆ Some cash in on land boom near Indonesia's new capital, others despondent
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Stefanno Sulaiman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] Trucks are seen near a palm oil plantation at a village located near Indonesia's projected new capital, known as Nusantara National Capital, in Sepaku, East Kalimantan province, Indonesia, March 8 2023. Headman Rizki Maulana Perwira Atmadja, 38, said land prices around his village - 10 km (6 miles) from where a presidential palace is being built - had jumped four-fold. Land prices in places near a water reservoir had risen over 16-fold, said Junaidin, the village chief of Tengin Baru, a settlement of around 4,000 people within Nusantara's development zone. He said large property companies had not sought to acquire land banks in Nusantara due to the moratorium on permits. However, the Nusantara authority said land speculation should not affect development plans as compensation for land would be measured fairly by an independent party.

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