Fossil Fuels
The US’ hidden methane problem
Unregulated, unnoticed coal mines across the US are leaking a potent greenhouse gas with the same greenhouse effect as 13 million cars
Oil pipeline inspection industry ‘going wrong’ as surveys fail to prevent spills
Three separate companies inspected the San Pablo Bay pipeline for faults during a series of spills that dumped 900 barrels of crude onto farmland in California
Three ways the global business elite is underestimating clean energy
A Financial Times reader survey found most see climate change as important, but are conservative on how fast the global energy mix can shift
How the Paris Agreement can take on fossil fuel supply
The UN deal doesn’t mention coal, oil or gas, but it can still be used to limit their extraction
German renewables overtake coal power generation for six months
Wind, solar, hydro and biogas met 36.3% of electricity demand in the first half of 2018, industry data show, while coal dropped to 35.1% of the mix
World Bank reconsidering support for its last coal plant
Kosovo C is the last exception to the bank’s policy against backing coal plants, but a new assessment looks set to favour renewable alternatives
Pope Francis tells oil chiefs to keep it in the ground
At a conference in the Vatican, the head of the Catholic Church urged heads of Exxon Mobil, Eni and BP to make a faster shift to clean energy
Job of ending coal in Germany handed to 31-member committee
Commission will set a phase-out timeline for coal, but greens warn it may be too weak and divided to salvage Germany’s reputation as a climate leader
G7 fossil fuel subsidies worth $100bn a year to industry, study finds
UK accused of masking subsidies to fossil fuels, ahead of meeting of G7 countries, which have agreed to end taxpayer support by 2025
Canada oil pipeline buyout ‘subsidising a market failure’
Nationalisation of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline breaches a G7 commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, say analysts, ahead of leaders summit
Investors have made oil majors consider safe climate limits. What next?
Even holdout Exxon Mobil has analysed what holding global warming to 2C means for its business. Now the sector needs to invest – or divest – accordingly
Other countries ‘highly unlikely’ to replicate US shale gas boom, says UN report
Fracking transformed US energy production, but Europe and the rest of the world will struggle to repeat the trick, finds global report
EU energy chief flies to Tehran to talk gas supply, as US sanctions loom
As companies withdraw from deals involving Iran, fearing US sanctions, the EU scrambles to preserve growing energy cooperation
German coal phase-out commission to balance jobs with climate
Leaked strategy paper leads on jobs and calls for environmental concerns to be ‘harmonised’ with economic development
US agency calls for ban on controversial coal mine ‘self-bonds’
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office is urging Congress to make coal mining companies pay for environmental clean-up and reduce the risk to taxpayers
Documents shed light on BP’s failures in the Great Australian Bight
A major oil spill in the region would have covered up to 750km of beaches and disrupted whale migration, reveal government documents BP tried to suppress
Shell threatened with climate lawsuit in the Netherlands
Friends of the Earth has warned it will take the oil giant to court unless it overhauls its business plan in line with international climate goals
Coal tycoon governor Jim Justice uses loophole to leave mines and workers idle
Companies owned by WV governor exploited a supposedly temporary status to defer environmental clean up and leave miners in limbo, in some cases for decades
What happens to the land after coal mines close?
Across the country, mining land has been reclaimed at low cost, leaving communities with few alternatives to rebuild their economies
Crackdown on coal mine ‘self-bonds’ stalls under Trump
Regulators have almost wiped out risky practice since 2015-16 wave of bankruptcies, but some coal companies still insure themselves