It’s “now or never,” said the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published on Monday. It called on governments to start out staving off emissions to avoid wasting the planet from irreversible climate disaster.
Between now and never, some are apparently selecting never, as recent projects announced this week proceed to fund fossil fuel production world wide.
The IPCC warned that if we keep going at our current pace, we will exceed 3°C of world warming by the tip of the century.
And yet evidently within the midst of an energy crisis led by the results of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the urgency of the IPCC’s message hasn’t reached everyone.
Here’s an inventory of all the brand new gas and oil projects announced after the IPCC reports got here out on 4 April.
A recent offshore project for Exxon in Guyana
On Monday, Exxon announced it’s going to invest $10 billion (€9 billion) in a recent offshore project off the coast of Guyana, the corporate’s fourth oil production development within the country and to this point the most important in Latin America.
The project, called YellowTail, has been approved by the federal government of Guyana and is predicted to provide 250,000 barrels of oil per day.
Exxon already has three other projects within the Stabroek block, an oil reservoir covering an area of 26,800 square kilometres off the coast of Guyana, and sees potential for 10 more developments.
And so they’re not the one ones.
UK: More drilling within the North Sea
As a part of its recent energy strategy, the UK government announced on Thursday that licensing of latest oil and gas projects within the North Sea will start this autumn.
Environmental campaigners and climate activists reacted with outrage to the move, however the UK government has defended itself saying such projects are needed to attain energy autonomy, with a view to eliminating the uncomfortable dependence on Russian oil and gas imports.
Canada approves Bay du Nord oil
On Thursday, there was climate heartbreak on the opposite side of the ocean too, as Canada’s government gave the green light to the controversial $12 billion (€11 billion) Bay du Nord offshore oil project.
The project can be managed by Equinor for about 30 years, during which the corporate will operate a floating offshore oil and gas production facility within the Flemish Pass, within the Atlantic Ocean. It is predicted that greater than 60 wells can be drilled during three a long time of operations.
Canada’s government said that the project will help the country meet energy demands through a difficult time of transition.
The approval followed months of debates and a four-year-long review of the project, but the federal government, which conducted an environmental assessment of Bay du Nord, concluded that it’s going to not cause significant negative effects to its surrounding environment “when mitigation measures are taken under consideration.”
These mitigation measures include 137 conditions Equinor may have to satisfy while operating the project, including protecting wildlife, human health and native access to resources.
Most environmental activists strongly disagree with the federal government’s decision.
UK: Fracking still on the table
British business minister Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Tuesday that he has ordered a brief report on fracking to research its impact, saying that each one options must be on the table to cut back Britain’s dependence on imported energy.
The British Geological Survey will investigate safety concerns related to the controversial practice, ending a moratorium on fracking that had been in place since 2019, when protests forced the UK government to take motion to stop fracking within the country.
Portugal hopes to construct recent gas plants in Mozambique
Portugal’s Galp Energia, a partner of the Exxon-led gas consortium in Mozambique, said on Thursday that it hopes to start out constructing onshore plants within the African country in 2024.
The corporate has expressed concerns over the safety situation in Mozambique, where ISIS militants have been lively near liquefied natural gas projects price $50 billion (€45 billion), Reuters reports.
A recent deal between China and the US
Not quite a recent project, but still a recent investment in fossil fuels (even when a “cleaner” one): China’s ENN signed a recent take care of US-based NextDecade on Wednesday to purchase 1.5 million tonnes per 12 months of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 20 years, starting in 2026.
The gas will come from the proposed Rio Grande project in Brownsville Texas which, in line with NextDecade, will produce “the greenest LNG on the earth.”
LNG is taken into account the cleanest of fossil fuels – it emits 40 per cent fewer emissions than coal.
Israel’s Delek Group expands its presence in UK’s North Sea
On Friday, Ithaca Energy announced it’s going to buy Siccar Point Energy, the corporate behind the controversial Cambo oil field off Shetland, a project which had been placed on hold last December when Shell pulled out.
Shell had 30 per cent of stakes in the corporate, but withdrew from the project saying the economic case for investing within the project wasn’t “strong enough.”
Ithaca Energy, the UK North Sea production arm of Israel’s Delek Group, which acquired it in 2017, is buying Siccar Point Energy for €1.39 billion.
The acquisition signifies that the Cambo oil field is prone to be expanded in the long run, despite outrage from environmental campaigners, who imagine the expansion of the event will worsen the climate crisis.
