Tag - energy

 
 

ENERGY

The COP28 climate conference is being held at Expo City Dubai for a total of 100,000 attendees, 2,000 of which are from fossil fuel companies.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2023
COP28 like a trade show? That’s not a bad thing.
Some lament the presence of many fossil fuel representatives among the 100,000 attendees of COP28 in Dubai, failing to recognize their key role.
Eiko Takeuchi talks about a traffic jam during last winter’s heavy snow along National Route 8 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on Sept. 18.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 11, 2023
Evacuation plans for nuclear incidents called into question
Effectiveness of preparations as a “last line of defense” to save residents in the event of a nuclear disaster are in doubt.
Delegates arrive at Dubai's Expo City during COP28 on Saturday
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 9, 2023
Oil is everywhere at COP28, vexing those seeking its demise
To many of the activists in attendance, the prominence of the oil and gas industry is a travesty.
Shipping containers at a commercial port in Vladivostok, Russia, in August
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2023
Putin's economic challenges are numerous — but surmountable — as election looms
Russia's success in evading a Western oil price cap is helping drive a recovery in economic growth.
COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber gives a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai on Dec. 4.
COMMENTARY
Dec 8, 2023
Climate solutions are debatable, but science is inescapable
How we set environmental policies depends on how we interpret the facts.
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 7, 2023
Feeling anxious? Wastewater, heat and Japan’s year in climate
In a year that saw Japan release 24,000 tons of wastewater (so far) from Fukushima No. 1 as the planet smashed heat records, it’s no wonder climate anxiety is on the rise. Mara Budgen joins us to break down the year in environment news, where we could see hope, and what we should be worried about....
Godzilla is presented with a certificate after being selected for Hollywood's Walk of Fame during a news conference in Tokyo in October 2004.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023
New 'Godzilla' flick deftly tackles postwar Japan in cinematic triumph
Godzilla strikes again: New 'Minus One' movie is a visual spectacle that challenges Hollywood's big budget norms.
Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's energy minister, during an interview at the Energy Ministry in Riyadh on Monday
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 5, 2023
Saudi Arabia says 'absolutely not' to oil phaseout at COP28
About 200 countries must come to a consensus decision at the meeting in Dubai.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during day three of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 4, 2023
COP28 president’s fossil-fuel phaseout talk draws condemnation
The comments have raised questions over whether the conference will be able to unite behind a strong pledge targeting the elimination of fossil fuels.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a session at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 3, 2023
For embattled Kishida, Dubai trip fails to pay dividends
The PM's visit to Dubai for a U.N. climate summit will do little to offset woes at home, including an LDP funding scandal and sagging approval ratings.
A truck unloads tons of coal inside a warehouse in Tondo, Metro Manila, in 2016. Independent show ample potential for renewables in Japan and Southeast Asia.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 3, 2023
How Japan's renewable underestimates are impacting Asia's energy transition
Contrary to Japan's stance, independent projections paint a picture in which renewables can power the fast developing region.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks at a high-level segment at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2023
U.S. lays out plan at COP28 to slash methane emissions from oil and gas
The rules, two years in the making, were announced by U.S. officials at the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai.
The Idaho National Laboratory, Materials and Fuels Complex. Researchers there were the first to generate electricity from splitting the atom back in 1951, and countless scientists have since visited the remote site to test reactor designs.
WORLD
Dec 3, 2023
The future of nuclear energy will be decided in Idaho
It’s been 50 years since the last reactor was switched on there, which speaks to the challenges of harnessing a fission reaction.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry speaks during a session at COP28 on Saturday where over 20 nations called for the tripling of nuclear energy by 2050.
WORLD
Dec 2, 2023
Over 20 nations, including Japan, call for tripling of nuclear energy
A declaration endorsed by the nations said nuclear energy plays a "key role" in reaching the goal of carbon neutrality.
World leaders prior to the opening ceremony of the COP28 summit in Dubai on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 2, 2023
A tense climate summit begins amid wars and record heat
At the U.N. climate conference in Dubai, a parade of dignitaries invoked faith, science and economics in their calls for a rapid energy transition.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prepares to speak at a COP28 session in Dubai on Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2023
Japan pledges to end construction of new unabated coal plants
The pledge comes after some nations called on attendees at COP28 to agree to immediately end new unabated coal-fired power generation.
A Cosmo Energy service station in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 1, 2023
Iwatani emerges as potential Cosmo white knight with share buy
Iwatani will pay ¥105.3 billion, or ¥6,052 per share, to raise its stake in Cosmo to 19.93% from the current 0.07%.
The JT-60SA, the world's biggest nuclear fusion reactor constructed to date, before its planned inauguration in the city of Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Friday
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2023
Japanese experimental nuclear fusion reactor inaugurated
Fusion technology is still in its infancy but is billed by some as the answer to humanity's future energy needs.
Offshore wind turbines at the Scroby Sands Wind Farm, operated by E.ON SE, near Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom.  Foreign wind power companies say Japan's development process for offshore wind power takes much longer than in other countries, leading to more uncertainty and risks.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2023
Foreign wind power players urge Japan to scale up offshore auctions
"If you want to create appetite from investors you need to propose larger plants"
Sultan Al Jaber strongly denied reports that he used his position as COP president to pitch new oil and gas investments to governments.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023
COP28 president denies using climate talks to push oil deals
The allegations against Sultan Al Jaber have fanned long-running suspicions over the wisdom of a petrostate hosting the climate talks.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan