Tag - energy

 
 

ENERGY

A view of the Unit 4 reactor of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, in 2018
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024
U.S. as many as 15 years behind China on nuclear power, report says
Beijing's state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge over its rival, the study by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation said.
Microsoft Japan President Miki Tsusaka
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2024
Microsoft’s Japan chief sees country accelerating its use of AI
Microsoft Japan President Miki Tsukasa sees AI as an inevitable and revolutionary new part of tech.
Muons can penetrate dense materials, even bedrock several kilometers thick, and therefore are used for internal inspections for volcanos and pyramids, as well as the reactors at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024
Japan team succeeds in muon reacceleration in major breakthrough
Muons have characteristics similar to those of electrons but have a mass some 200 times greater.
Environmental activists from the group Extinction Rebellion demonstrate outside the media center set up for the Group of Seven leaders' summit, in Bari, Italy, on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 15, 2024
Experts and activists slam 'pointless' G7 on climate
The Group of Seven rich democracies was assailed for having failed to deliver significant new progress on climate during a summit in Italy.
A nuclear power plant in Crystal River, Florida. While the public have warmed to nuclear in recent years, spiraling project costs have made private equity cautious.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2024
Building nuclear power is a bridge too far for world’s private investors
While the public have warmed to nuclear in recent years, spiraling project costs have made private equity cautious.
Toshiba Vice President Koji Ikeya says the company will aim to boost profitability by investing about ¥50 billion in fiscal 2026.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2024
Toshiba to double investments in power and defense business
The Japanese electronics and machinery maker will aim to boost profitability by investing about ¥50 billion in fiscal 2026.
A hydrogen storage tank with an under-construction green hydrogen compressor at a liquid fuels facility in Sasolburg, South Africa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024
South Africa’s biggest green-hydrogen project woos Japanese investors
If approved, the plant will use 3,700 megawatts of renewable power generation capacity to split water to produce 1 million tons of hydrogen a year.
A Saudi Aramco logo outside an oil storage tank at the Juaymah tank farm at the firm's Ras Tanura oil refinery and terminal at Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, in October 2018
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 10, 2024
Saudis said to hand about 60% of Aramco offer to foreign investors
The firm's stock sale generated strong demand from the U.S. and Europe, sources said.
Some major world economies want to finalize a plan ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit to halt new private sector funding for coal projects.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 8, 2024
Major world economies seek to halt new private sector coal financing
The biggest pushback on the OECD proposal to halt new private sector funding for coal projects has come from Japan, sources said.
The effort by the United Kingdom, France and Germany to ramp up pressure was also visible this week at the International Atomic Energy Agency, where they successfully pushed a resolution critical of Iran despite U.S. reservations.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2024
Europeans detail Iran's nuclear violations in diplomatic gambit
The move by Britain, France and Germany is said to be aimed at pressuring Tehran into resolving the issue diplomatically.
A solar farm in Switzerland. Solar power is leading the power’s sector’s transformation, with investment in the area set to reach $500 billion this year.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jun 6, 2024
Clean energy spending set to reach twice that on fossil fuels, IAEA reports
Nonetheless, continued spending on coal, gas and oil remains at a level that’s too high to conform with global climate goals.
The Iranian flag flutters in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency's headquarters in Vienna in June 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2024
Iran censured by atomic watchdog as date for end of sanctions draws closer
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have reported that Iran hasn’t helped them resolve a probe into uranium particles at undeclared locations.
Sumitomo says it is aiming to install 500 megawatts or more of battery storage in Japan by March 2031.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024
Sumitomo aims to install 500 MW of battery storage in Japan by 2031
The initiative is part of the trading house's broader efforts to bolster its energy transformation business.
Energy companies are increasingly calling for greater use of nuclear power as geopolitical tensions raise the risk of energy supply disruptions and power price hikes.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2024
In Japan, energy security fears put nuclear back in favor for 2040 plan
The Japanese government wants to lock in greater use of nuclear energy, along with wind and solar power, to secure stable energy supply.
A hydrogen storage tank and loading system at a liquefied hydrogen receiving terminal in Kobe. Japan and the European Union have agreed to work together on policies related to clean hydrogen.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jun 4, 2024
Japan and EU agree to work on creating hydrogen demand and supply
Tokyo sees hydrogen as a new and cleaner source to gradually substitute liquefied natural gas, part of Japan's path to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Support staff dispatched by power firms work to restore electrical equipment in an area hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2024
Major Japan power firms boost cooperation on disaster response
The electric power sector has established a framework to streamline the dispatch of support personnel and facilitate mutual aid to cover restoration expenses.
The Iranian flag flutters in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 5, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2024
Draft IAEA resolution presses Iran on particles and inspectors
The new text calls on Iran to cooperate without delay, including by letting the International Atomic Energy Agency take samples if it needs to.
Tokyo Gas storage tanks in Tokyo. The firm is looking to add more U.S. natural gas assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2024
Tokyo Gas seeks more U.S. natural gas assets, president says
Japan's top city gas supplier is aiming to expand its gas-related businesses in North America after its recent acquisition of a U.S. shale gas producer.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang during their meeting at the Blue House in Seoul on May 27.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 3, 2024
South Korea to explore vast oil and gas prospects off east coast, Yoon says
The 500 billion won ($363 million) drilling project is slated to begin towards the end of the year, aiming for results by mid-next year.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024
$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain
And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals