Tag - gas

 
 

GAS

Cables connect to servers at a data center. The rapid global adoption of AI has triggered a boom in demand for the energy-hungry data centers on which the technology depends, putting power grids to the test.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2024
Fossil fuels initially needed for AI boom, Tepco adviser says
While electricity demand has been trending downward in Japan, experts have suggested that the decline could be reversed as the nation builds more data centers.
A liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy in Sakhalin, Russia. Japan, the world's second biggest LNG buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024
Rival supplies and depleting fields give Japan an exit from Russian gas
Japan, the world's second-biggest liquefied natural gas buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
Kansai Electric Power's Takahama nuclear power plant's No.1 reactor (right) in Fukui Prefecture, which surpassed 50 years of operation in November. On the left is the No. 2 reactor.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2024
Renewables eyed as biggest source of Japan's energy mix in fiscal 2040
The government is also expected to aim for a 20% share for nuclear energy as part of efforts toward decarbonization.
Tokyo Gas' liquefied natural gas terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, last month. The utility is considering several wind power projects in Southeast Asia amid the global decarbonization push.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 5, 2024
Tokyo Gas eyes wind power projects in Southeast Asia
The gas utility is expected to make final investment decisions on some of the envisaged projects as early as 2025.
Elliott Investment Management's stake in Tokyo Gas is centered around getting the utility to sell off its real estate holdings, including Shinjuku Park Tower, which houses the Park Hyatt Hotel Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024
Real estate worth ¥25 trillion puts Japan companies in spotlight
The hidden value of property on corporate balance sheets is a theme behind some of the biggest activist campaigns and mergers and acquisitions in Japan.
A thermal power plant in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture. Policymakers suggest setting a target of cutting emissions by 60% by 2035.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024
Japanese panel suggests 60% emissions reduction target for 2035
Japan already has a goal to reduce 2013-level emissions by 46% by 2030.
A man walks past a gasoline station in Tokyo on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Nov 24, 2024
How Japan can exit the fossil fuel subsidies it can’t seem to quit
While offering relief to low-income households, such measures encourage the continued use of the fossil fuels driving climate change.
In developing Asia, where coal dominates and imported liquefied natural gas is expensive, natural gas remains limited in electricity grids.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2024
Gas got America off coal. Now, it's coming for Asia's oil.
It can work in concert with carbon-free energy to break the hold of the dirtiest sources of power.
An electrical substation in Tokyo. Japan's total power generation fell to its lowest in more than a decade in the year through March.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 22, 2024
Japan’s power output falls to lowest in more than a decade
The total amount of electricity generated fell 1.6% year on year to 985.4 terawatt hours in the 12 months to March.
Tokyo Gas’ LNG terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2024
Tokyo Gas shares jump most since 1987 after activist fund discloses major stake
Elliott Investment Management said it now owns more than 5% of Tokyo Gas and may make "important proposals” to the utility provider.
Members of the Indigenous People Association stage a protest to demand action on climate change, holding cutouts of U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the waters of Botafogo Bay, ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2024
Biden weighs fossil fuel finance curbs that could outlast Trump
Landing the deal is seen as essential to deliver on a promise Biden made during his first year in the White House.
An oil pump jack in Midland, Texas
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 14, 2024
Republican sweep opens way to boost oil and gas development
Oil producers, however, may be reluctant to drill new wells with U.S. output already at a record high.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev speaks at the Opening Ceremony of the United Nations climate change conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2024
COP29 host Azerbaijan hits out at West in defense of using oil and gas
Some observers of the COP29 negotiations said the president of Azerbaijan's remarks did not bode well for a strong result from the two-week summit.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs one of five executive orders related to the oil pipeline industry in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Jan. 24, 2017.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 7, 2024
From oil to EVs, here’s how Trump’s victory affects energy
The prospect of a Trump-era pullback from some policies promoting emission-free energy has already helped spark a slide in shares of renewable power firms.
Russia's gas pipeline export monopoly Gazprom plunged to a net loss of $7 billion in 2023, its first annual loss since 1999, because of the loss of the EU's gas markets.
BUSINESS
Oct 9, 2024
What happens when Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine stops?
Ukraine will not extend its gas transit agreement with Russia after it expires at the end of December, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The government is considering financial support for liquefied natural gas operators to secure storage tanks in Japan and abroad.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 12, 2024
Japan considers company support measures for long-term LNG contracts
Possible measures included financial support for securing storage tank and a new program to assist LNG buyers committing to long-term contracts.
The government has decided to continue offering subsidies to curb electricity, gas and gasoline bills until the end of this year.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024
Japan to spend additional ¥980 billion to curb energy bills
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that his Cabinet plans to approve the additional spending on Sept. 3.
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Aug 11, 2024
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
For over half a century, Japan has been a sizable buyer of LNG, and its government, banks and energy companies have played a key role in continued investment.
Japan's gasoline imports in June rose 20.4% from the previous month, with the Petroleum Association of Japan attributing it to maintenances and outages at plants owned by top oil refiners.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2024
Japan's gasoline imports seen rising through August as refinery outages cut output
Japan's gasoline imports are expected to stay elevated through August after rising 20% in June.
Jera reported ¥93.4 billion in profit for the April-June quarter, down 48% from the year-before period.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024
JERA's April-June profit halves; Taketoyo plant remains shut
The 1,070-megawatt (MW) Taketoyo power station in Aichi Prefecture has been shut since it was hit by a fire on Jan. 31.

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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