UN expert group launches report on corporate greenwashing

A UN-convened group has launched a major new report at COP27 to crackdown on corporate greenwashing around net-zero claims, outlining key recommendations to ensure non-state actors are actively working towards decarbonisation. The High Level Expert Group on Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities was set up by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in March 2022

France to increase expenditure on zero-carbon ships development

France’s secretary of state in charge of maritime affairs, Hervé Berville, has set aside €300m ($302m) under the government’s France-Mer 2030 plan to get the country closer to building zero-emissions vessels. While only 12% of the ships used in France are built in the country, compared to 80% in 1980, Berville stressed at a conference

ABS gives approval to ammonia-fueled vessels

ABS awarded two approvals in principle (AIPs) to COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., and COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Technology Co., Ltd., for their ammonia-fueled vessel and ammonia supply system designs which are being trialed on a tugboat. Given the challenging characteristics of ammonia, ABS conducted a comprehensive review and risk assessment focused on ammonia

Amid strong demand for diesel exports Chinese refiners increases its production  

China’s refined oil product exports in November are set to hit the highest since April 2020 as refiners ramp up output to multi-month highs to boost diesel supply and profit, offsetting the impact of slower domestic demand from COVID-19 restrictions. The world’s top two refiners – the United States and China – are processing more

Ethanol associations to support global fight against climate change

In an intentional commitment to support the global fight against climate change, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), Renewable Industries Canada (RICanada), UNICA, UNEM (National Corn Ethanol Union) and ePURE have come together today to underscore the importance of renewable ethanol in this effort. The use and implementation of renewable ethanol offers GHG reductions in the

Averda and WasteFuel to develop green methanol

Averda, a waste management, treatment and recycling company, and WasteFuel, a developer of bio-refineries, announced during the COP27 climate conference, their partnership to develop the first commercial scale municipal waste to renewable methanol plant in the Middle East. The location for the first plant is likely to be in Jebel Ali, the premier port in

EU concludes a strategic partnership with Kazakhstan on renewable hydrogen

Attending the COP27 in Egypt, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a partnership between the EU and Kazakhstan. The agreement aims to ensure the development of a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials and refined materials. It also aims to develop

Shell and GE Gas Power to follow LNG decarbonisation path

GE Gas Power and Shell Global Solutions have signed a development agreement to pursue potential pathways to reduce the carbon intensity of Shell’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply projects around the world. The companies see the use of hydrogen as low-carbon fuel in gas turbines as one of the possible paths to decarbonise LNG production.

COP27 to discuss compensating poor nations for climate disasters

The issue of loss and damage, as it is referred to in the climate negotiations, was included in the formal main agenda of the climate conference for the first time ever, after being discussed in a separate track for years. IN A big positive on the opening day of the climate change conference here, negotiators

Uthörn, Germany’s first methanol-powered research vessel

Germany’s first methanol-fuelled seagoing research vessel was named during a ceremony on 1 November at Fassmer Shipyards in Berne. Christened Uthörn by the German Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the 35-m vessel is being built for the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). After a two-year construction phase, the €15.0M (US$14.9M) research vessel is