2023-12-02 10:54

LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Glasgow Airport on Saturday said its runway was now fully operational and it would resume flights after planes were grounded earlier due to heavy snowfall. "Our runway is now fully operational again and we are working with our airline partners and their handlers to resume flight schedules," Glasgow Airport said. The Scottish airport had earlier said flight operations were suspended because of a combination of heavier than forecast snow and freezing conditions throughout the night and early morning. Britain's Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice across parts of northwest England and southern Scotland, with wintry showers expected to lead to some icy patches and snow cover in places. Across Britain, some soccer matches and horse racing fixtures were amongst the events abandoned or suspended due to snow or unsafe playing surfaces. Several Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) matches due to be played on Saturday have been postponed, including a game between Livingston and Ross County because of a frozen pitch. Newcastle Racecourse in northern England also abandoned Saturday's high-profile hurdle race fixture due to frozen ground. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/glasgow-airport-runway-open-flights-resume-after-heavy-snow-2023-12-02/

2023-12-02 10:45

DUBAI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - World leaders addressed the COP28 summit on Saturday, where their countries' delegations are assessing progress towards meeting global climate goals. Here are the latest comments: GERMAN CHANCELLOR OLAF SCHOLZ "For us it is important that this fund benefits the most vulnerable countries and that as many of us support this fund as possible," he said via a translator on the climate disaster fund. "For the countries whose prosperity has grown enormously over the last decades and which have contributed to a large extent to today's global emissions also bear responsibility: We need your support too." BARBADOS PRIME MINISTER MIA MOTTLEY "Loss and damage alone, however, is only a part of the equation. Because for every dollar that we spend before disaster, we can save $7 in damage, and indeed loss of lives. "The truth is that we are in danger of being sucked into an international media frenzy that allows us only to capture that which can be captured in a soundbite. Our world is more complex than that, and we continue to need significant funds for adaptations for countries that simply will not be met unless there's a different approach to how we address both the capitalisation of the international financial institutions, the commitment of countries, and, indeed, the recognition that non state actors and individuals need to come to the table to add to the capitalisation." POPE FRANCIS In a speech read out by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin due to the pope's ill health, he said: "I am with you because the destruction of the environment is an offence against God." "Brothers and sisters, it is essential that there be a breakthrough that is not a partial change of course, but rather a new way of making progress together." U.S. VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS "This is a pivotal moment. Our action collectively, or worse, our inaction, will impact billions of people for decades to come. For as much as we have accomplished there is still so more work to do, and continued progress will not be possible without a fight. "Around the world, there are those who seek to slow or stop our progress. Leaders who deny climate science, delay climate action and spread misinformation. Corporations that greenwash climate inaction and lobby for billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies. "In the face of their resistance, and in the context of this moment, we must do more." ___ For daily comprehensive coverage on COP28 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here. https://www.reuters.com/world/what-are-leaders-saying-un-climate-summit-2023-12-02/

2023-12-02 10:44

DUBAI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Saturday unveiled final rules aimed at cracking down on U.S. oil and gas industry releases of methane, part of a global plan to rein in emissions that contribute to climate change. The rules, two years in the making, were announced by U.S. officials at the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. The United States and other nations attending the summit are expected to detail how they will achieve a 150-country pledge made two years ago to slash methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Methane tends to leak into the atmosphere undetected from drill sites, gas pipelines and other oil and gas equipment. It has more warming potential than carbon dioxide and breaks down in the atmosphere faster, so reining in methane emissions can have a more immediate impact on limiting climate change. "These new standards will help us meet our international commitments to aggressively tackle climate change, while improving air quality for communities all across the country," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan told a news conference in Dubai. Vice President Kamala Harris cited the methane regulations among several U.S. initiatives to fight global warming and said they showed the Biden administration had restored the United States as a global leader in the fight against climate change. "Today, we are demonstrating through action how the world can and must meet this crisis," Harris she told the conference. EPA's new policies would ban routine flaring of natural gas produced by newly drilled oil wells, require oil companies to monitor for leaks from well sites and compressor stations and establishes a program to use third party remote sensing to detect large methane releases from so-called "super emitters," the agency said in a statement. The rules would prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane from reaching the atmosphere between 2024 and 2038 - nearly the equivalent of all the carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector in the year 2021, EPA added. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, whose state already put in place methane regulations that served as a model for the EPA, said that the new methane rules enables the United States to lead by example and encourage other countries to take similar measures. "Now we've got credibility to make sure that we can demonstrate to the whole world that we can hold polluters accountable and move the needle," she told the press conference. Some environmental groups praised the rules. "Strong methane standards are essential to curb climate pollution and better protect the health and safety of workers and communities living near fossil fuel extraction," Earthjustice's vice president of litigation for climate and energy, Jill Tauber, said in a statement. The rule will produce climate and health benefits of up to $7.6 billion a year through 2038, EPA said. It will also increase recovery of up to $13 billion of natural gas over the time period. The rule differs somewhat from draft proposals EPA released in 2021 and 2022, in part by giving the industry more time to comply. The agency also tweaked the Super Emitter Program so that third parties send information on methane leaks to EPA directly for verification. Previously they would have been able to send the information directly to companies, a provision the oil and gas industry said would put too much power in the hands of environmental groups that search for methane leaks. The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas industry trade group, said it was reviewing the rule. "To be truly effective, this rule must balance emissions reductions with the need to continue meeting rising energy demand," Dustin Meyer, API senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs, said in a statement. Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Reuters at COP28 that it still needs to review the rule but: "Conceptually, we're supportive of it as long as it's a reasonable and sound policy." BP said it "actively collaborated" with EPA as it worked on the final rule and "welcomes the finalization." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/us-lays-out-plan-cop-28-slash-climate-super-pollutant-oil-gas-2023-12-02/

2023-12-02 10:38

DUBAI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods on Saturday rejected the International Energy Agency's recent claim that using wide-scale carbon capture to fight climate change was an implausible "illusion", saying the same could be said about electric vehicles and solar energy. "There is no solution set out there today that is at the scale to solve the problem," Woods told Reuters on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. "So, you could say that about carbon capture today, you could say that about electric vehicles, about wind, about solar. I think that criticism is legitimate for anything that we're trying to do, to start with," he said. While few commercially viable carbon-capture projects exist due to high costs, EVs now make up about 13% of the global new vehicle market, and solar and wind deployments have been expanding rapidly. Woods' appearance marked the first time a CEO of fossil fuel giant Exxon (XOM.N) has attended one of the annual U.N.-sponsored climate summits, and reflected a growing effort among oil and gas companies worldwide to recast themselves as part of the solution to global warming, as opposed to a cause. The future role of carbon capture technology and fossil fuels is a key issue at the conference. The IEA, the West's energy watchdog, issued a report on Nov. 27 just ahead of the COP28 gathering that said the fossil fuel industry was facing a "moment of truth" where producers had to choose between deepening the climate crisis, or shifting to clean energy. It slammed oil and gas companies that argue drilling can continue indefinitely as long as the emissions from combusting them are cleaned up, saying the industry was maintaining an "illusion that implausibly large amounts of carbon capture are the solution". Exxon has announced $17 billion of investment in its low carbon business, which includes carbon capture, and has argued that greenhouse gas emissions are the problem causing climate change, not the fossil fuels themselves. He said he believed oil and gas would play an "important role" in the world through 2050, but declined to provide an estimate for demand levels. As part of Exxon's low carbon strategy, it announced in July a $4.9 billion acquisition of Denbury and its 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) carbon dioxide pipeline network, which will be linked to offshore blocks in the Gulf of Mexico where Exxon plans to bury carbon. Exxon has so far convinced the largest ammonia maker in the United States, an industrial gas company and a large steel company to ink long-term contracts for carbon reduction services that would cover around 5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Currently, energy and industry produce about 37 billion tons of CO2 per year globally. Woods declined to provide details of the contracts, but said U.S. subsidies in last year's Inflation Reduction Act of up to $85 a ton for carbon capture and sequestration would make the investments profitable. "We're essentially helping customers decarbonize and taking advantage of that tax credit," Woods said. He added that making money from the deals was "probably a few years out." ___ For daily comprehensive coverage on COP28 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/cop28-exxon-mobil-ceo-rebuffs-iea-criticism-carbon-capture-strategy-2023-12-02/

2023-12-02 10:23

MUNICH, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Heavy snowfall in Bavaria prompted an all-day cancellation of flights and long-distance trains out of Munich, with Christmas markets closed, some ski lifts unable to run and a football match called off as the city battled with the icy conditions. Flights were not scheduled to depart or arrive at Munich airport until at least 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Sunday according to a statement on its website. "Everything is closed. Online doesn't work. Well, you have to be patient... there's nothing you can do," Magda Shokosa, a stranded passenger at Munich Airport, said. "We had to dig our way into the car park with shovels and then take a taxi because the buses weren't running," said another passenger, Brigitte Schloessel. Trains could not arrive at Munich's central train station, Deutsche Bahn said on its website. The halt was expected to last all day, it added, with considerable delays expected until Monday. Local media reported numerous transport accidents and traffic jams on icy roads, with the German Weather Service estimating 30-40 cm of snow would fall by Saturday evening. A Bundesliga match between Bayern Munich and Union Berlin was also postponed due to the heavy snowfall. Still, some Munich residents were cheerier about the wintry atmosphere created by the snowfall, with parents pulling their children along on sleds. "Finally snow again. I think it's great because it's a bit quieter. It's a nicer atmosphere overall," said Friedrich Zeller as he walked through the snowy streets. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/munich-flights-long-distance-trains-cancelled-due-snow-2023-12-02/

2023-12-02 09:24

KYIV, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost its power supply after the last remaining line to it from Ukrainian-controlled territory was disrupted, but it has since been repaired, the energy ministry said on Saturday. The plant was occupied by Russia in March 2022 and is no longer generating power, but needs a supply of electricity to cool one of its four reactors which is in a state of 'hot conservation' - meaning it has not fully been shut down. According to a statement published by Ukraine's energy ministry on Telegram, one power line to the plant was disrupted late on Friday, while the last, 750 kW, line was broken at 2:31 a.m. (0031 GMT) on Saturday. "This is the eighth blackout which occurred at the (Zaporizhzhia plant) and could have led to nuclear catastrophe," the statement said. The ministry said that after losing grid connection the plant turned on 20 backup generators to supply its own electricity needs. It said that at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) Ukrainian specialists repaired the 750 kW line which was now bringing power to the plant once more. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-russian-occupied-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-suffered-power-outage-2023-12-02/