Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater lakes: Study
Every drop of freshwater contains thousands of different organic molecules that have previously gone unnoticed. By measuring the diversity of these molecules and how they interact with the environment around them, research has revealed an invisible world that affects the functioning of freshwater ecosystems and can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Small shallow lakes dominate the world’s freshwater area, and the sediments within them already produce at least one-quarter of all carbon-dioxide, and more than two-thirds of all methane released from lakes into our atmosphere. The new research, published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), suggests that climate change may cause the levels of greenhouse gases emitted by freshwater northern lakes to increase by between 1.5 and 2.7 times. “What we’ve traditionally called ‘carbon’ in freshwater turns out to be a super-diverse mixture of different carbon-based organic molecules,” said Dr Andrew Tanentzap in Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, who led the research. “We’ve been measuring ‘carbon’ in freshwater as a proxy for everything from water quality to the productivity of freshwater ecosystems. Now we’ve realised that it’s the diversity of this invisible world of organic molecules that’s important.” As the climate warms, vegetation cover is increasing in forests of the northern latitudes. By simulating this effect in two lakes in Ontario, Canada, the study found an increased diversity of organic molecules – molecules containing carbon within their structure – entering the water in the matter shed by nearby plants and trees. Organic molecules are a food source for microbes in the lake sediments, which break them down and release carbon dioxide and methane as by-products. Increasing levels of organic molecules can, therefore, enhance microbial activity and produce more greenhouse gases. Since the same microbes can make greenhouse gases from many different organic molecules, the diversity of organic molecules was shown to be more closely linked with levels of greenhouse gas concentrations than the diversity of the microbes. In addition, an elevated diversity of organic molecules may elevate greenhouse gas concentrations in waters because there are more molecules that can be broken down by sunlight penetrating the water. To conduct the research, containers were filled with varying ratios of rocks and organic material, consisting of deciduous and coniferous litter from nearby forests – and submerged in the shallow waters of the two lakes. Analysis of the samples two months later, using the techniques of ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry and next-generation DNA sequencing, showed that the diversity of organic molecules was correlated with the diversity of microbial communities in the water and that the diversity of both increased as the amount of organic matter increased. Accurately predicting carbon emissions from natural systems is vital to the reliability of calculations used to understand the pace of climate change, and the effects of a warmer world. “Climate change will increase forest cover and change species composition, resulting in a greater variety of leaves and plant litter falling into waterways. We found that the resulting increase in the diversity of organic molecules in the water leads to higher greenhouse gas concentrations,” said Tanentzap. “Understanding these connections means we could look at ways to reduce carbon emissions in the future, for example by changing land management practices.” Changing the vegetation around freshwater areas could change the organic molecules that end up in the water. The team is now expanding their study by taking samples from 150 lakes across Europe, to understand the broader ecological consequences of organic molecule diversity in natural freshwater systems.
Reliance surpasses BP to join elite oil supermajor club
Reliance Industries Ltd., run by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has eclipsed BP Plc to break into an elite club of energy supermajors. The Indian conglomerate is now valued at $138 billion, compared with the British energy giant’s $132 billion value at the close of trading on Tuesday. Reliance’s shares have increased at three times the pace of India’s benchmark index this year after its billionaire owner in August announced plans to cut the company’s net debt to zero in 18 months through measures including a stake sale in the oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco. The surge in shares gives Ambani a net worth of $56 billion, making him Asia’s richest person, above Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Reliance’s market value briefly surpassed BP for the first time at the end of last month, and it has now regained the lead over the British company after its shares hit a fresh high in Mumbai on Wednesday. It also narrowing the gap with PetroChina Co., currently Asia’s biggest oil firm by value, and is within a whisker of becoming the first Indian company to hit the 10 trillion rupee market-cap milestone. Reliance has rallied 40% this year, compared with BP’s 1.2% gain as it works on cutting high debt levels. Oil companies have struggled because of swings in crude prices and as uncertainty persists over future energy demand. Reliance, meanwhile, has benefited in a number of ways. It operates the world’s biggest oil-refining complex in western India, which can process low-quality crude and turn it into higher-grade fuels, partly protecting it from volatility in prices. Telecom, RetailWhile Reliance gets two-third of its revenue from energy, Ambani has also made massive investments in telecom and digital services as he looks to benefit from growing demand in the world’s second-biggest market for mobile phone users. He has also expanded the company’s retail business to take on Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. The telecom unit, Reliance Jio, which claims to be world’s largest mobile data network, was also bolstered by a recent blow to India’s wireless carriers that left Ambani’s company largely unscathed. On Tuesday, Jio said it will take steps including an appropriate increase in tariffs in the next few weeks. Reliance is now the world’s sixth-largest oil company, with Exxon Mobil Corp. topping the list with a market value of about $290 billion. Aramco, formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Co., is planning an initial public offering with a valuation target of between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion, which would make it the world’s biggest.
India’s hunger for natural gas being fed by costly imports amid dismal local production
India’s hunger for natural gas to feed key industries in the power and fertilizer sectors is continuing to grow unabated but that demand is increasingly being met by costly imports on the back of dismal domestic production. The country consumed 174 million standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd) of natural gas in September 2019, a 6 per cent increase over the consumption of 164 mmscmd in the same month last year. The over demand growth stood at 3 per cent in the April-September 2019 period, according to latest data shared by research firm India Ratings. However, the 6 per cent growth in consumption in September fuelled a massive 18 per cent jump in costly imports of Regasified-Liquefied Natural Gas (R-LNG). “Domestic natural gas production decreased 4.3 per cent year-on-year. During the month, gas volume production in Oil and Natural Gas Corp and private or joint venture fields recorded a fall of 4.6 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, while Oil India Ltd recorded an increase of 1.5 per cent year-on-year,” the agency said in a report. Domestic natural gas contributed a mere 52 per cent to the overall domestic consumption during September 2019. Additionally, the rising demand for gas is coming increasingly from the fertilizer sector rather than power plants. Consumption data for August 2019 captures that trend. In August, the fertilizer sector consumed 26.2 mmscmd of imported natural gas but only 19 mmscmd of domestically produced gas. On the other hand, power plants consumed a mere 8.7 mmscmd of imported gas but 21 per cent of the domestic output. Apart from gas, the trend of rising imports feeding domestic demand is replicated in crude oil, too, with the only difference that both production and imports are going down. In September 2019, crude oil production decreased 5.4 per cent year-on-year. Production volumes of ONGC and OIL declined 2.6 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively, and that of fields under production-sharing contracts decreased 11.4 per cent during the month. At the same time crude oil import volume decreased 6.6 per cent and the country’s oil import dependence ballooned to a staggering 83.1 per cent in September 2019.
India’s hunger for natural gas being fed by costly imports amid dismal local production
India’s hunger for natural gas to feed key industries in the power and fertilizer sectors is continuing to grow unabated but that demand is increasingly being met by costly imports on the back of dismal domestic production. The country consumed 174 million standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd) of natural gas in September 2019, a 6 per cent increase over the consumption of 164 mmscmd in the same month last year. The over demand growth stood at 3 per cent in the April-September 2019 period, according to latest data shared by research firm India Ratings. However, the 6 per cent growth in consumption in September fuelled a massive 18 per cent jump in costly imports of Regasified-Liquefied Natural Gas (R-LNG). “Domestic natural gas production decreased 4.3 per cent year-on-year. During the month, gas volume production in Oil and Natural Gas Corp and private or joint venture fields recorded a fall of 4.6 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, while Oil India Ltd recorded an increase of 1.5 per cent year-on-year,” the agency said in a report. Domestic natural gas contributed a mere 52 per cent to the overall domestic consumption during September 2019. Additionally, the rising demand for gas is coming increasingly from the fertilizer sector rather than power plants. Consumption data for August 2019 captures that trend. In August, the fertilizer sector consumed 26.2 mmscmd of imported natural gas but only 19 mmscmd of domestically produced gas. On the other hand, power plants consumed a mere 8.7 mmscmd of imported gas but 21 per cent of the domestic output. Apart from gas, the trend of rising imports feeding domestic demand is replicated in crude oil, too, with the only difference that both production and imports are going down. In September 2019, crude oil production decreased 5.4 per cent year-on-year. Production volumes of ONGC and OIL declined 2.6 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively, and that of fields under production-sharing contracts decreased 11.4 per cent during the month. At the same time crude oil import volume decreased 6.6 per cent and the country’s oil import dependence ballooned to a staggering 83.1 per cent in September 2019.
GAIL, IOC to pay ₹60.18/mBtu for regasification at Dhamra
Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd will pay ₹60.18 per mBtu (million British thermal units) as regasification charges at the Dhamra LNG Terminal. This charge will be borne by the two after the LNG terminal has been commissioned, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said while responding to a starred question in the Lok Sabha. IOCL and GAIL have agreed to pay the tolling charges of ₹ 60.18 per mBtu for re-gas facility at Dhamra LNG terminal with annual escalations in line with their respective contractual provision, he added. The Dhamra LNG terminal is co-owned by Total SA Ltd and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.
BPCL stake sale: No reason to believe Numaligarh excise duty benefit will be withdrawn, firm says
A few months before the union government sells its stake in Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), executives at the company told analysts that there is no sun-set clause around excise duty benefits enjoyed by Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) and the company does not believe excise duty benefits enjoyed by NRL will be withdrawn. Replying to a question on whether the company’s investment in expanding NRL’s refining capacity is contingent on government’s commitment on continuity of excise duty benefits, a BPCL executive said: “There is no sunset clause for NRL benefits. NRL margins are robust without concessions; they have the best margins among other refiners in the country, about $10 per barrel in Q2. Excise duty concessions are an added incentive for improving NRL’s margins, but we have no reason to believe that excised duty benefits will be withdrawn as all other NE refiners are getting it.” The executives added that NRL’s expansion will be completed in four years and substantial capex will also be deployed in laying of crude oil pipeline from Paradip to Numaligarh and petroleum product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri. The government, in a bid to meet its disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 trillion for this fiscal year, plans to disinvest its stake in a slew of Central Public Sector Enterprises including Bharat Petroleum. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an interview last week the government would wrap up the sale of the fuel retailer by March 2020. While the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has initiated the process for engaging asset valuer for BPCL, the government is yet to officially reveal the fine-print of the planned strategic sale and the jury is still out on the benefits of the move as well as the pace at which the centre will be able to complete the disinvestment process. Analysts had earlier told ET EnergyWorld that interested investors would require clarity from the government on continuity of excise duty benefits accorded to NRL and whether the North-Eastern refinery will be a part of BPCL disinvestment proposal. “As it is a remotely located area without fiscal support, huge margins cannot be sustained. Whoever wants to buy BPCL may want some clarity on policy continuity. Other partners and the state government may also have a say in Numaligarh being sold to a private company. If the other stakeholders are not comfortable, there are chances the refinery may not be a part of BPCL’s disinvestment exercise. Such complications may not be there with other JVs and subsidiaries of BPCL,” K Ravichandran, Senior Vice President at ICRA told ET EnergyWorld. BPCL management cleared the plan to expand refining capacity of NRL to 9 million tonne per annum (MMTPA) from 3 MMTPA currently at a cost of Rs 22,594 crore. The total project cost will be financed by a mix of debt, equity and Viability Gap Funding. NRL will raise a debt of Rs 15,102 crore apart from its internal accrual of Rs 2,307 crore. Promoters of NRL – BPCL, Oil India and the government of Assam — will contribute to the equity and the project will be supported by VGF of Rs 1,020 crore from the Centre government. Other Highlights Company executives informed analysts that BPCL will witness 57 per cent jump in capital expenditure at Rs 12,488 crore next fiscal year (2020-2021), from Rs 7,950 crore proposed to be spent in the current fiscal year ending March 2020. “The company is spending Rs 7,950 crore in the current financial year. Rs 2,058 crore will be spent on refineries, Rs 1,825 crore on petrochemicals, Rs 310 crore on pipelines, Rs 2,490 under marketing and Rs 800 crore on exploration and JV companies,” executives said. BPCL said that Kochi and Mumbai refineries will be completely ready to supply BS VI fuel by the end of 2019 and the Mumbai refinery will undertake a planned shut-down from 15 November to December. “Kochi has already taken a shutdown in the month of September and is now ready to produce BS VI grade fuel. Mumbai refinery will undertake shutdown from 15 November to December, already they are supplying BS VI fuel for the national capital region. However, we will be 100 per cent BS VI fuel compliant by the end of the calendar year, post the shutdown,” executives said. They also said the slowdown in the economy has impacted the demand of diesel in the country and the company is not sure on when the demand for the motor fuel will pick up. “On the diesel side, there is a slowdown in the Indian economy and there is no denying that and that is reflected in the de-growth of diesel. We do not know for how long this slowdown will continue, and as on second quarter the de-growth in diesel is around 2.5 per cent and for BPCL the de-growth is around 2.4 per cent and we do not know how long it will take for the revival to happen. Ideally for us diesel growth should be around 3-4 per cent for a country with a GDP growth rate of about 6-7 per cent,” executives said. Diesel demand growth during the first seven months (April-October) of the current financial year declined 0.17 per cent, lowest for this period since 2013-2014. A slowdown in the economy coupled with floods and an extended rainfall pulled India’s overall petroleum consumption growth down to 1 per cent during the April-October period of the current financial year — lowest for the seven months’ period since 2013-2014, an ETEnergyworld analysis of historical data showed.
Haryana gets 38 proposal to generate biogas from stubble
Haryana Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister, Ranjit Singh said that agreement has been signed with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for setting up a Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant in the state for disposal of Stubble. About 24 lakh metric tons of stubble will be consumed in 200 projects for the production of 1000 TDP CGB. He said that 24 firms have given a proposal for 38 project to set up a CBG plant of 234 tonnes per day capacity in Haryana. Apart from this, stubble will also be used in thermal plants. About 50 to 55 lakh tonne of stubble is produced in the State every year. For its disposal, several ambitious projects are being started in the State, in which about 40 lakh tonne of stubble will be consumed, the Minister added. After the meeting, Mr. Ranjit Singh while interacting with the media said that Chief Minister Manohar Lal has entrusted on him an important task and now it is his duty to live up to the expectation of the Chief Minister and the State people. He said that no officer or employee will be harassed unnecessarily and if anyone has any problem, he can come and meet him directly at any time. However, no laxity in work will be tolerated. He said that the officers doing good work will also be encouraged.
GAIL, regulator at odds over Rs 1.5K crore pipeline
GAIL and the downstream regulator are headed for a clash after the latter cancelled the state-run firm’s sole bid to lay a Rs 1,500-crore pipeline in Rajasthan citing unviably high tariff, and launched in its place the bidding process for another pipeline with altered route, according to people familiar with the matter. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) said on November 6 that it had cancelled the bid process for Langtala-Jodhpur-Bhilwara pipeline “as the tariff quoted by GAIL (India) Ltd (as a sole bidder) was found to be excessively high, impacting the viability of the gas itself.” That very day, the board also invited bids for laying a new gas pipeline on altered route from Langtala to Pali via Jodhpur. This has upset GAIL, which feels the ‘excessively high tariff ’ and ‘viability of the gas’ are subjective considerations and can’t become ground for cancellation of bid under the current regulatory framework, according to sources close to the company. GAIL may soon request PNGRB to review the decision that it considers unfair, sources said. But sources close to PNGRB have rejected the charge, saying the regulator has acted as per the law and GAIL was free to challenge it in court. PNGRB can’t allow GAIL to ‘squeeze the market’ and hurt the development of domestic gas market, sources close to the regulator said. GAIL defends the high tariff, saying it was due to higher risk perception in the project, sources close to the company said. The pipeline was supposed to evacuate gas only from Focus Energy’s block in Langtala, Rajasthan and if the actual production from this were to fall short of expectation, as has happened in some upstream gas projects in the past, the proposed pipeline would end up with much less business than anticipated, they said, adding that higher tariff could have let company recover cost quickly. GAIL, regulator at odds over Rs 1.5K crore pipeline Yet if the PNGRB felt that the proposed tariff was too high, it should have formally approached GAIL and discussed the possibility of cutting it to acceptable levels, they said. However, sources close to PNGRB said the regulator had held discussions with some senior GAIL executives before cancelling the bid. PNGRB’s suo motu move to seek bids for a pipeline with altered route without holding public consultation as is necessary under the regulations is questionable, sources close to GAIL said. The new pipeline will connect at Pali with the proposed Mehsana-Bhatinda pipeline, being built by a joint venture led by Gujarat State Petronet Ltd, a subsidiary of Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC). Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL are other shareholders in the joint venture. Mehsana-Bhatinda pipeline, authorised by PNGRB in 2011, has been delayed for years. GAIL and PNGRB didn’t respond to ET’s request for comment. A GSPC official said the first phase of Mehsana-Bhatinda pipeline has been completed and the second phase of 950 km will be completed by October 2020. He further said the pipeline is interconnected with GSPC’s Gujarat pipeline network at Palanpur in Gujarat. Sources close to GAIL say the project would take more time. By proposing to connect a new pipeline with one that has not been completed many years after the project was awarded, the regulator is introducing uncertainty, which would help neither the producer nor consumers, sources close to GAIL said. The cancelled-pipeline proposed to connect to GAIL’s operational Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline, connecting the producer with a very wide base of consumers from all sectors, sources close to GAIL said.