Alta. government announces new rules for electricity generators

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf is sworn into cabinet in Edmonton, Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Alberta's government is updating its electricity market rules with new temporary measures it says will help lower consumers' utility bills.

The new measures are aimed at the practice of "economic withholding," a strategy regularly used by power generators in Alberta's unique-to-Canada free-market electricity system.

Under Alberta's competitive market design, electricity suppliers submit offers into the energy market known as the power pool every hour. The Alberta Electric System Operator then dispatches the suppliers' electricity, starting with the lowest-priced offers and moving higher until the province's power needs for that hour are met.

Economic withholding is when power producers deliberately hold back some of their supply, offering it at a higher price. It's a gamble that can pay off if the operator needs that power, since the producer makes more money, but backfires if the province's power needs are met before it gets to the higher-priced offer.

The practice is not illegal, but has been highly criticized recently as one of the factors contributing to soaring consumer power bills in the province, as well as a growing number of occurrences where power prices in the province have been higher during off-peak periods than during periods of peak demand. 

“Our government is committed to Alberta’s unique and investor-driven energy-only market. However, the market’s rules were designed 25 years ago, and some are no longer optimal for the system today," said Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf in a news release.

"This will truly make a difference by helping lower Albertans’ utility bills.”

The new rules will limit the offer price of natural gas generating units owned by large providers, if net revenues cross a predefined threshold. They will also require natural gas generating assets to be made available, as directed by the AESO, in certain circumstances such as extreme weather and other times of peak demand.

The government said the changes will still allow generators to earn revenue while ensuring Albertans have access to affordable and reliable power.

But Joel MacDonald, founder of electricity price comparison site energyrates.ca, said Alberta is one of only two jurisdictions in North America to have an energy-only electricity market whereby generators are not paid to have standby generating capacity. Instead, they are only paid for the electricity they actually dispatch to the grid.

That means, MacDonald said, that if the government sets the ceiling for economic withholding too low, power producers will feel the impact on their bottom line and may be more hesitant to invest in building new generating capacity.

"It will in the short-term reduce those high prices during peak periods, but we're going to have, long-term, less generation. Less power plants are going to be built," he said.

"If a lot of Albertans were very concerned about rolling brownouts mid-winter, this would actually make that potential crisis more likely to happen."

Neudorf announced the changes in a speech at the annual conference of the Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta in Banff on Monday. 

The industry group, known as IPPSA, represents Alberta's electricity generators. The group has not yet replied to a request for comment.

The changes announced Monday are just the start of what could be a series of significant changes to Alberta's electricity market. The rules that govern the province's current system were designed at a time when the bulk of Alberta's power needs came from coal, and don't necessarily work for a system that is now driven by natural gas and renewables.

In a particularly high-profile example, Alberta was forced to declare an emergency grid alert in January when the system — under pressure from a number of natural gas plant outages as well as wind that was not blowing — came close to buckling.

Alberta is also locked in a heated dispute with Ottawa over the federal government's proposed Clean Electricity Regulations, which Alberta has said cannot be achieved by 2035 without jeopardizing the stability and affordability of the province's power system.

Under Premier Danielle Smith, the provincial government has a number of reviews underway looking at grid reliability, the future energy mix and electricity market design.

Jason Wang, senior electricity analyst with clean energy think-tank the Pembina Institute, said he had hoped Neudorf would use Monday's IPPSA conference to provide more clarity about the province's future direction than he did.

"Essentially what we know is there will be further changes to the market. But it needs to be timely and recognize the urgency of the energy transition and climate issues," Wang said.

"If we get years of market uncertainty for developers without any indication of what the end result is going to look like, that could really slow down the net-zero transition."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2024.

This is a corrected story. An earlier version gave the wrong year for when Alberta has said it cannot meet the federal Clean Energy Regulations

UCP NIMBY

$8 Billion in Alberta Renewable Projects in Jeopardy

By Charles Kennedy - Mar 11, 2024

• Over $8 billion in investments in renewable energy are now at risk in the wake of a ban on some renewable projects in Alberta.
• 
  
• Pembina Institute: the ban puts 6.3 gigawatts of solar and wind power capacity at risk.
• 
  
• The new rules are intended to guide future wind and solar developments and establish a 35-kilometer buffer zone between such projects and protected areas or “pristine landscapes”. 
• 
  
• n in investments in renewable energy are now at risk in the wake of a ban on some renewable projects by Canada’s Alberta province, according to a new study by an Alberta-based clean energy think tank, Reuters reports. 

The study, by the Pembina Institute, also said the ban puts 6.3 gigawatts of solar and wind power capacity at risk, noting that a total of 36 out of 111 solar and six out of 34 wind projects could be negatively impacted. 

Alberta initially announced the moratorium on renewable energy projects in August, with expiration set for February 29. Upon expiration, the government of Alberta implemented a new ban on renewable power projects planned for agricultural land and created buffer zones. 

The new rules are intended to guide future wind and solar developments and establish a 35-kilometer buffer zone between such projects and protected areas or “pristine landscapes”. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told Canadian media that the new rules were in response to the view of some residents who “don’t want large scale developments to interfere with our province’s most beautiful natural features”.

"You cannot build wind turbines the size of the Calgary Tower in front of a UNESCO World Heritage site," Smith was quoted as saying.

The province will follow an “agriculture first” approach with all new renewable project considerations, with Smith noting the view that renewables are “not the silver bullet for Alberta’s electricity needs “because each new development risks driving up the transmission costs and makes Alberta's utility bills even more expensive."

In terms of investment risk, Toronto-based commercial lawyer Thomas Timmins told Canada’s CBC that “Alberta hit pause in the midst of a growth curve,” adding that it was “hard to say” whether investors would return to the province. 

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

 

Mined Diamond Industry Faces Turmoil as Lab-Grown Gems Capture Market

By City A.M - Mar 11, 2024

• Mined diamonds are facing a sharp decline in demand and value, with major miners like DeBeers and Vale reporting significant drops in earnings due to the competition from lab-grown diamonds.
• 
  
• The shift towards lab-grown diamonds is primarily driven by consumers seeking more affordable and ethical alternatives, leading to a dramatic increase in their market share and preference for engagement rings.
• 
  
• Despite the environmental concerns associated with their production, lab-grown diamonds are touted as a less harmful option compared to mined diamonds, appealing to price-conscious and environmentally aware consumers.
• 
  

It’s no secret that lab-grown diamonds are disrupting the mined diamond industry, but recent results from international diamond miners suggest the shift may be happening faster than analysts anticipated.

Underlying EBITDA for DeBeers, the world’s second-largest diamond miner, fell by 95 per cent year on year in 2023.

At Vale, an international miner, the underlying EBITDA of diamonds fell by 56 per cent year on year. 

Demand for mined diamonds has “collapsed”, according to Max Spicer, sales consultant at London Diamonds, largely due to the emergence of lab-grown diamonds as an alternative. 

“We built our business on mined diamonds and we were quite sceptical about lab grown”.

“But once you get your head round that they’re identical… it’s pretty hard to tell someone to spend five to 10 times more money on a mined diamond, right?”

Around 90 per cent of people choosing an engagement ring at London Diamonds in the last two years have chosen lab grown, he said. 

“It’s not guesswork… People are choosing lab,” he said. 

Finding a diamond in the rough

DeBeers, which accounted for around 29 per cent of the global diamond production market share in 2023, saw more than $1.6bn of impairments related to its diamond mines in 2023.

In late October 2023, Canada’s Stornoway Diamonds filed for bankruptcy for a second time. 

“There is no doubt that while the immediate macro picture presents some challenges for [mined diamonds], the demand trends for metals and minerals have rarely looked better,” according to Anglo America, majority owner of DeBeers. 

Anglo American’s insistence that the mined diamond industry will pick back up in the next few years is wishful thinking, according to Spicer. It’s “simply not going to happen”, he said.  

Related: 2 Companies That Could Help Europe Win Its Energy War With Russia

The price of mined diamonds hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2022 on tight supply, but have since collapsed by around 25 per cent.  

“Mined diamonds will [continue to] come down in price an awful lot, but the gap will still be too much for people to choose mined,” Spicer said.

In 2023, lab-grown diamonds represented 17 per cent of the global diamond market, with sales increasing by 38 per cent from 2021 to 2022. The size of the market is set to double to £44bn by 2031. 

At Queensmith’s, a jeweller, lab-grown diamonds equated to 81 per cent of their sales in 2023, booming from 1 per cent in 2012.  

Customers cited value for money, sustainability and environmental impact as their main reasons for choosing Queensmith’s synthetic diamonds. 

Related: This Could Be A Gamechanger For Natural Gas In Europe

Lab-grown diamonds — which are chemically and physically identical to real diamonds  — could eventually get as cheap as hundreds or even tens of dollars a carat, according to Rapaport.

Ethics

Unfortunately, lab-grown diamonds are not the environmentally-friendly alternative to mined jewels that they are often seen as. 

Lab diamonds don’t require extraction, but they do require “a tremendous amount of electricity,” Martin Rapaport, diamond industry expert and chairman of Rapaport Group, told Axios.

Synthetic diamonds are mostly produced in factories by machines that require constant electricity to run.

The ethics of lab-grown jewels are “probably overstated”, Spicer said, so “let’s not get ahead of ourselves… but they don’t do as much damage as mining.”

People choose lab-grown diamonds for the price point more than anything else, he added. 

“There are better things to spend your money on, and diamonds just aren’t an investment.”

By City AM

 

Turkey continuing negotiations over new nuclear power plants

11 March 2024

Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar says it hopes to launch the first unit at Akkuyu by the end of the year - while negotiations continue with Russia, China and South Korea about two more nuclear power plants.

Construction readiness of unit 1 is more than 90% (Image: Akkuyu NPP)

According to a report in Takvim following a briefing, Bayraktar said that there were some issues relating to sanctions to overcome, but the aim was still to produce the first electricity from the Akkuyu nuclear power plant during 2024, with all four units scheduled to be completed by 2028.

That would meet 10% of the country's electricity needs, but he said that with the country's need for 20 GWe of installed nuclear capacity by 2050, it was also continuing to talk with Russia and South Korea about the second planned nuclear power plant in Turkey, in Sinop. He is reported to have said Russia's Rosatom "already have serious experience from the Akkuyu project, so we want to carry it on to Sinop, as well. Our negotiations continue with both sides".

The 4800 MWe Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. Construction of the first unit began in 2018. As well as plans for the second nuclear power plant, in Sinop, there are also plans for a third plant in the Thrace region, in the country's northwest.

On the Thrace project, Bayraktar is reported to have said that negotiations with China - which last September he had described as being at an "important point" - were now at a "very serious" stage.

Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev has not ruled out the possibility of Russia bidding for the third plant as well as Sinop - "it may well be so that several vendors will compete for it - we are not afraid of competition," he was quoted as saying by the Tass news agency last month. It reported him as saying that, on Sinop, Rosatom and Turkey were discussing technical designs and the "economic parameters of the project".

Turkey is also developing plans for small modular reactors, with the aim of adding 5 GWe of capacity by 2050 - which would mean a total of at least 16 individual SMRs.

Argentina's plans to extend Atucha's operation reviewed by IAEA team

11 March 2024

The International Atomic Energy Agency experts praised measures already taken and the "professionalism, openness and receptiveness exhibited by the plant staff towards suggestions for improvement" after a 10-day Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation (SALTO) mission to Argentina.

(Image: Nucleoelectrica Argentina)

Nucleoelectrica (NA-SA) is currently preparing to submit a licence renewal application to Argentina's Nuclear Regulatory Authority to extend the operating lifetime of Atucha nuclear power plant's unit 1 by 20 years, to 2044. The 362 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor entered commercial operation in 1974. The operator said in October the life extension project plan would see the unit undergo a 30-month upgrade stoppage from 2024 to 2026, with 2000 jobs created as it modernised "all the processes and systems of the plant".

The International Atomic Energy Agency's team's visit, which concluded on 7 March, follows pre-SALTO missions in 2016, 2018 and a pre-SALTO follow-up mission in 2021. The team reviewed the preparedness, organisation and programmes for safe long-term operation (LTO).

Gabor Petofi, team leader and IAEA Senior Nuclear Safety Officer, said: "The team noted the measures taken by the operator to ensure the safe LTO of the plant. Additionally, the professionalism, openness and receptiveness exhibited by the plant staff towards suggestions for improvement are commendable. Many of the ageing management and LTO activities are already in alignment with IAEA Safety Standards. We encourage the plant to address the review findings and proceed with the implementation of all remaining activities for safe LTO."

The IAEA team gave examples of good practice, to share with the nuclear industry more widely: "The qualification of coatings designed to ensure integrity of the containment building; comprehensive condition assessment reports for safety related structures, systems and components; objective score cards used for evaluation of applications for internal vacancies.

Its recommendations for further development were to "provide a systematic safety assessment to identify reasonable safety improvements for the operation period beyond 2024 ... complete and implement the qualification programme for electrical components inside the containment [and] ... improve the implementation of ageing management of civil structures".

The IAEA mission team provided a draft report at the end of the visit to the plant management and to the national regulator, with a final report to be issued within three months.

Eduardo Arostegui, site manager at the Atucha plant, said: "The IAEA and NA-SA teams showed a strong commitment to the successful implementation of the SALTO mission, working in a professional and collaborative environment, sharing information and experience. The SALTO findings will help us to ensure a safe and reliable development of LTO activities and will also improve performance for the second cycle of operation of Atucha I."

The mission, which included experts from Belgium, Brazil, Japan, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the USA, and two IAEA staff members, was requested by Nucleoelectrica. Atucha unit 2, also a pressurised heavy water reactor, began commercial operation in 2016.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

FUSION IS SCI-FI-TEK

Fluor to design laser fusion power plant

11 March 2024

California-based Longview Fusion Energy Systems has contracted US engineering and construction firm Fluor Corporation to design the world's first commercial laser fusion power plant.

A rendering of a laser fusion power plant (Image: Longview)

"Fluor will leverage its global experience in developing and constructing complex, large-scale facilities to provide preliminary design and engineering to support the development of Longview's fusion-powered plant," Longview said.

The company noted that, unlike other approaches, it does not need to build a physics demonstration facility, and, with its partner Fluor, "can focus on designing and building the world's first laser fusion energy plant to power communities and businesses".

This is enabled, it says, by the historic breakthroughs in fusion energy gain at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).

Nuclear fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been pursuing the use of lasers to induce fusion in a laboratory setting since the 1960s, building a series of increasingly powerful laser systems at the California lab and leading to the creation of National Ignition Facility, described as the world's largest and most energetic laser system. The facility uses powerful laser beams to create temperatures and pressures similar to those found in the cores of stars and giant planets - and inside nuclear explosions.

On 5 December 2022, the National Ignition Facility achieved the first ever controlled experiment to produce more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it. The experiment used 192 laser beams to deliver more than 2 million joules (MJ) of ultraviolet energy to a deuterium-tritium fuel pellet to create so-called fusion ignition - also referred to as scientific energy breakeven. In achieving an output of 3.15 MJ of fusion energy from the delivery of 2.05 MJ to the fuel target, the experiment demonstrated the fundamental science basis for inertial confinement fusion energy - or IFE - for the first time.

Longview says it is the only fusion energy company using this proven approach. Its power plant designs incorporate commercially available technologies from the semiconductor and other industries to ensure the delivery of carbon-free, safe, and economical laser fusion energy to the marketplace within a decade.

"We are building on the success of the NIF, but the Longview plant will use today's far more efficient and powerful lasers and utilise additive manufacturing and optimization through AI," said Valerie Roberts, Longview's Chief Operating Officer and former National Ignition Facility construction/project manager.

Edward Moses, Longview's CEO and former director of the National Ignition Facility, added: "Laser fusion energy gain has been demonstrated many times over the last 15 months, and the scientific community has verified these successes. Now is the time to focus on making this new carbon-free, safe, and abundant energy source available to the nation as soon as possible."

In April last year, Fluor signed a memorandum of understanding with Longview to be its engineering and construction partner in designing and planning laser fusion energy commercialisation.

Longview's plan is for laser fusion power plants, with capacity of up to 1600 MW to provide electricity or industrial production of hydrogen fuel and other materials that can help to decarbonise heavy industry.

SHINE chooses Deep Isolation waste disposal technology

11 March 2024

Fusion technology company SHINE Technologies has selected Deep Isolation's technology as its preferred solution for storage and disposal of the high-level waste that will remain as a residue after deployment of SHINE's technology for recycling used nuclear fuel.

Deep Isolation's waste repository concept leverages directional drilling to isolate used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in deep boreholes located underground in suitable rock formations (Image: Deep Isolation)

The two companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding to "jointly drive forward spent fuel recycling supported by a safe and scalable solution for the resulting waste streams".

Under the MoU, SHINE and Deep Isolation will collaborate and exchange critical information for the use of Deep Isolation's Universal Canister System (UCS) and patented directional drilling solution for deep borehole disposal for isolation and management of high-level waste.

Wisconsin-based SHINE is working to deploy fusion technology through a "purpose-driven and phased approach" which includes eventually applying its technology to recycling nuclear waste. And ultimately generating power from nuclear fusion.

Last month, Deep Isolation and SHINE announced the findings of a study into pairing a used nuclear fuel recycling facility with deep borehole disposal technology. It found the technology could reduce the total volume of waste requiring disposal in a deep geologic repository by greater than 90%. The study also identified areas where further technical work could optimise Deep Isolation's technology for the remaining waste, reducing disposal costs even further.

The study was an initial scoping assessment of the costs of disposing the byproducts of a pilot recycling facility that would extract and enable reuse of valuable components from used nuclear fuel while separating fission products that require geologic disposal, the companies said.

"Our partnership with Deep Isolation marks an important step in achieving our mission," said SHINE founder and CEO Greg Piefer. "Climate change appears to be happening and accelerating, and nuclear energy is one of the best tools currently available to address carbon emissions. The approximately 90,000 tons of civilian spent nuclear fuel across the United States represent an untapped and arguably renewable resource that if recycled will reduce emissions and accelerate the deployment of carbon free fission energy. The result of this work will be a reduction in waste volumes and ultimately a half-life that allows for simpler, safer disposal."

"This agreement gives the two companies a clear framework to commercialise our respective innovations in an integrated way," added Deep Isolation CEO Liz Muller. "Clean nuclear power can only take off if the industry can show society that there are safe, practical, and permanent means of disposing the highly radioactive materials that result. Integrating Deep Isolation's disposal technology with SHINE's recycling technology offers a powerful solution."

In late February, SHINE and Orano USA signed an MoU to cooperate on the development of a US pilot plant with commercial-scale technology for recycling used nuclear fuel from light water reactors. Site selection for the pilot facility is expected by the end of this year. The pilot plant concept - expected to recycle 100 tonnes per year of used nuclear fuel, extracting 99% of usable uranium and plutonium - will validate commercial-scale aqueous recycling with integrated non-proliferation measures.

The system is based on SHINE's proven critical separation technology and Orano's methods in operation at its La Hague facility in France, where more than 40,000 tonnes of used nuclear fuel have been reprocessed.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Canadian study looks at nuclear's potential to decarbonise heating

11 March 2024

Thermal networks should be recognised as part of Canada’s energy critical infrastructure as it works towards its decarbonisation goals, a joint study by McMaster University’s Institute for Energy Studies, the Boltzmann Institute and the Canadian Nuclear Association has found - and such networks could leverage Canada's strategic investment in new nuclear capacity.

Canada could leverage investments in nuclear capacity - like the GEH's BWRX-300 small modular reactor envisaged for deployment at OPG's Darlington site - to decarbonise heating (Image: GEH)

The energy used to heat buildings in Canada is roughly equivalent to the country's entire electricity generation. But current plans to achieve net-zero buildings through electrification of heating systems and retrofitting millions of existing buildings to reduce energy demand may not prove "feasible or affordable" at the required scale by 2050 - the date set by the Canadian government to achieve net-zero.

Thermal Networks (TNs) offer an "alternative and complementary" pathway, the study finds. Thermal networks are district energy systems that harvest, produce, store and distribute heat through a network of insulated, buried water pipes. More than 200 existing district energy systems currently meet about 3% of Canada's total heat demand, but up to 70% of the Canadian population could be serviced by such networks, the study suggests. Thermal networks already supply more than 50% of the heating needs in some European "cold-climate" countries, and Canada can learn from these experiences.

Sharing non-emitting combined heat and power (CHP) generators offers synergies for electricity grids and thermal networks with strategic benefits such as reducing demand for additional clean heat generation. It can also help to support grid modernisation, by using large thermal storage to accept variable heat at the convenience of shared CHP generators. "As such, thermal network infrastructure can be viewed as an enabler of the electrification of other sectors," the report notes.

Nuclear is "among the largest of clean CHP generators", the paper says, and Canada is already intending to significantly increase its nuclear energy capacity by 2050 as part of its net zero transition. The primary focus for new nuclear capacity has up to now been on its ability to produce clean baseload electricity, but harnessing the CHP capabilities of nuclear energy to also service thermal networks could leverage Canada's strategic investment to help reduce the need for additional clean heat.

Nuclear energy, in CHP mode, could service thermal networks in two ways. Firstly, nuclear power plants built to provide baseload electricity could be configured for CHP operations, providing heat that can be stored and transported via so-called thermal corridors at distances "upwards of" 100 km to suitable thermal networks. Secondly, small or micro modular reactors, operating in CHP mode, could be constructed as integral elements of thermal networks, with "perhaps hundreds" of such reactors providing CHP for thermal networks across Canada. Analysis suggests that nuclear energy could provide upwards of 25-50% of the nation’s total thermal network heat supply, the report finds.

The paper proposes that Canadian governments collaborate to develop a Thermal Network Strategy aimed at identifying and supporting thermal network infrastructure investments, and recommends measures including, amongst other things, the recognition of heat as a strategically important form of energy; the formal recognition of thermal networks as part of Canada’s energy critical infrastructure; and an assessment of the business case to configure nuclear power plants, at all scales, for CHP where they can provide economic heat to thermal networks.

The position paper, Thermal Networks and Nuclear Energy: Advancing the Dialogue on Clean Heat Infrastructure for Canada, was released at the Canadian Nuclear Association's annual conference in Ottawa.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News 

Welsh mines found to be leaking 500 tonnes of harmful metals annually

Government estimates seen by the Financial Times (FT) paint a damning picture of lax environmental safety.

Kit Million Ross

March 11, 2024

Abandoned mines have been leaking dangerous metals in Wales.

Anew report has found that at least 500 tonnes (t) of harmful metals leak into the environment each year from abandoned Welsh mines.

A Freedom of Information request filed by the FT uncovered that 129 abandoned mine sites across Wales are contributing to poor water quality, with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) estimating that 350–500t of metal leaks into the water supply each year. NRW states that these 129 sites are “certainly, or highly likely, to be causing failures of water quality criteria”.

The mine sites pollute around 700km of waterways, with metals including lead, zinc and cadmium bleeding into rivers and streams. In the wake of these revelations, MPs have been urged to address the issue of abandoned mine pollution.

Speaking to the FT, Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake said “The severity of these findings are a cause for national concern, and demand the urgent attention of both Welsh and UK governments”.

The leaking of toxic metals into local waterways is a major concern, as they can be absorbed into plants and livestock to be consumed by humans. In fact, a 2023 study by NRW found harmful levels of lead in eggs laid on two farms near abandoned mines in West Wales. The level of lead found was enough to trigger cognitive impairments in young children who eat one to two of the eggs per day.

While pollution leaking from abandoned mines has been identified as an issue in Wales since 2002, so far very little action has been taken to tackle the issue. Since the Metal Mine Strategy for Wales was launched in 2002, only one major remediation scheme has been completed.

Lake feels that more needs to be done, saying: “Government ministers, relevant public bodies and members of the scientific community should convene without delay to identify action necessary to mitigate any risk to public health. There is not a moment to lose.”

Indonesia understates methane emissions from mining, report says

Bloomberg News | March 11, 2024 | 

Coal mining in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. 

Methane emissions from Indonesia’s expanding coal mining sector are significantly underreported, jeopardizing the nation’s international climate commitments, according to new analysis from energy think tank Ember.


The world’s third-biggest coal miner after China and India undercounts methane emissions from production of the fuel by six to seven times, according to Ember, which cited independent estimates from scientists using satellites and mine-level data compiled by nonprofit Global Energy Monitor.


Indonesia neglected to include methane releases from underground reserves, Ember said. And though the country’s last official report to the United Nations used an approved approach that applies an emissions factor to each ton of coal extracted or produced, Ember said that given the nature of the country’s open-cut mines, a higher factor would have been more appropriate.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said the agency needs to review the findings, a spokesperson said Monday, a holiday in Indonesia.

The discrepancies could jeopardize Indonesia’s efforts to slash releases of the gas and meet emissions reductions commitments under the Global Methane Pledge. More than 150 nations have signed the agreement vowing to cut methane 30% by the end of this decade from 2020 levels.

Methane is the primary component of natural gas, but it can also leak during coal production when rock strata or coal seams are fractured and operators routinely vent methane into the atmosphere to reduce health and safety risks for workers. Few mines use available above-ground capture technology.

To improve accuracy Indonesia should collect data and analyze emissions from individual mines and distinguish between emissions from underground and surface mines when its reports the releases, according to Ember.

Estimates from satellites and independent analysis suggest that many countries underreport their methane emissions. In 2022, Australia revised its calculations for methane pollution from open-cut coal mines, a change that meant total national annual emissions were on average 0.3% higher than stated for more than 30 years.

Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere, and clamping down on avoidable emissions from fossil fuels is one of the cheapest, fastest ways to avoid levels of climate change that scientists agree would be catastrophic.

(By Eddie Spence and Aaron Clark)

US, Canada, Indigenous groups (NATIONS)

to collaborate on reducing river pollution from BC coal mines

Staff Writer | March 11, 2024 | 

Line Creek, in the Elk Valley region of British Columbia. Image from Teck Resources.

The United States and Canada announced Monday they have agreed to cooperate to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution from coal mines originating in British Columbia’s Elk-Kootenai/y watershed.


A research panel will look for ways to reduce contamination from coal mines in B.C.’s Elk Valley flowing into Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir straddling the border and into US rivers. Due to pollution concerns in this watershed, the US and Canada asked International Joint Commission (IJC) to establish a two-year study board.

Indigenous groups in British Columbia, Montana and Idaho had lobbied for intervention by both federal governments to stop the flow of coal pollution, the Associated Press reported.

Elevated levels of selenium have reportedly been found in fish and fish eggs from Montana’s Kootenai River, downstream from coal mines in the Elk River Valley. A legal action filed in May 2023 in Montana named Teck Coal Ltd. as one of three defendants in a request for judicial review by environmental groups in Montana and Idaho over levels of contamination from its British Columbia mines in US waters.

“Our two countries are committed to a collaborative, science, and Indigenous knowledge based, action-oriented path forward,” the Ambassador of the United States to Canada, David L. Cohen and the Ambassador of Canada to the United States, Kirsten Hillman said in a joint statement.

Canada and the US will work in partnership with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples, consistent with the principles outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, have asked the IJC to assist federal and Indigenous governments, British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana, to establish a formal governance structure by June 30, 2024, the ambassadors said.

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M
Alcoa to buy Australian partner Alumina in $2.2bn all-stock deal

Reuters | March 11, 2024 | 3:58 pm Markets Top Companies Australia USA Aluminum

Image from Alcoa.

Alcoa will buy Alumina in an all-stock deal that values the Australian firm at $2.2 billion, and makes the US company one of the world’s largest producers of alumina and bauxite.


Shares of Alumina rose as much as 10.4% after Alcoa announced the deal on Monday, hitting their highest since August 2023. Alcoa shares gained 2.1% to $30.5 apiece.

Alcoa’s push for acquiring its joint venture partner can be seen as a gamble for metals which will be an important part of the transition to cleaner sources of energy.

Buying Alumina gives Alcoa full control of their joint venture, which is one of the world’s largest producers of the semi-processed form of aluminum. Aluminum is used to produce renewable infrastructure and electric vehicles.

The global mining sector has seen a recent slew of merger and acquisitions despite rising concerns around the economic outlook of one of the world’s largest metals buyer, China, and slowing EV sales in the United States.

“It could be a win-win for both companies,” Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at trading firm KCM Trade, said.

“The takeover offer could be viewed as a vote of confidence in the resources space despite a cloudy growth outlook for the sector.”

The buyout follows United States Steel’s $14.9 billion deal to buy Japan’s Nippon Steel and Newmont’s $15 billion acquisition of Aussie gold miner Newcrest.

Post the deal, Alumina shareholders will own about 31.6% of the merged entity, while Alcoa shareholders will hold 68.4%.

Alumina’s board, including managing director and CEO, recommended shareholders vote for the deal, in the absence of a superior proposal.

The deal comes months after Alcoa faced operational and permit-realted problems for its bauxite business in Australia. It also disclosed in January plans to halt production at the Kwinana alumina plant in Western Australia in a move to control costs.

($1 = 1.5126 Australian dollars)

(By Roushni Nair and Rishav Chatterjee; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Mrigank Dhaniwala)