Dubai Company Buys Used Cooking Oil to Turn Into Biofuel for Cars Citywide to Reduce CO2 Emissions

Used cooking oil collection truck and one of the biofuel production plants – Credit: Lootah Biofuels

A Dubai-based company Lootah Biofuels is producing biodiesel from used cooking oil bringing sustainable transportation options to a major oil-producing country. The result is a fuel that is less expensive, renewable, and clean. The United Arab Emirates company now boasts having their own fuel outlets across the city of Dubai, delivering 60 million liters annually. It is the brainchild of Yousif Bin Saeed Al Lootah, who wants the UAE to be the first nation in the region to mandate that biofuels blends be featured alongside other fuel in all public stations. They pay for the used cooking oil collected, thus giving an incentive to providers like restaurants, bakeries, and food chains, which provide 500,000 liters of waste oil every month. The company says it converted the waste oil into 770 tons of biofuel last year. The Lootah Biofuels website reports that used cooking oil has the highest carbon saving ratio amongst all the available biodiesel feedstock—and calculates their product has caused the reduction of 500 million tons of CO2, so far.MORE RENEWABLE GOOD NEWS: United Dubai Company Buys Used Cooking Oil to Turn Into Biofuel for Cars Citywide to Reduce CO2 Emissions

Read More........ → March 30, 2024

A Coal Billionaire Is Building the World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant to Power 16 Million Homes in India

Bhadla Solar Park in Gujarat, seen from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2, satellite, will pale in comparison to Khavda when it’s completed

The Khavda solar and renewables park in a barren salt pan in India’s state of Gujarat is going to be big; really, really big.

Its aim is for 30 gigawatts—as much as the national grid of Switzerland. It will sprawl out across an area of lifeless desert five times the size of Paris costing $20 billion, and generate enough to power 16 million Indian homes.

In fact, this one renewables farm is estimated to provide 9% of the entire Indian renewable portfolio by 2070 when it finishes in a few years. The project involves solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage.

“A region so large, a region that is so unencumbered, there’s no wildlife, there’s no vegetation, there’s no habitation. There is no better alternative use of that land,” said Sagar Adani, the executive behind all the powers and departments making the project possible.

Nephew to India’s second-richest man, Adani is the executive director of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) a subsidiary of the Adani Group, India’s largest coal-power owner-investor.

It’s inspiring to see a family that has a net worth of $100 billion directing its resources, both corporate and personal, to a project of the scale of Khavda, which is set to be the largest renewable power plant on Earth.

The Adani Group plans to invest $100 billion into energy transition over the next decade, with 70% of the investments earmarked for clean energy, according to CNN.

In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged that India would achieve net zero emissions by 2070, and the scale of the Khavda project is likely to be music to his ears.

India bulls see the economic future of the subcontinent as one of perhaps unprecedented growth, with 6% annualized expansion, and 600 million people entering the middle and upper-income brackets in the next 10 years alone.

Such flourishing requires energy, and the demand in the country for air conditioning alone is expected to overtake all of Africa by 2050.On such a scale, it’s unsurprising that Sagar Adani has stopped reading and calculating numbers on the Khavda plant—they’re too big and too abstract, he says, and it sounds like that’s how it ought to be if India is going to avoid the worst of 1.5°C of warming. A Coal Billionaire Is Building the World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant to Power 16 Million Homes in India

Read More........ → March 26, 2024

IMF gives fresh thumbs up for SL

IMF Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer (centre) flanked by Deputy Mission Chief Katsiaryna Svirydzenka (left) and Resident Representative Sarwat Jahan at the media briefing yesterday

• Staff-level agreement on 2nd review reached between IMF and Sri Lanka
• IMF’s Executive Board final approval and release of $ 337 m tranche bringing total to near $ 1 b require implementation of prior actions by SL and completion of financing assurances review, confirming multilateral partners’ financing contributions and assessing adequate progress with debt restructuring
• IMF Staff says authorities are making good progress in implementing ambitious reform agenda under EFF with commendable outcomes
• Program performance strong, with all quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for end-December 2023 met except for on social spending
• Most structural benchmarks due before end-February 2024 either met or implemented with delay
• High-frequency economic indicators point to continued pick-up in manufacturing, construction, and services
• Stresses sustaining reform momentum critical to put economy on path towards lasting recovery and stable and inclusive economic growth
• Reiterates need for SL to conclude external debt restructure in timely manner

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday a staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the second review of the 4-year EFF-supported program has been reached with Sri Lanka enhancing the prospect to receive a fresh $ 337 million in financing bringing the total to

$ 1 billion since March last year.

Completion of the review by the IMF’s Executive Board requires: (i) the implementation by the authorities of prior actions; and (ii) the completion of financing assurances review, which will focus on confirming multilateral partners’ committed financing contributions and whether adequate progress has been made with the debt restructuring to give confidence that the restructuring will be concluded in a timely manner and in line with the program’s debt targets.

IMF staff, during their visit which began on 6 March, also held the 2024 Article IV Consultation with Sri Lanka. The EFF entails $ 3 billion support.

It said Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic policy reforms are starting to bear fruit.

IMF...

“Sustaining the reform momentum and addressing governance weaknesses and corruption vulnerabilities are critical to put the economy on a path towards lasting recovery and stable and inclusive growth,” it added.

After constructive discussions in Colombo, IMF Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer and Deputy Mission Chief Katsiaryna Svirydzenka issued the following statement:

The authorities are making good progress in implementing an ambitious reform agenda under the EFF with commendable outcomes, including rapid disinflation, robust reserve accumulation, and initial signs of economic growth while preserving the stability of the financial system. Public finances have strengthened following substantial fiscal reforms. Program performance was strong, with all quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for end-December 2023 met except for the indicative target on social spending. Most structural benchmarks due before end-February 2024 were either met or implemented with delay. Reforms in some areas are still ongoing.

The economic situation is gradually improving. Growth turned positive after six consecutive quarters of contraction, registering 1.6% and 4.5% y-o-y growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 respectively. High-frequency economic indicators point to a continued pick-up in manufacturing, construction, and services. Inflation has come down from a peak of 70% in September 2022 to 5.9% in February 2024. Gross official reserves increased to $ 4.5 billion at end-February 2024 with sizable foreign exchange purchases by the central bank.

Sustaining the reform momentum is critical to put the economy on a path towards lasting recovery and stable and inclusive economic growth. We welcome the authorities’ commitment to fiscal reforms. Continued progress towards the introduction of the property tax is critical, together with revenue measures to meet the revenue mobilisation goals in 2025 and beyond. Revenue administration and anti-corruption efforts to boost tax collections are also key. Maintaining cost recovery in fuel and electricity pricing will help minimise fiscal risks arising from State-owned enterprises.

While inflation has decelerated faster than expected, continued monitoring is warranted to help anchor inflationary pressures and support macroeconomic stability. Against ongoing external uncertainty, it remains important to continue to rebuild external buffers through strong reserves accumulation.

Sri Lanka’s Agreements in principle with the Official Creditor Committee and Export-Import Bank of China on debt treatments consistent with program parameters were important milestones putting Sri Lanka’s debt on the path towards sustainability. The critical next steps are to finalise the agreements with the official creditors and reach agreements in principle with the main external private creditors in line with program parameters in a timely manner. This should help restore Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability over the medium term.

The authorities’ recently published Action Plan to implement the key recommendations of the Governance Diagnostic Report is a welcome step. Sustained efforts to implement these reforms will be essential for addressing corruption risks, rebuilding economic confidence, and making growth more robust and inclusive.

The IMF mission team met with tea plantation workers in Nuwara Eliya and learned first-hand about some of the challenges Sri Lanka’s most vulnerable face. Continued efforts to improve targeting, adequacy, and coverage of social safety nets, particularly Aswesuma, remain critical to protect the poor and the vulnerable.

The IMF team held meetings with President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayaka, Secretary to the Treasury K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana, and other senior Government and CBSL officials. The team also met with Parliamentarians, representatives from the private sector, civil society organisations, and development partners. We would like to thank the authorities for the excellent collaboration. IMF gives fresh thumbs up for SL | Daily FT

Read More........ → March 25, 2024