The head of BP in Poland has announced that the company will continue to expand its presence in the country, with a particular focus on the motorway sector. This is likely to be a shrewd decision; the strong growth in fuel sales in Poland, as well as the large motorway construction projects currently underway, means that the market is full of opportunities for fuel retailers such as BP.

The CEO of BP’s Polish division, BP Polska, has vigorously denied rumors that the fuel retailer is to pull out of the Polish market, a move that would have provided the opportunity for GazpromNieft and Lukoil to purchase BP’s service station network. Instead, BP has reinforced its commitment to growing its footprint in Poland and has stated that it expects its revenues from the area to continue increasing in the future.
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The Brazilian government has proposed a scheme whereby it would offer an environmental seal of approval for its biofuel exports. While this is a response to possible punitive measures against current production methods, the certification scheme provides an innovative approach to the biofuels problem, and offers fuel retailers a means of differentiating themselves from their competitors.

In order to counter the dwindling support for biofuels, Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of the alternative fuel, has proposed the creation of an environmental seal of approval for its ethanol exports. The seal would provide importers with a guarantee that the biofuels have been produced in an ethical manner while following the strictest environmental regulations.
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In an effort to reduce Poland’s dependence on Russian gas, and ultimately enhance the country’s energy supply security, national incumbent PGNiG is building an LNG import facility on its Baltic coast. However, the facility, which is set to be completed by 2011, could face numerous setbacks.

Polish annual gas demand is expected to increase from 15.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2008 to 16.4bcm in 2009, with indigenous production accounting for approximately 5bcm, or 30%, of total gas consumption. The deficit would normally be expected to be filled mainly by Russian imports, which account for around 70% of Poland’s total consumption.

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The biofuels sector has seen increased activity over the past few years. Recently, it has been in the eye of a veritable media storm. While Governments across the world have put in place mandates and subsidy schemes to encourage production of biofuels, there have also been a number of cautioning voices, warning of the dangers of biofuel production. There was clear evidence of diverging opinions and diverse points of view surrounding the issue at a recent conference in London.

Several of these issues were addressed at Bioenergy Europe 2008, a two-day conference organised by Environmental Finance. Dr Kyriakos Maniatis, DG Energy and Transport, European Commission outlined the EU policy, targets and provided an update on developments. He spoke of the upcoming directive on fuel quality which is currently in discussion in the Commission and the need to ensure that biofuels fulfil the sustainability criteria.

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A robotic arm that refuels cars in service stations has been launched in the Netherlands. However, the product is unlikely to become a widespread success given that because most European markets have unmanned pumps, the new technology equates to an extra cost that is likely to make it prohibitive for many fuel retailers.

A group of Dutch inventors has unveiled the ‘TankPitstop’, a robot that automatically refuels a car when it arrives at the forecourt. The E75,000 (GBP56,000) machine works by reading a car’s number plate and matching it to a database of fuel cap designs and fuel types. Continue reading “Robotic Fuel Dispensing Arm Unveiled in the Netherlands” »

A new report, The Status of Gas TSOs, in Europe states that gas transit is set to play a significant role in the European gas landscape.

In 2007, the second round of market liberalisation by the European Commission created some ripples. The Commission found that lack of coherence in the powers and remits of national energy regulators was one of the biggest hurdles to a well-functioning EU energy market.

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Although unions and consumer groups have slated the large profit increase posted by British Gas, the company is by no means the only UK consumer giant to announce a huge turnover. Furthermore, analysis shows that Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, is investing more revenue back into its operations than many other UK industry leaders.

UK energy firm Centrica has announced provisional year-end results for 2007 that included a GBP571 million profit for the residential arm of British Gas. Consumer energy association Energywatch and unions have been particularly vocal in their disapproval of the large turnover, branding the profits as obscene, especially given the increase in retail prices that was recently announced by British Gas.

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Europe’s environment chief, Stavros Dimas, has gone on record to say that that the EU did not foresee the problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe ’s road fuels from plants. Several reports have made a damning link between rising food prices and rainforest destruction with increased biofuel production.

Biofuels, which consist of ethanol and diesel, made from crops including corn, sugarcane and now increasingly, palm, were once seen as a partial solution to moving away from conventional fuel. Today, they’ve earned their share of vocal critics, like George Monbiot, who believes that biofuels could actually be doing more harm than good. Continue reading “EU Set to Rethink Biofuel Targets Based on Recent Warning Reports” »

According to an in-depth report into the subject of ‘green’ energy, the global wind energy industry is facing challenges including rising raw materials costs, supply chain problems and skills shortages, due mainly to booming demand. With renewable valuations at an all time high, Datamonitor predicts strong growth will continue on the back of record sustainable energy investments driven by technology maturity, policy incentives and heightened investor appetite.

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China’s significance and impact on the world environment was brought sharply into focus through July, when the country’s state-run media released figures that showed that China’s coal production soared 17.9% in year-over-year. The country’s total energy production was up 9.9%.

According to He Youguo’s paper titled “China’s Coal Demand Outlook for 2020 and Analysis of Coal Supply Capacity”, China is the largest coal consumer in the world, its coal consumption accounting for one fourth of that of the world total. He says half of the rise in world coal consumption is contributed by China.

Continue reading “Recent Figures show China putting Coal at the heart of its Economic Growth” »