One of the leaders of an attempt to fly a solar-powered plane around the world has said tackling climate change will create jobs, profits and economic growth.
Ahead of crucial UN talks in Paris on securing a new deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Bertrand Piccard, chairman and pilot of Solar Impulse, urged people to take part in the “huge adventure of the 21st century” of switching to clean technology.
The zero-fuel Solar Impulse 2 has broken distance and duration records for solar aviation, and in July completed a gruelling four-day 22-hour flight from Nagoya in Japan to Hawaii, where it is undergoing repairs before attempting the next leg of its trip.
Saudi Aramco has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on new business opportunities with HHI (Hyundai Heavy Industries) in Saudi Arabia.
The MoU included a multi-faceted framework in areas such as engineering, procurement and construction, downstream, and the development of a casting and forging facility.
The agreement also includes the development of a maritime yard in the country.
Housing Minister Margaret Burgess will be urged to set out how a key target to eradicate fuel poverty can “realistically be achieved”, as she attends a national conference on the issue.
The two-day conference, being held in Peebles, has been organised by charity Energy Action Scotland and will be attended by a range of agencies, charities and companies from across the country.
It comes after experts warned the Scottish Government’s target to eradicate fuel poverty in Scotland, as far as is reasonably practicable, by November 2016 will not be met.
A new porous liquid which can dissolve large amounts of gas has been developed by scientists in Belfast.
Hailed as a major breakthrough, the development could help factories and power plants cut the amount of harmful emissions being released into the atmosphere.
Professor Stuart James from Queen’s University school of chemistry and chemical engineering said: “Materials which contain permanent holes, or pores, are technologically important. They are used for manufacturing a range of products from plastic bottles to petrol. However, until recently, these porous materials have been solids.
An offshore worker could face drug charges after allegedly being found in possession of illegal substances on the SeaRose FPSO.
According to reports the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in Newfoundland and Labrador received a complaint earlier this month from Husky Energy after a worker was suspected of being in possession of MDMA.
A man was allegedly found to be in possession of pills in a prescription bottle that did not match the prescription label.
Dyson has lost its bid to change EU energy labelling laws after claiming some rival vacuum cleaners were achieving misleadingly good ratings.
Sir James Dyson, founder of the British technology firm, argued that vacuum cleaners were only tested when they were empty of dust which can “mislead consumers on the real environmental impact of the machine they are buying”.
But in a ruling, the EU’s General Court said it “dismisses Dyson’s action in its entirety” because the company - best known for its bagless vacuum cleaner - had failed to show there were more reliable and accurate tests.
A team from Royston Limited have completed an engine overhaul on the Haewene Brim FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessel.
The facility has operated in the Pierce field in the UK sector of the North Sea since 1999 and last year it was also linked to the Brynhild field in the Norwegian sector.
A scheduled 48,000 hour service on the first engine required Royston engineers to completely dismantle the engine and overhaul the cylinder heads and liner, pistons, con rods, cam shafts and
bearings.
A billionaire Norwegian investor in Noreco has died in a boating accident off the Cayman Islands, according to reports.
Erik Henriksen was taken to Cayman Islands Hospital following the incident where he was later pronounced dead.
SSE has been criticised for not passing more savings on to customers after it revealed pre-tax profits of almost £549 million in the six months to September.
Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a lifetime enterprise agreement from EDF Energy Generation to provide technical support and expertise for the lifetime of their current UK reactor fleet.
The agreement will cover all interfaces of work with a focus on EDF Energy’s reactor systems, reactor technology and plant performance to the end of the operating life of its existing fleet of advanced gas-cooler reactors.
Co-operative Energy has blamed ongoing problems with its new IT system after it received the highest ratio of complaints in the third quarter.
The energy supplier upgraded its computer systems in March, with many customers complaining of being locked out of their online account or not receiving their bills following the switch.
And new figures from the energy ombudsman revealed Co-operative Energy received 136 complaints per 100,000 customers in the three months to September, 50% higher than any other supplier.
A British grandfather who was sentenced to a flogging for breaking Saudi Arabia’s strict anti-alcohol laws has been reunited with his family in the UK.
Karl Andree, 74, was threatened with 350 lashes after he was caught with home-made wine in Jeddah.
He was put on a plane to Britain on Tuesday night after being freed from a Saudi prison, where he had been locked up since August last year.
Noble Energy is set to reduce its headcount by around 180 positions as it looks to downsize its workforce during the oil price decline.
The company said the job losses – which include 60 in Texas – will be from their Houston headquarters as well as the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford area.
High value homes in the north east of Scotland are proving harder to shift with an increasing number coming on the market at lower prices than before, according to property experts.
The UK has seen its top rating for energy supplies downgraded in an international assessment, amid uncertainty over Government policy.
The World Energy Council’s annual “trilemma” index, which looks at how 130 countries are meeting the triple challenge of ensuring secure, affordable and sustainable energy supplies, has revised the UK’s AAA rating of previous years to an AAB grade.
The trilemma report said the UK’s ranking had slipped as electricity became comparatively more expensive, although its security of supplies and environmental performance remained stable.
Saudi Arabia could soon tap into international bond markets for the first time, according to reports.
The Financial Times said the move was a growing signal of the challenges the country faces as lower oil prices impact its public finances.
Officials in the country said Saudi Arabia could increase its debt levels by up to 50% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) within five years.
An agreement between Brazil’s Petrobras and union workers has failed as staff call for the state-owned oil company to reverse budget cuts and cancel assets sales.
The strike, which has been going on for a week, is already the biggest in 20 years in the country.
Oil major Chevron is said to be considering whether to make 1,000 staff members who work in the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait redundant.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a dispute between the countries has halted all work on oil fields for several months.
The company has already reduced the number of petroleum-development rigs in the neutral zone.
A chemical used to help clean-up BP’s oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico may not have helped get rid of the slick caused by the 2010 incident.
A study found half of the oil could still be on the sea floor even after a chemical dispersant called Corexit 9500 was applied in a bid to dissipate the oil.
It was also used to try and help aid natural microbes in the water to eat the oil at a quicker rate.
Nigeria’s President has sacked the head of the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission).
Ibrahim Lamorde had been chairman of the country’s anti-corruption agency.
It comes after Lamorde denied allegations $5billion had gone missing from the commission back in August.
