Asia Pacific
Japan’s Osaka Gas is investing again in Australian gas with a 5% stake in the Browse project. The move comes with financial risk: approvals are unresolved, environmental opposition is strong and the market is in flux.
Bangladesh is already struggling financially. Its plan to pay a premium for a third floating storage and regasification unit from China without an open bidding process is drawing criticism.
Thailand is speeding up its push into solar and energy storage as gas prices remain highly volatile. A new $6 billion package aims to install rooftop solar across 1 million households.
Japan wants to expand gas storage in Asia to improve energy security. Critics warn doubling down on gas will only deepen the region’s vulnerabilities.
Analysis
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South Korea abandons support for ammonia co-firing while Japan cut its budget for the technology. The future of ammonia co-firing is now in doubt.
Renewables are growing fast in India, taking a larger share of the electricity mix, but coal is also increasing. Meanwhile, gas is too expensive to play a significant role in the power sector.
Batteries could displace costly LNG imports for Japan. But market and regulatory reforms are needed.
In response to LNG disruptions, the Japanese government has moved to run dirty coal plants more often. But in the long run, nuclear restarts could suppress LNG demand.
Gas executives have begun to voice concerns that the Hormuz crisis has Asian economies turning away from LNG. Costs for new LNG projects are also on the rise.
The stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz is forcing a re-think of LNG-to-power projects in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam and the Philippines, threatening to break the “gas bridge” narrative.
News
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As the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting unfolds this week in Milan, there are calls for the bank to stop financing fossil fuels in Bangladesh.
As COP29 nears its close in Baku, UN Chief António Guterres called for a decisive, ambitious climate finance deal for developing nations.
Renewables are surging globally, yet fossil fuel phase-out has stalled, says a new report by Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) released during COP29 in Baku.
Opinion
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New research says that the health risk to mothers and newborns posed by global warming is a “blindspot” in the majority of national climate plans. It must not be sidelined by COP29 negotiators.
Japan is considering its nuclear future to help reach its 2050 net zero goals, but opponents still point to safety concerns. Renewable projects, despite a lack of available land mass, remain a viable long-term alternative.