China on Monday 4 July 2022 proposed six programs which will benefit the Lancang-Mekong countries aside from China, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, according to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who chaired the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (LMC) in Bagan, Myanmar. The programs include cooperation plans in agriculture, water resources, digital economy, aerospace, education, and public health,

The meeting came after the US’ high-profile launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), seen by experts as an empty move that lacks sustainability and substance, which is in stark contrast to the pragmatic LMC cooperation mechanism that has borne fruitful results since its launch in 2016.

Read full article:

Russian President Putin says an international mechanism based on a currency basket is being discussed by BRICS; countries also declared support for Russian-Ukrainian dialogue for a peaceful solution to the conflict, while Argentina and Iran officially applied for BRICS bloc membership, expected to happen soon.

For more see these links:

A giant onshore wind power project with a generation capacity of one million kilowatts was put into operation after being connected to the national power grid for electric power supply in the Xing'an League of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Wednesday.

Built by the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), the first 1 million-kilowatt project, which is a mountainous wind farm, is capable of generating more than three billion kWh on-grid electricity annually.

It can save more than 920,000 tonnes of standard coal and reduce nearly 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

The CGN says it has made many breakthroughs in the execution of the wind power project.

"This project is China's first onshore wind power project with a voltage level of 500 kV connected to the power grid system. It is also the first new energy project that transmits electric power generated through an ultra-high voltage transmission system to the national power grid," said Li Yilun, deputy general manager of the CGN.

Photo: The wind power project is capable of generating over three billion kWh on-grid electricity per year. /China Media Group

Source: CGTN, 30-Jun-2022.

*Shared by China Environment Net

PetroChina may withdraw from Australian and Canadian projects, according to Reuters.

PetroChina may sell its stakes in natural gas projects in Australia and oil sands in Canada, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing its sources. The Chinese company reportedly wants to cut its losses rom underperforming Western assets and divert funds to sites in the Middle East, Africa, and central Asia.

This follows a similar strategic shift by another Chinese energy major, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) which was preparing to exit its operations in Britain, Canada, and the US due to concerns that the assets could become subject to Western sanctions.

“Australian gas assets – both Arrow Energy and Browse – are considered among the top ‘negative assets’ in PetroChina’s global portfolio,” one of the sources said.

PetroChina purchased Arrow Energy in 2010 for $2.5 billion via a joint-venture with Shell, in its first investment in Australia’s coal seam gas sector. Three years later, the Chinese firm bought BHP’s stake in Browse, Australia’s largest untapped gas resource, for $1.63 billion.

The company is also looking to offload the wholly-owned MacKay River Oilsands and Dover Oilsands projects in Canada because of losses in producing and processing the tar-like fuel into bitumen, the sources said.

Source: RT News, 30 Jun 2022.

Shared by China Environment Net. https://china-environment-news.net/blog/2022/…

Photo: Arrow Energy gas business has had $500 million writedown on its Australian gas business, with losses reaching $10 billion since 2010.

In an initiative released at the BRICS Business Forum 2022 on Wednesday night, the BRICS business community also pledged to expand cooperation in green energy and the digital economy.

In a clear sign of BRICS’ expanding ties with other emerging market economies and developing nations, an innovative “BRICS Plus” mechanism of expanded cooperation is also gaining popularity, which, experts say, provides a powerful answer to address the issue of an unfair and uneven global development model dominated by a single country or bloc.

The second International Renewable Energy Fair, was held on June 22 to 24 at the Pabexpo fairgrounds in the Cuban capital, Havana, and featured the participation of important institutions and foreign companies from 29 countries.

The event sought to promote foreign investment emphasizing solar energy and biomass and their efficient use in the local development and residential sectors for the gradual transition of Cuba towards an energy matrix based on renewable energies, for which foreign and national investors will be presented with market opportunities in the sector, said Guerra Campaña.

Another goal is to support innovation projects in execution and promote universities’ and research centers’ scientific and technical services.

Organizations such as the Energy Alliance of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the International Renewable Energies Agency presented their experiences regarding renewable energy generation.

Cuba officially joined the Alliance for Energy (part of the Chinese lead Belt and Road Initiative) in October 2021, which is a project to build an international mega-platform for cooperation and exchange under the principle of shared profit.

Read full article: