Day: August 4, 2017

Climate Weekly: Desert miracle or mirage?

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Could Tunisia be the first North African country to export solar power from the fringes of the Sahara Desert to Europe? It has the sunshine, the legislation and a willing developer with a massive 4.5GW proposal. TuNur chief executive Kevin Sara told Climate Home why he believes it can succeed where the high profile Desertec initiative failed. Showing it benefits the Tunisian people will be critical, as well as overcoming resistance from the state electricity monopoly. EU coal battle Lobby group Euracoal is threatening to sue the European Commission over tougher clean air rules…

OMV completes sale of Tunisian oil field

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Austria-based OMV has closed the sale of its 50% stake in the offshore Ashtart oil field located in the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia, to oil and gas company Perenco. OMV has also divested its 50% stake in the operating company SEREPT to the buyer as part of the agreement. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the financial details of the transaction. OMV’s average net production from Ashtart was 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) last year. Tunisian National Oil Company (ETAP) will continue to hold the remaining 50%…

Syria is ‘Hell on Earth’ as Sebastian Junger documents in new film

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Pop, pop, pop: the sound of constant gunfire fills the air, and it’s nearly impossible to tell who is being targeted. Everyone in Daraa, Syria, who is protesting on the streets is being eyed through Syrian Army scopes. People are chanting with flags and signs, protesting the regime’s taking and torturing teenagers who spray-painted slogans against President Bashar al-Assad on a wall. Bullets hit protesters who hit the pavement. One after another. People are running, yelling to get a car as they carry a bloody body through the streets. The…

Summer travel season expected to be record breaking – IATA

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The International Air Transport (IATA) said on Thursday it expects a record breaking summer travel season for the northern hemisphere after global carriers reported a 12-year high in traffic growth for the first half of 2017. Global demand for air travel rose 7.8 percent in June as all regions reported growth, thanks to brighter economies and lower air fares, IATA said. In the first six months, demand was up 7.9 percent, while load factors – a measure of how full planes are – reached a first-half record of 80.7 percent. Europe’s airlines…

UK hails Tunisia’s ‘hard work’ on security after terror attacks

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Britain on Thursday applauded Tunisia’s “patient hard work” to boost security following the 2015 jihadist attacks that killed dozens of tourists, including 30 Britons at a beach resort. “We know that these days there can never be a situation when there is no risk at all but we are being very pleased to advise our citizens that returning to Tunis, returning to the resort areas, is something that we would like them to do,” said Britain’s junior foreign minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, on a…