Sustainable Switch: Summer strikes spark supply shortage

Greenlane Renewables

05/07/2022 14:00

July 5 - Sharon Kimathi
Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
sharon.kimathi@thomsonreuters.com
    
    Hello!
    Another day, another strike. Norwegian offshore oil and gas
workers went on strike over pay today which exacerbated worries
about an energy shock in Europe and added to concerns over
red-hot inflation. Meanwhile, wage talks between Scandinavian
airline SAS and its pilots collapsed on Monday which accelerated
the airline's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in the United States.
    
    Industrial action by Norway's offshore oil and gas workers
began at midnight local time (2200 GMT) at three fields -
Gudrun, Oseberg South and Oseberg East - and will expand to
three more - Kristin, Heidrun and Aasta Hansteen - from midnight
on Wednesday.
    "The strike has begun," Audun Ingvartsen, the leader of the
Lederne trade union said in an interview, adding that the union
would escalate the strike to pressure employers to address
demands for wage increases to compensate for rising inflation.
    The first day of planned industrial action could cut the
country's gas output by almost a quarter and exacerbate supply
shortages in the wake of the Ukraine war. About 15% of Norway's
oil output could also be cut by Saturday, according to a Reuters
calculation based on the plans of union members to gradually
escalate their action over the coming days.
    
    Elsewhere, wage talks between Scandinavian airline SAS and
its pilots collapsed yesterday, triggering a strike that adds to
travel chaos across Europe as the peak summer vacation period
begins. SAS has also filed for bankruptcy protection in the
United States to help accelerate restructuring plans, it said,
warning strike action by pilots had impacted its financial
position and liquidity.
    The work stoppage could cost SAS nearly 100 million Swedish
crowns ($10 million) per day, a Sydbank analyst calculated,
potentially erasing up to half of the airline's cash flow in the
initial four to five weeks alone in a worst-case scenario. All
SAS cabin crew in Norway are now on furlough , a union
spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.
    During the pandemic, other non-U.S. airlines including
Avianca, Aeromexico and Philippine Airlines have used the
Chapter 11 process to renegotiate contracts with key suppliers
like aircraft lessors while continuing to operate. Rival
Norwegian Air emerged from bankruptcy protection involving
courts in Dublin and Oslo last year.
    
    The aviation industry continues to face disruption as
British Airways is set to cancel more flights scheduled for the
summer holiday season amidst staff shortages and a surge in
travel demand. In addition, Spanish-based cabin crew at Ryanair
and easyJet plan to strike this month to demand better working
conditions and workers at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport
stopped work at the weekend to demand a pay rise.
    
    Talking Points
Greece will extend subsidies to power bills at a cost of more
than 700 million euros in July to shore up households and
businesses following many months of rising energy prices, its
energy minister said on Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2YM1M6
    
China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group said on Tuesday it
would start taking pre-orders for its first model, a key
milestone for the unit of embattled property developer China
Evergrande group.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2YM17W
    
The European Union is planning a deal with Namibia to support
the country's nascent green hydrogen sector and boost its own
imports of the fuel, EU and Namibian officials said, as the bloc
works to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2YI3YU
    
Canada is persisting with its fairly relaxed approach to
regulating funds claiming environmental, social and governance
(ESG) credentials despite recent allegations of "greenwashing"
elsewhere that have spurred other regulators including the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission to consider tightening rules.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2YI1EJ
        
Comment: When it comes to the carbon footprint of travel, there
is nothing worse than traveling by private jet. Despite all the
net-zero rhetoric from the corporate sector and pressure from
the flight-shame movement, private jet use is booming. Even
among eco-billionaires like Bill Gates, who owns not one, but
two Gulfstream G650s, which he describes as his "guilty
pleasure".
    
In Conversation
    Marco Lavazza, vice chairman of Italian coffee manufacturer,
Lavazza Group
     "'I don't want to live in a world where nature is
destroyed' is what our founder, Luigi Lavazza, said in 1934. He
started with those values and that is what we represent today,
in the fourth generation of the company.
    "We had sustainability already in our DNA and the idea that
we had to do something for the community and not in an
imperialistic way, like going somewhere to teach people how they
have to live, is something we don't want to do.
    "Farmers live on the farm. They live where they work. They
have to be proud of their job. In order to protect the farmers,
we help them with the latest ideas and latest technology to work
the land, to have, for example, fewer chemical fertilizers. 
    "Every year, Lavazza sends 3,000 tons of coffee waste to a
company (Fomet Spa) that produces organic fertilizer. And what
is the result of that? They get better crops. They sell it at a
better price, and we have a better product ourselves. So, it is
a win-win situation.”
    
    ESG Lens
     
    British manufacturing firm Corbetts the Galvanizers used to
rely on a stream of workers from Poland and Romania to fill its
shop floor, where steel is dipped into a long vat of molten zinc
at temperatures of around 450°C (842°F).
    But after Brexit and COVID-19, it is resorting to everything
from 500-pound ($602) starting bonuses to free fish and chips to
entice local workers who shy away from the often grueling work.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2XW5JU
    
    ESG Movers and Shakers
    Global provider of biogas upgrading systems Greenlane
Renewables has hired Monty Balderston as its new chief financial
officer (CFO). Balderston joins Greenlane with over 25 years of
experience in progressively senior financial leadership
positions.
    Balderston began his career at international professional
services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and, for the last five
years, was the CFO of Toronto-based private investment firm
Mosaic Capital where he oversaw all financial reporting
processes and strategic planning, including budgeting,
forecasting and acquisitions.
    Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy has hired Gary
Bosgoed to its board of directors. Bosgoed is the president and
CEO of Bosgoed Project Consultants, a project management
consulting engineering company headquartered in Canada. He is a
member of the Peepeekisis First Nation and has worked on over
150 First Nations projects.
    His credentials include working as senior vice president and
general manager of WorleyParsons Canada in Edmonton leading a
team of over 2,600. He has served as chair of the Alberta
Capital Region United Way Campaign and as director of the
Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) and the National
Aboriginal Economic Development Board. 
    Encavis, a Germany-based wind and solar park operator, has
appointed Mario Schirru to its management board. Schirru is the
current head of operations and IT and is an expert of the
renewable energy industry with more than eight years at the
Encavis Group already. Additionally, the CEO of Encavis Dr Dierk
Paskert, will resign from office and leave the Group at the end
of the year.
    
    Quote of the Day
    "When the European Commission released its REPowerEU
strategy, the aim was to respond to the  'double urgency' of
dependence on Russia and climate change. Greenwashing nuclear
and gas through the EU taxonomy will be a step in the opposite
direction. New investments in these technologies do not make
either environmental or economic sense, but will open the door
to the Russian energy giants, which should be sanctioned."
    Oksana Ananyeva, policy advisor at the Center for
Environmental Initiatives, Ukraine
    
    Looking Ahead
Members of the European Parliament will discuss the idea of
taxing the windfall profits being currently made by energy
companies with the EU's Commission and Council tomorrow.
    
Oceanium, a Senegalese marine conservation NGO, will launch a
four-meter deep "underwater museum" featuring several submerged
sculptures tomorrow. The plan is for a marine ecosystem to form
around the pieces.
    
The European Parliament will vote on whether to block an EU
executive proposal to classify nuclear and gas as transitional
fuels to be used in the fight against climate change tomorrow. 
    
The adviser to the European Court of Justice will deliver an
opinion on a case concerning Italian law that taxes rental
contracts overseen by Airbnb, which is seeking to annul such a
tax regime on July 7.
Franchise
    
    The Great Reboot
    Poring over the ledger at her more than 230-year-old liquor
shop in Kyoto, Yasuko Fujii has mixed feelings about the return
of foreign tourists who would crowd the streets of Japan's
ancient capital before the pandemic - and buy lots of whisky and
wine.
    Her ambivalence reflects a broader uncertainty in Japan
about welcoming tourist hordes amid fears they could trigger a
resurgence in COVID-19 cases, even though a weak yen would be a
big draw for tourists and a boon for local businesses.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2YH5N5
    
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