Environment news

• Strikes bring shortages in hundreds of French petrol stations

  21-05-2016 21:24
  Hundreds of petrol stations faced shortages in France on Saturday as protests over a labour law reform led to a fall in refinery output and blockades that hampered fuel supply and prompted consumer panic. France has been hit by a wave of strikes over the past week after President Francois Hollande's Socialist government opted to force the unpopular labour market reforms through the lower house of parliament without a vote. Oil workers at Total voted on Friday to shut down output at three refiner
  
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• Phillips 66 in final stages of selling Ireland's only oil refinery - sources

  21-05-2016 20:30
  U.S. independent refiner Phillips 66 is in the final stages of selling the only oil refinery in Ireland, a source familiar with negotiations said on Saturday.  Responding to a report on the Irish Examiner website, which said an agreement to sell the Whitegate refinery would be reached within the coming weeks, the source said a deal was "in the offing". The Examiner said ArcLight Capital, Irving Oil, UK-based PTFPlusOne and Valero Energy were in the running, and that Irving Oil were the
  
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• Green really is the new black as Big Oil gets a taste for renewables

  21-05-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Shell, Total, Statoil, even Exxon - they’re all at it. But are the recent moves into solar and wind power lip service, fashion, or a real shift away from fossil fuels?The world’s largest oil companies have in recent weeks announced a series of “green” investments – in wind farms, electric battery storage systems and carbon capture and storage (CCS). These unexpected moves come hot on the heels of revelations by Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter,
  
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• Nigerian ex-militants call for end to Niger Delta pipeline attacks

  21-05-2016 14:51
  Former militants have called for a halt to a resurgence of attacks on oil and gas facilities in Nigeria's Niger Delta, saying it is an unnecessary distraction for President Muhammadu Buhari's administration. The defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a group of former militants who previously targeted the oil-rich region, made the call in a statement late on Friday. Buhari said on Friday he had heightened the military presence in the region where attacks in the last few
  
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• VIDEO: Piece of space history takes the slow route

  21-05-2016 14:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A gigantic fuel tank, originally built for NASA's space shuttle programme, is making a slow journey through the streets of Los Angeles to its new home.
  
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• Protesting to #Breakfree of fossil fuels – in pictures

  21-05-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From 3-15 May, thousands of young people around the world took part in civil disobedience on six continents, calling for oil, coal and gas to be kept in the ground Continue reading...
  
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• VIDEO: Are 'killer' hornets heading to the UK?

  21-05-2016 10:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  They have been dubbed the killer invaders that target bees and have even caused the deaths of several people in France, but has the deadly Asian hornet made it to the UK?
  
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• The world's largest cruise ship and its supersized pollution problem

  21-05-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As Harmony of the Seas sets sail from Southampton docks on Sunday she will leave behind a trail of pollution – a toxic problem that is growing as the cruise industry and its ships get ever biggerWhen the gargantuan Harmony of the Seas slips out of Southampton docks on Sunday afternoon on its first commercial voyage, the 16-deck-high floating city will switch off its auxiliary engines, fire up its three giant diesels and head to the open sea.But while the 6,780 passengers and 2,100 crew on
  
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• For a beetle at risk, what better place to be?

  21-05-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Furzey Gardens, New Forest For this rare beetle to breed successfully, it needs thatch – preferably old – and herb-rich meadows within short flying distanceFor an insect only 8mm in length, the scarlet malachite beetle is picky about where it will live. Location is everything. Though it has been seen in a few other places, it has only two strongholds, one in Essex and another in the New Forest, both very vulnerable. That’s why I’m visiting Furzey Gardens near Minstead in
  
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• Nigeria's Buhari orders heightened military presence in restive Niger Delta

  21-05-2016 02:02
  By Felix Onuah and Anamesere Igboeroteonwu ABUJA/ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he ordered a heightened military presence in the restive Niger Delta region to deal with a resurgence of attacks on oil and gas facilities, a day after yet another pipeline explosion. British Foreign Minster Philip Hammond warned on Saturday military action would not end a wave of attacks in the southern swamps because it did not address rising anger among residents o
  
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