TPT March 2019

G LOBA L MARKE T P L AC E

G LOBA L MARKE T P L AC E

explosion near the capital that killed 28 people, including 13 children. That blast scorched houses and burned residents, affecting 5,000 people in a six-mile area in San Martin Texmelucan. The leader of an EU-wide study to decarbonise the heating and cooling sector calls for an end to traditional boilers “If we are still installing natural gas boilers by 2030, then we should ask ourselves whether we’re really serious about the transition to low-carbon energy.” Brian Vad Mathiesen is a professor and research engineer in smart energy systems at Aalborg University, Denmark. He is the lead coordinator of Heat Roadmap Europe, a European Union (EU)-funded project which developed a low-carbon heating and cooling strategy for Europe. His challenging statement was made to EURACTIV – a London-based independent pan-European media network specialising in EU policies. In Mr Mathiesen’s view, carbon emissions from residential heating can be drastically reduced if Europe promptly agrees to a ban on new oil and gas boiler instal- lations. Here are highlights of his interview with Frédéric Simon of EURACTIV : • Solar PV systems and heat pumps are like clean energy “limousines” that most people can’t afford • At least 50 to 70 per cent of EU households could be served more cheaply by thermal infrastructure or district heating networks • An end date for oil and gas boilers should be included in the EU’s 2050 low-carbon strategy, with 2030 the last deadline for installing new gas boilers • Such a ban would free up available gas for use for higher- value purposes than heating • However, most EU countries are currently planning to expand gas, not reduce it • EU funds currently support only cross-border gas and electricity networks, while there is enough waste heat available to heat Europe’s entire building stock. The full text of the interview (“Academic: Oil and Gas Boilers Should Be Banned Across Europe by 2030,” 17 January) is available at euractiv.com Defiant in the face of US sanctions on its oil expor ts, Iran announces a three-year plan to hike production capacity The Iranian oil ministry’s news service SHANA reported in January that – in nine deals totalling $1bn – subsidiaries

Oi l & gas Dozens were killed and many injured when a pipeline breached by suspected fuel thieves exploded in central Mexico in January In its “chronicle of a tragedy foretold,” the Associated Press reported that a massive fireball that engulfed people scooping up fuel spilling from a pipeline ruptured by thieves in central Mexico killed at least 66 people in January. Omar Fayad, the Hidalgo state governor, said that dozens more were badly burned. Mr Fayad said the blast occurred at the duct that car- ries fuel – apparently gasoline – from the Gulf Coast to Tula, a city just north of Mexico City. According to the AP account, the explosion came just three weeks after Mexico’s new presi- dent, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, launched an offensive against fuel theft gangs that drilled illegal taps into pipelines an astounding 12,581 times in the first ten months of 2018, an average of about 42 per day. (“Horrifying Fireball at Ruptured Mexico Oil Pipeline Kills 66, Authorities Say,” 19 January) In not the first episode of its kind, but certainly the deadliest, according to state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) the leak was caused by an illegal pipeline tap in the small town of Tlahuelilpan, about 62 miles north of the capital, Mexico City. Video footage showed entire families gathered in a field, collecting spilled fuel in primitive containers, when a geyser of fuel spouted dozens of feet into the air from the tap and burst into flames. The blast will focus further attention on Mr Lopez Obrador’s battle against the $3bn-per-year illegal fuel theft industry in Mexico. He launched the offensive upon taking office on 1 December, deploying 3,200 marines to guard pipelines and refineries. His administration also shut down pipelines to deter illegal taps, relying more on tanker trucks to deliver fuel. These trucks are in short supply, however, and long lines at gas stations are reportedly the norm in several Mexican states. › The AP wrote that Mr Lopez Obrador’s initiative against fuel theft will likely encounter resistance. Gangs offering free gasoline are known to have gained the loyalty of whole neighbourhoods, enlisting locals to act as lookouts and confront military patrols carrying out raids against the thieves. It is unclear, according to the AP report, “whether the tragedy [in Tlahuelilpan] will turn the tide of opinion against the gangs in the impoverished villages that lie above the underground pipelines.” › On the same day, another illegal tap caused a pipeline to burst into flames in the neighbouring state of Queretaro. Pemex said the fire, near the city of San Juan del Rio, was in an unpopulated area and posed no threat to life. In December 2010, Mexican authorities blamed oil thieves for a pipeline

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MARCH 2019