Latest news with #NGP
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
ONEOK buys remaining stake in Delaware Basin JV for $940 million
June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline operator ONEOK (OKE.N), opens new tab said on Tuesday that it had bought the remaining stake in Delaware Basin JV from NGP XI Midstream Holdings in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $940 million. By acquiring the remaining 49.9% interest, ONEOK has gained sole ownership of the basin, which operates natural gas gathering and processing facilities in West Texas and New Mexico's Delaware Basin, with a total processing capacity exceeding 700 million cubic feet per day. Over the past two years, the pipeline operator has diversified its portfolio with acquisitions, including a Gulf Coast NGL pipeline system from Easton Energy and the purchases of Medallion Midstream and EnLink Midstream. These moves are part of a broader effort to boost its presence in the Permian Basin amid growing consolidation in the U.S. energy sector. The company said that the deal comprises $530 million in cash and $410 million in ONEOK common stock. ONEOK operates a 60,000-mile pipeline network that transports natural gas, natural gas liquids, refined products, and crude oil.
Times of Oman
4 days ago
- Business
- Times of Oman
Is the Philippines' reforestation drive coming up short?
Manila: Marlo Mendoza is the architect of one of the world's most ambitious regreening programmes. His office at the University of the Philippines in Laguna is crammed with books about trees and nature conservation. Hunched over his desk, he flicks through a glossy government brochure praising his project's successes, with 1.8 billion seedlings planted over 2 million hectares (approximately 4.9 million acres) across the Philippines. Millions of native trees have been replanted and are now growing into forests, sequestering carbon and supporting wildlife. Indigenous and farming communities cultivate produce among the forests and former timber cutters now manage tree farms. Communities sidelined in reforestation effort This is what Mendoza dreamed of — however, he admits it is far from the reality on the ground. "We mobilised the entire citizenry to plant, but where are all the trees planted?" Mendoza told DW. "I made the manual; many provisions were not followed." The Philippines National Greening Programme (NGP) was launched in 2011 as an ambitious response to decades of deforestation, which had become a huge issue during the 1970s and 1980s. But the NGP struggled with natural resource plundering, which depleted the Philippines' forest cover and replaced community and indigenous forests with plantations of invasive exotic species. An analysis of millions of satellite images suggests that as many as one in every 25 hectares of NGP land experienced a major deforestation event: That is, instead of barren sites being reforested, the opposite occurs — forests are cleared right before or during regreening efforts. More often than not, the sites are managed by communities with only short-term access to the land. They are required to grow single cash crops tied to the volatile global commodity markets, which do not provide a steady income. A group of environmental investigators that carried out the analysis said the results expose a new pattern of "greenwashing" — a marketing tactic used to make a product or service appear better for the environment than it is. The most common commodities grown on the sites, including timber and fruit, have a green stamp of approval, potentially eligible for export across the world. This includes the EU, despite the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires traders to prove that products do not come from land that was deforested after 2020. Much of the EUDR's attention has focused on small farmers' challenges with proving that their land has not been associated with previous deforestation. Investigators said the image analysis suggests commodities on these sites have been falsely grown under the sustainable banner. Native trees cleared to grow cash crops Additionally, the analysis suggested that forest loss on NGP sites may be more widespread than previously understood. The clearing of forests included communities trying to take advantage of NGP funds. Eduardo Corona, a forest ranger in Palawan, an area of the Philippines covered in re-greening program sites, said that one of the most frustrating parts of his job was seeing the NGP used to clear native forests and being powerless to stop it, despite trying to raise the alarm. Corona was able to obtain one of the complaints he filed with his superiors, which relates to the UNESCO-recognised Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape. The DENR Forest Management Bureau (FMB) told investigators that some forest clearing occurred as part of site preparation, particularly in areas dominated by invasive species. They claimed the clearing was a necessary step taken under technical supervision to allow native species to thrive. The bureau also explained that the monitoring of the program beyond the three-year planting contracts is limited by the scale of the programme and budget constraints, with site inspections done by sampling rather than full verification. In cases where sites failed to meet survival rates, they attributed the underutilized funds to community partners' non-compliance, rather than flaws in program design. The investigation said independent audits and field reports suggest that deeper issues — including poor site selection, limited community support, and weak long-term sustainability planning — remain unaddressed. A major selling point of the re-greening program is that local communities would be given unused land to grow crops, so they would no longer need to chop down forests to survive. But the process for applying is so complicated that most communities give up seeking long-term tenure and only get access to the land for three years. Mendoza recounted cases where community groups were given access to land but not harvest rights. Many became overwhelmed with the application process and finally gave up on trying to get long-term access. This led to despair and sometimes illegal logging activities. "The [community group] may get frustrated then [they] enter into illegal selling transactions and [are] forced to cut trees illegally," he noted. Monoculture undermines sustainable livelihoods The regreening programme was also designed so that communities would be able to grow local produce for their own consumption. Instead, most are forced to grow risky cash crops for export, including exports to the European Union. According to Mendoza, communities would need both time and choices to make NGP work as intended, to figure out a sustainable mix of crops to guarantee income for their families. They got neither. For those who did manage to secure tenure, which guarantees 25-year access to the land, the government's usual mandate for community groups to grow a single cash crop often precluded any hopes for successfully living off the land. Single crop sites — often fast-growing, cheap timber trees — are vulnerable to market crashes, disease and all the other problems that monoculture brings with it, including the loss of biodiversity. Just over half of the 1 million hectares of designated production sites are tenured. Six out of 10 hectares are monoculture — sites that are growing just one commodity crop — which is widely considered unsustainable for local communities. A third of land under the NGP is both untenured and growing a single commodity crop, the least sustainable combination of all. The regreening programme was also intended to regrow and protect native rainforests. Of the 130,000 sites covering over 2 million hectares across the Philippines, some sites designated as protection areas — where indigenous rainforests and the biodiversity that accompanies them were meant to thrive — have little to no tree cover.
DW
5 days ago
- General
- DW
Is the Philippines' reforestation drive coming up short? – DW – 05/31/2025
The Philippines launched one of the world's largest reforestation efforts. But satellite data and field reports raise questions: Is the program really restoring forests? Marlo Mendoza is the architect of one of the world's most ambitious regreening programs. His office at the University of the Philippines in Laguna is crammed with books about trees and nature conservation. Hunched over his desk, he flicks through a glossy government brochure praising his project's successes, with 1.8 billion seedlings planted over 2 million hectares (approximately 4.9 million acres) across the Philippines. Millions of native trees have been replanted and are now growing into forests, sequestering carbon and supporting wildlife. Indigenous and farming communities cultivate produce among the forests and former timber cutters now manage tree farms. Communities sidelined in reforestation effort This is what Mendoza dreamed of — however, he admits it is far from the reality on the ground. "We mobilized the entire citizenry to plant, but where are all the trees planted?" Mendoza told DW. "I made the manual; many provisions were not followed." The Philippines National Greening Program (NGP) was launched in 2011 as an ambitious response to decades of deforestation, which had become a huge issue during the 1970s and '80s. But the NGP struggled with natural resource plundering, which depleted the Philippines' forest cover and replaced community and indigenous forests with plantations of invasive exotic species. An analysis of millions of satellite images suggests that as many as one in every 25 hectares of NGP land experienced a major deforestation event: that is, instead of barren sites being reforested, the opposite occurs: forests are cleared right before or during regreening efforts. The sites are more often than not managed by communities with only short-term access to the land. They are required to grow single cash crops tied to the volatile global commodity markets, which do not provide a steady income. A group of environmental investigators that carried out the analysis said the results expose a new pattern of "greenwashing" — a marketing tactic used to make a product or service appear better for the environment than it is. The most common commodities grown on the sites, including timber and fruit, have a green stamp of approval, potentially eligible for export across the world. This includes the EU, despite the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires traders to prove that products do not come from land which was deforested after 2020. Much of the EUDR's attention has focused on small farmers' challenges with proving that their land has not been associated with previous deforestation. Investigators said the image analysis suggests commodities on these sites have been falsely grown under the sustainable banner. Native trees cleared to grow cash crops Additionally, the analysis suggested that forest loss on NGP sites may be more widespread than previously understood. The clearing of forests included communities trying to take advantage of NGP funds. Eduardo Corona, a forest ranger in Palawan, an area of the Philippines covered in re-greening program sites, said that one of the most frustrating parts of his job was seeing the NGP used to clear native forests and being powerless to stop it, despite trying to raise the alarm. Restoring sacred forests in India To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Corona was able to obtain one of the complaints he filed with his superiors, which relates to the UNESCO-recognized Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape. The DENR Forest Management Bureau (FMB) told investigators that some forest clearing occurred as part of site preparation, particularly in areas dominated by invasive species. They claimed the clearing was a necessary step taken under technical supervision to allow native species to thrive. The bureau also explained that the monitoring of the program beyond the three-year planting contracts is limited by the scale of the program and budget constraints, with site inspections done by sampling rather than full verification. In cases where sites failed to meet survival rates, they attributed the underutilized funds to community partners' non-compliance, rather than flaws in program design. The investigation said independent audits and field reports suggest that deeper issues — including poor site selection, limited community support, and weak long-term sustainability planning — remain unaddressed. A community regreening program 'too complex' for communities to secure tenure A major selling point of the re-greening program is that local communities would be given unused land to grow crops, so they would no longer need to chop down forests to survive. But the process for applying is so complicated that most communities give up seeking long-term tenure and only get access to the land for three years. Mendoza recounted cases where community groups were given access to land but not harvest rights. Many became overwhelmed with the application process and finally gave up on trying to get long-term access. This led to despair and sometimes illegal logging activities. "The [community group] may get frustrated then [they] enter into illegal selling transactions and [are] forced to cut trees illegally," he noted. Monoculture undermines sustainable livelihoods The regreening program was also designed so that communities would be able to grow local produce for their own consumption. Instead, most are forced to grow risky cash crops for export, including exports to the European Union. According to Mendoza, communities would need both time and choices to make NGP work as intended, to figure out a sustainable mix of crops to guarantee income for their families. They got neither. For those who did manage to secure tenure, which guarantees 25-year access to the land, the government's usual mandate for community groups to grow a single cash crop often precluded any hopes for successfully living off the land. Single crop sites — often fast-growing, cheap timber trees — are vulnerable to market crashes, disease and all the other problems that monoculture brings with it, including the loss of biodiversity. Just over half of the 1 million hectares of designated production sites are tenured. Six out of 10 hectares are monoculture — sites that are growing just one commodity crop — which is widely considered unsustainable for local communities. A third of land under the NGP is both untenured and growing a single commodity crop, the least sustainable combination of all. The forgotten native forests The regreening program was also intended to regrow and protect native rainforests. Of the 130,000 sites covering over 2 million hectares across the Philippines, some sites designated as protection areas — where indigenous rainforests and the biodiversity that accompanies them were meant to thrive — have little to no tree cover. According to the latest satellite imagery, over a third of those sites have no tree cover at all. Reporting supported by Journalismfund Europe and the Environmental Data Journalism Academy, a program of Internews' Earth Journalism Network and Thibi. This article is part of the Forest Fraud investigation, which uses remote sensing technology, global supply chain tracking, and ground reporting to expose the drivers of deforestation across protected areas in Southeast Asia. Edited by: Keith Walker
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aduro Clean Technologies Engages Delphi for Life Cycle Assessment of Hydrochemolytic™ Technology
LONDON, Ontario, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aduro Clean Technologies Inc. ('Aduro' or the 'Company') (Nasdaq: ADUR) (CSE: ACT) (FSE: 9D5), a clean technology company using the power of chemistry to transform lower-value feedstocks, like waste plastics, heavy bitumen, and renewable oils, into resources for the 21st century, today announced that it has engaged Delphi, a leading Canadian sustainability consultancy, to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment ('LCA') of the Company's Hydrochemolytic™ technology for waste plastic processing. Delphi is a strategic consulting firm with 35 years of experience, specializing in corporate sustainability, climate change, the green economy, and cleantech innovation. The LCA is part of Aduro's strategic roadmap to independently assess and quantify the environmental performance of its chemical recycling platform through a phased, data-driven process. With increasing regulatory and market emphasis on measurable environmental outcomes, the LCA provides a foundation for engaging stakeholders with credible, third party-reviewed information. Additionally, the LCA will provide critical data to assist in identifying and minimizing inefficiencies and energy consumption throughout the process, assisting in maximizing resource efficiency and reducing operational costs. The project will begin with a screening-level LCA focused on greenhouse gas ('GHG') emissions and energy use, associated with operating the Hydrochemolytic™ technology process. This assessment, based on pre-pilot-scale performance data and forward-looking design parameters, will follow ISO 14040 and 14044 frameworks to provide directional insights into the technology's environmental profile. This phase will lay the groundwork for future work as more detailed data becomes available. The screening assessment will support Aduro's broader efforts to align its innovation strategy with the performance expectations of regulators, customers, and investors in the circular economy. Subsequent phases of the LCA will incorporate operational data from the Company's Next Generation Process ('NGP') pilot plant, which is currently under construction. The second phase will provide a more comprehensive, ISO-compliant assessment of all relevant life cycle stages, including feedstock sourcing and downstream product pathways. A final phase is anticipated to support a comparative LCA, benchmarking the Hydrochemolytic™ process against other chemical recycling approaches. 'As we continue to focus on our commercial path, we are starting the preparation to assess the NGP pilot plant for its environmental performance and impact. Delphi is a highly reputable organization and is an ideal partner to perform the LCA work to assess and quantify the Hydrochemolytic™ technology's performance and its ability to support decarbonization,' said Ofer Vicus, CEO of Aduro. 'The outcomes from this work will inform our stakeholders with a transparent and data-driven view of our environmental profile and help position our technology as a viable solution for tackling plastic waste.' 'Our goal is to deliver a robust, independent assessment of the environmental impacts and benefits of Aduro's process,' said Stephan Wehr, Vice President, Climate Change at Delphi. 'The phased approach provides flexibility and responsiveness to available data while adhering to LCA best practices. Having supported LCA work on other chemical recycling processes, including pyrolysis, we see this as an important opportunity to highlight how alternative pathways like Hydrochemolysis may demonstrate a distinct environmental profile—particularly in terms of GHG emissions and energy intensity.' About Delphi Delphi is a Canadian strategic consultancy specializing in climate change, sustainability, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) advisory services. With over 35 years of experience, Delphi provides practical, actionable advice and roadmaps to help organizations navigate uncertainty, manage risk, and enhance competitiveness. As a Certified B Corporation, Delphi meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Delphi is part of Profoundry, a collective of sustainability experts and organizations, including GLOBE Series, CBSR, and Leading Change Canada, dedicated to accelerating and showcasing sustainable performance across Canada. About Aduro Clean Technologies Aduro Clean Technologies is a developer of patented water-based technologies to chemically recycle waste plastics; convert heavy crude and bitumen into lighter, more valuable oil; and transform renewable oils into higher-value fuels or renewable chemicals. The Company's Hydrochemolytic™ Technology relies on water as a critical agent in a chemistry platform that operates at relatively low temperatures and cost, a game-changing approach that converts low-value feedstocks into resources for the 21st century. For further information, please contact: Abe Dyck, Head of Business Development and Investor Relationsir@ 226 784 8889 KCSA Strategic CommunicationsJack Perkins, Senior Vice Presidentaduro@ news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information relates to future events or future performance and reflects the expectations or beliefs of management of Aduro Clean Technologies Inc. ('Aduro' or the 'Company') regarding future events. In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as 'plans', 'expects', 'estimates', 'intends', 'anticipates', 'believes' or variations of such words or statements that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might', or 'will' be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the planned commencement and completion of a screening-level Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); the scope and timing of future LCA phases; the use of pilot-scale data in subsequent assessments; the conformance of future assessments with ISO 14040 and 14044 standards; the anticipated commissioning of the Company's pilot plant; the expectation that the results of the LCA will inform comparative performance evaluations and support the Company's commercialization efforts; the engagement of Delphi to conduct the LCA of the Hydrochemolytic™ technology ('HCT'); the expectation that Delphi's assessment will provide credible, third-party-reviewed environmental performance data; the anticipated benefits of the LCA in supporting stakeholder engagement, identifying inefficiencies, reducing costs, and improving resource efficiency; and the belief that the Company's technology is positioned as a viable solution for tackling plastic waste and supporting decarbonization, including assumptions about future market acceptance and environmental performance validation. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions, estimates, projections, opinions, and analyses made by management in light of its experience and perception of trends, current conditions, and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances. While the Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors and should not be unduly relied upon. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the LCA may not yield favorable results; the uncertainty around the completeness or accuracy of pre-pilot data used in the assessment; risks related to the use of the LCA for stakeholder engagement and operational efficiency, including the possibility that stakeholders may not accept or value the LCA findings, or that operational improvements may not materialize as expected; risks associated with the phased LCA approach, including the dependency on the availability and quality of pilot plant data and the potential for regulatory or methodological changes to affect the LCA framework or comparability; risks related to the construction and operation of the NGP pilot plant, including delays, technical issues, or performance outcomes that may not reflect commercial-scale viability; and risks related to the positioning of HCT as a decarbonization solution, including slower-than-anticipated market adoption, superior performance by competing technologies, or regulatory changes that could shift incentives or requirements. Furthermore, actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Company's pilot plant may be delayed or not commissioned as expected; that the Company may not be able to generate or collect the necessary data for future LCA phases; that regulatory or methodological changes may negatively affect LCA outcomes; or that market conditions or third-party review processes may delay or alter the Company's plans. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Time of India
12-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Rs 150 cr sanctioned to clean Motihari's Motijheel
Motihari : Under Union govt's Namami Gange Project (NGP), four sewage treatment plants would be installed on the both banks of Motijheel . Rs 150 crore sanctioned for the project would help purify the water of Motijheel and Buidco would be the implementing Suman Yadav, town commissioner, Motihari Municipal Corporation (MMC), said the sites to set up the sewage treatment plants on right and left banks of Motijheel have been selected by the experts with the help of district historical town Motihari is divided in two parts by this 'jheel'.Lalbabu Prasad, deputy mayor of MMC, said the municipality has been working since 1868 and it was upgraded to municipal corporation in 2021 by the Urban development department. There are 46 wards under the MMC with 5 lakh water of the Motijheel has become polluted because drains of sewage from different localities fall directly into it. Shambhu Sikaria, former chairman of MMC, said 60% of drain water and garbage of the town fall into this lake. "Urban development department has taken a commendable decision to install sewage treatment plants to make the water of Motijheel pollution-free," he chief minister Nitish Kumar had inspected the banks of Motijheel during his 'Sewa Yatra' and asked the district administration to remove the encroachments without delay, but the west bank of the Motijheel still remains encroached. Marine drive road has been constructed beside the east bank of the lake and about 60% encroachments have been removed from there.
