As Ireland moves towards an Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM), the regulator has just set out a methodology for a transition to competitive power auctions in a bid to attract investment in new capacity. The first auction will be held on December 15 for the rest of the delivery year 2017/18.

Activists have staged an animal-themed invasion of a public relations firm to protest against fracking in the UK.

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2016 totalled 5,170 million metric tons (MMmt), 1.7% below their 2015 levels, after dropping 2.7% between 2014 and 2015, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA).

Only 5.5% of households switched to new electricity suppliers after Japan’s retail power market was liberalized in April 2016, industry data shows, leaving the big utilities relatively unscathed.

Europe’s energy firms have pledged not to invest in any more coal fired power stations from 2020, which would effectively leave gas as the only fossil fuel option for power generation across the continent.

Poland's desire to cut gas imports from Russia has led to an "understanding" with the United States to work toward a deal to export LNG to its new Baltic Sea terminal, according to Reuters, quoting the country's deputy prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.

The UK government continues to see a role for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in its emission reduction plan, which the government expects to publish “this year”, according to Alex Chisholm, permanent secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Poland is considering a second LNG import terminal to further reduce its reliance on Russian gas imports. Polish gas system operator Gaz-System said on March 27 that it would launch a feasibility study into the project this year, with a view to it possibly coming online by 2021.

New statistics from the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) show the UK is experiencing a steady reduction in emissions, mainly due to coal to gas switching in power generation.

Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order unwinding Obama’s policies aimed at tackling climate change. The order will dismantle the Clean Power Plan and lift the ban on federal leasing for coal production, along with a number of other elements that together attempt to reset or extinguish the whole global warming debate.

The United Arab Emirates forecasts that savings from switching half its energy needs from subsidised gas to solar by mid-century will outstrip investment costs by $42 billion.

At least one of the Dutch political parties calling for lower Groningen production could become part of a new coalition government following last week's second chamber elections, according to a report from Argus Media.

President Trump is preparing to issue an executive order on climate change, which could disassemble former President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and end the moratorium on federal-land coal mining. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already issued an order informing power plants that they no longer need to report CO2 emissions’ data.

New research from Purdue University in the US suggests that methane emissions from gas power plants may be significantly higher than accounted for in current inventories. Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

Australia’s big LNG exporters – including Shell and Exxon - have agreed to a request from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to supply more gas to the domestic market.