Environment

BERLIN, March 14 (Xinhua) -- After being taken over by a Chinese state-owned company, Germany's EEW Energy From Waste is on a steady growth track, instead of holding doubts at the beginning.

With a history of over 140 years, EEW was taken over by China's state-owned Beijing Enterprises for 1.4 billion euros (1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016. It was the largest Chinese acquisition of a German company at that time.

14 Mar 2019; DW: French authorities are rushing to stop an oil spill from reaching the country's west coast after an Italian-registered cargo ship sank in the Bay of Biscay.

Although the government's initial statement only said there had been "dangerous materials" on board the ill-fated Grande America, local officials told French news agency Agence France-Presse that the vessel was leaking oil.

11 Mar 2019; AFP: A world forum on addressing the planet's environmental crisis opened in Nairobi on Monday, the mood darkened by the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy that killed 157 people a day earlier, including at least 22 UN staff, many headed for the event.

Delegates arrived at the sprawling compound to see the UN flag flying at half-mast and the usually colourful display of national flags removed.

HOUSTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Natural gas fueled more than 60 percent of electric generating capacity installed last year in the United States, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday.

According to EIA's report, 31.3 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity were added in the country in 2018, the largest addition since 48.8 GW were added in 2003.

Paris, Mar 11 (AFP) Crude production is set to continue expanding in the United States thanks to shale oil, with the country becoming a net exporter from 2021, a development which should reinforce global energy security, the IEA said Monday.

"The second wave of the US shale revolution is coming," Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said in a statement.

NAIROBI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The improvement in air quality that has been recorded in Chinese capital of Beijing in the last two decades could serve as an inspiration to world's mega cities grappling with atmospheric pollution, said a UN Environment report launched in Nairobi on Saturday.

According to a report titled "Review of 20 years' Air Pollution Control in Beijing," Beijing has leveraged on new technologies, strong regulatory tools, public education and enhanced monitoring to boost air quality.

KANPUR: In the meeting of the National Green Tribunal monitoring Committee held at Circuit House here, the department officials concerned failed to answer properly the pertinent questions put up by the panel’s chairman Justice (Retd) Arun Tandon. Directing the officers of the Jal Nigam and Nagar Nigam, he asked them to first study five-hundred-page NGT orders within five days. It remained his strict instruction. He was quite at unease at complete ignorance of the tribunal directives in regard to Ganga cleaning issued on July 13, 2017.

06 Mar 2019; DW: Greek prosecutors have filed charges against 20 people over deadly wildfires in 2018.

The accused, including the greater Athens regional authority chief, two local mayors, the former civil protection head, and fire service officials, were hit with charges reportedly include involuntary manslaughter, causing bodily harm due to neglect, and arson through negligence.

They carry a maximum five-year prison sentence.

MUMBAI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- India has received the dreadful distinction of having seven of its cities in the list of top 10 most polluted cities in the world, according to data compiled in the IQAir AirVisual 2018 World Air Quality Report on Tuesday.

SIMFEROPOL, March 4. /TASS/. A fire on the tanker Maestro in the Black Sea has stopped after about 1.5 months, the press service of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport told TASS on Monday.

The Turkish tankers Maestro and Candy started to burn in the Kerch Strait area beyond Russia’s territorial waters on January 21. According to earlier reports, the fire on the Candy tanker stopped on February 28.

"The last spot [of fire] was out on Sunday at 18:50 Moscow time. The ship Spasatel Demidov is keeping the watch on the site," a press service official said.