Wednesday, 15 July 2026

Germany will trim the eligible-cost ceiling in its BEG efficient buildings subsidy scheme to 28,000 euros from the current 30,000 euros once the program restarts, pv magazine reported. That earlier ceiling of 30,000 euros was worth USD 34,231.

After the relaunch, the ceiling drops another 750 euros at six-month intervals, landing at 22,000 euros in the second half of 2030, according to pv magazine.

Lower-earning households gain ground under the plan. Where taxable income does not exceed 30,000 euros, the bonus climbs to 40%, up from the 30% paid today.

A new "Made in Europe" bonus is set to arrive in the first quarter of next year, pv magazine reported. Qualifying heat pumps would need at least 15% of their value creation carried out inside the European Union or associated markets.

One existing perk disappears: the reform strips out the 5% bonus for heat pumps running on natural refrigerants. Repayment grants tied to loans through the state development bank KfW face a possible 10% reduction.

The broader legislative timetable has slipped. Parliament dropped the Building Modernization Act from its final session week ahead of the summer recess, so debate may not pick up before September, pv magazine reported.

Governments have paid out at least USD 82.8 billion to fossil fuel companies through the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, based on publicly available case data reviewed in an Inside Climate News investigation.

Guyana risks up to USD 21 billion and Mozambique up to USD 31 billion in future claims under the same mechanism, according to research by Queen's University in Canada and Boston College cited in the investigation.

A rare earth and uranium mining company in Greenland lodged an ISDS claim worth up to USD 11.5 billion after a newly elected government restored a ban on such projects, Inside Climate News reported.

Ecuador drew two of the awards the investigation examined. Arbitrators granted French oil company Perenco and its partner more than USD 800 million once the government imposed a windfall tax on foreign oil companies, and did so while acknowledging the firm had polluted the Amazon. Chevron collected a separate USD 220 million after conceding that its predecessor, Texaco, had dumped millions of gallons of toxic waste into the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The United States came close to a USD 15 billion claim over a shuttered oil pipeline but avoided it, Inside Climate News reported.

James Shaw, former New Zealand climate change minister, told Inside Climate News that his government held back from restricting development of oil fields where reserves had already been found, since such limits would have opened it to ISDS claims.

A Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier was targeted near the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday as it exited the waterway, according to Rigzone. Rigzone reported it was the first time since fighting started in February that a Qatari LNG tanker has been hit.

Qatar's foreign ministry called the attack on the vessel, the Al Rekayyat, a grave violation of international law and freedom of navigation, per Rigzone.

A Saudi Arabian oil tanker was also damaged in the same area around that time, and the UK navy reported a third attack, according to Rigzone. The strike followed a roughly week-long lull in hostilities in a waterway that is a focal point in the war.

Rigzone reported that the interim peace deal reached last month established a 60-day negotiating period between Washington and Tehran. On Sunday, Qatar and Iran resumed maritime trade, potentially helping Iran export products such as fruits, crops and carpets, per Rigzone.

Andreas Krieg said the attack on the LNG tanker will prompt Qatar to reconsider its role as mediator, according to Rigzone.

The U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday cleared South32's proposed Hermosa mine in southern Arizona, a project to extract zinc, lead and silver, with potential for manganese and copper, according to Inside Climate News.

The underground operation received the go-ahead alongside 31 exemptions written into the Coronado National Forest Plan, the outlet reported.

Capital costs have climbed 50 percent, moving from USD 2.2 billion to USD 3.3 billion, Inside Climate News reported. First production has slipped by a year, to 2028.

Under the decision, South32 can build a Primary Access Road across Coronado forest lands, string a 138-kV line to supply power, and construct a large tailings facility for mine waste, according to the outlet.

Hermosa entered the federal FAST-41 permitting track first, in 2023 under the Biden administration, the outlet reported. The Trump administration has since enrolled 57 more mining projects in the program, which fast-tracks federal permitting reviews.

The company expects the site to create roughly 900 direct jobs and has pledged to draw 80 percent of its workforce from Santa Cruz County, according to Inside Climate News.

Across a projected mine life of 70 years, an estimated 195,000 acre-feet of water would be drawn from the aquifer, the outlet reported.

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had "essentially stopped," according to Jorge Leon, Head of Geopolitical Analysis at Rystad Energy.

Vessel movements through the strait fell from around 20 vessels on July 6 to 11 the following day, according to Rystad Energy.

Brent rose to near $79 per barrel as oil markets reacted to the renewed geopolitical risk. Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank said Brent crude had jumped more than nine percent since Monday.

Rystad Energy said the events of the last few days significantly weaken confidence that the current 60-day truce can still evolve into a permanent peace agreement.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero released its Homes for Net Zero research programme on 9 July 2026. The department calls it a long-running in-home energy monitoring trial built to track how homeowners move toward Net Zero.

The programme gathers longitudinal, real-world data from homes across Great Britain, concentrating on owner-occupied properties. Alongside the monitoring, it runs trials of energy efficiency measures, low-carbon heating, and household transition plans.

The published material covers a project summary and findings from Winter 2024 to 2025 at 124 pages, plus findings from Summer 2025 at 148 pages.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published research on 9 July 2026 assessing the suitability of reversible air-to-air heat pumps for UK domestic use.

The modelling research analyses how reversible air-to-air heat pumps perform in different types of UK homes, according to the department, examining their energy use, running costs, and ability to provide heating, cooling, and hot water under a range of scenarios.

The department published the findings as a 59-page PDF document of 1.26 MB.

The research is intended for policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders interested in low-carbon heating.

Firms shipping goods from the UAE into Saudi Arabia are reporting delays lasting up to several days, with some truck drivers waiting at the border for more than a week, according to Semafor Net Zero.

Trade between the two economies is worth more than USD 20 billion annually, Semafor reported. Saudi Arabia's Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority disputed accounts of disruption. "Trade exchange remains within the normal range of customs operations, reflecting the continued smooth movement of goods through customs ports," the authority said in a statement. It added that no complaints had been received and there were no indications of delays in customs procedures affecting trucks or the movement of goods at customs ports.

The reported slowdown follows the UAE's departure from OPEC in May, which Semafor described as a blow to Saudi Arabia, the group's de facto leader.

Saudi Arabia has been opening more shipping routes through the Red Sea to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, according to Semafor.