After the gas crisis, the Arctic could be Russia and Europe’s next flashpoint

Published

4 years ago

October 15, 2021

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A new cold front could open up in the political tension between the European Union and Russia over energy. This time in the Arctic.

On Wednesday, the EU put forward proposals that could see it pushing to ban the tapping of new oil, coal and gas deposits in the Arctic in an effort, it said, to protect the region from further disruptive climate change.

Russia, a major holder of Arctic territory where an abundance of its hydrocarbon and fish stocks are found, is not too pleased with the proposals with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak telling CNBC Thursday that they were politically-motivated and nonsensical.

“ I was a bit surprised when I heard about this yesterday. Why the Arctic, why not the Equator? One could come up with a number of places in the world where oil and gas production must be banned,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Russian Energy Week conference in Moscow, according to a translation.

“This proposal has no other motivation than political,” he added. “What do these statements tell us – that we need to stop extracting the entire gas produced at the moment? I think that the authors of these proposals have very little understanding of the real state of affairs,” he said.

The EU proposals come at a time when tensions are already high between Russia and the EU when it comes to energy, and specifically natural gas. Prices have been soaring as Europe’s demand is squeezed by tighter-than-expected supplies.

Russia has said it has ramped up gas supplies but critics say it is using its gas exports to the region for political purposes, chiefly its bid to get Germany to certify the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Russia denied it was exploiting Europe’s gas crisis, with President Vladimir Putin insisting to CNBC on Wednesday that Moscow was not using gas a weapon.

Arctic engagement

Tensions in the Arctic have already been growing between regional players for a number of years, particularly in light of Russia’s quiet expansion of its political, economic and military influence there.

Unlike Russia, the EU is a comparatively new player in the Arctic and the bloc, per se, is not a member of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, although the Council includes the EU member states Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

The EU appears to be looking to increase its role in the region, however, and in a proposal mooted by the European Commission on Wednesday, it noted that “the Arctic region is of major strategic importance for the European Union, with regard to climate change, raw materials as well as geostrategic influence.”

It said it would aim to “strengthen EU engagement” in the region through “contributing to maintaining peaceful and constructive dialogue and cooperation in a changing geopolitical landscape, to keep the Arctic safe and stable” as well as “pushing for oil, coal and gas to stay in the ground, including in Arctic regions” and “supporting the inclusive and sustainable development of the Arctic regions to the benefit of its inhabitants and future generations.”

The Arctic is an integral part of Russia’s economy and territory, its coastline accounts for 53% of Arctic Ocean coastline and the country’s population in the region totals roughly 2 million people — that’s around half of the people living in the Arctic worldwide, according to the Arctic Institute, a center for circumpolar security studies.

Female polar bear with her two cubs on drifting iceberg in Barents Sea, Russia.

Alexei Chekunkov, Russia’s minister for development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, said in June that “the Arctic is the engine of economic growth. It accounts for 10% of our GDP and 20% of our exports” and Russia is aware of sustainability in the region; the theme for Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council, a position it will hold until 2023, is “Responsible Governance for a Sustainable Arctic.“

Sustainability is a big question for the region, which is being starkly affected by climate change: The Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the global average, according to the Norwegian Polar Institute, which has warned that “significant regional warming leads to continued loss of sea ice, melting of glaciers and of the Greenland ice cap” with drastic consequences for humans and nature in the region, and the world.

Novak questioned whether the EU proposals meant that people living and working in the region would have to move.

“There are many people living in the Arctic zone of Russia, there are many settlements and communities that inhabit these regions, we generate power to support their activities. What should we deduce from such statements – that we need to put an end to all human activities, to habitation in these regions altogether?” he said Thursday.

He noted that the proposals did not only affect Russia, with the U.S., Canada, and Iceland and Norway (which are both in the European Economic Area but not the EU) also having territory in the Arctic, and who are members of the Arctic Council.

Environment

MINI x Deus Ex Machina Skeg electric concept lightens the mood

Published

18 hours ago

September 6, 2025

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MINI x Deus Ex Machina Skeg electric concept lightens the mood

MINI JCW x Deus Ex Machina: Two worlds. Two cars. Singular enthusiasm.

MINI has partnered with lifestyle brand, Deus Ex Machina, to develop this. It’s called the Skeg, and it’s a high-performance, racing-inspired electric concept car that’s sure to lighten the mood – by shedding fully 15% of its mass in the quest for speed.

One of a pair of exclusive, one-off concepts based on MINI’s John Cooper Works cars. The Deus Ex Machina Skeg celebrates MINI’s storied racing history with what the company calls, “a clean, minimal, and quiet rebellion,” that draws on materials, technologies, and philosophies from the world of surfing.

The electric MINI JCW Skeg is stripped to its essentials, with much of the steel and aluminum bits replaced with lightweight fiberglass to maximize acceleration while driving the minimalist aesthetic home. The end result weighs 15% less than the standard car – but makes the same stout 190 kW (258 hp) as the production car.

Surf’s up

The interior is stripped back to the barest essentials, reflecting BMW’s vision of a surf culture that prioritizes function over form. MINI claims the end result resembles a mobile surf shop, with fiberglass trays for wetsuits, specially shaped bins, neoprene seats, and other touches that “bring the surf culture into the interior.”

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For their part, the BMW and MINI styling team seems pretty proud of its minimalistic electric endeavor. “In this extraordinary collaboration … every single detail has been crafted with artisanal precision and expertise,” says Holger Hampf, Head of MINI Design. “This has resulted in unique characters that are clearly perceived as belonging together through their distinctive design language and use of graphics.”

The concept retains the production version’s 54.2 kWh li-ion battery pack, up to 250 of WLTP range with the production aero kit, sprints from 0-100 km (62 mph) in just 5.9 seconds. With 15% less mass, though, that should jump to more than 255 miles, with 0-60 times dropping below 5.5 seconds.

I dig it – but I’d skip the surf bits and just appreciate the raw composite, minimalist interior look for what it is. Take a look at the image gallery, below, then let us know what you think of MINI’s Skeg concept in the comments.

MINI Skeg concept | gallery

SOURCE | IMAGES: BMW MINI.

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Environment

Volvo Penta teams up with e-power to equip Boels with next-gen Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)

Published

1 day ago

September 6, 2025

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Volvo Penta teams up with e-power to equip Boels with next-gen Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)

Veteran marine and industrial power solutions company Volvo Penta has joined forces with energy solutions provider e-power to build battery energy storage systems (BESS). Volvo Penta’s battery systems for energy storage will power BESS units built by e-power that can be catered to a range of applications, most notably construction rental clients like Boels Rentals in Europe.

Volvo Penta is a provider of sustainable power solutions that currently serves land and sea applications under the Volvo Group umbrella. As more and more of the world goes all-electric, the global manufacturer has also adapted, sharing cultural values with Volvo Group to engineer new and innovative sustainable power solutions.

Nearly 100 years later, Volvo Penta remains an industry leader in marine propulsion systems and industrial engines. As more and more of the world goes all-electric, the Swedish manufacturer has also adapted, sharing cultural values with Volvo Group to engineer new and innovative sustainable power solutions.

For example, all Volvo Penta diesel engines now run on hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO), reducing well-to-wheel emissions by up to 90% across the marine and industrial power industries. On the zero-emissions side, Volvo Penta has expressed its dedication to fossil-free power solutions, including battery electric components to serve heavy-duty applications such as terminal tractors, forklifts, drill rigs, and feed mixers, to name a few.

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To leverage its battery electric value chain, Volvo Penta has also ventured into battery systems for energy storage (or BESS subsystems). These energy-dense, purpose-built BESS subsystems can provide portable, sustainable energy for all-electric charging and reduce grid dependency.

Volvo Penta to deploy battery systems for energy storage

Volvo Penta recently announced a strategic partnership with e-power, a Belgian power solutions provider. Together, Volvo Penta and e-power will develop a scalable Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for Boels Rental.

The collaboration continues a long-standing partnership between all three companies. Boels – one of the largest construction rental companies is a long-time customer of e-power generators that utilize Volvo Penta engines. As the company shifts toward electrification and sustainability, it will again turn to those companies to deliver reliable performance.

Volvo Penta’s BESS subsystem comprises battery packs, a Battery Management System (BMS), DC/DC converters, and thermal management, combining to offer a compact, high-density, and transport-friendly solution optimized for rental operations. The company shared that this BESS design is integration-ready, enabling other OEMs like e-power to adapt and scale systems to customer-specific needs. Per e-power business support director, Jens Fets:

We’ve built our reputation on reliability and efficient power systems. Working again with Volvo Penta, this time on battery energy storage, allows us to meet the growing demand for energy in a silent, low-emissions, compact and mobile design—especially in rental applications.

The deployment of these new battery energy storage systems will help Boels cater to its customers’ growing demand for clean, silent, and mobile energy solutions in construction and other industrial applications.

Aside from being more quickly adaptable to customer needs, Volvo Penta says its BESS architecture marks an overall shift in rental power systems. This is welcome news for all who support a cleaner, more sustainable future across all industries.

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Environment

2026 Mercedes-Benz GLC EV exterior leaks ahead of schedule

Published

1 day ago

September 6, 2025

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2026 Mercedes-Benz GLC EV exterior leaks ahead of schedule

Mercedes-GLC-EV-face — The 2026 GLC EV will showcase a new face; via Mercedes-Benz.

That didn’t take long! Just a few hours after Mercedes revealed the screen-heavy interior of its upcoming 2026 GLC EV, photos of the new crossover’s exterior – and that controversial grille! – leaked on Instagram and Reddit. We’ve got them here.

Two days ahead of the GLC EV’s officially schedule global debut, images that reportedly show the new 2026 Mercedes undisguised have leaked on Instagram and Reddit. They show the blocky new light-up grille on the nose of a very smooth, jellybean-like crossover shape that, despite Mercedes’ insistence that it’s moving away from the EQ series’ design language, looks an awful lot like an EQ Mercedes.

Check out the leaked images from kindleauto’s Instagram account, below, and see if you agree with that assessment.

If you need to see more before you feel comfortable commenting on the new SUV’s looks, there’s a few more angles over on the r/mercedes_benz subreddit.

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Leaked exterior pictures of the upcoming GLC EV
byu/Quick_Coyote_7649 inmercedes_benz

As with everything else on the internet, take those unofficial images with a grain of salt and maybe wait until the GLC EV’s official reveal in a few days’ time before casting your final vote on the new look – but there’s very little reason to believe the new Mercedes will look terribly different from what you see here.

Will the new grille and tech-forward interior with its massive, 39″ screen and MB.OS software be enough to turn the tide for Mercedes-Benz, enabling it to finally gain some traction in the electric crossover market? That remains to be seen, but the recently updated Tesla Model Y and crisply-styled new BMW iX3 with its 500 miles of range will make it an uphill battle, for sure.

We got a sneak peek at the new GLC back in July, when Mercedes-Benz Group CEO, Ola Källenius said that, “We’re not just introducing a new model – we’re electrifying our top seller.” Back then, we learned that the new GLC EV would have a wheelbase 3.1″ longer than the current ICE-powered model, as well as more head- and leg-room for its occupants and an extra 4.5 cubic feet (for 61.4 total) of cargo space.

Källenius also promised an innovative new 800V electric architecture and the latest battery tech, which will enable the electric GLC to add around 260 km (~160 miles) of WLTP range in just ten minutes thanks to more than 300 kW of charging capability.

SOURCES | IMAGES: kindleauto; Quick_Coyote_7649.

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