gas

What began as a patch after the blackout is already the new normality of Spain: more energy through gas

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After the blackout of April 28, which exposed the fragility of the electrical system at times of high renewable penetration, Red Electrica has imposed a new way of operating: A reinforcement system based on greater activation of combined gas cycles. What was born as an emergency measure has become a new normality. Spain returns to gas, not due to lack of renewables, but because – for now – it cannot only trust them. And it will stay for a while … Since the end of April, the system operator maintains a reinforced operating mode to guarantee stability. Such as has confirmed ELECTRICAL TO ELECONOMISTA.es, this measure will remain in force while the technical solutions agreed to avoid new incidents are implemented. The incident report concludes that there was a lack of dynamic control on the network, unexpected disconnections and vulnerabilities in tension regulation. The first changes are already underway: Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 He has started A battery of reforms, from the incentive of storage to the flexibility of access for hybrid facilities. However, the sector coincides: the total implementation will take time. Some urgent measures have a deadline until September, but others – as the reform of adjustment services or changes in the distribution network – will be extended until June 2026. Reinforcement, therefore, is not transitory. Renewable yes, but they are not enough. And this situation occurs in a fairly paradoxical context. Spain is producing more energy than ever: in May the lowest wholesale prices in recent history were recorded –With many hours in negative prices-, thanks to the thrust of wind, solar and hydraulic. So, the question comes back: why does it return to gas? The key is in the foul storage and demand variability. The renewable generation is abundant during the day, but it falls dramatically at dusk, just when consumption remains high by heat waves. No batteries or pumping To store the surplusThe system needs firmness. And that firmness, today, gives it the gas. They have just launched an “antiapages insurance.” The government is aware of the risk. That is why he has formally activated the implementation of capacity markets, a tool that had been studying for years and now accelerates after the blackout. It is a mechanism that remunerates for being available, not only to produce, and that seeks to keep firm technologies operational – like gas or storage – to guarantee the supply even in critical conditions. After the authorization included in Royal Decree-Law 7/2025, the Ministry for Ecological Transition You can give way to the specific resolution that sets two key parameters to activate these mechanisms: the lost load value (Voll), at € 22,879/MWh, and a reliability standard (Lole) of 1.5 hours a year. The objective of the Executive is clear: launch the first auctions before the end of 2025 and ensure that the gas plants that requested their closure (9,000 MW in total) can remain available while a structural solution arrives. And prices rise again. June closed with an important rebound in the wholesale price of electricity, after the historical minimums of April and May. The heat wave, the increase in demand and the greater participation of the combined gas cycles fired the average cost in the market to levels not seen in months. The consumers’ invoice with regulated rate has noticed it: it has been the third consecutive monthly climb, According to the official CNMC simulator data. In addition, in the free market, some marketers are transferring these cost overruns to their customers, even without a contractual clause that allows it. This has motivated A FACUA WARNINGwhich remembers that raising rates unilaterally is illegal if it is not expressly foreseen in the contract. In some cases, surcharges of up to 6 % per year have been notified under the argument of greater technical costs, which could constitute an abusive clause according to consumer defense regulations. Structural challenge. The April blackout uncovered deficiencies that were already there: an excessively centralized system, little storage, few micro -redes and little local reaction capacity to disturbances. The solution does not go through abandonable, but by complementing them. The gas, for now, plays that role. But the challenge is to do so in the future the storage, demand management and a more robust network. That requires difficult time, investment and political decisions. Image | Pexels and Pixabay Xataka | Broady in April, more expensive invoice in May: thus has affected the system reinforcement

Its AI is connected to a clandestine gas plant

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Elon Musk’s last controversy has nothing to do with rockets, nor with his political comments on social networks, but with a potentially illegal installation who is playing with the public health of his neighbors in Memphis. Short. The XAI artificial intelligence startup, founded by Elon Musk, faces a possible federal demand for feeding Your gigantic Memphis Data Center With a gas power plant that, according to the complainants, has been operating without the necessary permits and contaminating the air of the region. The epicenter of the conflict is the Colossus Data Center, where Xai trains his AI models with hundreds of thousands of specialized nvidia chips. To quench the enormous energy demand from its graphics cards, the company installed dozens of natural gas turbines. Now the Southern Environmental Law Center (Selc) threatens to sue the company for “flagrant violations” of the United States Clean Air Law. Aerial photos and thermal cameras. According to the NECC notification, “during the last year, XAI has installed and operated at least 35 combustion turbines and other sources of air pollution in the Colossus facilities without ever having obtained the necessary permissions of preconstruction or operation.” Before “the lack of transparency of XAI and the ambiguous response of the local authorities”, which came to suggest that the turbines were “exempt from permits”, the SELC hired an air photographer to document the facilities. In March there were 35 turbines in operation. In April, at least 33 were full functioning, emitting large amounts of heat. A third recognition flight made on June 15 revealed that, far from being withdrawn, There were still 26 turbines next to Colossus. But there is something else: XAI has installed three larger new turbines. The total generation capacity is now approximately 407 megawatts, just 14 MW less than at its peak of March. The authorities are with XAI. In early May, the Great Memphis Chamber of Commerce He issued a statement trying to calm the waters. They claimed that the turbines were “temporary” and that they would be “paralyzed and removed” in the following two months, once the data center connected to the electricity grid. They also assured that approximately half would remain standing to feed phase II of the Colossus project, until a second substation was ready, at which time they would become just a system of support of the electricity grid. The capital of asthma. The matter acquires a more worrying channel if we take into account that Memphis already suffers one of the worst air qualities in the United States. In 2024 she was designated as the “capital of asthma” of the country for its high rates of visits to emergency and deaths linked to this disease. A 400 MW gas plant has the potential to emit more than 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOX) per year, chemical compounds precursors of the tuxedo. While companies like Xai, OpenAi and Google compete to develop the most powerful AI models, the infrastructure necessary to feed them this bringing to the limit to the electrical networks And, as this case demonstrates, it can push companies to take regulatory shortcuts with an environmental cost. Image | Steve Jones on a Southwings flight for SELC In Xataka | Elon Musk turned an abandoned US factory into the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Nobody thought of the neighbors

In a desperate attempt to avoid the blackout, Ree tried to start a gas center seven minutes before the disaster

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The Official reports on the blackout They reveal the maneuvers to counterreloj that the network operator did to try to stabilize the system while rushing into the collapse. T-7 minutes. In the moments of maximum tension (never better) prior to the historic blackout that left the Iberian Peninsula without light on April 28, Red Electric took a desperate measure: he ordered the start of a combined gas cycle center to try to stabilize an electrical system that crumbled at times. The call to the owner of the plant, registered in official reportsthere was just seven minutes before the system collapsed completely at 12:33 at noon. However, the thermal power plant never coupled then The zero of tension It occurred first. It was not a typical morning. That April 28 were the perfect conditions to test the network: a relatively low energy demand, and a very high solar radiation that caused a massive predominance of photovoltaic generation. With a network dominated by the electronics of investors instead of the heavy turbines of the conventional generation, the tension already issued warning signals. At 11:00 in the morning, after a voltage climb, the transformers of two Adif substations in Zaragoza were fired. But the situation became critical from 12:00, with the appearance of strong frequency oscillations that put the stability of the entire network in check. The oscillations. At 12:03, a first 0.6 Hz oscillation was detected, an unusual phenomenon that lasted for almost five minutes, forcing Red Eléctrica to take emergency measures. Among them, reduce electricity exchanges with France and Portugal. It didn’t help much. At 12:19, a new 0.2 Hz oscillation shook the system. Given the seriousness of the situation and the need to “attach more conventional generation” to control the tension, Red Electrico contacted at 12:26 with the head of a combined cycle center in Andalusia to start urgently. The choice was not accidental. The group that could be attached faster in the southern zone was sought, one of the most affected by instability. The chosen central, which had decoupled at 9:00 in the morning, was “hot”, which allowed it a shorter start time: an hour and a half. The goal was to be fully operational at 2:00 p.m. Unfortunately, the system did not have that time. Just seven minutes after the starter order was given, at 12:33, a succession of waterfall generation, mainly due to surgeens, caused the total collapse of the peninsular electrical system. The measure, a last resort to avoid the greatest blackout in the recent history of Spain, “never consummated by the zero of tension.” Image | HRAD (CC by-SA 3.0) In Xataka | Many plants disconnected from the network when the blackout began. The problem is that some renewable did it before

While Europe desperately seeks alternative to Russian gas, a Spanish province has already found it: Burgos

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A few days after summer begins, Europe has an eye on winter. Not because he wants to omit a hot summer, but for a real concern: gas reserves are almost empty. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced That community leaders will discuss new measures, including the possible definitive closure of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. So, while in the high spheres geopolitical strategies are designed, a solution is consolidated in a small town of Burgos: biomass. And they found the key. In Doña Santos, a Burgos town of just over a hundred inhabitants, is the headquarters of children of Tomás Martín, a family business that has been linked to the use of wood. However, it was not until 2011, which under the Burpellet brand, They started producing pellet to take advantage of the waste of the sawmill. Ten years later, they expanded their activity with a second floor in Huerta del Rey, which today has a capacity of 150,000 tons per year – the equivalent of five million bags – consolidating itself as the largest national producer and one of the main European referents in biomass. Heat in unstable times. While electricity prices and fossil fuels are in a roller coaster, the pellet has found its balance. According to Avebiom (Spanish Biomass Energy Valuation Association), the Pellet It is maintained As one of the most competitive energy options, with an average cost of 7 cents per kWh, below natural gas, heating diesel and well below electricity. In other words, a 15KG bag would come to € 5.04, a 2.6% decrease compared to the previous quarter. The global energy storm. Only this year, Europe must spend 10,000 million euros more than in 2024 to replenish its gas reserves, pressured by a colder winter and strong global competition, According to the Financial Times. And although prices remain above 2024, they have remained surprisingly stable in recent weeks. According to Bloomberg, China who was one Of the great global buyers of LNGhas reduced its imports for the fourth consecutive month, weighed by a weaker economy, tariff tensions with the United States and a rebound from internal sources. However, nothing is guaranteed because in the months of July and August extreme temperatures are expected on the horizon, which could change the board. In addition, countries like Egypt could enter the market strong They have explained In Bloomberg. Geopolitical pressure, an unstable global market and the delay in the transition to technologies such as hydrogen convert energy supply into a topic of higher priority for Brussels. A good path. Despite the thrust of the LNG and the promises of green hydrogen, immediate solutions do not always come from new technologies. Sometimes they are already working, far from the spotlights. In places like Mrs. Santos. While Brussels projects the energy future of the continent, in the forests of Burgos there is already an answer working: stoves, boilers and heated buildings with compacted wood chips. It does not sound as modern as hydrogen, but it is clean, efficient and local. Image | Rawpixel Xataka | After two years of vertiginous increases, the price of pellets has done something unpublished: start going down

IA consumes so much energy that the United States is building data centers directly in natural gas wells

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What makes a startup dedicated to building data centers get 11.6 billion dollars in financing. In the case of Crusoe Energy Systems, it all started with an idea as disturbing as profitable: build data centers with natural gas wells. Crusoe Energy’s idea Journalist Emily Chang de Bloomberg visited a few weeks ago The city of Abilene, in Texas, where Crusoe is building the monstrous Stargate data centers, The 500.00 billion project OpenAi, SoftBank and Oracle to develop general artificial intelligence. Stargate arrived at Crusoe Energy thanks to the demonstrated efficiency of the startup in the construction of specialized data centers in AI. Chase Lochmiller, the CEO of Crusoe, explained to Chang how the company was born: “When an oil company opens an oil well, one of the associated by -products is natural gas. And when they do not have access to an pipeline, all this associated gas simply burns in situ. So we had an idea: instead of trying to take that gas to a market where you can sell, we could create a market for gas. We could build mobile and modular data centers, take them direct data”. Crusoe was born in the best possible place to materialize this idea: the country of fracking. But maybe not at the best time to do it. Initially, they chose to build GPUS farms to undermine Bitcoin. When the cryptocurrency market collapsed, they ended up pivoting artificial intelligence. Like crypto mining, AI data centers are not based on CPUS but depend on the parallel processing capacity of thousands of GPUS, mainly Nvidia specialized chips. These new data centers consume much more energy than traditional data centers, so Crusoe started from a key advantage: their direct access to fossil fuels that obtained at the price of bargain. A booming business Oil giants are not oblivious to this trend. Exxonmobil is developing Off-Grid gas plants specifically for data centers with carbon capture technology to reduce emissions. Chevron, meanwhile, It has been associated With Engine No. 1 and Ge Vernova to mount similar facilities. The first will open in 2026, also in Texas. The figures are eloquent: the demand for natural gas for data centers will be increased by 47 GW from here to 2030. Currently, natural gas already feeds about 40% of the loading of data centers in the United States and is expected to continue being the main source of supply up to at least 2030. It is not the preferred energy source, but There are not enough renewable to feed artificial intelligence and Not all data centers They can be connected to a nuclear power plant, another common occurrence in the United States. As for Crusoe, thanks to the initial push of natural gas that were going to burn oil companies they developed their own technologies, such as a closed cooling system that does not need to renew The water evaporating the serversor own gas turbines, such as 360 MWs that are installing in the Stargate project as a backup energy source. Stargate data centers will feed mainly solar panels and wind turbines, which abound in Abilene for the confluence of wind and sunny hours. It is one of the reasons why data centers are being built in this Texas area, in addition to the tax exemptions that local governments are willing to yield in exchange for employment generation. It remains to be seen how many employees have everything built. Image | W.Carter (CCO) In Xataka | Microsoft will reopen a nuclear power plant that has been closed since 2019. It needs it for its artificial intelligence

Humanity’s plan was to depend less on gas to generate energy. The AI ​​think something very different

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When The alarms jumped by him temperature increase globally, it was launched The decarbonization plan. Countries, large technology and automotive companies marked objectives for reduce your carbon emissions with goals set for 2030 and 2050. Have been applying measures for itbut with what the industry – and the planet – did not have the rise of the artificial intelligence and his Energy voracity. One so extreme that there are those who rub their hands: companies that create gas turbines. The threat of renewables. 2024 was a Good year for renewables. Although it is something that has caused an authentic War between Chinese companiesmarket saturation has allowed the panel price Lower considerably. This facilitates the Installation of self -consumption systemsbut it has also allowed huge parks to flourish even in such oil -dependent as Texas. We have witnessed Sorpasso of renewables in Europethere are countries that have worked for months only with renewables And that push of solar panels is making progress in the race for the Green hydrogen. Artificial intelligence. Companies have also adapted their systems to be more efficient, consume less water and even build more respectful and sustainable facilitiesbut in the same way that 2024 was the year of the explosion of renewables, it was also for AI. That is why the main technological have begun to Expand and build data centers all over the world (something that It doesn’t look good everywhere) to be able to meet the current demand for this technology. Change of plans. That high energy consumption has pushed some of the Big Tech to opt for something striking: Operate your own nuclear power plants. Giants such as Amazon, Google or Microsoft have shown their plans to Create or reactivate nuclear centralsbut it’s not the only thing. European oil companies have readjusted your renewable support strategy And there are already seen that, during the AI ​​consumption peaks, the coal burning as gas to meet energy demand. Gas interest. That renewed interest in gas is something that already has consequences, and Siemens is a perfect example. How can we read in Bloombergthe German company estimated a financial result close to balance for this fiscal year, but after the growing interest in gas, they now estimate that their income could grow up to 15%. Siemens Energy manufactures, among other things, gas turbines And in recent months they have seen how this avalanche of investments in data centers with high energy demand has promoted turbine orders. In fact, contrary to what we might think in mind that we wanted to stop depending on the gas, the company has seen that the orders received have doubled during the first three months of the year. And price increase. According to the International Energy Agency, The energy demand of data centers HE will duplicate By 2030 due to AI workloads and, although renewables are in clear expansion, as the supply is intermittent, there are times when they do not meet the constant demand of these data centers. Gas is here a safety net For companies, since it provides constant energy for artificial intelligence infrastructure and coal would be used for peaks of demand. And there are already those who predict that this increase in gas demand will result in an increase in its price for the next winters. And also of carbon emissions, as we are already experiencing with cases such as Microsoft and Google, with Increases of 30% and 50% respectively in recent years. Images | Pexels, Balticservers In Xataka | Putin’s not so secret plan to survive without Europe: a giant gas pipeline to China

Some mountaineers want to climb Everest from London in seven days. There is controversy because there is “trick”: Xenon gas

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Although it has become a monster touristifiedwith Hundreds of promotions every year and a large amount of garbageEverest remains a mountain within reach of a minority. Crown her It is not cheapit demands a good physical form and a considerable time investment to acclimatize at its altitude. Mountaineers usually pass several weeks in the base camp and move through the mountain and the neighboring peaks to prepare their bodies before entering The “Zone of Death”more than 8,000 m, named for its low levels of oxygen. Now a group of British has proposed to complete an entire expedition in just seven days thanks to the help of a gas that is usually used as anesthetic. And that is generating A considerable stir In the world of mountaineering. A “walk” from London to Everest. The itinerary is so surprising that it sounds like science fiction or the script of the new movie of the saga ‘Mission Impossible’. What have proposed to Carns and three other colleagues, all ex -military, is to go and return to Everest from London in a week. With summit included, of course. Its roadmap plays to a plane in London, fly around 7,5400 kilometers to Katmandu, in Nepal, then complete the journey to the Everest base camp aboard a helicopter and finally ascend to the top of the world in just a few days. In total around 168 hours. Nothing to do with the weeks of acclimatization that EVrest usually demands. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Three days of upload, two of descent. “Time begins to count when we leave Heathrow and stops when he returns,” I commented carns Recently a The Washington Post. “We probably thought of a travel day, then three days of upload, two of descent and the last day of travel.” The goal It is ambitious: to fulfill a journey to Everest of seven days “door to door” from London and, incidentally, “redefine what is possible in mountaineering at great altitude.” The mission is called “7 Days Mission Everest”he planned to start from London on Friday 16 (his updated advance can be followed Through its website) and its objective, beyond marking a milestone in the history of Everest, is to raise money for charity organizations dedicated to supporting war veterans and their families. “I always say that we have a 30% chance to get this in seven days, and about 70% of doing so in less than 21 days,” Comment Carns. Even if in the end that last goal, the team would be achieved considerably the duration of traditional expeditions and get a national record. The fastest expedition from London to date lasted 21 days. And how are they going to do it? That is the key. Carns and his companions are ex -military in good shape and throughout the last months have undergone a demanding training. Not just that. For several months the four sleep in hypoxic campaign stores Installed in their homes, spaces that reproduce oxygen levels that will be found at high altitudes and those that mountaineers usually resort to mitigate the symptoms of high high evil. However, neither training nor acclimatization are nothing new nor explain how the carns team intends to raise and lower the mountain in a matter of five days, a ridiculous time if compared to the weeks and weeks of acclimatization to which the mountaineers who travel to Everest usually submit. The key to your mission is another: The xenon. That is what explains that they aspire to finish the expedition in seven days instead of the Between six and seven weeks that usually last the normal missions. And what is the xenon for? Xenon is a noble gas discovered in the nineteenth century and was used for decades as a powerful anesthetic in medicine. The British team has noticed it, however, for another reason: its supposed usefulness to increase the production of red blood cells and accelerate high altitudes acclimatization. In other words, prepare them for the conditions that will be found in the most dangerous area of ​​Everest, after 8,000 meters high. With that purpose the four ex -military inhaled a “Subanesthetic concentration” of xenon gas mixed with oxygen, a single one -hour dose they received under medical supervision. According to Explain to The Washington Post The doctor responsible for the protocol, the treatment shows its most intense effects between 10 and 14 days. They received their dose on May 5, about a week and a half before they got on the plane that took them to Nepal. The advantages of xenon. Behind the idea is Lukas Furtenbach, a veteran mountaineer at the head of a company that organizes expeditions and that years ago already managed to reduce the duration of the climbs to Everest thanks precisely to the use of hypoxic stores. Together with an anesthesiology expert, he explored the use of gas for acclimatization, a use that Furtbanch has already tried in his own meats. The key would be in the usefulness of the xenon to increase the production of erythropoietin, or EPO, a hormone generated by the kidneys to stimulate the generation of red blood cells in the body. “One of the side effects is that it triggers the production of EPO and that produces an increase in red blood cells in the blood. It is the same effect that occurs to acclimatize to a real altitude,” Furtenbach points out. The idea, insists, is not to improve the performance of mountaineers who undergo treatment, but to protect their tissues. The debate, served. The idea has generated expectation, but also an interesting debate in the world of mountaineering. Furtenbach defends that less days at Everest also translate into less hazards, Less waste generation and lower environmental impact for the mountain. Expeditions like Carns’s are not cheap in addition (their cost is around $ 170,000), so they are not likely to end up replacing traditional campaigns. “When oxygen first appeared in mountaineering, it was considered a taboo. Now everyone … Read more

A giant gas pipeline to China

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The dependence of Europe with Russia, despite the sanctions, has long been extended. Now, the European Union has decided to take control and break Russian gas imports, According to Euronews. From the Kremlin they will have to redirect their flow to other markets and China is receiving you with open arms. A change of direction. Russia has put its focus more east, betting on the Power of Siberia 2. According to Reutersthis project would allow transporting 50,000 million additional cubic meters of gas per year to China, crossing Mongolia. However, negotiations between the two countries have not been easy. The Bloomberg medium has pointed out that the project was stagnant for years due to disagreements on the route, prices and its urgency. Moscow has constantly pressed to close the agreement, but Beijing has maintained a prudent position, even delaying the signing of a preliminary agreement, since it wants to avoid passing through Mongolia. And now? According to has had access the New York medium, the internal industrial and commercial difficulties of China make A cheaper gas supply Be a difficult opportunity to ignore. During Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, it has been speculated, how He has collected Economist, that Beijing could be willing to negotiate a higher price, adjusted to the cost of Russian domestic gas and paid in the original gas pipeline, Power of Siberia. However, according to sources close to negotiations, the signing of a formal agreement is not expected in the short term. It has not gone unnoticed. The European authorities have not yet pronounced in this regard, since they remain focused on their own efforts to diversify their energy sources towards renewables, According to Reuters. However, we must not forget that during the commercial war against the US, China offered Europe imported from the US, so we will have to look at the origin of gas That arrives in Europe. Moving the pieces in his favor. On this geopolitical board, China is playing with advantage. While Russia desperately tries to replace its lost markets in Europe, Beijing has the opportunity to ensure a long -term energy supply in favorable terms. In addition, with the increase in global tensions, the Asian giant could be using his negotiation power to strengthen his global hegemonic position. In this sense, Xi Jinping is promoting a transformation towards A more electric economywhich gives China a strategic mattress against potential Western sanctions and reinforces it in global resources and energy markets. Image | Pixabay and Kremlin.ru Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License Xataka | Europe is caught in gas contracts with Russia. Now look for a way to break them without paying the price

Modern oil did not invent anything. China already extracted natural gas 2,000 years ago and transported it by bamboo pipes

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Possibly, many consider that oil industry And modern gas, with its platforms, deep wells, pumping systems and distribution networks, is a creation of the nineteenth century onwards, one associated with Western industrialization. And although they are not entirely wrong, the truth is that there was already a nation that had developed techniques for drilling, extraction and transporting energy resources with a simply amazing level of sophistication. That nation was China, and he did it a thousand years before Edwin Drake will pierce the first commercial oil well in 1859. Before the crude. As we said, although the collective imaginary places the beginning of the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the industrial revolution From the nineteenth century, history shows that ancient civilizations had already developed surprisingly advanced techniques of energy extraction. In fact, in the Chinese province of Sichuan, more than one millennium before the first commercial wells in the United States or Russia, entire communities already They pierced the earth To get brine And, later, natural gas. The salt searchvital for food conservation and human nutrition, led Chinese engineers to devise sophisticated Performant drilling systemsoperated with bamboo towers, pulleys, jump platforms and specialized metal tools that remember, in many ways, those used in the modern oil industry. Challenging your time. The wells, initiated during the PERIOD OF THE COMBATING KINGDOMS (480–221 AC), reached depths of up to 250 meters already in the Tang dynastyand exceeded the kilometer in the nineteenth century, long before the West even dreamed of such achievements. For each phase of the process they were used Different Broks (Fish tail, silver or horseshoe ingot) adapted to the type of rock. I also know They developed solutions for problems such as broken bits or collapsed wells, using ingenious technologies such as elongated bamboo tubes With fin valves, hydraulic cements based on Tung oil, and shutter with expanded straw. Then, around 1050, the introduction of flexible bamboo cables It allowed to achieve greater depths and simplify the operations a little more. By 1835, the Shenghai well reached officially The 1,000 meters deepa milestone in the world. From the byproduct to the energy treasure. Everything changed at a given time. During drilling in search of brine, workers began to run into Natural gas bagsinitially seen as dangerous or useless. But over time, that gas (mainly methane, often mixed with hydrogen sulphide) was recognized as energy resource and used for lighting, heating and, above all, to feed the boilers that evaporated the brine. This transition became crucial when deforestation prevented continuing to use firewood. The need promoted the invention of the call Drum Kang Penwhich allowed to extract and separate simultaneously gas and brine, and early carburetor that mixed gas with air to achieve more efficient combustion. In turn, the old perforators also included geology rudiments, placing gas wells in high areas and brine in valleys, according to the formation of underground bags. Industrial Network Without Pare. Over the centuries, the region was filled with bamboo towers, merchant ships and an infrastructure that included hundreds of kilometers of pipes Bamboo built completely. Far from being rudimentary, those pipes were precisely sealed by tung oil cement and braided rope, which made them surprisingly stagnant and durable. To get an idea, in the 1950s they were still operational More than 95 km of these conductions. A complex system that transformed Zigong and other cities into industrial, commercial and cultural centers. The operation was so extensive that it required uninterrupted shifts and written legal contracts (some of the first in the history of China) to distribute tasks and resources. Historical and legacy. The scale and sophistication of the Sichuan gas field eclipsed other premodern operations in Europe or Central Asia, such as those of Naples or Bakú. Beyond the volume produced, the most notable was the continuity and efficiency of the system itself. Even today, the region produces some 30,000 million cubic meters of gas annually, in many cases from perforated wells centuries ago. However, the work is still dangerous: in 2003, an explosion of gas near Chongqing He killed 233 people and left 9,000 intoxicatedbut the accumulated experience over almost 2,000 years avoided a major catastrophe. That technical and human legacy is, in fact, honest in the Shanxi Salt Museumwhere original tools and detailed models are preserved that document an industrial feat advanced to their time by millennia. If you want too, the Sichuan history Not only does it rewrite the origins of oil and gas in a certain way: redefine what we consider possible in ancient civilizations. Image | Thomas dependb, CSEG In Xataka | In its effort to extract oil, China is beating records: it has drilled a well -deep well In Xataka | 2025, a raw year: the sanctions to the Russian ships and the tension with China are raising the price of oil

Europe is caught in gas contracts with Russia. Now look for a way to break them without paying the price

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This winter has ended with an alarming fact for gas in Europe: German reserves are practically empty, 7% of their capacity. Energy expert Javier Blas He explained That the winter of 2024-25 has left the very low gas inventories, and the cost to fill the natural reservoir of Rehden amounts to almost 2,000 million euros. In addition, the continent has entered the discount timesince the European Union has demanded that the deposits be filled at 90% before November 1. However, the European Union has made a decision to close the door forever to the dependence of Russian gas. Close the tap to Russia. From Brussels different legal routes are being explored so that European companies can terminate long -term Russian gas contracts without paying large fines to Moscow. According to Financial Timesthe European Commission has been studying the possibility of declaring force majeure to terminate contractual obligations and not have to pay additional rates. The Russian supply. After three years of war that still persists, this situation has caused a great energy crisis in Europe, reducing its dependence on Russian gas. Currently, the Kremlin supply represents 11% of the block compared to almost two fifths at the beginning of the conflict, such as They have detailed in the British environment. From a more economical vision, the EU paid 21.9 billion euros Russia for oil and gas between February 2024 and February 2025, According to the Clean Energy and Air Research Center. And they continue to depend. Russian liquefied natural gas volumes (LNG) They have increased significantly In the last three years. In addition, Russia has continued to export gas disguised under azeri flag or through relations with two member countries, Hungary and Slovakiawhich has generated tensions within the EU. As He has pointed out The Financial Times, there are important ports such as those of France, Spain and Belgium that continue to receive loads of Russian LNG, showing the complexity of cutting energy ties immediately. Until two years. The European Commission has promised a final roadmap to completely cut energy ties with Russia before 2027. Although its publication has already been delayed twice, the document is expected for May 6, According to Reuters. This delay responds to the conversations reactivated by the United States about the future of the Nordstream gas pipeline, which connects Germany and Russia. The project has gained importance amid the efforts of the Trump administration, since they want look for an approach that implies them in gas transmission. Exploring alternatives … The commission, that He has denied To comment to the Financial Times, you are looking for new supplies. United States, which It takes time exporting LNG to Europehas been profiled as the largest supplier and is seen as a viable replacement. However, with the tariff war in dispute Everything will be to see. But there is an unexpected exit. Continuing with the tariffs, which have been intensified in A bilateral war Between China and the United States. The Asian giant He has found A strategic opportunity: take advantage of contracts signed with American gas to resell it to Europe. This phenomenon has exposed how the global mechanisms of energy trade do not respond to political strategies, but to market logics. An uncertain future. Although the date is marked in 2027, the road map has already suffered several delays and remains surrounded by political and commercial unknowns. In addition, the growing tension with the United States and The lack of a really solid energy plan they leave a European Union corrula, reacting too late before the agency with Russia. Image | Brian Cantoni Xataka | The price of gas has already reached 2022 levels. Now the European industry depends on one thing: that the cold does not return

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