
Experienced business builder and entrepreneur in the tech, clean-tech and renewable energy sectors #SunbirdAfrica #EnergyTransition
London, UK
Joined March 2009
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Richard Bennett retweeted
Have you all seen Trump’s announcement of his SUPER PUTIN DEAL? Russia promises to immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the market, including the US, followed by another 500,000 tonnes in November. Then come promises of EVEN BIGGER volumes. Because the deal has to be HUGE. At least in the post.
OFAC, of course, wasted no time issuing a temporary waiver until April 7 to accommodate the president’s latest “GENIUS” deal.
Except the BIG DEAL is not actually that big. More of a stage prop. Very Trump.
Let’s do the maths. Actual numbers. TERRIBLE, I know.
300,000 tonnes is roughly 2.2 million barrels of diesel.
500,000 tonnes is roughly 3.7 million barrels.
In September, Russia managed to export just 0.1 million barrels. Basically none, as there is export ban.
So Putin has already “sold” Trump a volume 22 TIMES larger than Russia’s entire September exports. Making promises is, of course, easier than rebuilding refineries after Ukrainian strikes. MUCH EASIER. SOME SAY THE EASIEST.
Meanwhile, Russia’s diesel export ban remains in force until October 31: the fuel is needed domestically, and Ukrainian drones have significantly reduced Russia’s ability to produce it. A VERY SUCCESSFUL phone call with Trump is unlikely to have fixed those problems.
Now for another comparison. Russia’s average monthly diesel exports last year were 18.3 million barrels. The promised deliveries amount to just 12% and 20% of that volume, respectively.
So we have a promise that Russia still needs to find a way to fulfil, given the state of its refineries. And even if delivered, it looks considerably less impressive than the presidential CAPS LOCK. Not quite THE GREATEST DEAL IN HISTORY.
The political logic is clear. The war with Iran and high fuel prices are a bad backdrop for the elections. One would hope politically FATAL, at this point. The administration desperately needs a story about how the president is about to FIX EVERYTHING. Preferably IMMEDIATELY. Preferably without explaining how we got here in the first place.
So perhaps the main product of this deal is not even diesel. It is another attempt to calm the market with a BIG, BEAUTIFUL ANNOUNCEMENT. Let’s see how much credibility these announcements still have.
Russia, of course, will sell this as a HUGE VICTORY. And why wouldn’t it? Promise diesel you still need to find somewhere, get a sanctions waiver UPFRONT. Plus another opportunity to tell the world that it simply CANNOT MANAGE WITHOUT RUSSIA.
But what worries me most is that this spectacle could weaken our European partners’ resolve. Trump’s latest “breakthrough” must not become an excuse to ease sanctions pressure on Russia — precisely when that pressure needs to INCREASE.
Of course, this decision will benefit Russia by generating additional revenues. We’ll be watching how much of its export capacity Russia actually manages to restore. One thing is CLEAR: Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries need to INTENSIFY.
Richard Bennett retweeted
This is Albacete, Spain, 2nd October, 26.
Please can you push for your outlets to finally treat the climate crisis as the unprecedented global emergency scientists say it is.
The anger from the public at the media’s decades of lack of honest reporting will soon be immense.
@piersmorgan @TomSwarbrick1 @vicderbyshire @jonsopel @maitlis @Emmabarnett @tombradby @WilfredFrost @CliveMyrieBBC @amolrajan @SophyRidgeSky @TVNaga01 @afneil @OborneTweets @JohnSimpsonNews @richardpbacon @rickedwards1 @MickBooker @MartinDaubney @PatrickChristys @carolvorders @bbcvickiyoung @KamaliMelbourne @BBCsarahsmith
@krishgm @tombradby @skynews @itvnews @ITNProductions @adamboultonTABB @KayBurley @alexberesfordTV @kayeadams @rachelburden @bbcnews @skynews @ShelaghFogarty @bbcnickrobinson @tomhfh @susannareid100
Richard Bennett retweeted
When someone is in danger at sea, #RNLI crews don’t ask who they are, where they come from or if they deserve to be saved. They go to help.
I’ve written about why that matters so much this week, and why I’m so proud to volunteer with @RNLIBrighton 🛟❤️
theargus.co.uk/news/26540573…
Richard Bennett retweeted
23-year-old American Finn Walker is the founder of Heron Partners, which invests in companies listed on African stock exchanges.
He seeks to capitalise on misperceptions about the continent. “The world not only inaccurately perceives Africa, but it’s a negative inaccurate perception, which oftentimes leads to persistent mispricings across markets,” he says.
“All investing carries risk, but in Africa you’re disproportionately compensated for risk because of that misperception,” he notes.
Read/watch our full interview with Walker: howwemadeitinafrica.com/p/th…
Richard Bennett retweeted
Horror in Stourbridge as a wild fire spreads to residential areas. Meanwhile a train derailment in Lewes seems likely to be buckled rail track-related. Remember the names of the politicians and newspapers who spent years denying climate science as ‘woke’.
Richard Bennett retweeted
It’s by-election.
The standard of English in Moscow is slipping.
If people vote for #binface then they're showing total contempt for the bye election. Libs, labour and Cons should face the voters. If they thought they could win they would.
Richard Bennett retweeted
FFS we cannot keep doing this…
A handful of the richest people hoovering up wealth from everyone else while quite literally making the planet unlivable
At what point does someone grow a fucking spine and do something?!
Richard Bennett retweeted
We must transform the way natural resources are extracted, processed, brought to market, and put to use – guaranteeing that much more added value is retained by producing countries & affected communities.
No more exploitation. No more plundering.
Richard Bennett retweeted
UK and Western Europe being brutalized by a "heat dome" fueled by dry African desert air, and "contorted" jet stream.
Climate change is the main culprit causing this nearly-unprecedented heat event, otherwise impossible without fossil fuels.
Richard Bennett retweeted
"Our fossil fuel economy is a house of cards and Trump's war in Iran is about to topple it. The need for a clean energy transition has never been clearer" | My new commentary for @LiveScience:
livescience.com/planet-earth…
This is a very important iniatiative that runs alongside small-holder farmer programs.
GIZ SUPPORTS NUTRITION SERVICE DELIVERY IN LUAPULA zanis.gov.zm/?p=4146
Richard Bennett retweeted
DEFORESTATION is already at ~20% (with another 6% of the forest highly degraded), and we're beginning to shift to a 1.6-1.8°C world with 1.9°C likely in just ~2-9 years. Climate scientist and Amazon Rainforest expert Carlos Nobre warns that the tipping point is here now at 1.5°C.
🆕Deforestation lowers threshold for Amazon degradation: If deforestation reaches ~22–28%, up to 2/3 of Amazon could shift into degraded ecosystems at 1.5–1.9°C warming. Without more deforestation, such changes would occur only at higher warming levels.
pik-potsdam.de/en/news/lates…
Richard Bennett retweeted
🚨BREAKING: UAE’s🇦🇪 Al Habtoor Group Founding Chairman Khalifa Ahmad Al Habtoor’s open letter addressing Lindsey Graham’s call for Gulf States to join the war on Iran:
I heard the statements of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, in which he calls on the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to enter this war, saying that we are also under attack and that we must join the fight. And I say to him clearly: We know full well why we are under attack, and we also know who dragged the entire region into this dangerous escalation without consulting those he calls his "allies" in the region.
We thank God that the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are doing well, and we have no need for someone who claims he came to the Middle East to save us. The truth is that hasty American decisions are what embroiled the region in a war whose peoples were not party to its decision-making, and its local allies were not consulted before it was launched.
We do not deny the Iranian threat to the region, which has become clear in recent days. We do not trust Iran. But this is a dirty game in which several powers clash at the expense of our region, with no honor in it and no transparency. In this scene, Iran, Israel, and the United States all move according to their own interests, not according to the interests of the peoples of the Middle Eastern Arab countries.
And for this reason, we say it clearly: We will not enter this war to serve the interests of others, nor will we sacrifice our sons in a conflict that could have been avoided through diplomacy and political solutions. We value the lives of our sons, and we do not treat their souls as "collateral damage" as some do. Nothing in this world is more precious than the lives of our sons, and no alliance with any country in the world is worth risking these lives. If President Donald Trump and Senator Graham are prepared to risk their country and the lives of Americans for Israel's interests, that is their choice. As for us, we will not do the same.
Senator Graham says they are "the Arabs' allies" and that we need and benefit from U.S. protection. And I say to him: We do not need your protection. All we want from you is to keep your hands off us.
He also says: "We sell you weapons." As if that were a service the United States provides us. The truth is that this is no favor from anyone. We invest in our security and pay billions of dollars for these weapons, and it is a massive trade and industry built on these deals. In fact, the United States itself is now turning to buy weapons from Ukraine to supply its allies in other wars. This is an industry that thrives on wars and arms sales, not a charitable endeavor.
And the clearest thing of all is what Senator Graham himself said when he spoke about oil. He stated that Iran and Venezuela together hold 31% of global oil reserves, and that the United States could establish a partnership with this share of the world's oil, and that it would be a "nightmare for China"—he even added that if the regime in Iran changes, there would be a "new Middle East," and the United States would "make a lot of money."
Only then does the picture become clear. And only then do we understand why they want this war.
Finally, I say to Senator Graham: You may be a senator in the U.S. Senate, but anyone who hears your statements might think you're a member of the Israeli Knesset, because you defend Israel's interests more than you defend the interests of the American people themselves.
The peoples of our region have the right to live in security and stability, far from others' wars. We also have the right to decide how to protect our interests and security, and to emerge from crises we did not create but which were imposed on us as a result of conflicts between powers vying for influence in this region.
We want peace and stability. We will not accept being forced down the path of war, nor will we accept being fuel for others' battles.
🚨WAR ON IRAN: US🇺🇸 and Israel CANNOT impose surrender, defeat on Iran as a real solution:
‘Whether it’s the war in Gaza that we did not support, but we got burned by, or the twelve day war on Iran, and this current war that we did not opt for, but we will burn by as well. These are decisions by the US, by Israel, not our decisions.
However, I think our role right now is not to say that look, I am going to be part of this war or not going to be part of this war. I think our role right now is to look at the future and see how can we come out of this, and in the UAE🇦🇪 fashion, I think we also, in the midst of big calamities, we look for opportunities.
Any solution that could come out of this, if it doesn’t involve real benefit to Iran and Iranian people, it will not succeed.
This cannot be a defeat, a surrender, a humiliation of Iranians, because there are 100 million people in Iran, those cannot be ignored. They have their own agency, they have their own aspirations. What we need is to have our aspirations and their aspirations aligned.’
-@MABaharoon, Director General of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center, on the latest episode of Going Underground, as the UAE🇦🇪 deals with the regional crisis unleashed by the war on Iran.
Watch the full interview in the quoted post, or watch it on Rumble, link below in the replies👇
Richard Bennett retweeted
Energy Security Is Economic Security: Why Renewable Fuels Matter for Africa >>
sunbirdbioenergy.com/post/en…
Every Global Energy Crisis Hits Africa’s Economy.
When global oil prices rise, African economies feel the impact almost immediately.
linkedin.com/feed/update/urn…
Richard Bennett retweeted
It’s sort of funny but it’s not because petrol and energy price rises are going to hurt a lot of folk from this week.
Richard Bennett retweeted
Geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East once again shows that reliance on volatile oil and gas exposes economies to price shocks.
Renewables, electrification and storage offer more stable long term energy costs and stronger energy security.
Richard Bennett retweeted
On this occasion of the Lunar New Year, I extend, on behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Zambia, warm greetings and best wishes to the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
#ZambiaChinaRelations
#ForeignAffairsZambia






























