Today’s ESG Updates:
- Russia to Fill Syria’s Energy Gap: With Iran halting crude oil shipments to Syria, Russia is stepping in to fill the gap.
- Biogas from Livestock Gains Ground Amid India’s LPG Crunch: India’s energy stress test is giving a centuries-old practice a modern policy mandate.
- Solaria Raises €300 Million to Build Out Renewables, Storage, and Data Centre Infrastructure Platform: The capital raise drew overwhelming investor demand, signalling strong confidence in its “ready-to-service” model.
- INEOS Enterprises Sells Sulphur Dioxide Unit to Ecovyst for $190 Million: The sale of the ultra-pure sulphur dioxide and derivatives business marks the end of a decade-long ownership.
Russia to fill Syria’s energy gap
Russian oil shipments to Syria increased by 75% to ~60,000 bpd (barrels per day) in 2026, up from 46,000 bpd in 2025, and were shipped almost weekly by a fleet of 21 sanctioned vessels using ship-to-ship transfers near Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt to obscure origins. Syria’s domestic output is only ~35,000 bpd, down from 350,000 bpd in pre-war conditions. Meanwhile, the country’s daily needs range from 120,000 to 150,000 bpd, leaving a massive gap that Russian oil fills at a discount to Brent.
Syria previously imported from Iran; however, shipments were cut off after Assad’s fall in December 2024, and Syria has so far failed to strike alternative deals with Turkey or Gulf states due to weak purchasing power and limited financial integration.
Economist Karam Shaar warned, “If the United States were to fail to reach an agreement or settlement with Russia regarding Ukraine, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it told Syria overnight to stop buying these oil shipments.”
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Further reading: Exclusive: Syria relies on Russia’s oil despite pivot to the West
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Biogas from livestock gains ground amid India’s LPG crunch
With the Iran war squeezing LPG supplies across India, cow dung-powered biogas is quietly stepping up as a homegrown lifeline, and it does more than just cook food.
India consumes over 30 million tonnes of LPG annually, importing more than half, and the war-driven energy squeeze has left people like 77-year-old Mahendri waiting three days in scorching heat just to secure a cylinder. Meanwhile, villagers like 25-year-old Gauri Devi in Uttar Pradesh are cooking chapatis, lentils, and tea entirely on biogas from cow dung by mixing a couple of buckets of dung into an underground tank and barely touching her LPG cylinder.
Since the 1980s, India has subsidized over 5 million biogas “digester” units costing roughly ₹25,000–30,000 (~£235–280), and in 2025 mandated that biogas make up at least 1% of liquid fuel use, rising to 5% by 2028.
The bonus beyond the gas includes the nitrogen-rich slurry left over, which farmers call “black gold” and is especially valuable now that the same war is disrupting global supplies of artificial fertilizer. However, the Indian Biogas Association warns that these units are “mini factories” that need organized maintenance, and that landless laborers simply can’t participate, leaving biogas as a rural opportunity, not a universal fix.
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Further reading: India’s cows offer biogas alternative to Middle East energy crunch
Related Articles
Here is a list of articles selected by our editorial board that have gained significant interest from the public:
Solaria raises €300 Million to build out renewables, storage, and data center infrastructure platform
Solaria Energia just pulled off a major capital raise, as the Spanish solar company completed a €300 million equity transaction on 29 April 2026 by combining a 6.15% new share issuance with a 3.85% treasury share placement, priced at €24/share and oversubscribed a whopping 6.7 times by global institutional investors, including long-only funds, infrastructure investors, and specialist energy accounts.
The cash goes straight toward scaling Solaria’s European growth pipeline, with two main targets: expanding its data center platform using a “ready-to-service” model that bundles land, energy, and grid access, and fast-tracking battery storage (BESS) deployments.
Solaria management stated, “We are scaling one of Europe’s most compelling growth stories, combining energy, storage and digital infrastructure to meet the continent’s accelerating demand”.
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Further reading: Solaria successfully raises 300 MEuro through a 10% accelerated book building, oversubscribed 6,7 times
INEOS Enterprises sells sulphur dioxide unit to Ecovyst for $190 Million
INEOS Enterprises is selling its ultra-pure sulfur dioxide and derivatives unit INEOS Calabrian to specialty chemicals firm Ecovyst for $190 million, with the deal expected to close by the end of June 2026. INEOS Calabrian operates manufacturing sites in Port Neches, Texas, and Timmins. Meanwhile, their Ontario site has been part of the INEOS portfolio for 10 years, during which INEOS has improved its safety record, operations, and financial performance.
INEOS Enterprises Chairman Ashley Reed framed the move as textbook portfolio discipline, stating: “acquiring businesses, improving them at pace, and realising value”.
The Calabrian site remains “business as usual” for customers and suppliers until the takeover completion date.
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Further reading: INEOS Enterprises agrees to sell INEOS Calabrian to Ecovyst.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — In the Cover Photo: An Oil Jetty. Cover Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
