RIYADH: From South Africa to India to the EU, the energy sector is experiencing some national and international resistance. By contrast, smaller clean energy deals are going ahead. The bigger picture: · South Africa’s minerals and energy minister, Gwede Mantashe, backs coal suppliers in the country, stressing that the industry is a significant employer and helps generate electricity, Bloomberg reported. This comes as the government considers a COP26 funding package of $8.5 billion from wealthier nations that urge the country to forgo new coal projects. · Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, and Denmark have united to petition the EU’s taxonomy plan, which aims to label nuclear energy and natural gas projects as “green”, days before it is set to be implemented, Bloomberg reported. The four countries dispute rests on an absence of sufficient and solid scientific evidence proving that natural gas can be considered as sustainable. · India is contemplating a battery swapping option for electric vehicles as opposed to charging stations due to urban space limitations in the South Asian country, Blomberg reported. However, the concept of battery swapping has been consistently rejected in several regions apart from China. Smaller scale deals: · Swiss global energy firm, Energy Vault Inc, has sealed a $50 million multi-year licensing deal with US-based Atlas Renewables, which builds, finances, and operates clean energy projects and plans to construct storage facilities in China, Bloomberg reported. Under the terms of the agreement, Energy Vault, which specializes in gravity and kinetic energy, will license its technology to the clean energy focused corporation.