By BRIAN THOMPSON
Updated 8:13 AM EDT, Tue, Jun 15, 2010
Even as the latest experimental tidal turbine is about to be placed in New Jersey's Shrewsbury River this summer, a Top Twenty list of tidal power sites across the state is in the works.
A small start-up firm, Natural Currents Energy Services, is teaming up with City College of NY(CCNY) to find the best sites in the coastal waters of New Jersey to place the turbines, two of which are slated for later this year on the Manasquan River.
But before those go in and well before the study can be completed, Natural Currents will place a demonstration turbine this summer on the Shrewsbury right below the Route 36 bridge in Highlands, according to company president and founder Roger Bason.
"Our goal is to better understand the potential for tidal energy generation along the coastline and the technologies that are best suited to harness the power of existing tidal currents," Bason explained.
CCNY Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Dr. Hansong Tang, will use computer modeling to help develop the Top Twenty list in a state that may have more potential for tidal power than California, according to Bason.
"Water has to be sufficient depth, and the tide has to be of sufficient speed," said Bason for the turbines he has designed to produce maximum electricity for the grid, and to serve the most people efficiently.
The effort to bring tidal power to the Tri-State is not without pitfalls.
An earlier effort by a different company in the East River of New York City had multiple problems.(Natural Currents has a $990,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to place a 'renewable energy park' on the south shore of Ward's Island in the East River, in the Hell Gate channel which is notorious for its swift currents. No date has been set for that yet, according to Bason.)
Bason said his effort is under close scrutiny from the various government agencies with permitting power over his installations.
"National Marine Fisheries gave us an 8 page letter to add to our checklist," he explained.
But he said the New Jersey DEP was "surprisingly straight forward and practical."
The 18 month study with CCNY is funded by a $260,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the University Transportation Research Center based at CCNY.
It will focus on a particular characteristic of tidal, or hydrokinetic energy, according to a company news release.
Natural Currents said a current's kinetic energy is related to its speed cubed.
The company explained that means "a tide stream moving twice as fast as another tide stream of equal volume would generate eight times as much energy as the slower flow."
Natural Currents quotes the Union of Concerned Scientists website as claiming that nationwide, tidal turbines "could feasibly produce enough power for more than 67 million homes."
Follow Brian Thompson on Twitter @brian4NY
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Novozymes and Lignol sign deal to make biofuel from wood
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EDT
BAGSVAERD, Denmark, Jun 15, 2010 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) --
Partners to develop a commercially viable process for making ethanol from forestry waste. Aiming for a cost down to $2 per gallon, a price competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol.
Novozymes, the world's leading producer of industrial enzymes, and Lignol Energy Corporation, a leading company in the cellulosic ethanol sector, today signed a research and development agreement to make biofuel from wood chips and other forestry residues. The partners aim to develop a process for making biofuel from forestry waste at a production cost down to $2 per gallon, a price competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol at the current US market prices.
"Novozymes' goal is to enable commercial production of cellulosic biofuel from a wide range of feedstocks," says Claus Crone Fuglsang, Senior Director of BioEnergy R&D in Novozymes. "Our enzymes have the unique ability to turn wood residues and plant waste into fuel for our cars. Lignol is an industry frontrunner and our work together over the past couple of years has reinforced a shared vision to produce energy and value from wood waste. We look forward to continued improvement under this partnership."
Pilot-scale biorefinery in Canada
Together, Lignol and Novozymes have the necessary know-how to turn wood residues into fuel. Lignol's pre-treatment technology has established them as a leader in dealing with woody biomass and in February 2010, Novozymes launched enzymes that enable commercial production of biofuel from plant waste. The enzymes convert cellulose in biomass into sugars that can then be fermented into ethanol. The parties plan to use Lignol's industrial pilot plant in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada to optimize both Lignol's process and Novozymes' enzymes on different types of forestry waste. Later, Lignol plans to construct large-scale biorefineries for the production of cellulosic biofuel from wood chips and forestry residues.
"The progress we have achieved to date with enzymes from Novozymes is extremely promising and a successful outcome of this collaboration should position us to produce cellulosic ethanol from woody biomass profitably and without the need for long term government subsidies," says Lignol President and CEO, Ross MacLachlan.
The agreement between Lignol and Novozymes formalizes a Memorandum of Understanding between the partners from February 2010.
About Novozymes
Novozymes is the world leader in bioinnovation. Together with customers across a broad array of industries Novozymes creates tomorrow's industrial biosolutions, improving its customers' business, and the use of the planet's resources.
With over 700 products used in 130 countries, Novozymes' bioinnovations increase industrial performance and safeguard the world's resources by offering superior and sustainable solutions for tomorrow's ever-changing marketplace. Read more at www.novozymes.com.
About Lignol
Lignol (TSX-V: LEC | PowerRating) is a Canadian company undertaking the development of biorefining technologies for the production of fuel-grade ethanol and other biochemical co-products from non-food cellulosic biomass feedstocks. Lignol's modified solvent based pre-treatment technology facilitates the rapid, high-yield conversion of cellulose to ethanol and the production of value-added biochemical co-products, including high purity HP-L(TM) lignins. HP-L(TM) lignin represents a new class of high purity lignin extractives (and their subsequent derivatives) which can be engineered to meet the chemical properties and functional requirements of a range of industrial applications that until now has not been possible with traditional lignin by-products generated from other processes. Lignol is executing on its development plan through strategic partnerships to further develop and integrate its core technologies on a commercial scale. Lignol also intends to invest in, or otherwise obtain, equity interests in energy related projects which have synergies with its biorefining technology. For more information about Lignol, please visit our website at www.lignol.ca.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Caution concerning forward-looking statements:
Certain statements contained in this document may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include, without limitation, statements or information about our ability to fund our Baseline Operations, (using the definition of "Baseline Operations" as set out in Lignol's Management's Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the three and nine-month periods ended January 31, 2010), the ability of Lignol and Novozymes to successfully work together to achieve the aforementioned goal of producing fuel-grade ethanol at a price of $2 per gallon, the development status of our fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant in Burnaby, British Columbia, the planning and development of our previously proposed cellulosic ethanol commercial demonstration plant, our ability to exploit commercial opportunities and broaden our market opportunities for a range of cellulosic derivatives and environmentally sustainable biochemicals and our ability to pursue these opportunities with strategic partners. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or words and phrases that state or indicate that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements or information reflect Lignol's current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without limitation, our ability to establish the validity of our technology at the fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant scale, our ability to satisfy the conditions of existing government grants and to obtain new additional grants, our ability to finance and complete the development of the commercial demonstration plant, our ability to develop our products, our ability to obtain requisite regulatory approvals and our ability to enter into agreements with strategic partners on terms acceptable to us. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause Lignol's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information, including among other things, the technological challenges that remain to be surpassed in obtaining the necessary operating data from our fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant that is required prior to completing the next design scale-up of the technology, the complexity of the development of the commercial demonstration plant, financial market conditions which will effect our ability to finance our operations, risks relating to the protection of Lignol's core technology from infringement and those risk factors which are discussed elsewhere in documents that Lignol files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements or information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements and information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
%SEDAR: 00004360E
SOURCE: Lignol Energy Corporation
BAGSVAERD, Denmark, Jun 15, 2010 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) --
Partners to develop a commercially viable process for making ethanol from forestry waste. Aiming for a cost down to $2 per gallon, a price competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol.
Novozymes, the world's leading producer of industrial enzymes, and Lignol Energy Corporation, a leading company in the cellulosic ethanol sector, today signed a research and development agreement to make biofuel from wood chips and other forestry residues. The partners aim to develop a process for making biofuel from forestry waste at a production cost down to $2 per gallon, a price competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol at the current US market prices.
"Novozymes' goal is to enable commercial production of cellulosic biofuel from a wide range of feedstocks," says Claus Crone Fuglsang, Senior Director of BioEnergy R&D in Novozymes. "Our enzymes have the unique ability to turn wood residues and plant waste into fuel for our cars. Lignol is an industry frontrunner and our work together over the past couple of years has reinforced a shared vision to produce energy and value from wood waste. We look forward to continued improvement under this partnership."
Pilot-scale biorefinery in Canada
Together, Lignol and Novozymes have the necessary know-how to turn wood residues into fuel. Lignol's pre-treatment technology has established them as a leader in dealing with woody biomass and in February 2010, Novozymes launched enzymes that enable commercial production of biofuel from plant waste. The enzymes convert cellulose in biomass into sugars that can then be fermented into ethanol. The parties plan to use Lignol's industrial pilot plant in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada to optimize both Lignol's process and Novozymes' enzymes on different types of forestry waste. Later, Lignol plans to construct large-scale biorefineries for the production of cellulosic biofuel from wood chips and forestry residues.
"The progress we have achieved to date with enzymes from Novozymes is extremely promising and a successful outcome of this collaboration should position us to produce cellulosic ethanol from woody biomass profitably and without the need for long term government subsidies," says Lignol President and CEO, Ross MacLachlan.
The agreement between Lignol and Novozymes formalizes a Memorandum of Understanding between the partners from February 2010.
About Novozymes
Novozymes is the world leader in bioinnovation. Together with customers across a broad array of industries Novozymes creates tomorrow's industrial biosolutions, improving its customers' business, and the use of the planet's resources.
With over 700 products used in 130 countries, Novozymes' bioinnovations increase industrial performance and safeguard the world's resources by offering superior and sustainable solutions for tomorrow's ever-changing marketplace. Read more at www.novozymes.com.
About Lignol
Lignol (TSX-V: LEC | PowerRating) is a Canadian company undertaking the development of biorefining technologies for the production of fuel-grade ethanol and other biochemical co-products from non-food cellulosic biomass feedstocks. Lignol's modified solvent based pre-treatment technology facilitates the rapid, high-yield conversion of cellulose to ethanol and the production of value-added biochemical co-products, including high purity HP-L(TM) lignins. HP-L(TM) lignin represents a new class of high purity lignin extractives (and their subsequent derivatives) which can be engineered to meet the chemical properties and functional requirements of a range of industrial applications that until now has not been possible with traditional lignin by-products generated from other processes. Lignol is executing on its development plan through strategic partnerships to further develop and integrate its core technologies on a commercial scale. Lignol also intends to invest in, or otherwise obtain, equity interests in energy related projects which have synergies with its biorefining technology. For more information about Lignol, please visit our website at www.lignol.ca.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Caution concerning forward-looking statements:
Certain statements contained in this document may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include, without limitation, statements or information about our ability to fund our Baseline Operations, (using the definition of "Baseline Operations" as set out in Lignol's Management's Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the three and nine-month periods ended January 31, 2010), the ability of Lignol and Novozymes to successfully work together to achieve the aforementioned goal of producing fuel-grade ethanol at a price of $2 per gallon, the development status of our fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant in Burnaby, British Columbia, the planning and development of our previously proposed cellulosic ethanol commercial demonstration plant, our ability to exploit commercial opportunities and broaden our market opportunities for a range of cellulosic derivatives and environmentally sustainable biochemicals and our ability to pursue these opportunities with strategic partners. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or words and phrases that state or indicate that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements or information reflect Lignol's current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without limitation, our ability to establish the validity of our technology at the fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant scale, our ability to satisfy the conditions of existing government grants and to obtain new additional grants, our ability to finance and complete the development of the commercial demonstration plant, our ability to develop our products, our ability to obtain requisite regulatory approvals and our ability to enter into agreements with strategic partners on terms acceptable to us. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause Lignol's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information, including among other things, the technological challenges that remain to be surpassed in obtaining the necessary operating data from our fully integrated biorefinery pilot plant that is required prior to completing the next design scale-up of the technology, the complexity of the development of the commercial demonstration plant, financial market conditions which will effect our ability to finance our operations, risks relating to the protection of Lignol's core technology from infringement and those risk factors which are discussed elsewhere in documents that Lignol files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements or information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements and information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
%SEDAR: 00004360E
SOURCE: Lignol Energy Corporation
Making The Best Out Of Carbon Capture
Jonathan Fahey, 06.11.10, 03:00 PM EDT
Skyonic aims to capture carbon dioxide and turn it into chemicals like chlorine and hydrogen.
If all goes well in the next several months of construction, the exhaust from a coal-fired cement plant in San Antonio will soon be all but unrecognizable.
A company called Skyonic, backed by billionaire real estate mogul Carl Berg, will treat the exhaust with salt water and electricity, and transform the fumes into a host of chemicals it will offer for sale on the open market: hydrogen, chlorine and sodium bicarbonate.
"The chemicals make it profitable," says Skyonic Chief Executive Joe Jones. "The hydrogen, chlorine and carbonate products are more valuable than the salt water and the off-peak power it uses."
Jones has developed an elaborate scheme that started as his simple vision of how to grab carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, is a mild acid. So, thought Jones, a chemical engineer, all he needed to do was treat it with a strong base. "To me, carbon dioxide looked like an easy thing to deal with."
The Skyonic scheme is a creative approach to the process of capturing carbon from emissions and locking it up before it can contribute to climate change. The concept, called carbon capture and sequestration, is discussed by policy-makers and emitters of large amounts of CO2 as a sure thing. This stems more from their desperation than from confidence in any technical solution. All methods, including Skyonic's, are either extraordinarily expensive or unproven--or both.
One big problem is the amount of energy that needs to be sucked out of a power plant to run the equipment that grabs carbon. The carbon capture equipment can take well over half a plant's output, depending on how much carbon it tries to grab. Skyonic's scheme now takes 40% of the power, but Jones says equipment improvements will push that down to 20%.
All these "carbon capture" schemes are fraud schemes in the making. The ultimate motivation by the carbon capture inventors and proponents is profit most likely on the taxpayer's back through govern....
The real promise, though, is that the expense of adding and running this equipment is more than offset, Jones says, by the chemicals it produces.
Skyonic imports salt by barge and rail from the Yucatan peninsula and mixes it with water. The salt water is zapped with electricity, (electrolyzed), where it meets a special membrane. The membrane lets salt ions through but leaves behind chlorine. The chlorine gas is captured and sold.
The water molecules' two hydrogen atoms, which are split from oxygen by electrolysis, go in different directions. One hydrogen atom pairs with other free hydrogen atoms to create hydrogen gas, which is also captured and sold. The other pairs with the sodium ion that made it through the membrane to form sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda. (That's the strong base Jones was after.)
The caustic soda is then exposed to the power plant's exhaust, where it combines with carbon dioxide to create, over two steps, sodium carbonate and then sodium bicarbonate. The sodium bicarbonate is the third chemical to be sold.
Skyonic has been testing its contraption at a pilot plant in East Texas, grabbing exhaust from a coal plant that doesn't scrub pollutants. Skyonic realized it wouldn't be able to sell byproducts with mercury and other pollutants in them, so it also cleans the exhaust.
says Skyonic's exhaust scrubbing technology is cheaper than traditional wet limestone treatment, and it can be scaled to fit small and medium-size coal plants. If that's the case it could save the dozens of small coal plants that now look sure to close as clean air rules tighten over the next several years.
Its new facility in San Antonio, scheduled to start construction this year and be up and running by early 2012, will grab 83,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year from the equivalent of a 10-megawatt plant. That's just 10% what the plant emits, but Jones argues Skyonic should get credit for avoiding 220,000 tons of carbon dioxide because it is creating products, like hydrogen, that would otherwise come from natural gas and release lots of carbon dioxide.
Berg and others have invested $10 million in the company. Capitol Aggregates, the company that runs the cement plant, is also a partner. General Electric ( GE - news - people ), through its GE Osmonics division, is helping develop the membranes for the plant. The company received a $3 million federal stimulus grant for construction of its new facility; Capitol Aggregates is kicking in $2 million.
In early June Skyonics was granted a U.S. patent covering its scheme; Jones says this will help the company grow fast. His ambitions are big: He hopes to do 25 plants worldwide over the next five years.
All these "carbon capture" schemes are fraud schemes in the making. The ultimate motivation by the carbon capture inventors and proponents is profit most likely on the taxpayer's back through govern....
If the concept is a smashing success, it could conceivably saturate markets for the chemicals it creates. The first to go would be chlorine gas, then the carbonate products. There would always be hydrogen, though: The U.S. market is on the order of 19 million tons per year. Skyonic's carbon capture equipment would have to be bolted to 11,000 plants in the U.S. to meet that demand. That will be a long time coming.
To read more of Jonathan Fahey's stories, click here. Contact the writer at jfahey@forbes.com.
Skyonic aims to capture carbon dioxide and turn it into chemicals like chlorine and hydrogen.
If all goes well in the next several months of construction, the exhaust from a coal-fired cement plant in San Antonio will soon be all but unrecognizable.
A company called Skyonic, backed by billionaire real estate mogul Carl Berg, will treat the exhaust with salt water and electricity, and transform the fumes into a host of chemicals it will offer for sale on the open market: hydrogen, chlorine and sodium bicarbonate.
"The chemicals make it profitable," says Skyonic Chief Executive Joe Jones. "The hydrogen, chlorine and carbonate products are more valuable than the salt water and the off-peak power it uses."
Jones has developed an elaborate scheme that started as his simple vision of how to grab carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, is a mild acid. So, thought Jones, a chemical engineer, all he needed to do was treat it with a strong base. "To me, carbon dioxide looked like an easy thing to deal with."
The Skyonic scheme is a creative approach to the process of capturing carbon from emissions and locking it up before it can contribute to climate change. The concept, called carbon capture and sequestration, is discussed by policy-makers and emitters of large amounts of CO2 as a sure thing. This stems more from their desperation than from confidence in any technical solution. All methods, including Skyonic's, are either extraordinarily expensive or unproven--or both.
One big problem is the amount of energy that needs to be sucked out of a power plant to run the equipment that grabs carbon. The carbon capture equipment can take well over half a plant's output, depending on how much carbon it tries to grab. Skyonic's scheme now takes 40% of the power, but Jones says equipment improvements will push that down to 20%.
All these "carbon capture" schemes are fraud schemes in the making. The ultimate motivation by the carbon capture inventors and proponents is profit most likely on the taxpayer's back through govern....
The real promise, though, is that the expense of adding and running this equipment is more than offset, Jones says, by the chemicals it produces.
Skyonic imports salt by barge and rail from the Yucatan peninsula and mixes it with water. The salt water is zapped with electricity, (electrolyzed), where it meets a special membrane. The membrane lets salt ions through but leaves behind chlorine. The chlorine gas is captured and sold.
The water molecules' two hydrogen atoms, which are split from oxygen by electrolysis, go in different directions. One hydrogen atom pairs with other free hydrogen atoms to create hydrogen gas, which is also captured and sold. The other pairs with the sodium ion that made it through the membrane to form sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda. (That's the strong base Jones was after.)
The caustic soda is then exposed to the power plant's exhaust, where it combines with carbon dioxide to create, over two steps, sodium carbonate and then sodium bicarbonate. The sodium bicarbonate is the third chemical to be sold.
Skyonic has been testing its contraption at a pilot plant in East Texas, grabbing exhaust from a coal plant that doesn't scrub pollutants. Skyonic realized it wouldn't be able to sell byproducts with mercury and other pollutants in them, so it also cleans the exhaust.
says Skyonic's exhaust scrubbing technology is cheaper than traditional wet limestone treatment, and it can be scaled to fit small and medium-size coal plants. If that's the case it could save the dozens of small coal plants that now look sure to close as clean air rules tighten over the next several years.
Its new facility in San Antonio, scheduled to start construction this year and be up and running by early 2012, will grab 83,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year from the equivalent of a 10-megawatt plant. That's just 10% what the plant emits, but Jones argues Skyonic should get credit for avoiding 220,000 tons of carbon dioxide because it is creating products, like hydrogen, that would otherwise come from natural gas and release lots of carbon dioxide.
Berg and others have invested $10 million in the company. Capitol Aggregates, the company that runs the cement plant, is also a partner. General Electric ( GE - news - people ), through its GE Osmonics division, is helping develop the membranes for the plant. The company received a $3 million federal stimulus grant for construction of its new facility; Capitol Aggregates is kicking in $2 million.
In early June Skyonics was granted a U.S. patent covering its scheme; Jones says this will help the company grow fast. His ambitions are big: He hopes to do 25 plants worldwide over the next five years.
All these "carbon capture" schemes are fraud schemes in the making. The ultimate motivation by the carbon capture inventors and proponents is profit most likely on the taxpayer's back through govern....
If the concept is a smashing success, it could conceivably saturate markets for the chemicals it creates. The first to go would be chlorine gas, then the carbonate products. There would always be hydrogen, though: The U.S. market is on the order of 19 million tons per year. Skyonic's carbon capture equipment would have to be bolted to 11,000 plants in the U.S. to meet that demand. That will be a long time coming.
To read more of Jonathan Fahey's stories, click here. Contact the writer at jfahey@forbes.com.
TCS, Xynteo to jointly create solutions for low-carbon economy
15 Jun 2010, 1755 hrs IST,PTI
MUMBAI: IT major, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Xyntéo, a strategic advisory firm specialising in low-carbon growth, today announced a
collaboration to jointly create solutions for a low-carbon economy.
These solutions would be initially built and developed in the Nordic market, a press statement issued here stated.
"We recognise the need for collaboration to create solutions for our customers that address the challenge of global climate challenge by leveraging technology. With its valuable expertise in low-carbon growth solutions, Xyntéo fits in well as a value partner for TCS," TCS's (Europe) Vice- President and Head, A S Lakshminarayanan, said in the release.
The partnership would look at finding new ways to help companies increase productivity while reducing CO2 emissions along their entire value chains to the final consumer.
Lakshminarayanan said that a low carbon economy would depend to a large extent on the world's ability to deploy IT to decarbonise the way people work and live.
MUMBAI: IT major, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Xyntéo, a strategic advisory firm specialising in low-carbon growth, today announced a
collaboration to jointly create solutions for a low-carbon economy.
These solutions would be initially built and developed in the Nordic market, a press statement issued here stated.
"We recognise the need for collaboration to create solutions for our customers that address the challenge of global climate challenge by leveraging technology. With its valuable expertise in low-carbon growth solutions, Xyntéo fits in well as a value partner for TCS," TCS's (Europe) Vice- President and Head, A S Lakshminarayanan, said in the release.
The partnership would look at finding new ways to help companies increase productivity while reducing CO2 emissions along their entire value chains to the final consumer.
Lakshminarayanan said that a low carbon economy would depend to a large extent on the world's ability to deploy IT to decarbonise the way people work and live.
Lamborghini is the least environmentally friendly car
The Lamborghini has been named the least "green" car of the year by the Environmental Transport Association.
By Laura Roberts
Published: 6:30AM BST 16 Jun 2010
The Lamborghini emits exactly five times more CO2 per kilometre than the car named Green Car of the Year, the 99g/km Toyota iQ.
Over a year of driving, the Toyota emits CO2 equivalent to that absorbed by three tennis courts of forest.
the greenest sports car was the Vauxhall Tigra.
Andrew Davis, director at the Environmental Transport Association, said: "With emissions five times worse than the greenest car, the Lamborghini is the bull in an environmental china shop. Thankfully, there are very few on the roads and there is an increasing choice of environmentally-sound cars.
"With the price of petrol at record levels and greater understanding about the threat to the environment there has never been a more important time to make fuel efficiency a deciding factor when choosing a car."
People in Scotland were found to be the greenest motorists with almost half of drivers saying they would buy a smaller car to reduce their driving costs.
Meanwhile only 34 per cent of drivers in the north of England would consider getting a smaller car - the worst area in the UK.
By Laura Roberts
Published: 6:30AM BST 16 Jun 2010
The Lamborghini emits exactly five times more CO2 per kilometre than the car named Green Car of the Year, the 99g/km Toyota iQ.
Over a year of driving, the Toyota emits CO2 equivalent to that absorbed by three tennis courts of forest.
the greenest sports car was the Vauxhall Tigra.
Andrew Davis, director at the Environmental Transport Association, said: "With emissions five times worse than the greenest car, the Lamborghini is the bull in an environmental china shop. Thankfully, there are very few on the roads and there is an increasing choice of environmentally-sound cars.
"With the price of petrol at record levels and greater understanding about the threat to the environment there has never been a more important time to make fuel efficiency a deciding factor when choosing a car."
People in Scotland were found to be the greenest motorists with almost half of drivers saying they would buy a smaller car to reduce their driving costs.
Meanwhile only 34 per cent of drivers in the north of England would consider getting a smaller car - the worst area in the UK.
The Summer to Go on a Power Diet
By KATHERINE BOEHRET
As temperatures climb to their highest levels, so, too, do the cost of home utilities bills. So how do you at least keep your energy-sucking electronics in check?
Summer months are the most expensive electricity usage months of the year, according to a study from the U.S. Energy Information Association, a government agency. So whether you're trying to save money or attempting to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, several technologies can make the task a bit easier. This week, I've prepared a run down of some of the many devices and websites that can help you to reduce power consumption.
Even in summer, there are some simple and inexpensive ways of lowering not just your use of electricity - but also the cost - says WSJ's Katherine Boehret.
.Intelligent Power Strips
Call it standby power, vampire power or phantom power: When your appliances are plugged into the wall and not in use, they're still sucking up energy. To solve this problem, some people go around their house unplugging electronics, but then they have to go around plugging these in again when they need to use them. And certain machines, like TiVos, for example, will reboot every time they're unplugged and plugged, which takes significantly more time than turning on a lamp after plugging it in again.
A number of special power strips have come out within the year that are designed to simplify this process by ensuring devices don't draw power while plugged in. The $40 Smart Strip Power Strip from Bits Ltd. (bitsltd.net) has either seven or 10 outlets, depending on the model. These include three red outlets for products you never want to turn off and one blue "control" outlet. Electronics plugged into the remaining white outlets stay on or shut down depending on what's plugged into the blue outlet. So if your computer is plugged into a blue outlet and you shut it down, your speakers, scanner, printer and monitor would also turn off as long as they're plugged into the Smart Strip's white outlets.
Monster Cable Products
Smart strips like the HP Monster Digital PowerCenter let you choose which plugged-in devices stay on.
.A similar product, in which plugged-in electronics take their cue from a control outlet, is the $50 HP Monster Digital PowerCenter with GreenPower (http://3.ly/3hXF). This strip, which has six three-pronged outlets, also includes two surge-protected phone connections for fax lines or modems.
The $80 Power Smart Tower with iGo Green Technology (http://3.ly/C7ce) includes four outlets that are always on and four that power down when anything that's plugged in turns off. It also has two built-in USB power ports for charging via USB.
Track More, Waste Less
When people go on diets, they're often told to write down everything they eat so they're more conscious of what they're ingesting every day. A study by the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford showed a 5% to 15% reduction in power consumption just by providing energy information to consumers.
One tool that could help you trace your electricity usage is the Consumer Electronics Association's Energy Calculator (http://3.ly/gp2M). People fill in data on how much they use specific devices—like "digital television, 21 to 39 inches" or "notebook PC"— in their home per day or per month. The site calculates typical watts per device and figures out the energy-consumption costs for each over the period of a month and over a year, and then adds up the totals for each device. The idea is to let people see how small usage adjustments can have a big monetary impact over time.
iGo
The iGo Green Power Smart Tower.
.If you'd rather not do the work of inputting data on your power usage, the Google PowerMeter (google.com/powermeter) might be up your alley. It digitally tracks your usage patterns using meter data supplied by your utility company and its results can be accessed from any Web browser or your iGoogle homepage. A Google representative says this service is gradually rolling out in tests with utility companies. Currently, 10 utilities are partnered with PowerMeter in five countries, including the U.S.
If your utility company isn't one of the 10 that work with Google's PowerMeter, you can buy a special gadget that monitors consumption, including some that physically hook into your fuse box (a list can be found here http://3.ly/Un3h). One relatively less expensive device from Current Cost is $169.
Before You Buy
If you're buying new electronics soon, you may want to consider a product's energy efficiency before buying it.
The U.S. Department of Energy has a Web database of Energy Star compliant products, which meet requirements set by the DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://3.ly/SSsy).
Information on the Consumer Electronics Association website (http://3.ly/4x9P) helps people decide whether to replace or repair a product, from an efficiency standpoint.
—Edited by Walter S. Mossberg
—Email Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com.
As temperatures climb to their highest levels, so, too, do the cost of home utilities bills. So how do you at least keep your energy-sucking electronics in check?
Summer months are the most expensive electricity usage months of the year, according to a study from the U.S. Energy Information Association, a government agency. So whether you're trying to save money or attempting to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, several technologies can make the task a bit easier. This week, I've prepared a run down of some of the many devices and websites that can help you to reduce power consumption.
Even in summer, there are some simple and inexpensive ways of lowering not just your use of electricity - but also the cost - says WSJ's Katherine Boehret.
.Intelligent Power Strips
Call it standby power, vampire power or phantom power: When your appliances are plugged into the wall and not in use, they're still sucking up energy. To solve this problem, some people go around their house unplugging electronics, but then they have to go around plugging these in again when they need to use them. And certain machines, like TiVos, for example, will reboot every time they're unplugged and plugged, which takes significantly more time than turning on a lamp after plugging it in again.
A number of special power strips have come out within the year that are designed to simplify this process by ensuring devices don't draw power while plugged in. The $40 Smart Strip Power Strip from Bits Ltd. (bitsltd.net) has either seven or 10 outlets, depending on the model. These include three red outlets for products you never want to turn off and one blue "control" outlet. Electronics plugged into the remaining white outlets stay on or shut down depending on what's plugged into the blue outlet. So if your computer is plugged into a blue outlet and you shut it down, your speakers, scanner, printer and monitor would also turn off as long as they're plugged into the Smart Strip's white outlets.
Monster Cable Products
Smart strips like the HP Monster Digital PowerCenter let you choose which plugged-in devices stay on.
.A similar product, in which plugged-in electronics take their cue from a control outlet, is the $50 HP Monster Digital PowerCenter with GreenPower (http://3.ly/3hXF). This strip, which has six three-pronged outlets, also includes two surge-protected phone connections for fax lines or modems.
The $80 Power Smart Tower with iGo Green Technology (http://3.ly/C7ce) includes four outlets that are always on and four that power down when anything that's plugged in turns off. It also has two built-in USB power ports for charging via USB.
Track More, Waste Less
When people go on diets, they're often told to write down everything they eat so they're more conscious of what they're ingesting every day. A study by the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford showed a 5% to 15% reduction in power consumption just by providing energy information to consumers.
One tool that could help you trace your electricity usage is the Consumer Electronics Association's Energy Calculator (http://3.ly/gp2M). People fill in data on how much they use specific devices—like "digital television, 21 to 39 inches" or "notebook PC"— in their home per day or per month. The site calculates typical watts per device and figures out the energy-consumption costs for each over the period of a month and over a year, and then adds up the totals for each device. The idea is to let people see how small usage adjustments can have a big monetary impact over time.
iGo
The iGo Green Power Smart Tower.
.If you'd rather not do the work of inputting data on your power usage, the Google PowerMeter (google.com/powermeter) might be up your alley. It digitally tracks your usage patterns using meter data supplied by your utility company and its results can be accessed from any Web browser or your iGoogle homepage. A Google representative says this service is gradually rolling out in tests with utility companies. Currently, 10 utilities are partnered with PowerMeter in five countries, including the U.S.
If your utility company isn't one of the 10 that work with Google's PowerMeter, you can buy a special gadget that monitors consumption, including some that physically hook into your fuse box (a list can be found here http://3.ly/Un3h). One relatively less expensive device from Current Cost is $169.
Before You Buy
If you're buying new electronics soon, you may want to consider a product's energy efficiency before buying it.
The U.S. Department of Energy has a Web database of Energy Star compliant products, which meet requirements set by the DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://3.ly/SSsy).
Information on the Consumer Electronics Association website (http://3.ly/4x9P) helps people decide whether to replace or repair a product, from an efficiency standpoint.
—Edited by Walter S. Mossberg
—Email Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com.
Nuclear reactors could see closure deferred to help bridge funding gap
• Wylfa and Oldbury Magnox reactors could have lives extended
• Plans would help make up £4bn decommissioning shortfall
Tim Webb guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 June 2010 17.49 BST
Plans are under way to extend the life of the UK's oldest nuclear reactors, which would ease the government's need to find an extra £4bn for clean-up funding, the Guardian has learned.
The Wylfa reactor on Anglesey, due to close at the end of the year, would remain open until at least 2012 if safety regulators agree.
The extra electricity generated by the reactor, which began operations in 1971, would earn its parent, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), up to an extra £500m in revenue.
EnergySolutions, the US company which operates the old Magnox reactor sites for the NDA, is also looking for a further life extension of the Oldbury reactor. It is the UK's oldest operating nuclear plant, opened in 1968, and recently regulators gave it approval to remain open until mid 2011. EnergySolutions is preparing to begin work on another extension soon.
The company has already prepared detailed technical assessments to support a life extension for Wylfa. The NDA will review these before submitting the plans to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, part of the Health and Safety Executive, which will make a final decision in the next few months.
Mark Morant, president of EnergySolutions' international group, said: "The life extension at Oldbury underscores the reliability and durability of the Magnox reactors. As well as generating more carbon-free electricity for the UK, the extension brings valuable new revenue for the government and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. We are hopeful that there may also be more to come from Oldbury.
"On Wylfa, we cannot pre-empt any decision to be taken by the regulatory authorities and safety considerations are paramount, but we at EnergySolutions are anxious to do all we can to help support the NDA's ongoing clean-up of the UK's nuclear legacy."
The NDA said that Wylfa and Oldbury were performing well, and pointed to figures which showed that last year they generated the most electricity in their history.
The NDA is responsible for decommissioning the UK's old reactors, which it estimates will cost £73bn. It is supposed to fund about half its annual clean-up budget through its commercial activities, such as operating the remaining Magnox reactors and reprocessing spent fuel. The rest is paid for by the taxpayer, via the energy department. But lower electricity prices because of the recession and the closure of its Thorp reprocessing plant has dented its income while decommissioning costs have increased.
Funding the NDA now takes up two thirds of the energy department's annual budget. New energy secretary Chris Huhne told the Guardian this month that his department faces a £4bn funding gap by 2015 as a result, which means other programmes could face the axe.
"The costs are such that my department is not so much the Department of Energy and Climate Change as the Department of Nuclear Legacy and Bits of Other Things," he told the Guardian.
The funding hole is equivalent to one sixth of the money saved by the overall cuts in public spending identified by the Treasury earlier this month.
• Plans would help make up £4bn decommissioning shortfall
Tim Webb guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 June 2010 17.49 BST
Plans are under way to extend the life of the UK's oldest nuclear reactors, which would ease the government's need to find an extra £4bn for clean-up funding, the Guardian has learned.
The Wylfa reactor on Anglesey, due to close at the end of the year, would remain open until at least 2012 if safety regulators agree.
The extra electricity generated by the reactor, which began operations in 1971, would earn its parent, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), up to an extra £500m in revenue.
EnergySolutions, the US company which operates the old Magnox reactor sites for the NDA, is also looking for a further life extension of the Oldbury reactor. It is the UK's oldest operating nuclear plant, opened in 1968, and recently regulators gave it approval to remain open until mid 2011. EnergySolutions is preparing to begin work on another extension soon.
The company has already prepared detailed technical assessments to support a life extension for Wylfa. The NDA will review these before submitting the plans to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, part of the Health and Safety Executive, which will make a final decision in the next few months.
Mark Morant, president of EnergySolutions' international group, said: "The life extension at Oldbury underscores the reliability and durability of the Magnox reactors. As well as generating more carbon-free electricity for the UK, the extension brings valuable new revenue for the government and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. We are hopeful that there may also be more to come from Oldbury.
"On Wylfa, we cannot pre-empt any decision to be taken by the regulatory authorities and safety considerations are paramount, but we at EnergySolutions are anxious to do all we can to help support the NDA's ongoing clean-up of the UK's nuclear legacy."
The NDA said that Wylfa and Oldbury were performing well, and pointed to figures which showed that last year they generated the most electricity in their history.
The NDA is responsible for decommissioning the UK's old reactors, which it estimates will cost £73bn. It is supposed to fund about half its annual clean-up budget through its commercial activities, such as operating the remaining Magnox reactors and reprocessing spent fuel. The rest is paid for by the taxpayer, via the energy department. But lower electricity prices because of the recession and the closure of its Thorp reprocessing plant has dented its income while decommissioning costs have increased.
Funding the NDA now takes up two thirds of the energy department's annual budget. New energy secretary Chris Huhne told the Guardian this month that his department faces a £4bn funding gap by 2015 as a result, which means other programmes could face the axe.
"The costs are such that my department is not so much the Department of Energy and Climate Change as the Department of Nuclear Legacy and Bits of Other Things," he told the Guardian.
The funding hole is equivalent to one sixth of the money saved by the overall cuts in public spending identified by the Treasury earlier this month.
French carbon sequestration test declared a success
Carbon dioxide from methane processing plant is held in depleted natural reservoir
Pierre Le Hir
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 15 June 2010 14.00 BST
In the midst of the Jurançon vineyards is a plot of land surrounded by shrubs. At first sight this patch of southwest France might seem a haven of tranquillity, but the visitor notices the hum of a compressor, odd control levers sticking out of the ground, and two pale green pipes running across the field, then down a succession of valleys leading to the Lacq gas facility.
It was here in January that Total started an experiment in carbon- dioxide storage. The oil conglomerate plans to inject 120,000 tonnes of CO2 into a depleted natural-gas reservoir, 4,500 metres below the ground in a porous sedimentary rock formation extending over two square kilometres. The 100-metre high cavity is covered by a layer of clay and marl 2km thick.
Total plans to study the Rousse site in detail for five years, then carry on monitoring to check that the gas is permanently trapped and there is no risk of it escaping to the surface. The site is bristling with instruments: CO2 detectors, pressure and temperature sensors, seismic probes and such.
Twenty-seven kilometres away, at the Lacq facility, where the CO2 is captured prior to being pumped up to the storage site, the atmosphere is very different, with a mass of giant tanks, chimneys and criss-crossed pipes.
Total has refurbished one of five boilers at its methane processing plant (due to close in 2013) and converted it into a demonstrator for CO2-capture. It will be the first plant in Europe and the second worldwide – in October last year Alstom commissioned a similar system in West Virginia – to experiment a complete process capturing, transporting and storing the main greenhouse gas. France is pinning high hopes on this technology.
Total has invested $72m in the 30MW fossil-fuel pilot carbon-capture system at Lacq, which is one-tenth of the size of the projected industrial plant. It captures 15% of the CO2 emissions from the boilers at the Lacq gas works. If similar technology were fitted to the whole facility and adequate storage capacity were available, all the CO2 could be neutralised.
But, as the company acknowledges, capture comes at a cost, in energy and emissions. Trapping 100 tonnes of CO2 produces 20 tonnes of emissions, but the overall result for the environment is nevertheless positive.
The capture process alone represents two-thirds of the overall cost, from start to finish, which can amount to as much as $170 a tonne of sequestered gas. So Total is concentrating its efforts on reducing those costs. After five months' experimentation the engineers say they are "satisfied the technology is sufficiently robust".
The trickiest part is trapping the gas underground and so far Total has injected less than 2,000 tonnes into the cavity. "The Rousse reservoir makes an ideal storage facility," says project manager Nicolas Aimard.
The rock formation, which is more than 35m years old, withstood the pressure exerted by the Pyrenees mountain range as it emerged. Furthermore the reservoir was thoroughly investigated when it was still operating. In theory it should be completely safe as the CO2 will be stored as a liquid at 80 bars, well below the 480-bar pressure of the former methane pocket. There should be no risk of the carbon dioxide, an acidic gas that can be deadly at high concentrations, escaping at ground level.
More capture in store
France's Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) has selected three further projects to research carbon capture and storage. Ademe has allocated $54m to the four projects, only a small proportion of the total cost. The aim is to investigate different technologies.
The France-Nord scheme, coordinated by Total, will be testing the storage potential of deep underground reserves of brackish water unsuitable for human consumption. A site will be chosen over the next two years. Another, led by the steel giant ArcelorMittal, will be focusing on an end-to-end process covering the capture, transport and storage of carbon dioxide from a blast furnace. A pilot plant is due to be built at Florange, in eastern France, at a cost of $600m, part of which will be funded by the EU.
The last project, led by EDF and Alstom, in partnership with Veolia Environment, focuses on the use of solvents to trap CO2 from a coal-fired power station near Le Havre.
France is not the only country to be counting on CCS technology. Some 150 projects are already under way worldwide.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says CCS could neutralise one-fifth of anthropogenic CO2 emissions by 2050, and the International Energy Agency hopes to see 3,400 CCS plants by then, stopping about one-third of current emissions.
This story first appeared in Le Monde.
Pierre Le Hir
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 15 June 2010 14.00 BST
In the midst of the Jurançon vineyards is a plot of land surrounded by shrubs. At first sight this patch of southwest France might seem a haven of tranquillity, but the visitor notices the hum of a compressor, odd control levers sticking out of the ground, and two pale green pipes running across the field, then down a succession of valleys leading to the Lacq gas facility.
It was here in January that Total started an experiment in carbon- dioxide storage. The oil conglomerate plans to inject 120,000 tonnes of CO2 into a depleted natural-gas reservoir, 4,500 metres below the ground in a porous sedimentary rock formation extending over two square kilometres. The 100-metre high cavity is covered by a layer of clay and marl 2km thick.
Total plans to study the Rousse site in detail for five years, then carry on monitoring to check that the gas is permanently trapped and there is no risk of it escaping to the surface. The site is bristling with instruments: CO2 detectors, pressure and temperature sensors, seismic probes and such.
Twenty-seven kilometres away, at the Lacq facility, where the CO2 is captured prior to being pumped up to the storage site, the atmosphere is very different, with a mass of giant tanks, chimneys and criss-crossed pipes.
Total has refurbished one of five boilers at its methane processing plant (due to close in 2013) and converted it into a demonstrator for CO2-capture. It will be the first plant in Europe and the second worldwide – in October last year Alstom commissioned a similar system in West Virginia – to experiment a complete process capturing, transporting and storing the main greenhouse gas. France is pinning high hopes on this technology.
Total has invested $72m in the 30MW fossil-fuel pilot carbon-capture system at Lacq, which is one-tenth of the size of the projected industrial plant. It captures 15% of the CO2 emissions from the boilers at the Lacq gas works. If similar technology were fitted to the whole facility and adequate storage capacity were available, all the CO2 could be neutralised.
But, as the company acknowledges, capture comes at a cost, in energy and emissions. Trapping 100 tonnes of CO2 produces 20 tonnes of emissions, but the overall result for the environment is nevertheless positive.
The capture process alone represents two-thirds of the overall cost, from start to finish, which can amount to as much as $170 a tonne of sequestered gas. So Total is concentrating its efforts on reducing those costs. After five months' experimentation the engineers say they are "satisfied the technology is sufficiently robust".
The trickiest part is trapping the gas underground and so far Total has injected less than 2,000 tonnes into the cavity. "The Rousse reservoir makes an ideal storage facility," says project manager Nicolas Aimard.
The rock formation, which is more than 35m years old, withstood the pressure exerted by the Pyrenees mountain range as it emerged. Furthermore the reservoir was thoroughly investigated when it was still operating. In theory it should be completely safe as the CO2 will be stored as a liquid at 80 bars, well below the 480-bar pressure of the former methane pocket. There should be no risk of the carbon dioxide, an acidic gas that can be deadly at high concentrations, escaping at ground level.
More capture in store
France's Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) has selected three further projects to research carbon capture and storage. Ademe has allocated $54m to the four projects, only a small proportion of the total cost. The aim is to investigate different technologies.
The France-Nord scheme, coordinated by Total, will be testing the storage potential of deep underground reserves of brackish water unsuitable for human consumption. A site will be chosen over the next two years. Another, led by the steel giant ArcelorMittal, will be focusing on an end-to-end process covering the capture, transport and storage of carbon dioxide from a blast furnace. A pilot plant is due to be built at Florange, in eastern France, at a cost of $600m, part of which will be funded by the EU.
The last project, led by EDF and Alstom, in partnership with Veolia Environment, focuses on the use of solvents to trap CO2 from a coal-fired power station near Le Havre.
France is not the only country to be counting on CCS technology. Some 150 projects are already under way worldwide.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says CCS could neutralise one-fifth of anthropogenic CO2 emissions by 2050, and the International Energy Agency hopes to see 3,400 CCS plants by then, stopping about one-third of current emissions.
This story first appeared in Le Monde.
Zero carbon vision sees UK as cleaner, greener and leaner within 20 years
Centre for Alternative Technology launches influential report that shows how Britain could eliminate emissions by 2030
Juliette Jowit The Guardian, Wednesday 16 June 2010
It's 2030, only 20 years from now: you have driven to work, there is meat for dinner and you are considering taking your partner to India to visit family later in the year. So far, so normal, but this is also a vision of a zero carbon Britain: where not a single gram of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and climate change are emitted to power our future lives.
There are changes, however, some invisible, many more obvious. Cars will be electric, and instead of owning them many drivers will borrow from car clubs or lease them. Airlines will no longer fly short distances, and long-haul trips will be a rare treat. Workers from more traditional heavy-energy industries like steel or cement will need to retrain to work in insulating millions of buildings or back on the land, possibly involving big social upheavals. Dinner might be a roast, but poultry or pork because lamb or beef rearing would take up too much land and emit too many greenhouse gases; while mango and bananas will be a luxury as food imports have been halved. And the very landscape of Britain will look different too: instead of green and pleasant fields with grazing Fresian cattle there will be millions more acres of vegetables and grain to eat, and trees for biofuels or buildings.
The vision of Zero Carbon Britain in 2030 is set out in a report published today by the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), and backed by organisations including four universities and the Met Office, and experts including Sir John Haughton, former co-chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In just two decades it claims the nation can eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 637m tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2007. Ninety percent of this would be achieved by eliminating the most wasteful uses of energy, increasing renewable electricity and heating, and transforming land use and farming. The remaining 10% or 67m tonnes would be "offset" by capturing the equivalent emissions from the atmosphere by growing willow, ash, pine, oak and other trees on land freed up by almost abolishing animal grazing.
Despite setting more ambitious timetables than demanded of Britain, the pace and scale of transition is "entirely possible", said Viki Johnson of the New Economics Foundation and one of the report's authors. "The solutions exist, what has been missing to date is the political will to implement them."
It was also an "ethical responsibility", said Alex Randall, a CAT spokesman. "We have had 150 years benefiting from burning fossil fuels: we have built our schools, hospitals, roads, and everything we need. By making our reductions quickly we allow some scope for less developed countries to use what's left, rather than hogging this for our continuing development."
The blueprint is divided into three key areas: mass insulation of homes and offices, smaller easier-to heat rooms, electric or biofuel vehicles, much less flying and driving and more public transport should cut energy from buildings and transport by 57%; generating a lot more renewable electricity using a range of clean sources, especially off-shore wind, but no nuclear power, should cut another huge tranche and generate millions of new jobs; and and free up land to grow biofuels and crops which "sequester" the remaining emissions from industry, soil degradation and other harder to eliminate sources.
But, as an example of how much change is needed to achieve this goal, the first electric car buyers' guide, released today by the Environmental Transport Association, has just three cars with more than two seats, with the cheapest being the £20,000 C1 ev'ie.
Juliette Jowit The Guardian, Wednesday 16 June 2010
It's 2030, only 20 years from now: you have driven to work, there is meat for dinner and you are considering taking your partner to India to visit family later in the year. So far, so normal, but this is also a vision of a zero carbon Britain: where not a single gram of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and climate change are emitted to power our future lives.
There are changes, however, some invisible, many more obvious. Cars will be electric, and instead of owning them many drivers will borrow from car clubs or lease them. Airlines will no longer fly short distances, and long-haul trips will be a rare treat. Workers from more traditional heavy-energy industries like steel or cement will need to retrain to work in insulating millions of buildings or back on the land, possibly involving big social upheavals. Dinner might be a roast, but poultry or pork because lamb or beef rearing would take up too much land and emit too many greenhouse gases; while mango and bananas will be a luxury as food imports have been halved. And the very landscape of Britain will look different too: instead of green and pleasant fields with grazing Fresian cattle there will be millions more acres of vegetables and grain to eat, and trees for biofuels or buildings.
The vision of Zero Carbon Britain in 2030 is set out in a report published today by the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), and backed by organisations including four universities and the Met Office, and experts including Sir John Haughton, former co-chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In just two decades it claims the nation can eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 637m tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2007. Ninety percent of this would be achieved by eliminating the most wasteful uses of energy, increasing renewable electricity and heating, and transforming land use and farming. The remaining 10% or 67m tonnes would be "offset" by capturing the equivalent emissions from the atmosphere by growing willow, ash, pine, oak and other trees on land freed up by almost abolishing animal grazing.
Despite setting more ambitious timetables than demanded of Britain, the pace and scale of transition is "entirely possible", said Viki Johnson of the New Economics Foundation and one of the report's authors. "The solutions exist, what has been missing to date is the political will to implement them."
It was also an "ethical responsibility", said Alex Randall, a CAT spokesman. "We have had 150 years benefiting from burning fossil fuels: we have built our schools, hospitals, roads, and everything we need. By making our reductions quickly we allow some scope for less developed countries to use what's left, rather than hogging this for our continuing development."
The blueprint is divided into three key areas: mass insulation of homes and offices, smaller easier-to heat rooms, electric or biofuel vehicles, much less flying and driving and more public transport should cut energy from buildings and transport by 57%; generating a lot more renewable electricity using a range of clean sources, especially off-shore wind, but no nuclear power, should cut another huge tranche and generate millions of new jobs; and and free up land to grow biofuels and crops which "sequester" the remaining emissions from industry, soil degradation and other harder to eliminate sources.
But, as an example of how much change is needed to achieve this goal, the first electric car buyers' guide, released today by the Environmental Transport Association, has just three cars with more than two seats, with the cheapest being the £20,000 C1 ev'ie.
Pay hill farmers to protect water supply and carbon sinks, report urges
Peat stores 200m tonnes of carbon in England and hills are source of 70% of the country's drinking water, say rural experts
Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 June 2010 15.50 BST
The government faces a new call on its diminished resources today with a recommendation from rural experts that hill farmers should be subsidised to safeguard water catchments and protect huge carbon-storing wildernesses of peat.
But the Commission for Rural Communities has softened its request by suggesting that Whitehall target European funding for much of the proposed scheme, taking advantage of pending reforms in the EU's common agricultural policy.
The lengthy inquiry into the future of England's uplands, which cover 17% of the country, but are home to only 4% of the population, also argues that the hills have a good chance of paying their way in future. Although the ancient staple of sheep-farming will continue, more money – and therefore initial subsidy – is likely to be found in carbon storage and keeping water plentiful and pure.
The report suggests that these sectors may come to rival the other main earner for England's hill country – tourism, which has generated an average of £1.8bna year in the last five years, from more than 40 million annual visitors to the largely upland National Parks. Peat's ability to store some 200 million tonnes of carbon in England, and the hills' source of 70% of the country's drinking water will become "increasingly important as population grows and pressure increases on all the world's resources", says the report.
The commission says that help is also needed to sustain everyday life in the uplands, from more accessible healthcare and faster broadband to cheaper housing for residents rather than second-homers. Current policy is criticised as too fragmented and "top down", although the report is at pains to pitch a positive spin.
"Rather than defining these areas purely by their agricultural disadvantage, the nation should be considering them as areas that offer great public benefit and environmental value," says the report. "Not only are they iconic landscapes, providing space, tranquility, beauty and the protection of our cultural heritage, but they are also working areas that deliver crucial goods and services to sustain and support human livelihoods."
Ian Woodhurst, senior rural policy officer for the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "We need to banish the negative mindset many people have when thinking about upland communities. They are not just disadvantaged, declining and remote. "This report rightly recognises their important role in tackling future challenges by providing food, water management and carbon capture."
The main landowners' body, the Country Land and Business Association, welcomed the report but called for a wider relaxation of planning restrictions than the commission suggests. The group's vice-president Henry Robinson said that "green energy" could be released if more land in the hills was released for local housing and commerce, particularly firms offering sustainable services or goods.
Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 June 2010 15.50 BST
The government faces a new call on its diminished resources today with a recommendation from rural experts that hill farmers should be subsidised to safeguard water catchments and protect huge carbon-storing wildernesses of peat.
But the Commission for Rural Communities has softened its request by suggesting that Whitehall target European funding for much of the proposed scheme, taking advantage of pending reforms in the EU's common agricultural policy.
The lengthy inquiry into the future of England's uplands, which cover 17% of the country, but are home to only 4% of the population, also argues that the hills have a good chance of paying their way in future. Although the ancient staple of sheep-farming will continue, more money – and therefore initial subsidy – is likely to be found in carbon storage and keeping water plentiful and pure.
The report suggests that these sectors may come to rival the other main earner for England's hill country – tourism, which has generated an average of £1.8bna year in the last five years, from more than 40 million annual visitors to the largely upland National Parks. Peat's ability to store some 200 million tonnes of carbon in England, and the hills' source of 70% of the country's drinking water will become "increasingly important as population grows and pressure increases on all the world's resources", says the report.
The commission says that help is also needed to sustain everyday life in the uplands, from more accessible healthcare and faster broadband to cheaper housing for residents rather than second-homers. Current policy is criticised as too fragmented and "top down", although the report is at pains to pitch a positive spin.
"Rather than defining these areas purely by their agricultural disadvantage, the nation should be considering them as areas that offer great public benefit and environmental value," says the report. "Not only are they iconic landscapes, providing space, tranquility, beauty and the protection of our cultural heritage, but they are also working areas that deliver crucial goods and services to sustain and support human livelihoods."
Ian Woodhurst, senior rural policy officer for the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "We need to banish the negative mindset many people have when thinking about upland communities. They are not just disadvantaged, declining and remote. "This report rightly recognises their important role in tackling future challenges by providing food, water management and carbon capture."
The main landowners' body, the Country Land and Business Association, welcomed the report but called for a wider relaxation of planning restrictions than the commission suggests. The group's vice-president Henry Robinson said that "green energy" could be released if more land in the hills was released for local housing and commerce, particularly firms offering sustainable services or goods.
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