By-products from distilling process could be used to power cars and even aviation, according to researchers in Edinburgh
Kirsty Scott guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 August 2010 17.01 BST
Whisky is being used to develop a biofuel which gives 30% more power output than ethanol and could be available at petrol pumps within a few years
It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "one for the road". Whisky, the spirit that powers the Scottish economy, is being used to develop a new biofuel which could be available at petrol pumps in a few years.
Using samples from the Glenkinchie Distillery in East Lothian, researchers at Edinburgh Napier University have developed a method of producing biofuel from two main by-products of the whisky distilling process – "pot ale", the liquid from the copper stills, and "draff", the spent grains.
Copious quantities of both waste products are produced by the £4bn whisky industry each year, and the scientists say there is real potential for the biofuel, to be available at local garage forecourts alongside traditional fuels. It can be used in conventional cars without adapting their engines. The team also said it could be used to fuel planes and as the basis for chemicals such as acetone, an important solvent.
The new method developed by the team produces butanol, which gives 30% more power output than the traditional biofuel ethanol. It is based on a 100-year-old process that was originally developed to produce butanol and acetone by fermenting sugar. The team has adapted this to use whiskey by-products as a starting point and has filed for a patent to cover the new method. It plans to create a spin-out company to commercialise the invention.
Professor Martin Tangney, who directed the project said that using waste products was more environmentally sustainable than growing crops specifically to generate biofuel. He added that it could contribute significantly to targets set by the EU for biofuels to account for 10% of total fuel sales by 2020.
"What people need to do is stop thinking 'either or'; people need to stop thinking like for like substitution for oil. That's not going to happen. Different things will be needed in different countries. Electric cars will play some role in the market, taking cars off the road could be one of the most important things we ever do."
Dr Richard Dixon, of WWF Scotland, welcomed the project. "The production of some biofuels can cause massive environmental damage to forests and wildlife," he said. "So whisky powered-cars could help Scotland avoid having to use those forest-trashing biofuels."
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Vestas shares plummet following huge second-quarter losses
Poor results at Vestas damage wind energy sector already hit by Barack Obama's inability to introduce green policies
Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 16.59 BST
Vestas, the world's biggest wind turbine manufacturer, has spread a dark cloud over the renewable energy sector by turning a sizeable second-quarter profit last year into a €120m (£99m) loss over the past three months.
Shares in the company plunged more than 20% on the Copenhagen stock market as analysts took fright, despite claims by Vestas that the financial turnaround was just a delayed reaction to the credit crunch, which had led to delayed orders.
Vestas, which closed down its Isle of Wight manufacturing facility last summer, said it was going to chop 600 more jobs – half of them short-term contracts – in Denmark, its home base.
The unexpectedly poor financial results come amid recent warnings from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) that the previously buoyant US wind market was in precipitous decline and desperately needed positive new policies from the White House.
The global renewable energy sector has become increasingly fearful that governments are now more concerned about cutting public spending than keeping the green energy revolution on track.
Ditlev Engel, the Vestas chief executive, said it would still proceed with expansion plans that would create 3,000 new positions in north America and elsewhere, saying the future for Vestas was still bright.
"The deficit in the first half of this year is not unexpected as the impact of the credit crunch has meant delayed deliveries to Spain, Germany and the US have not fed into the latest results. But we have now seen a major turnaround in orders and the €270m loss in the first half will be more than made up for by a €500m to €600m profit in the second half," he explained.
But Engel admitted the bounce-back in new orders was still not as strong as originally expected, so full-year earnings before interest and taxes (ebit) margin of 10%-11% had been downgraded to 5%-6% and revenues of €7bn had been downgraded to €6bn.
However, Vestas has kept its long-term goals of producing ebit margins of 15% by 2015 and points out orders reached 3,031MW in the second quarter of this year, its largest in a three-month period.
Since the half year, the company has clocked up major new contracts, including its biggest single order for 570MW in America, a deal for the largest wind-power scheme in Australia, and an increasing amount of business in China.
But analysts were still shocked by a 17% fall in second-quarter revenues, and nervousness spread into the wider renewable energy sector with shares in wind turbine gearbox maker Hansen Transmissions losing 7% of their value in early trading.
Håkon Levy, a clean tech analyst at Fondsfinans in Stockholm who has a "buy" rating on the Vestas stock, described the results as very weak, adding: "The guidance reduction was far worse than expected."
The AWEA has recently warned the US government that the number of new projects being sanctioned has slumped this year under the impact of competition from lower gas prices and a lack of new subsidies. Wind projects worldwide continue to need public sector support to make them commercial, although the gap with traditional power sources is narrowing.
But the association is also concerned that Barack Obama's inability to push through a new energy and climate change bill is also sapping confidence among investors.
The recent lack of progress in wider global climate change talks in Bonn has led to a lowering of expectations that the next summit at Cancun in Mexico can make progress after the failures in Copenhagen last December. Recent opinion polls suggest the public in many countries have become more, rather than less, sceptical about global warming in recent months.
Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 16.59 BST
Vestas, the world's biggest wind turbine manufacturer, has spread a dark cloud over the renewable energy sector by turning a sizeable second-quarter profit last year into a €120m (£99m) loss over the past three months.
Shares in the company plunged more than 20% on the Copenhagen stock market as analysts took fright, despite claims by Vestas that the financial turnaround was just a delayed reaction to the credit crunch, which had led to delayed orders.
Vestas, which closed down its Isle of Wight manufacturing facility last summer, said it was going to chop 600 more jobs – half of them short-term contracts – in Denmark, its home base.
The unexpectedly poor financial results come amid recent warnings from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) that the previously buoyant US wind market was in precipitous decline and desperately needed positive new policies from the White House.
The global renewable energy sector has become increasingly fearful that governments are now more concerned about cutting public spending than keeping the green energy revolution on track.
Ditlev Engel, the Vestas chief executive, said it would still proceed with expansion plans that would create 3,000 new positions in north America and elsewhere, saying the future for Vestas was still bright.
"The deficit in the first half of this year is not unexpected as the impact of the credit crunch has meant delayed deliveries to Spain, Germany and the US have not fed into the latest results. But we have now seen a major turnaround in orders and the €270m loss in the first half will be more than made up for by a €500m to €600m profit in the second half," he explained.
But Engel admitted the bounce-back in new orders was still not as strong as originally expected, so full-year earnings before interest and taxes (ebit) margin of 10%-11% had been downgraded to 5%-6% and revenues of €7bn had been downgraded to €6bn.
However, Vestas has kept its long-term goals of producing ebit margins of 15% by 2015 and points out orders reached 3,031MW in the second quarter of this year, its largest in a three-month period.
Since the half year, the company has clocked up major new contracts, including its biggest single order for 570MW in America, a deal for the largest wind-power scheme in Australia, and an increasing amount of business in China.
But analysts were still shocked by a 17% fall in second-quarter revenues, and nervousness spread into the wider renewable energy sector with shares in wind turbine gearbox maker Hansen Transmissions losing 7% of their value in early trading.
Håkon Levy, a clean tech analyst at Fondsfinans in Stockholm who has a "buy" rating on the Vestas stock, described the results as very weak, adding: "The guidance reduction was far worse than expected."
The AWEA has recently warned the US government that the number of new projects being sanctioned has slumped this year under the impact of competition from lower gas prices and a lack of new subsidies. Wind projects worldwide continue to need public sector support to make them commercial, although the gap with traditional power sources is narrowing.
But the association is also concerned that Barack Obama's inability to push through a new energy and climate change bill is also sapping confidence among investors.
The recent lack of progress in wider global climate change talks in Bonn has led to a lowering of expectations that the next summit at Cancun in Mexico can make progress after the failures in Copenhagen last December. Recent opinion polls suggest the public in many countries have become more, rather than less, sceptical about global warming in recent months.
Why has extreme weather failed to heat up climate debate?
The world is experiencing the hottest weather on record but politicians have failed to respond. They need a wake-up call
Bill McKibben
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 15.30 BST
We've had so much record heat around the world lately that the records themselves are setting records: 17 nations have reached new temperature highs, a new record for records in a year. Pakistan hit (129F) 54C, a new record for all of Asia. Moscow had never hit 100F (38C) before; lately it's been a rare day when the mercury settles lower.
Now scientists have confirmed what's been pretty obvious: the entire world has just come through the warmest six months, the warmest year, and the warmest decade on record. Following the hottest June ever, AccuWeather.com yesterday said July was the second hottest July recorded – and the warmest ever for land temperatures alone.
Just in case those feel like abstractions, here's what they mean in practice: because warmer air holds more water vapour than cold, deluge increases. Hence, Pakistan has seen the worst flooding in its history. Because heat cuts grain yields, Russia has stopped exporting grain, spiking prices. Greenland? Guess what – heat melts ice.
In fact, the only thing that defies common sense this brutal summer is how little political reaction there's been. The UN process continues its post-Copenhagen wander – even many NGOs continue out of sheer habit to support old targets, like limiting the level of CO2 to 450 parts per million (ppm) and a 2C increase in temperature. Why? If the current 390 ppm melts the Arctic, who would aim for 450? In Washington, meanwhile, the Congress and White House have decided there's no need for any kind of urgency: they let the tepid and tame climate bill die without even scheduling a vote.
So here's what we need: a movement. A really big one, all over the world. Right now the energy companies are winning, and winning easily. Because they're the most profitable business the world has ever seen, they have enormous influence. And because all they need to do is delay, so far they've barely even been bothered by environmentalists.
But this is no longer an environmental battle. As this summer demonstrates, if you're concerned about development, climate change is issue No 1 (how much development is going to go on in Pakistan, now that its bridges are all gone?). If you're concerned about war and peace, climate change is issue No 1 (when Russia stops sending grain to Egypt and Nigeria, and when wheat prices start to rise, what do you think comes next?). If you're concerned about the future, then climate change is issue No 1 – because this summer is a tiny taste of what the future is all about. So far we've barely raised the earth's temperature a degree, and that's caused all that we've seen so far. But climatologists assure us there's four or five degrees more by the century's end unless we work with incredible speed to end the fossil fuel era.
It's not impossible to build a movement. Look at the great examples in the UK, where anti-aviation-expansion group Plane Stupid has turned the tide on Heathrow (or where climate campaign 10:10 has persuaded Tottenham Hotspur to go green). Look at what we at 350.org managed to pull off last October, when 5,200 simultaneous demonstrations in 181 countries pushed for a 350ppm carbon target. People everywhere can understand the science – they're living it, more and more.
This autumn the big dates include 10 October, when environmental groups the world over are collaborating on a Global Work Party, designed not just to put up a lot of solar panels but also to send a strong message to our leaders: We're getting to work, what about you?
But movements aren't just a series of events. They need to be ongoing, swelling—they need to suggest through science and art the new world that is possible. I'd be surprised if by this time next year civil disobedience was not under way across the globe. By next summer, I hope, it's this new movement that will be turning up the heat.
• Bill McKibben is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, founder of 350.org, and author most recently of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.
Bill McKibben
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 15.30 BST
We've had so much record heat around the world lately that the records themselves are setting records: 17 nations have reached new temperature highs, a new record for records in a year. Pakistan hit (129F) 54C, a new record for all of Asia. Moscow had never hit 100F (38C) before; lately it's been a rare day when the mercury settles lower.
Now scientists have confirmed what's been pretty obvious: the entire world has just come through the warmest six months, the warmest year, and the warmest decade on record. Following the hottest June ever, AccuWeather.com yesterday said July was the second hottest July recorded – and the warmest ever for land temperatures alone.
Just in case those feel like abstractions, here's what they mean in practice: because warmer air holds more water vapour than cold, deluge increases. Hence, Pakistan has seen the worst flooding in its history. Because heat cuts grain yields, Russia has stopped exporting grain, spiking prices. Greenland? Guess what – heat melts ice.
In fact, the only thing that defies common sense this brutal summer is how little political reaction there's been. The UN process continues its post-Copenhagen wander – even many NGOs continue out of sheer habit to support old targets, like limiting the level of CO2 to 450 parts per million (ppm) and a 2C increase in temperature. Why? If the current 390 ppm melts the Arctic, who would aim for 450? In Washington, meanwhile, the Congress and White House have decided there's no need for any kind of urgency: they let the tepid and tame climate bill die without even scheduling a vote.
So here's what we need: a movement. A really big one, all over the world. Right now the energy companies are winning, and winning easily. Because they're the most profitable business the world has ever seen, they have enormous influence. And because all they need to do is delay, so far they've barely even been bothered by environmentalists.
But this is no longer an environmental battle. As this summer demonstrates, if you're concerned about development, climate change is issue No 1 (how much development is going to go on in Pakistan, now that its bridges are all gone?). If you're concerned about war and peace, climate change is issue No 1 (when Russia stops sending grain to Egypt and Nigeria, and when wheat prices start to rise, what do you think comes next?). If you're concerned about the future, then climate change is issue No 1 – because this summer is a tiny taste of what the future is all about. So far we've barely raised the earth's temperature a degree, and that's caused all that we've seen so far. But climatologists assure us there's four or five degrees more by the century's end unless we work with incredible speed to end the fossil fuel era.
It's not impossible to build a movement. Look at the great examples in the UK, where anti-aviation-expansion group Plane Stupid has turned the tide on Heathrow (or where climate campaign 10:10 has persuaded Tottenham Hotspur to go green). Look at what we at 350.org managed to pull off last October, when 5,200 simultaneous demonstrations in 181 countries pushed for a 350ppm carbon target. People everywhere can understand the science – they're living it, more and more.
This autumn the big dates include 10 October, when environmental groups the world over are collaborating on a Global Work Party, designed not just to put up a lot of solar panels but also to send a strong message to our leaders: We're getting to work, what about you?
But movements aren't just a series of events. They need to be ongoing, swelling—they need to suggest through science and art the new world that is possible. I'd be surprised if by this time next year civil disobedience was not under way across the globe. By next summer, I hope, it's this new movement that will be turning up the heat.
• Bill McKibben is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, founder of 350.org, and author most recently of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.