Monday, November 01, 2010 8:01 PM
Nov. 1, 2010 (United Press International) -- Grass could be the bioenergy crop of the future as the demand for biofuels increases, replacing corn as the premiere biofuel crop, U.S. researchers say.
Researchers at the University of Illinois have completed the first analysis of potential bioenergy grass crops in the Midwestern United States, a university release said Monday.
Corn ethanol is currently the main biofuel available but the demand for ethanol competes with corn's availability as food and that could drive up food costs, researchers say.
The U.S. government has mandated that 20 billion gallons of biofuels must be produced annually from non-corn biomass by 2022.
Large grasses, such as switchgrass and miscanthus, could provide the biomass necessary, with higher ethanol volumes per acre and lower water requirements than corn, scientists say.
Switchgrass is large prairie grass native to the Midwest. In Europe, miscanthus, a sterile hybrid, is already widely cultivated as a biofuel crop.
"It's a better way to achieve our goals of energy security and climate change mitigation," Madhu Khanna, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the university, says. "These two particular crops are among the more promising nonfood crops currently available for large-scale production."
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Tidal power hopes for Wirral pier
Nov 1 2010
by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post
Recommend 12next
A PROPOSED new pier in a Merseyside coastal town could be used to test tidal power technology on the Mersey, according to a report to be presented to Wirral Council.
Over the last four years Peel Energy has been looking at the possibility of generating energy from tidal power in the Mersey.
The company is due to give a presentation to Wirral Council’s ruling cabinet on Thursday on how the project is developing.
The report to Wirral Council’s ruling cabinet said: “Peel Energy intend to submit a planning application for the finalised Mersey Tidal Scheme in early 2012.”
The report said council officers and Neptune Developments who are currently part way through the redevelopment of New Brighton have met with Peel Energy to discuss how they might work together.
The meeting was to brief Peel on the New Brighton Regeneration proposals “and the linkages it has to the NWDA supported New Brighton Pier Feasibility Study completed in 2009 including the potential for the pier to be used as a test facility for tidal energy technologies”.
Peel has so far been examining the different technologies available to generate renewable energy and see if the scheme is viable. A large scheme has the potential to meet the electricity needs of up to 260,000 homes.
Wirral Council’s interim director of corporate resources, Kevin Adderley, said the meeting with Peel and Neptune had been to see if, depending on what technology is selected, the pier could play a role in its development.
Plans for a pier in New Brighton have been discussed since Neptune’s regeneration of the town were first proposed, but funding has been a major stumbling block.
A recent feasibility study suggested the pier had potential but a large amount of public funding would be required, and this is in short supply.
However, Anthony Hatton, development director for Peel Energy, played down the possibility the pier would play a role in the tidal power project but said some of the technology they have considered might be of use.
He said Wirral Council had approached them about the possible use of the pier and added: “We’re looking at a whole river system, not necessarily compatible with a pier.”
In 2006 Peel Energy, in partnership with the NWDA, set out to explore the potential, the impacts and the implications of using the Mersey Estuary’s tides for renewable energy.
The study has been examining the technology options for a deeper water location, from approximately Tranmere/Rock Ferry to Dingle, and shallower water between Eastham Docks and Garston Dock.
Peel Energy said that within the next few weeks they should be able to give a shortlist of the potential schemes, with a preferred scheme selected by March 2011.
by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post
Recommend 12next
A PROPOSED new pier in a Merseyside coastal town could be used to test tidal power technology on the Mersey, according to a report to be presented to Wirral Council.
Over the last four years Peel Energy has been looking at the possibility of generating energy from tidal power in the Mersey.
The company is due to give a presentation to Wirral Council’s ruling cabinet on Thursday on how the project is developing.
The report to Wirral Council’s ruling cabinet said: “Peel Energy intend to submit a planning application for the finalised Mersey Tidal Scheme in early 2012.”
The report said council officers and Neptune Developments who are currently part way through the redevelopment of New Brighton have met with Peel Energy to discuss how they might work together.
The meeting was to brief Peel on the New Brighton Regeneration proposals “and the linkages it has to the NWDA supported New Brighton Pier Feasibility Study completed in 2009 including the potential for the pier to be used as a test facility for tidal energy technologies”.
Peel has so far been examining the different technologies available to generate renewable energy and see if the scheme is viable. A large scheme has the potential to meet the electricity needs of up to 260,000 homes.
Wirral Council’s interim director of corporate resources, Kevin Adderley, said the meeting with Peel and Neptune had been to see if, depending on what technology is selected, the pier could play a role in its development.
Plans for a pier in New Brighton have been discussed since Neptune’s regeneration of the town were first proposed, but funding has been a major stumbling block.
A recent feasibility study suggested the pier had potential but a large amount of public funding would be required, and this is in short supply.
However, Anthony Hatton, development director for Peel Energy, played down the possibility the pier would play a role in the tidal power project but said some of the technology they have considered might be of use.
He said Wirral Council had approached them about the possible use of the pier and added: “We’re looking at a whole river system, not necessarily compatible with a pier.”
In 2006 Peel Energy, in partnership with the NWDA, set out to explore the potential, the impacts and the implications of using the Mersey Estuary’s tides for renewable energy.
The study has been examining the technology options for a deeper water location, from approximately Tranmere/Rock Ferry to Dingle, and shallower water between Eastham Docks and Garston Dock.
Peel Energy said that within the next few weeks they should be able to give a shortlist of the potential schemes, with a preferred scheme selected by March 2011.
Big Oil spends $69.5m on ads to get the Congress it wants
It's worth a lot to the oil and coal lobbies to get the Congress they want and the investment seems to be paying off
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 November 2010 17.45 GMT
The next Congress is expected to throw up a whole new set of roadblocks to Barack Obama's environmental agenda - from time-consuming investigations to budget cuts.
So how much was the fossil fuel industries willing to pay to help cast out White House allies on energy and climate change?
A lot, it turns out. Oil and coal lobby groups have spent $69.5 million on television ads specifically targetted against Obama clean energy policies in these mid-term elections, according to data compiled by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
That's a 10-to-1 advantage over clean energy groups. Opinion polls are all predicting big wins in tomorrow's elections for Republicans, especially Tea Party candidates.
Most of the Tea Party favourites deny the existence of man-made climate change, and some Democrats, like Joe Manchin who is running for the Senate from West Virginia, are doing all they can to distance themselves from Democratic environmental policies. Manchin, in his television ads, fired a round into a target labelled cap-and-trade.
The only bright spot could be California, where a coalition led by the outgoing Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Silicon Valley and Venture Capital, have raised $30 million to defend the state's climate law from Texas oil refiners.
Two Texas oil refiners, Valero and Tesoro, as well as a subsidiary owned by the billionaire Koch brothers mustered $10 million to block California's milestone climate change law, which mandates 25% cuts in emissions by 2020.
The mid-term election ad buys were an expensive finish to what has been a big PR year overall for oil and coal.
The energy industry spent $247.5 million on advertising this year, according to data compiled by the Alliance for Climate Protection, the campaigning group started by Al Gore.
Much of that was dedicated to damage control. BP spent $125 million on its "We'll make this right" television ads after the catastrophic spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Massey Energy, owner of a West Virginia mine where 29 were killed in an explosion last April, spent $965,000 on advertising.
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 November 2010 17.45 GMT
The next Congress is expected to throw up a whole new set of roadblocks to Barack Obama's environmental agenda - from time-consuming investigations to budget cuts.
So how much was the fossil fuel industries willing to pay to help cast out White House allies on energy and climate change?
A lot, it turns out. Oil and coal lobby groups have spent $69.5 million on television ads specifically targetted against Obama clean energy policies in these mid-term elections, according to data compiled by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
That's a 10-to-1 advantage over clean energy groups. Opinion polls are all predicting big wins in tomorrow's elections for Republicans, especially Tea Party candidates.
Most of the Tea Party favourites deny the existence of man-made climate change, and some Democrats, like Joe Manchin who is running for the Senate from West Virginia, are doing all they can to distance themselves from Democratic environmental policies. Manchin, in his television ads, fired a round into a target labelled cap-and-trade.
The only bright spot could be California, where a coalition led by the outgoing Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Silicon Valley and Venture Capital, have raised $30 million to defend the state's climate law from Texas oil refiners.
Two Texas oil refiners, Valero and Tesoro, as well as a subsidiary owned by the billionaire Koch brothers mustered $10 million to block California's milestone climate change law, which mandates 25% cuts in emissions by 2020.
The mid-term election ad buys were an expensive finish to what has been a big PR year overall for oil and coal.
The energy industry spent $247.5 million on advertising this year, according to data compiled by the Alliance for Climate Protection, the campaigning group started by Al Gore.
Much of that was dedicated to damage control. BP spent $125 million on its "We'll make this right" television ads after the catastrophic spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Massey Energy, owner of a West Virginia mine where 29 were killed in an explosion last April, spent $965,000 on advertising.
Landlords face fines for energy inefficiency
Councils to be encouraged to target and compel 'Rupert Rigsby' landlords to upgrade properties or face £5,000 fine
Allegra Stratton The Guardian, Tuesday 2 November 2010
The government is to beef up legislation forcing landlords to pay a fine if they rent properties without proper insulation.
The new strictures on the quality of homes are included in the "green deal" which the government will announce today and put before parliament in December.
By the autumn of 2012, the government says the scheme will enable homeowners to make their house or flat energy-efficient with no immediate payments.
Companies would install loft and cavity-wall insulation draught-proof doors and windows and the homeowner would pay the firm back through their energy bills over up to 20 years. The aim would be for the homeowner to barely notice the repayments due to lower energy bills.
Ministers believe that about 14m of Britain's 27m homes, offices and buildings could be fitted with energy-saving measures in the next 10 years and that jobs in the energy efficiency refurbishment sector could rise from its current 27,000 to 100,000.
The government has faced criticism in recent weeks for having few clear incentives for people to take the schemes up but large high street names including B&Q have confirmed they will market and sell the home-energy packages to the public, with Marks & Spencers also in talks with ministers.
The government wants to ensure it is not only high-end properties that go through the scheme, and to make sure those rented out by private landlords are also upgraded – in the words of one official, targeting the "Rupert Rigsbys", the landlord in the 70s TV show Rising Damp who managed run-down bedsits.
In the 2008 English House Condition survey – the last year for which figures are available – 21% or 676,000 homes out of the total 3.2m dwellings in the private rented sector were among the worst performing properties, many being F- and G-rated, the lowest bands of energy efficiency possible. According to the data, 68% of cavity walls were uninsulated and 45% of lofts had either less than 100mm of insulation or none at all.
Recent attempts to encourage private landlords to improve their housing stock have been unsuccessful. In the first two years of the carbon emissions reduction target scheme, only 1.9% of loft insulation installations were in the private rental sector compared to 91% in the owner-occupier sector.
The government will press councils to use existing legislation more actively, under which they are able to compel a landlord to carry out the work or do the work themselves and charge the landlord. They can also impose a fine of £5,000.
The forthcoming legislation would mean that by 2015, any tenant who asks for energy efficiency improvements cannot be reasonably refused by landlords. Local authorities could have the power to insist landlords improve the worst-performing properties.
The government insists there will be no "upfront or net negative" costs to landlords, and so hopes that they will see no reason not to take up the offer, and instead will see their property increase in value once it is upgraded.
Allegra Stratton The Guardian, Tuesday 2 November 2010
The government is to beef up legislation forcing landlords to pay a fine if they rent properties without proper insulation.
The new strictures on the quality of homes are included in the "green deal" which the government will announce today and put before parliament in December.
By the autumn of 2012, the government says the scheme will enable homeowners to make their house or flat energy-efficient with no immediate payments.
Companies would install loft and cavity-wall insulation draught-proof doors and windows and the homeowner would pay the firm back through their energy bills over up to 20 years. The aim would be for the homeowner to barely notice the repayments due to lower energy bills.
Ministers believe that about 14m of Britain's 27m homes, offices and buildings could be fitted with energy-saving measures in the next 10 years and that jobs in the energy efficiency refurbishment sector could rise from its current 27,000 to 100,000.
The government has faced criticism in recent weeks for having few clear incentives for people to take the schemes up but large high street names including B&Q have confirmed they will market and sell the home-energy packages to the public, with Marks & Spencers also in talks with ministers.
The government wants to ensure it is not only high-end properties that go through the scheme, and to make sure those rented out by private landlords are also upgraded – in the words of one official, targeting the "Rupert Rigsbys", the landlord in the 70s TV show Rising Damp who managed run-down bedsits.
In the 2008 English House Condition survey – the last year for which figures are available – 21% or 676,000 homes out of the total 3.2m dwellings in the private rented sector were among the worst performing properties, many being F- and G-rated, the lowest bands of energy efficiency possible. According to the data, 68% of cavity walls were uninsulated and 45% of lofts had either less than 100mm of insulation or none at all.
Recent attempts to encourage private landlords to improve their housing stock have been unsuccessful. In the first two years of the carbon emissions reduction target scheme, only 1.9% of loft insulation installations were in the private rental sector compared to 91% in the owner-occupier sector.
The government will press councils to use existing legislation more actively, under which they are able to compel a landlord to carry out the work or do the work themselves and charge the landlord. They can also impose a fine of £5,000.
The forthcoming legislation would mean that by 2015, any tenant who asks for energy efficiency improvements cannot be reasonably refused by landlords. Local authorities could have the power to insist landlords improve the worst-performing properties.
The government insists there will be no "upfront or net negative" costs to landlords, and so hopes that they will see no reason not to take up the offer, and instead will see their property increase in value once it is upgraded.