[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Business > Nissan]
Nissan electric car to boost jobs in Sunderland
Nissan has announced plans to build new zero emissions electric car, the Nissan Leaf, in Sunderland
Press association
The Guardian, Thursday 18 March 2010 Article history
Nissan announced today it will build its new electric car, the Nissan Leaf, in Sunderland. Production will begin in 2013 and forms part of a £420m investment in electric cars by the Japanese firm.
The manufacturer said the Leaf would be the world's first mass-produced zero-emission car, and around 50,000 a year will be made in Sunderland. The investment will be supported by a £20.7m government grant and a proposed finance package from the European Investment Bank of up to £197.3m.
Sunderland had been tipped as favourite for European production of the Leaf since the Nissan sited its electric car battery plant nearby.
Founded in 1984, Nissan's Sunderland factory employs around 4,000 people and built its five-millionth vehicle in June 2008.
The business secretary, Peter Mandelson, said: "This investment is a fantastic vote of confidence in the Sunderland plant and its excellent workforce."
Nissan's Andy Palmer added: "Thanks to the UK's firm commitment to a low carbon future in terms of infrastructure, customer incentives and educational programmes, Nissan Leaf will be built at Sunderland, making the UK the third country in the world to produce this revolutionary car."
The news comes amid fears that the recession will force Britain's manufacturers to shift production to cheaper plants overseas. Concerns were heightened after Manganese Bronze, the black-cab manufacturer, agreed to sell a majority stake to the Chinese Geely group and move more of its production to China.
Manganese Bronze, which assembles the TX4 cab – used widely in London and nationwide – at its factory in Coventry, said it had suffered a 30% collapse in sales since the start of the recession, provoking a slump in profits.
Chief executive John Russell said many cab owners had spent the past two years holding back from upgrading their vehicles. "This is a bit of a turning point for us," Russell said after the group posted a pretax loss for 2009 of £7.3m.
He said the company was considering offering Geely shares at 70p to give the Chinese group a controlling stake; shares in Manganese Bronze have been trading at about 85p since the end of January.
Russell also said plans to source bodies and chassis for the TX4 from Shanghai rather than the Coventry area, where its chief supplier is due to close.
Analysts at Collins Stewart suggested Geely was coming to the rescue of Manganese Bronze, which has struggled with recalls and falling market share. Geely is expected to inject £14m of cash and reduce MB's dependency on loans.
[Environment > Marine life]
Whale experts meet to solve mystery deaths of southern right species
More than 300 southern right whales have been found dead in the last five years in the waters off Argentina's Patagonian coast
Juliette Jowit
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 March 2010 12.39 GMT Article history
{Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are slow swimmers which made them easy to catch for whalers}
Experts are meeting this week to try to solve the mystery of the largest ever recorded die-off of great whales.
More than 300 southern right whales, most of them young calves, have been found dead in the last five years in the waters off Argentina's Patagonian coast - one of the most important breeding grounds for the species.
Possible causes being examined include biotoxins - naturally occurring poisons which include the venom of some snakes and spiders and the "flesh-eating" bacteria Necrotizing fasciitis - disease, environmental factors, and lack of prey, particularly the tiny krill which make up the bulk of the southern right's diet. Another theory put forward has been the effect of gulls, which can act like parasites, gouging skin and blubber from the whales' backs.
The main evidence that will be examined is tests on samples taken from beached whale calves, which have shown "unusually thin" blubber, said the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society, which described the die-off as "a perplexing and urgent mystery".
"We need to critically examine possible causes for this increase in calf mortality so we can begin to explore possible solutions," said Marcela Uhart, one of the WCS scientists who first discovered the problem. "Finding the cause may require an expansion of monitoring activities to include the vast feeding grounds for the species."
Southern right whales are one of three species of right whales, so called because fishermen considered them the "right whale" to hunt, because they are slow swimmers, easy to approach, live close to shore and float when dead.
In the first half of the 1800s about 45,000 right whales were killed, driving them close to extinction, before they became protected in 1937.
Since then the southern right whale — which weighs up to 90 tonnes when fully grown — has been a conservation success, numbers rebounding to about 7,500, in populations off South America, South Africa, Australia and some oceanic islands. Numbers of the Northern Atlantic right whale and Northern Pacific right whale have recovered less well, to a few hundred each, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Part of the concern about the recent die-off is that the dead whales have been found around the Peninsula Valdés, where one third of the global population of southern right whales is thought to use the protected bays for calving and nursing between the months of June and December.
"Peninsula Valdés is one of the most important calving and nursing grounds for the species found throughout the southern hemisphere," said Howard Rosenbaum, director WCS's ocean giants programme, and a member of the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee. "By working with the government of Argentina, the Province of Chubut [which is hosting the conference this week], and our diverse team of experts and specialists, we can increase our chances of solving this mystery, the critical next step to ensuring a future for this population of southern right whales."
The southern right whale grows to up to 17m long, with a rotund body and broad back, and brown skin with white patches on the belly. Distinguishing features include two blow-holes which make a V-shaped blow up to 5m high, growths called callosities on their heads, jaws, and lips - the unique patterns of which can be used to identify individuals - and the largest testes in the animal kingdom weighting up to a tonne a pair. Despite being slow swimmers they are "highly acrobatic", and can use their tail flukes to "sail" in the wind, reports the WCS. They live in groups of up to 12 at their feeding grounds, or two and three in the breeding areas.
This week's workshop meeting, which ends tomorrow, is sponsored by the International Whaling Commission, which last year declared the die-off as a management priority. Other participants include the WCS, Centro Nacional Patagónico, the Zoological Society of London, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the British Antarctic Survey, the Marine Mammal Centre, and the US Marine Mammal Commission.
Globally the southern right whale is one of 86 recognised species of cetaceans - porpoises, dolphins and whales - listed as being of "least concern" by the IUCN World Conservation Union. In the last update by the Cetacean specialist group, in 2008, two species are listed as "critically endangered", and a dozen species and several sub-species "endangered" or "vulnerable"; many more are not assessed due to lack of data. Threats include continued hunting, entrapment in fishing gear and structures like dams, over-fishing of prey, and noise from ships and other human activities. There is also concern that high levels of chemicals found in tissues of these animals "may be affecting the animals' immune and reproductive systems", says another report from the group in 2003.
A report last week by Natural England, the countryside agency for England, said that all species of whale and dolphin found around England were endangered.
[Business > Nissan]
Nissan electric car to boost jobs in Sunderland
Nissan has announced plans to build new zero emissions electric car, the Nissan Leaf, in Sunderland
Press association
The Guardian, Thursday 18 March 2010 Article history
Nissan announced today it will build its new electric car, the Nissan Leaf, in Sunderland. Production will begin in 2013 and forms part of a £420m investment in electric cars by the Japanese firm.
The manufacturer said the Leaf would be the world's first mass-produced zero-emission car, and around 50,000 a year will be made in Sunderland. The investment will be supported by a £20.7m government grant and a proposed finance package from the European Investment Bank of up to £197.3m.
Sunderland had been tipped as favourite for European production of the Leaf since the Nissan sited its electric car battery plant nearby.
Founded in 1984, Nissan's Sunderland factory employs around 4,000 people and built its five-millionth vehicle in June 2008.
The business secretary, Peter Mandelson, said: "This investment is a fantastic vote of confidence in the Sunderland plant and its excellent workforce."
Nissan's Andy Palmer added: "Thanks to the UK's firm commitment to a low carbon future in terms of infrastructure, customer incentives and educational programmes, Nissan Leaf will be built at Sunderland, making the UK the third country in the world to produce this revolutionary car."
The news comes amid fears that the recession will force Britain's manufacturers to shift production to cheaper plants overseas. Concerns were heightened after Manganese Bronze, the black-cab manufacturer, agreed to sell a majority stake to the Chinese Geely group and move more of its production to China.
Manganese Bronze, which assembles the TX4 cab – used widely in London and nationwide – at its factory in Coventry, said it had suffered a 30% collapse in sales since the start of the recession, provoking a slump in profits.
Chief executive John Russell said many cab owners had spent the past two years holding back from upgrading their vehicles. "This is a bit of a turning point for us," Russell said after the group posted a pretax loss for 2009 of £7.3m.
He said the company was considering offering Geely shares at 70p to give the Chinese group a controlling stake; shares in Manganese Bronze have been trading at about 85p since the end of January.
Russell also said plans to source bodies and chassis for the TX4 from Shanghai rather than the Coventry area, where its chief supplier is due to close.
Analysts at Collins Stewart suggested Geely was coming to the rescue of Manganese Bronze, which has struggled with recalls and falling market share. Geely is expected to inject £14m of cash and reduce MB's dependency on loans.
[Environment > Marine life]
Whale experts meet to solve mystery deaths of southern right species
More than 300 southern right whales have been found dead in the last five years in the waters off Argentina's Patagonian coast
Juliette Jowit
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 March 2010 12.39 GMT Article history
{Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are slow swimmers which made them easy to catch for whalers}
Experts are meeting this week to try to solve the mystery of the largest ever recorded die-off of great whales.
More than 300 southern right whales, most of them young calves, have been found dead in the last five years in the waters off Argentina's Patagonian coast - one of the most important breeding grounds for the species.
Possible causes being examined include biotoxins - naturally occurring poisons which include the venom of some snakes and spiders and the "flesh-eating" bacteria Necrotizing fasciitis - disease, environmental factors, and lack of prey, particularly the tiny krill which make up the bulk of the southern right's diet. Another theory put forward has been the effect of gulls, which can act like parasites, gouging skin and blubber from the whales' backs.
The main evidence that will be examined is tests on samples taken from beached whale calves, which have shown "unusually thin" blubber, said the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society, which described the die-off as "a perplexing and urgent mystery".
"We need to critically examine possible causes for this increase in calf mortality so we can begin to explore possible solutions," said Marcela Uhart, one of the WCS scientists who first discovered the problem. "Finding the cause may require an expansion of monitoring activities to include the vast feeding grounds for the species."
Southern right whales are one of three species of right whales, so called because fishermen considered them the "right whale" to hunt, because they are slow swimmers, easy to approach, live close to shore and float when dead.
In the first half of the 1800s about 45,000 right whales were killed, driving them close to extinction, before they became protected in 1937.
Since then the southern right whale — which weighs up to 90 tonnes when fully grown — has been a conservation success, numbers rebounding to about 7,500, in populations off South America, South Africa, Australia and some oceanic islands. Numbers of the Northern Atlantic right whale and Northern Pacific right whale have recovered less well, to a few hundred each, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Part of the concern about the recent die-off is that the dead whales have been found around the Peninsula Valdés, where one third of the global population of southern right whales is thought to use the protected bays for calving and nursing between the months of June and December.
"Peninsula Valdés is one of the most important calving and nursing grounds for the species found throughout the southern hemisphere," said Howard Rosenbaum, director WCS's ocean giants programme, and a member of the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee. "By working with the government of Argentina, the Province of Chubut [which is hosting the conference this week], and our diverse team of experts and specialists, we can increase our chances of solving this mystery, the critical next step to ensuring a future for this population of southern right whales."
The southern right whale grows to up to 17m long, with a rotund body and broad back, and brown skin with white patches on the belly. Distinguishing features include two blow-holes which make a V-shaped blow up to 5m high, growths called callosities on their heads, jaws, and lips - the unique patterns of which can be used to identify individuals - and the largest testes in the animal kingdom weighting up to a tonne a pair. Despite being slow swimmers they are "highly acrobatic", and can use their tail flukes to "sail" in the wind, reports the WCS. They live in groups of up to 12 at their feeding grounds, or two and three in the breeding areas.
This week's workshop meeting, which ends tomorrow, is sponsored by the International Whaling Commission, which last year declared the die-off as a management priority. Other participants include the WCS, Centro Nacional Patagónico, the Zoological Society of London, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the British Antarctic Survey, the Marine Mammal Centre, and the US Marine Mammal Commission.
Globally the southern right whale is one of 86 recognised species of cetaceans - porpoises, dolphins and whales - listed as being of "least concern" by the IUCN World Conservation Union. In the last update by the Cetacean specialist group, in 2008, two species are listed as "critically endangered", and a dozen species and several sub-species "endangered" or "vulnerable"; many more are not assessed due to lack of data. Threats include continued hunting, entrapment in fishing gear and structures like dams, over-fishing of prey, and noise from ships and other human activities. There is also concern that high levels of chemicals found in tissues of these animals "may be affecting the animals' immune and reproductive systems", says another report from the group in 2003.
A report last week by Natural England, the countryside agency for England, said that all species of whale and dolphin found around England were endangered.
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