[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Environment News]
[Green Business]
Tyra Dempster
BEIJING
Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:02pm EDT
Mongolia winter kills herds, devastating the poorest
｛モンゴルの厳冬で多数の家畜が凍死、最貧者に大打撃｝
(Reuters) - A severe winter has left 4.5 million dead animals in stockyards across the Mongolian steppes, and many poor herders face the loss of all their property just before the important breeding season.
About a tenth of Mongolia's livestock may have perished, as deep snows cut off access to grazing and fodder.
The damage to the rural economy could increase demands on Mongolia's already-stretched national budget, which relies on mining revenues to meet spending commitments.
The Red Cross launched an emergency appeal for 1 million Swiss francs to assist Mongolian herders, after it estimated that 4.5 million livestock have died in the country since December.
"The numbers of livestock that have perished have gone up very, very quickly and dramatically now to about 4 million which is roughly a tenth of the whole livestock population," Francis Markus, communications director for the Red Cross' East Asia delegation, said in Beijing after returning from Mongolia.
"This means that thousands of families, mostly coming from the poorest and most vulnerable layers of the herder population, have lost their entire flocks of animals and have been left in a very, very distraught and very, very desperate state."
Roughly one-quarter of Mongolia's 3 million people are nomads, while others also raise livestock in fixed settlements. Many go deeply in debt to buy and raise their herds, in hopes of making the money back by selling wool, meat and skins.
A similar combination of a summer drought, followed by heavy snow and low winter temperatures, which is known in Mongolian as a 'zud', caused widespread hardship in Mongolia a decade ago.
As a result, impoverished herder families flocked to the slums outside the capital, Ulan Bator, straining the city's ability to provide basic services.
"The herding community's situation is very hard now. The best off are those who still have around 40 percent of their livestock left and in the worst 50 cases are those who have lost absolutely everything," said Zevgee, speaker of the county parliament in Bayangol, southwest of the capital.
This zud was the worst for several years, with temperatures dropping to 40 degrees Celsius below zero or colder in 19 of Mongolia's 21 provinces, according to a World Bank report.
Around 63 percent of Mongolia's rural residents' assets are their livestock, it said, and at least 35 percent of the population earn a living from their animals.
Herder Tsendjav said that she had no option but to rely on the government and aid to survive the weather.
"I have seen many zuds that have caused the loss of numerous animals but I have never seen a zud as bad as this one," she said at a Red Cross aid dispensary.
(Writing by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
[Green Business]
[Green Business]
LONDON
Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:57pm EDT
Siemens to build wind plant off British coast: report
{シーメンス社、イギリスでオフコースト風力発電プラントを計画：報道｝
(Reuters) - Siemens is set to unveil plans to invest more than 75 million pounds ($111.3 million) in a wind turbine plant off the coast of Britain, the Guardian reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.
The German conglomerate said last year it would invest tens of millions of euros building an offshore wind turbine assembly plant in the North Sea region and had considered sites in Germany and Denmark, as well as Britain.
The paper said the firm had agreed a deal with senior government officials to locate a plant off the east coast of Britain, creating about 700 jobs.
No one at Siemens UK could immediately be reached for comment.
Last week, the British government laid out plans for a one billion pound green investment bank, to help finance investment in low carbon power, including wind farms.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
[Green Business]
Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent
TOKYO
Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:11am EDT
Toyota, Mazda to hold joint briefing on green tech
｛トヨタとマツダ、グリーンテクで共同会見｝
(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp said they would hold a joint news conference in Tokyo on Monday to announce what many expect to be a supply deal for Toyota's industry-leading hybrid system.
Japan's No.1 and No.5 carmakers have been discussing the possibility behind the scenes since at least mid-2009 as the popularity of gasoline-electric cars surged in Japan with the help of generous government subsidies.
Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada and Mazda Executive Vice President Masaharu Yamaki will brief the media at the 5:40 p.m. (0840 GMT) news conference, the two companies said.
Hybrid cars, which improve fuel efficiency by twinning internal combustion engines with electric motors, are seen as crucial for automakers to boost sales in coming years as governments introduce stricter environmental regulations.
Gasoline-electric cars have enjoyed a burst of demand especially in Japan over the last year as the government introduced an exemption on certain taxes on gasoline-electric and other next-generation vehicles for a three-year period.
An agreement between Toyota and Mazda would underscore the growing need for smaller carmakers to find partners to fill the technology gap without draining their limited resources. Among others, archrivals Daimler AG and BMW AG are also working together on hybrid development.
DISTANCING FORD
A Toyota-Mazda pairing would also highlight a distancing of Mazda from top shareholder Ford Motor Co, which is among the few automakers today with a proprietary hybrid system after it initially licensed some technology from Toyota.
Ford and Mazda continue to share some vehicle platforms and operate joint factories, but insiders have said relations have cooled to match the U.S. automaker's diminished stake in the Hiroshima-based automaker, from a controlling 33.4 percent.
Ford sold in late 2008 all but 13 percent of its Mazda stake, which was further diluted to 11 percent when the latter issued $1 billion in new shares to raise money to invest in hybrid and other technologies.
Toyota, a pioneer in hybrid technology with at least a 12-year lead on most rivals, currently supplies its hybrid system to Nissan Motor Co, which uses it in its Altima sedan for the U.S. market to clear regulations there. Nissan plans to switch to its own hybrid system with a new model later this year.
A fresh deal to supply Mazda would also be a boon for Toyota affiliates Denso Corp and Aisin Seiki Co, which are among Toyota's key hybrid suppliers.
Mazda, the maker of the Mazda6/Atenza and other sporty cars, has a goal of raising its fleet's fuel economy by 30 percent mainly by improving its internal combustion engines by 2015.
It had planned to gradually add electric components such as hybrid systems beyond 2015 to meet tightening regulations.
[Environment News]
[Green Business]
Tyra Dempster
BEIJING
Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:02pm EDT
Mongolia winter kills herds, devastating the poorest
｛モンゴルの厳冬で多数の家畜が凍死、最貧者に大打撃｝
(Reuters) - A severe winter has left 4.5 million dead animals in stockyards across the Mongolian steppes, and many poor herders face the loss of all their property just before the important breeding season.
About a tenth of Mongolia's livestock may have perished, as deep snows cut off access to grazing and fodder.
The damage to the rural economy could increase demands on Mongolia's already-stretched national budget, which relies on mining revenues to meet spending commitments.
The Red Cross launched an emergency appeal for 1 million Swiss francs to assist Mongolian herders, after it estimated that 4.5 million livestock have died in the country since December.
"The numbers of livestock that have perished have gone up very, very quickly and dramatically now to about 4 million which is roughly a tenth of the whole livestock population," Francis Markus, communications director for the Red Cross' East Asia delegation, said in Beijing after returning from Mongolia.
"This means that thousands of families, mostly coming from the poorest and most vulnerable layers of the herder population, have lost their entire flocks of animals and have been left in a very, very distraught and very, very desperate state."
Roughly one-quarter of Mongolia's 3 million people are nomads, while others also raise livestock in fixed settlements. Many go deeply in debt to buy and raise their herds, in hopes of making the money back by selling wool, meat and skins.
A similar combination of a summer drought, followed by heavy snow and low winter temperatures, which is known in Mongolian as a 'zud', caused widespread hardship in Mongolia a decade ago.
As a result, impoverished herder families flocked to the slums outside the capital, Ulan Bator, straining the city's ability to provide basic services.
"The herding community's situation is very hard now. The best off are those who still have around 40 percent of their livestock left and in the worst 50 cases are those who have lost absolutely everything," said Zevgee, speaker of the county parliament in Bayangol, southwest of the capital.
This zud was the worst for several years, with temperatures dropping to 40 degrees Celsius below zero or colder in 19 of Mongolia's 21 provinces, according to a World Bank report.
Around 63 percent of Mongolia's rural residents' assets are their livestock, it said, and at least 35 percent of the population earn a living from their animals.
Herder Tsendjav said that she had no option but to rely on the government and aid to survive the weather.
"I have seen many zuds that have caused the loss of numerous animals but I have never seen a zud as bad as this one," she said at a Red Cross aid dispensary.
(Writing by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
[Green Business]
[Green Business]
LONDON
Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:57pm EDT
Siemens to build wind plant off British coast: report
{シーメンス社、イギリスでオフコースト風力発電プラントを計画：報道｝
(Reuters) - Siemens is set to unveil plans to invest more than 75 million pounds ($111.3 million) in a wind turbine plant off the coast of Britain, the Guardian reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.
The German conglomerate said last year it would invest tens of millions of euros building an offshore wind turbine assembly plant in the North Sea region and had considered sites in Germany and Denmark, as well as Britain.
The paper said the firm had agreed a deal with senior government officials to locate a plant off the east coast of Britain, creating about 700 jobs.
No one at Siemens UK could immediately be reached for comment.
Last week, the British government laid out plans for a one billion pound green investment bank, to help finance investment in low carbon power, including wind farms.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
[Green Business]
Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent
TOKYO
Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:11am EDT
Toyota, Mazda to hold joint briefing on green tech
｛トヨタとマツダ、グリーンテクで共同会見｝
(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp said they would hold a joint news conference in Tokyo on Monday to announce what many expect to be a supply deal for Toyota's industry-leading hybrid system.
Japan's No.1 and No.5 carmakers have been discussing the possibility behind the scenes since at least mid-2009 as the popularity of gasoline-electric cars surged in Japan with the help of generous government subsidies.
Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada and Mazda Executive Vice President Masaharu Yamaki will brief the media at the 5:40 p.m. (0840 GMT) news conference, the two companies said.
Hybrid cars, which improve fuel efficiency by twinning internal combustion engines with electric motors, are seen as crucial for automakers to boost sales in coming years as governments introduce stricter environmental regulations.
Gasoline-electric cars have enjoyed a burst of demand especially in Japan over the last year as the government introduced an exemption on certain taxes on gasoline-electric and other next-generation vehicles for a three-year period.
An agreement between Toyota and Mazda would underscore the growing need for smaller carmakers to find partners to fill the technology gap without draining their limited resources. Among others, archrivals Daimler AG and BMW AG are also working together on hybrid development.
DISTANCING FORD
A Toyota-Mazda pairing would also highlight a distancing of Mazda from top shareholder Ford Motor Co, which is among the few automakers today with a proprietary hybrid system after it initially licensed some technology from Toyota.
Ford and Mazda continue to share some vehicle platforms and operate joint factories, but insiders have said relations have cooled to match the U.S. automaker's diminished stake in the Hiroshima-based automaker, from a controlling 33.4 percent.
Ford sold in late 2008 all but 13 percent of its Mazda stake, which was further diluted to 11 percent when the latter issued $1 billion in new shares to raise money to invest in hybrid and other technologies.
Toyota, a pioneer in hybrid technology with at least a 12-year lead on most rivals, currently supplies its hybrid system to Nissan Motor Co, which uses it in its Altima sedan for the U.S. market to clear regulations there. Nissan plans to switch to its own hybrid system with a new model later this year.
A fresh deal to supply Mazda would also be a boon for Toyota affiliates Denso Corp and Aisin Seiki Co, which are among Toyota's key hybrid suppliers.
Mazda, the maker of the Mazda6/Atenza and other sporty cars, has a goal of raising its fleet's fuel economy by 30 percent mainly by improving its internal combustion engines by 2015.
It had planned to gradually add electric components such as hybrid systems beyond 2015 to meet tightening regulations.
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