news20100826nn1

[naturenews] from [nature.com]

[nature.com > Nature News]

Published online 26 August 2010 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2010.434
News

The skin disease that cures itself
Diseased cells have harnessed a cancer-causing mechanism to banish a mutant gene.

Ewen Callaway

{The vanishingly rare skin disease ichthyosis with confetti (IWC) is characterised by healthy patches in a sea of inflamed skin.
Science/AAAS}

Cells that can get the better of a rare skin disorder have helped scientists to explain the disease. Curiously, some patients' cells can eliminate the disease-causing mutation that underlies ichthyosis, and as a result have healthy patches of skin speckled all over their bodies.

By analysing the DNA in these areas and in affected ones, scientists have pinpointed the gene responsible for the disease, as well as the cellular mechanism responsible for its patchy disappearance¹.

Ichthyosis is characterized by a breakdown in the structure of skin cells that leaves patients with thick, scaly layers of inflamed skin. In one form, known as ichthyosis with confetti (IWC), patients develop small patches of healthy skin that grow in number and size over time.

Dermatologists at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, initially identified two patients with the condition — too few to find a disease-causing mutation using traditional approaches.

But when one of the researchers, Keith Choate, mentioned the healthy patches to Yale geneticist Richard Lifton, Lifton had an idea. "Just looking at it, we thought, well, gosh — the genetics of this disease is caused by a dominant mutation and these spots represent revertants," or cells that had lost the mutation, he says.

Likely explanation

Cells can undergo spontaneous mutations that 'fix' a disease-causing gene, but this process is too rare to have occurred in every healthy spot in patients with IWC. A likelier explanation, Lifton reasoned, was a process called mitotic recombination, whereby dividing maternal and paternal chromosomes exchange DNA. This process is linked to cancer because it can allow a once recessive cancer-causing mutation to suddenly take effect.

With this theory in mind, Lifton, Choate and their colleagues scoured the genomes of one patient's diseased and healthy skin cells, and blood, for signs of mitotic recombination. A 3-million-base-pair swathe of chromosome 17 fit the bill. It also contained a cache of keratin genes — reasonable candidates for a skin disease.

DNA sequencing identified a mutation in keratin 10 (KRT10) in diseased cells that was absent from healthy skin cells. Ordinarily, the keratin 10 protein forms filaments in the cytoplasm that maintain the integrity of skin cells. However, in the mutants, the protein was found mostly in the nucleus and the nucleolus, a cellular structure in which ribosomes are produced. Six other patients with IWC had similar mutations, the authors found.

They theorize that each healthy patch represents a single mitotic recombination in a skin stem cell that created a cell containing two healthy copies of KRT10. With the mutation gone, the stem cell cranks out healthy, differentiated skin cells that compete with diseased cells. "What we're seeing here is natural selection occurring under the skin," Choate says.

But natural selection may not be the only explanation for the hundreds of spots that IWC patients develop. Mitotic recombination is uncommon, so something could be spurring it on. One possibility, Lifton says, is that when keratin 10 builds up in the nucleus and nucleolus, it promotes mitotic recombination.

"It's interesting speculation," says Bert Vogelstein, a cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Alternatively, mitotic recombination is known to occur at varying frequencies along the genome, and KRT10 could be at a hot spot.

"It's a cool story, and a very nice piece of genetic detective work," says Scott Keeney, a molecular biologist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He also supports the idea that mitotic recombination occurs more often in patients with IWC. "I'm stumped about how that might work," he says.

Despite this knowledge gap, Lofton's team is already thinking about harnessing the process to eliminate mutations that cause other diseases. Blood disorders would be a good place to start because recombined blood stem cells could be easily screened for cancer-causing mutations before being injected into patients.

"It's an interesting idea, but it's pretty far off in the future," Vogelstein says.

Meanwhile, it's not clear whether mitotic recombination will eventually cure IWC patients of all their scales. The oldest patient in the study is in his mid-forties, and he has more and larger healthy patches than the others. "He hasn't reverted his entire skin surface," Choate says, "but one could envision that he could certainly do this over the course of his lifetime."

References
1. Choate, K. A. et al. Science doi:10.1126/science.1192280 (2010).

news20100826nn2

[naturenews] from [nature.com]

[nature.com > Nature News]

Published online 26 August 2010 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2010.429
News

Taxing times for Canadian postdocs
Trainee researchers struggle to make ends meet after the government clarifies tax rules for grants.

Hannah Hoag

{With taxes now biting into their wages, some Canadian postdocs are thinking of Europe, or unionization.
LajosRepasi/iStockphoto}

Staff, student or employee? The employment status of Canadian postdoctoral researchers remains unclear — and many are struggling with the tax issues that arise from the ambiguity.

Some of Canada's postdocs are categorized as associates with benefits, others are fellows with no employee status and, until recently, some had a tax-exempt status on a par with students. "We fall into this no-man's land," says Marianne Stanford, chair of the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS) and a postdoctoral fellow at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Ontario.

Earlier this year, the federal government put an end to the tax-free wages that some postdocs had been enjoying since 2006. "Now there's a two-tier system in labs where some of the people earning the degrees are getting more than those who already have them," says Stanford. The move was a blow to postdocs, some of whom were recruited with the promise of tax-free earnings, and who put up with the wages because they were tax-free — although many feel they're underpaid relative to their level of education.

The tax-free wage came about in 2006 when the federal government introduced tax exemption for fellowships and awards. But as the government made clear in March, the exemption was only intended to apply to students enrolled in an educational programme. In a 2009 CAPS survey of 1,200 postdocs, 23% were not paying taxes on their fellowships. Many of those were in Quebec, where the provincial government considers postdocs to be stagières, or trainees, lumping them in with students.

Faculty in training

Martin Kreiswirth, dean of graduate education at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, says that he was surprised by the recent federal statement on postdocs' tax status. "They're not fully formed researchers. If they were, they'd be faculty members, not postdocs," he says.

"It feels like a slap in the face. All of a sudden you're Can$5,000–7,000 poorer," says David Kent, a Canadian postdoc researching blood stem cells at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research in Cambridge, UK.

In a June letter to CAPS, the federal minister of finance, James Flaherty, compared postdoctoral fellows to articling lawyers, medical residents and trainee accountants "where there is a period of paid training at the beginning of their careers".

Stanford says that comparison is unfair, however, because of the higher starting pay and annual raises in those jobs. Medical residents are eligible for parental leave programmes, for instance, unlike most postdocs. She says that CAPS will campaign to raise the value of postdoc fellowships.

According to the CAPS survey, postdocs earn an annual average salary of Can$38,000 (US$36,000). About 10% of the 5,500 or so postdocs in Canada are supported by one of the country's three main funding agencies. The rest are compensated through their supervisors' grants and by grants from private foundations, among other ways.

The typical value of a postdoctoral fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is Can$40,000, which has not changed since 2003. Fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council pay Can$38,000. For postdocs paid from CIHR grants, the minimum funding level is Can$36,750.

Funding furore

The silver lining for postdoc funding was meant to be the Banting Fellowships, a Can$45-million programme starting in 2010 that will dole out two-year fellowships worth Can$70,000 a year. But Stanford and others are not impressed¹. "The fellowships deal with 2% of the postdoc population. The rest are shuffled aside," Stanford says. "The public funds would be better spent making the overall postdoctoral experience better."

Some postdocs and graduate students nearing completion of their PhDs say that they'll leave Canada for Europe, which has better wages and benefits. For example, postdoc fellowships in Denmark can pay 445,000–525,000 kroner (Can$79,000-Can$93,000). Kent, whose work in Cambridge is funded by a Can$45,000 CIHR fellowship, had his award topped up because it didn't meet the UK institute's minimum postdoctoral salary.

Postdocs at some institutions have decided to form unions to fight their cause, such as at the University of Western Ontario in London and at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where they hope to improve their collective voice and power. Their counterparts at the University of California have done the same, where the postdoc union reached a tentative agreement with the university about their rights in July.

"There is a culture of fear to speak up when postdocs feel they are being overworked or mistreated," says Alex Diceanu, the grievance officer for McMaster's postdocs. "So much of their future career depends on that supervisor and their funding is tied to maintaining that relationship."

References
1. Kent, D. Dis. Model. Mech. In the press.

news20100826nn3

[naturenews] from [nature.com]

[nature.com > Nature News]

Published online 26 August 2010 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2010.433
News

What does it mean to be an ant?
Genome sequences offer clues on how to be a queen and live a long life.

Alla Katsnelson

{Close-up of carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus, left) and jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator, right).
Design by Robert Bonasio; photography by Jurgen Liebig}

Some are nomadic warriors, others the world's oldest farmers, and still others power their societies with slavery or child labour — such is the diversity of ant communities. A paper published in Science this week¹ sheds light on the molecular forces that drive such differences.

The paper presents the genome sequences of two ant species — one (Harpegnathos saltator) with a primitive social structure, and the other, the carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus), which has a more complex social structure.

Ants of the same species but in different social castes have the same DNA sequence but assume radically different characteristics as a result of 'epigenetic changes' — DNA modifications that affect the expression of genes rather than the genes themselves. By examining the sequences from the two ant species, the researchers were able to identify how these epigenetic changes affect the ants' characteristics.

"We were looking for a system where we could really look at epigenetics in a living organism," says Danny Reinberg, a biochemist at the New York University Medical School and one of four lead authors on the study.

Harpegnathos saltator communities generally consist of only about 60 individuals; there is little difference in the physiological make-up between queens and workers, and workers can become queens if her majesty dies. By contrast, carpenter ant societies include thousands. Workers belong to one of two castes, each distinguished by specific physiological and behavioural features, and only the queen can lay fertilized eggs — when she dies, then the entire colony dies with her.

The researchers analysed the genomes of individuals with different positions in each species' social hierarchy, as well as of individuals with the same roles in the two species. They also compared differences in gene expression and examined key epigenetic markers such as DNA methylation, a process thought to silence genes.

Force of numbers

With information from both genomes, says Reinberg, "we can now look at the molecular events that happen when a queen lives longer - and do so without manipulating the system".

The results provide a tantalizing link between ageing mechanisms in ants and other organisms. By removing the queen in H. saltator communities, the researchers induced other females in the colony to shed their role as workers and acquire characteristics of the queen — including an increased lifespan. Those organisms showed a boost in the expression levels of two genes — one encoding the enzyme telomerase and the other encoding the protein SIRT1 — both of which have been associated with longevity in humans.

They also found that epigenetic markings such as DNA methylation were present on the ants' genomes. "We think that's pretty exciting," says Shelly Berger, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia and another lead author on the study. "It means that we are going to ber able to understand how these epigenetic systems are involved in these behavioural transitions."

In carpenter ants, the two worker castes have different behavioural traits — major workers protect the colony, whereas minor workers scavenge for food. Reinberg and his colleagues' analysis showed that there were differences in the expression levels of genes that function in the brain between these two worker groups, for example, in genes associated with the perception of smell.

Ants are not the only eusocial insects, in which some individuals in the group give up reproduction to work and care for others in the group. Their cousins the honeybees also live in similarly organized societies. Gene Robinson, an entomologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, spearheaded the effort to sequence the honeybee genome, which was published in 2006 and provided intriguing insights in its comparisons with the Drosophila and mosquito genomes² — but that was just the beginning. "It is very difficult to draw conclusions from just a couple of species," he says. "What is really needed is the ability to compare more similar species with similar attributes."

The publication of these two ant genome sequences is "a harbinger of the future" — of a time when sequencing the genomes of related species will become routine, says Robinson. Ant genomes are about one-tenth of the size of human genomes. "When we get to the US$1000 genome, then these insects, just for sequencing costs, are going to be $99," he notes. "For groups like social insects, we really will be able to have hundreds of them."

References
1. Bonasio, R. et al. Science 329, 1068-1071 (2010). | Article | ChemPort |
2. The Honeybee Genome Sequencing Consortium. Nature 443, 931-949 (2006). | Article | ChemPort |

news20100826bg1

[News] from [businessgreen.com]

[BusinessGreen.com > News > Renewables]

Sumito and Datang team up for Chinese wind energy push
Japanese trading house outlines plans to become global renewable energy developer

Tom Young, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corporation announced today that it has agreed to ally with China Datang, China's second-largest energy firm, to build wind farms and other renewable-energy facilities in China and further afield.

The two companies will commence their collaboration by building between two and five wind farms in China over the next few years, for a total cost of around 60bn yuan ($8.9bn).

The firms said that they will also work together to develop co-operative projects in wind, solar and biomass in China and other countries.

"Sumitomo Corporation Group intends to devote even greater efforts into expanding our business of renewable energy in China, where [sic] became the largest market in the world last year in terms of newly installed capacity of wind turbine and also plan to invest about 5 trillion RMB [$738bn] from 2011 to 2020 in the area of renewable energy," the company said in a statement.

The company added that it is aiming to boost its cumulative renewable energy capacity in China to 300MW over the next two to three years with a primary focus on new wind farm developments.

Sumitomo's only current Chinese wind farm is a 50MW joint venture with China Datang Corp and Japan's Kyushu Electric Power in Mongolia, but the company is fast emerging as a major player in the global renewable energy sector.

It also owns and operates a solar power plant in the Canary Islands, and has plans to expand its solar business into Italy, Greece and Spain to take advantage of government subsidies.

In addition to biomass and wind projects in Japan, Sumitomo recently secured a $156.7m deal to build 110 MW geothermal plant in Sumatra, Indonesia.

According to reports, China Datang is poised to pull off an IPO for its renewables division, China Datang Renewable Power, which is expected to raise at least $1bn of new capital.

China Datang Renewable Power was established in March 2009 with 170m yuan ($30m) in capital to operate wind, solar and other renewable power facilities.
It ranks as China's second-largest wind power producer with 1.5 GW of
wind assets at the end of 2008, according to the Chinese Wind Energy
Association.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Risk]

DNV launches dedicated sustainability division
New division formed as company's involvement in UN carbon offsetting scheme faces fresh criticism

BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

Norway-based risk management giant DNV has moved to meet growing demand for accreditation, certification and testing services from low carbon industries with the launch of a dedicated new Sustainability and Innovation division.

The company announced yesterday that it will pool together around 400 of its staff who are already working in the sustainability filed into a new division operating in 17 countries.

The company is already a major presence in a number of green markets, providing third party accreditation for carbon offset projects and renewable energy developers, for example.

However, Dr Henrik O. Madsen, chief executive at the firm said that the new division underlined its commitment to the emerging green economy.

"Our decision to establish the new division shows our strong commitment in the area of sustainability," he said. "With the new division, we aim to extend our ability by further developing our climate change and sustainability services for industries and sectors where DNV is not yet seen as a global player."

Chief operating officer for the new division Bjorn K. Haugland added that he expects the 400-strong division to expand rapidly as low carbon industries continue to grow. "We have high growth ambitions and expect to achieve 1.3bn NOK in revenues by 2014," he said. "To achieve this, we will expand our climate change, healthcare and biorisk services, and our risk management and corporate responsibility services."

Demand from green businesses for the kind of risk management and accreditation services DNV offers are expected to soar as new low carbon technologies emerge that require testing and carbon markets that are reliant on third party verification continue to expand.

The news came as DNV's involvement in the UN-backed Clean Development Mechanism was once again put under the spotlight when the Guardian reported that the Nepalese government had paid the firm €150,000 to verify a greenhouse gas reduction project.

Kyle Ash, a Greenpeace official in Washington DC, told the paper that the fees were "exorbitant" and were eating into money that could be used more effectively to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Stein Jensen, a spokesman for DNV, defended the deal to the Guardian insisting that the fees represented the market rate for certifying projects as suitable for the CDM.

The UN scheme requires thorough auditing of emission reduction projects to ensure that they do deliver the emission reductions that they promise. However, the scheme has become mired in controversy in recent years with green campaigners accusing verification firms of failing to adequately check projects and charging prohibitive fees that block smaller projects from obtaining carbon credits.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Investment]

UK's nuclear reactor programme falls behind schedule
Regulator and builders blame each other for construction hold-up as designs await approval

Tim Webb, The Guardian - Published under license by, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

The schedule for the UK's nuclear reactor building programme has slipped behind already, the safety regulator has admitted, reinforcing concerns that the first reactor will not be built on time.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it would probably have to issue an "interim" decision on the safety of the two new proposed reactor designs next June, the deadline for its assessment programme. The regulator expects significant chunks of extra work will remain before it can finally approve or reject the designs, but did not say how long this would take.

Kevin Allars, director of the assessment programme at the HSE, said that companies could continue planning and carry out preparatory construction on proposed nuclear sites while they waited for a final decision. But he insisted that construction of a reactor could not start without its consent.

Allars promised there would be no repeat of the chaotic construction in Finland of what was supposed to be Europe's first new reactor in decades. The Areva plant is more than three years behind schedule and more than €2bn (£1.6bn) over budget, with the Finnish regulator trying to approve each component of the design while it is being built. EDF has promised that the UK's first reactor will be operational in 2018, although it had originally said it would be running by the end of 2017.

The HSE said the companies behind the designs – French consortium Areva, EDF and US firm Westinghouse – had been repeatedly submitting information which was incomplete and late.

In turn, the companies are blaming the regulator for not having sufficient resources to carry out the work. The Guardian revealed last year that the arm of the HSE which was carrying out the work – the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) – had been forced to hire more than a dozen project managers, even though they work for the companies hoping to build the designs under review.

In its quarterly update on the assessment programme, the HSE admitted that this risk of a conflict of interest was a "factor of increasing significance" which it said it would "continue to monitor closely".

Westinghouse, which has put forward its AP1000 reactor design, comes in for particularly harsh criticism. Allars said of the company: "It's very frustrating. We get a load [of work] in late and then we do not get what we were promised or of the quality we were promised. If this carries on they won't get a design acceptance."

The HSE has already raised a red flag over Westinghouse's civil engineering plans for key structures making up the reactor core, which the regulator says are not sufficiently robust. The company was supposed to carry out further analysis by the end of June, but most of this has been delayed, while what had been done "fell significantly short of what we expected".

"Significant issues" are also flagged for Westinghouse's planned control and instrumentation systems to operate the reactor. The company missed a June deadline to provide information on reactor chemistry, "which does not help our confidence that Westinghouse will meet future delivery dates", said the HSE.

A Westinghouse spokesman said: "We accept that some of our input in one or two areas has not met the regulator's expectations."

A Greenpeace spokesman said: "The generic design assessment [GDA] process has already unearthed a string of nasty surprises within the new nuclear reactors' designs. But now we find out GDA won't even be able to give a final green light to the reactor designs. This means we could be faced with the farcical situation where the government is letting utilities press ahead with building work for reactors that haven't been given safety approval."

This article first appeared at the Guardian

BusinessGreen.com is part of the Guardian Environment Network

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[News] from [businessgreen.com]

[BusinessGreen.com > News > Legislation]

Changing climate prompts Ofwat review
Defra launches major new review to assess whether water watchdog is able to cope with climate change

James Murray, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

The government has today announced a full review of the water regulator Ofwat designed to ensure the watchdog is fit for future challenges, such as those presented by climate change.

"Ofwat has been successful in holding down household bills while water companies invest in their infrastructure," said environment secretary Caroline Spelman. "But we need to make sure the regulator is in good shape to help the industry prepare for a changing climate and a growing population, at the same time as keeping bills affordable."

Defra has appointed David Gray, the former managing director of energy industry watchdog Ofgem, to undertake the review, which is due to be completed early next year.

The review team will seek comments on Ofwat's current role and performance from customers, water companies and investors and is expected to address whether the watchdog plays a sufficient role in preparing the UK's water infrastructure for the increased flood and drought risks associated with climate change.

The review comes at a crucial time for Ofwat as it prepares to deliver a major white paper next summer that will set out its future policies for water management.

The regulator has attracted fierce criticism from water companies over the past year who have accused it of jeopardising essential infrastructure investment programmes designed to make the UK more resilient to climate change by rejecting requests for price hikes.

Earlier this year, Severn Trent issued a major report warning that the UK water industry was currently " unsustainable" and required £96bn of investment over the next 20 years to make much needed infrastructure improvements and prepare for rising climate change risks.

A spokesman for Defra said that the review had not been sparked by any concerns about Ofwat's recent performance and was instead intended as a 20-year health check. "The water industry has changed considerably since Ofwat was set up, not least in terms of the future challenges it faces such as climate change, " he said. "The review is intended to ensure the regulator is fit to address these challenges."


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Politics]

UK and Norway team up to tap North Sea potential
Ministers agree to work together on offshore wind energy and CCS, as well as oil and gas

BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

The UK and Norway yesterday agreed to step up levels of co-operation between the two countries as they each attempt to re-establish the North Sea as one of the world's leading energy hubs.

The pact was formalised in a ministerial statement signed by British energy minister Charles Hendry and his Norwegian counterpart Terje Riis-Johansen at the 2010 ONS energy conference in Stavanger, Norway, and set out a list of priorities that the two governments have agreed to jointly address.

The statement reiterated the two governments' recognition of the "growing potential for North Sea marine renewable energy projects to bring new investment and green job opportunities and to strengthen energy security in the region".

In particular, it said both governments would encourage offshore wind farm developers operating in the North Sea to share information in order to bring down costs across the industry and offer support to project being undertaken by National Grid and Norwegian grid operator Statnett to assess the feasibility of an interconnector between the two countries.

They also agreed to work together to encourage developing countries to roll out renewable energy technologies such as offshore wind farms.

Moreover, the statement also indicated that the two countries will join forces at upcoming international negotiations on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies as they attempt to accelerate the development of projects around the North Sea that will aim to store captured carbon under the seabed.

The bulk of the agreement is likely to be welcomed by green groups, but at the same time as committing to rolling out clean technologies Hendry and Riis-Johansen both stressed that they would continue to work together to support the North Sea oil and gas industry.

The statement acknowledges the "need to apply new technology for the further development of North Sea petroleum resources in the most efficient, safe and environmentally responsible manner" and indicates that the two countries will share information to help promote enhanced oil recovery techniques and improve safety procedures, particularly in light of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Education]

Firms line up to enroll on green building course
UK Green Building Council set to launch introductory STEP course next month

Jessica Shankleman, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

Some of the UK's best known firms are queuing up to bolster their understanding of the expanding green building sector by enrolling employees on the industry's first accredited online training course.

The UK Green Building Council (GBC) will officially launch a foundation phase of the Sustainability Training and Education Programme (STEP) on September 6, and the organisation is hoping to initially enroll over 100 students on the course.

A number of leading construction and retail firms have already expressed interest in the course, including Marks & Spencer, Lenleys, Willmott Dixon, GVA Grimley and Cushman & Wakefield.

"There's a wide variety of companies looking to commit double digits to triple digits of their employees to go on this course right away and we're hoping to make an announcement on September 6 of exactly how many," said GBC director of operations and business development Chad Harrell. "For example, GVA Grimley has 24 brand new graduate students that have just come on board and they're talking with us about getting all 24 on the course simultaneously."

GBC hopes these initial in-take will encourage other firms to follow suit and enrol staff on the course.

The virtual course has been designed by The College of Estate Management (CEM) and will give students two weeks access to a website and online forum that will help them complete the five-module syllabus and final assessment.

Topics covered in the introductory course include government legislation, green building theory, risk and analysis, and the business case for sustainable building.

"We tried not to over do the chest-beating that sometimes accompanies the scenarios being played out," explained CEM's head of sustainability and course author Stephen Bickell. "There's a lot of flamboyance about sustainability, particularly around the design side of things and we wanted to make practical, r ealistic steps."

The course is targetted at people with a limited knowledge of sustainability, ranging from construction employees to amateur DIYers. However, GBC predicts that even people well-versed in green construction will find the assessment challenging.

The pilot phase of the project saw a pass rate of just 82 per cent, even though the majority of students were already working in the sustainability sector.

"To me that highlights an opportunity," said Harrell. "It demonstrates to businesses that there's still a lot of learning to be done."

The course will cost GBC members £199 to sign up, while non-members will be charged £249. GBC said that it is considering offering reduced rates for public sector workers.

news20100826bg3

[News] from [businessgreen.com]

[BusinessGreen.com > News > Carbon Trading]

EU demands new rules for controversial CDM gas projects
Connie Hedegaard reveals EU is planning to take independent action to address concerns over integrity of UN offset scheme

BusinessGreen.com staff, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

The EU's top climate change official yesterday waded into the debate surrounding alleged loopholes in the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), arguing that the offsetting scheme needs a "major overhaul".

Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate action, issued a statement indicating the EU could introduce new rules for the bloc's emissions trading scheme (ETS) that would limit the use of CDM-approved credits issued by controversial projects that aim to curb HFC greenhouse gases.

Projects that curb HFC-23, a potent greenhouse gas, have been accused by environmental groups of "gaming" the system and deliberately increasing emissions of the gas in order to then cut emissions in return for UN-approved carbon credits.

The UN board responsible for the CDM is investigating the allegations and six HFC projects in China and India are being reassessed by UN officials.

Hedegaard said that reforms were urgently needed to tackle the problem. "The CDM has been successful in some aspects but has also given rise to criticism, eg with regard to environmental integrity," she said. "As a first step towards a more advanced carbon market the CDM therefore needs a major overhaul."

She added that the EU was preparing to act independently to stop potentially compromised carbon credits entering the ETS.

"I have asked my services to prepare a proposal for a measure to introduce further quality restrictions on the use of credits from industrial gas projects in the post-2012 EU ETS," Hedegaard said.

Hedegaard's statement came as reports emerged suggesting the EU will provide clarification before the end of the year on how many CDM credits, known as Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), will be eligible for the ETS when it enters its next phase in 2012. Officials are preparing an impact assessment that is expected to be ready before the UN climate summit in Cancun in November, all owing member states to try to finalise the rules for the next phase of the scheme before the talks.

Earlier this week, the International Emissions Trading Association released an open letter to Hedegaard urging the EU to finalise its plans for the next phase of the ETS quickly and warning that uncertainty over the rules governing use of CERs had left confidence in the CDM market at a "very low ebb".


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Technology]

GM salmon may go on sale in US after public consultation
Food and Drug administration begins 60-day process to approve animal critics call a 'frankenfish'

Chris McGreal, the Guardian - Published under license by, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

US authorities today began the process to approve the first GM animal for human consumption.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a 60-day period of consultation and public meetings over whether to permit a GM strain of salmon to be eaten by humans, even though it has been called a "frankenfish" by critics. The approval process could take less than a year, and if it gets the green light the fish could be on the market in 18 months.

Environmentalists and scientists see the decision as marking a threshold. If it is approved it is likely to open the door to a large range of GM animals being raised for consumption. If not, scientists say that will have a negative effect on research, in part because there will be no money to be made from it.

Among the considerations by the FDA is whether, if the fish is approved for consumption, it must be labelled as genetically engineered.

The AquAdvantage salmon – a modified North Atlantic salmon – has been created by AquaBounty Technologies in Boston, Massachusetts, over 14 years at a cost of $50m. The company says the salmon grows at twice the speed of similar fish, cutting costs for farmers and greatly increasing production.

On its website the company says: "This advancement provides a compelling economic benefit to farmers (reduced growing cycle) as well as enhancing the economic viability of inland operations, thereby diminishing the need for ocean pens." The fish are also sterile, which the company says would prevent interbreeding with wild salmon.

The genetic modification involves taking a growth hormone gene from a chinook salmon and joining it with a control DNA sequence (called a promoter) from an ocean pout – an eel-like creature from a different family of marine organisms. The growth hormone gene is almost identical to the equivalent gene in the North Atlantic salmon – the sequence differs by just 1% – but it operates differently because of the new control sequence. Unlike in North Atlantic salmon, which produced growth hormone only in the summer, ocean pout control sequence directs the gene to produce hormone all year round.

The genetic mash-up is then injected into the eggs of North Atlantic salmon. Here, it is taken up by the fish's genome and ultimately the DNA is present in cells throughout the body of the fish. The company uses a different genetic trick to make the fish it proposes to sell to customers sterile to prevent them interbreeding.

The explanation of the genetic modification on the company's publicity literature, aimed at reassuring the public, makes no mention of the ocean pout gene. "The chinook growth hormone is the same as the Atlantic salmon growth hormone; it is simply regulated differently. Their ability to grow faster does not change the biological make-up of the fish," the company says.

That appears to contradict the explanation of the technology from AquaBounty's chief scientific officer, Dr John Buchanan, who said the fish do incorporate DNA from the ocean pout. But he said there was no intention to mislead. "I don't think it is intentionally hidden. It has been disclosed many times and published in papers," he said, adding that the description on the website had been simplified to make it less confusing.

Because it is new ground for the FDA there are no regulations about genetically engineered animals and so it is being evaluated as if it were an animal treated with drugs.

The FDA has established an advisory committee of veterinarians to consider the evidence and public views. A public meeting will be held next month.

Among the opponents is the International Salmon Farmers Association which is concerned about the reaction of consumers and that it will undermine the popularity of salmon, which commands high prices in the US.

However, the National Fisheries Institute, a trade association of American seafood producers, backs "the use of biotechnology in the production of genetically-engineered fish" provided it has FDA approval.

If the FDA approves the fish for human consumption, AquaBounty says they will be raised in inland waters to ensure the modified salmon do not enter the oceans.

This article first appeared at the Guardian

BusinessGreen.com is part of the Guardian Environment Network

news20100826bg4

[News] from [businessgreen.com]

[BusinessGreen.com > News > Politics]

Commission slams US government over oil spill oversight
Bob Graham: "We should be clear – this disaster represents an enormous, and shared, failure of public policy"

Danny Bradbury, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

The US government failed to adapt its policy for overseeing offshore oil drilling as exploration moved into deeper waters, according to a commission set up to investigate the causes of the BP oil spill.

The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling yesterday criticised the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service for failing to adapt to the changing safety risks faced by the industry, while also directly admonishing the president for allowing the lapse to occur.

"It is clear that the move to deep water represents an enormous change in US energy exploration," said Bob Graham, who co-chairs the commission. " Unfortunately, our government and industry did not undergo a similar transformation in its regulatory and safety focus."

The percentage of ultra-deep wells drilling below 5,000 feet has risen from one per cent to 32 per cent in the past five years, he said, adding that the government had to take a large share of the blame for the BP oil spill.

"We should be clear – this disaster represents an enormous, and shared, failure of public policy," he said.

Elizabeth Birnbaum, former director of MMS, who resigned her post a month into the spill, admitted that the watchdog had struggled to keep pace with developments in the industry.

"MMS staff had upgraded technical standards on a regular basis over time, but no comprehensive internal or external review of these standards had been conducted in many years," she said. "Some regulatory improvements had been recommend by staff during the years of the Bush administration, but never made it though the process to be finalised as regulations."

These proposed changes included new rules that would have required a secondary trigger mechanism for blowout preventers.

"MMS failed to conduct a comprehensive review of the rules as drilling moved into deep water wells," Birnbaum continued.

The MMS has suffered extensive criticism during the past couple of years, with accusations of conflicts of interest in its relationship with oil and gas companies.

Birnbaum had backed a plan from the Obama administration, criticised by the commission, that would have further expanded offshore drilling. The plan would have allowed some drilling off the Atlantic coast, said officials, adding that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and White House Council on Environmental Quality were not consulted before the proposals were approved by the administration.

The panel also discussed potential measures to make offshore drilling companies more accountable, should they share responsibility for a well.

In other news, a worker for rig owner Transocean testified that the blowout preventer which failed during the BP spill had not been certified according to federal regulations. The device repeatedly required maintenance work, said the worker, speaking before a joint investigation by the US Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Renewables]

Suntech signs South African solar deal
South Africa set to get 100MW solar farm as California approves first new solar thermal plant in 20 years

James Murray, BusinessGreen, 26 Aug 2010

Chinese solar energy giant Suntech Power Holdings has today inked a deal that should see the company develop one of Africa's first large-scale solar photovoltaic energy plants.

The company confirmed that it has inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding with an undisclosed South African firm that will see Suntech develop a 100MW solar farm in the country.

The deal contained no details of financial terms, but reports suggested the project was likely to cost between $350m and $400m.

Rory Macpherson, director of investor relations at Suntech, told Reuters that the company had not finalized the timetable for the project, but he hinted that the agreement was likely to be the first of many South African deals for the company as it seeks to tap into a photovoltaic market that could be worth over $1bn a year.

"Obviously, we are committed to developing the solar market in South Africa, " he said. "We will look for solar opportunities as soon as possible."

In related news, California is set to build its first solar thermal power plant in two decades after the state's energy commission gave the go ahead for the 250MW Beacon Solar Energy Project.

Jeffrey Byron, a member of the California Energy Commission, said that he hoped the decision would be the first in a flurry of approvals for proposed solar plants in southern California.

Over the past few weeks the commission's siting committee has recommended that over 2,100MW of solar projects be granted planning permission, including the 250MW Abengoa Mojave facility, 1,000MW Blythe project and 370MW Ivanpah development, as well as the Beacon site.

news20100826gb

[News] from [greenbiz.com]

[GreenBiz.com > News > Clean Tech, Energy & Climate, More...]

Recovery Act Keeps U.S. on Clean Energy Path

By GreenBiz Staff
Published August 26, 2010
Tags: Clean Tech, Energy & Climate, More... Clean Tech, Energy & Climate, Purchasing, Renewable Energy

WASHINGTON, DC — The Recovery Act has kept the country on track to halve the cost of solar power and has helped lay the foundation to double renewable energy generation in the U.S., according to a White House report.

"The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy through Innovation" looks at how the $100 billion in reinvestment funds from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is affecting solar power costs, electric vehicle battery production and renewable energy, as well as high-speed rail, electronic health records and human genome projects.

The report especially credits the Recovery Act funds for positioning the U.S. to meet President Barack Obama's goal to double the amount of renewable energy the U.S. can generate along with how much renewable energy equipment it can produce by 2012.

Nearly a quarter of the reinvestment funds are going toward those goals, pumping $23 billion into renewable energy projects. Doubling renewable energy generation from wind, solar and geothermal projects would see the U.S. go from producing 28.8 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to 57.6 GW. In doubling the production of wind turbines, solar panels and other equipment, the country would move from making enough equipment each year to produce 6 GW to enough to generate 12 GW.

The Recovery Act is also helping the U.S. cut the cost of solar power in half between 2009 and 2015. Through investments in new technologies and increasing the scale of solar manufacturing and deployment, the U.S. is looking to see the cost of solar power drop from $0.21 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2009 to $0.10 per kWh in 2015, which would bring the price down to household electricity rates. Utility-scale solar projects are expected to drop from $0.13 per kWh to $0.06 in the same timeframe.

More than $2 billion from the act is being invested in advanced battery and electric drive manufacturing with the intent of bringing down the cost of electric vehicle batteries by 70 percent by 2015. All-electric vehicle batteries would go from $33,000 to $10,000 while plug-in hybrid batteries would cost $4,000 instead of the current $13,000.

Along with bringing down costs, the Recovery Act funds are going toward making batteries lighter by about 33 percent and making them last 14 years as opposed to four years.

Last year the U.S. had two factories making advanced vehicle batteries, producing less than 2 percent of the world's vehicle batteries. By 2012, the report says, the country will have 30 factories capable of producing 20 percent of the world's vehicle batteries.


[GreenBiz.com > News > Clean Tech, Energy & Climate, More...]

Employees Losing Confidence in Companies' Green Commitments

By GreenBiz Staff
Published August 26, 2010
Tags: Consumer Products, Consumer Trends, More... Consumer Products, Consumer Trends, Marketing & Communication

OAKLAND, CA — As Americans' overall environmental confidence continues to ebb and flow, their faith in their employers' environmental responsibility has dropped to a new low, according to the monthly Green Confidence Index (www.greenconfidenceindex.com).

According to July 2010 data, just released, Americans' confidence that "the company you work for" is doing enough to address environmental challenges dropped more than 2 percentage points in a single month -- at a time that confidence in other institutions either rose slightly or held steady.

"Consumers' confidence in their employers is now at its lowest point since we began tracking," said Amy Hebard, chief research officer of Earthsense, whose company creates the Index. "Some of this is no doubt linked to high unemployment and the increased workloads of some employees."

The Green Confidence Index, which is derived from a monthly online survey of approximately 2,500 Americans aged 18 and over, measures Americans' attitudes towards and confidence in how leaders and institutions are perceived to be addressing environmental issues, the adequacy of information available to them to make informed decisions, and their past and future purchases of green products.

The Index's three components include:

> Responsibility: Who's "doing enough" – and who's not?
> Information: Is enough information available and for what types of decisions?
> Purchasing: Is green purchasing continuing, accelerating or declining?

According to research conducted during July, major companies tied with the federal government for last place in perceptions around Responsibility, while local governments have achieved their highest level yet of confidence.

In the Information category, the July data found that weeks away from the midterm elections, the availability of information on candidates' environmental positions is trending upward, though is largely seen as inadequate.

The July survey also took a look at back-to-school shopping -- specifically, the level of interest in purchasing "green" brands of school supplies.

The answer: Not so much. Green back-to-school purchases are the exception, not the rule, though they vary considerably by product type. Paper goods top the list of most frequently bought items, though fewer than a third of purchasers expect to procure green versions of those. Of 26 different school supplies we surveyed about this month, only one non-paper environmental product was being highly considered: the reusable water bottle.

"The green opportunity in the school-supply market is a gaping gap, if not a chasm," said Earthsense president Wendy Cobrda. "Getting the message to schools, not just to kids and parents -- will be crucial if there is any hope of making green part of the everyday school day."

The Green Confidence Index is a partnership of three leading business information services companies: GreenBiz.com, part of Greener World Media, which also produces research reports and events on the greening of mainstream business; Earthsense, an applied marketing company that produces Eco-Insights, the largest syndicated survey of U.S. consumers' attitudes and behaviors toward the environment and sustainability; and Survey Sampling International, the world's largest provider of multi-mode survey research sampling solutions. The Index is a subscription-based service. Annual subscriptions are $499, with charter subscriptions available at $299.

More information and a sample copy of the monthly briefing can be downloaded at www.greenconfidenceindex.com.

news20100825jp

[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]

[japantimes.co.jp > Life in Japan > EDUCATION AND BILINGUAL]

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

'Ii' is a perfectly good way to say, 'No, thank you'

By DANIEL MORALES

When I was in elementary school, a certain comma was the bane of my existence. No, not the serial comma. I learned (and later unlearned) that one relatively easily. It wasn't the comma before "too," either. Nor was it the one between multiple adjectives modifying a single noun. No, it was the comma in "no, thank you." The role that comma plays, the way set phrases are spoken and understood, and the disconnect caused by a phrase of refusal that incorporates a word of affirmation and acceptance is mirrored in the Japanese word ii (良い, いい) and its polite alternatives, yoroshii (宜しい, よろしい) and kekkō (結構, けっこう).

Perhaps I was uncomfortable with "no, thank you" because the phrase sounds more like "nothankyou." We utter set phrases so often and so quickly they seem to merge into a single word — such as "thanksalot" and "howzitgoin." This is especially true for "nothankyou," since we attach it to the end of a conversation in order to exit a situation — for example, to leave a convenience store or supermarket unburdened by a receipt. We shouldn't feel bad, though. This is, after all, the goal of set phrases: We use them to expedite the process of relaying certain information.

In "no, thank you," we relay politely the fact that we are refusing goods or services offered by another party. While the comma confused me, it also provided the solution — it sets off the answer ("Nay! I need not the extra calories in those supersize fries") from the polite softening of the phrase ("but thank you for the offer"). If you pause for a moment on the comma, the meaning becomes more obvious. And the longer you pause, the more polite it becomes. Standard level of politeness: "nothankyou." More polite: "No, thank you." Polite and very considerate: "No (a beat), thank you." You have to be careful not to take this to the next level of "sarcastic politeness": "No (adjusts monocle and puts on top hat), thank you."

Japanese, too, contains polite refusals that sometimes confuse students. When teachers introduce the word ii, they often give the quick, three-word definition: good, fine, nice. Like "thank you," these are positive words. Teachers fail to mention, at least initially, that "fine" really means "fine without." The real definition of "fine" in the phrase "ii desu" (「いいです」, "I'm fine") is "I'm fine (in the state I'm in [often with the absence of certain services or goods offered])." Or "I'm fine, I don't need the receipt. Keep it please. No, thank you."

This fact becomes more readily apparent if you've ever heard someone say or shout "mō ii!" (「もういい！」, "Enough already!") Using "mō ii" less assertively is an acceptable way to refuse something offered, especially if you add "desu." "Kēki wo mō sukoshi tabemasu ka?" (「ケーキをもう少し食べますか？」, "Would you like more cake?") "Mō ii desu." ("No, thank you.")

"Kekkō desu" is the polite alternative to "ii desu," but the long vowel at the end, along with the long consonant "k," makes pronunciation trickier. If you use this phrase and find that people double-check what you've said with "Ii desu ka?" you might try to stick to a straightforward "ii desu" and hold your palm out in front of you — the universal symbol for stop.

When you are asking the questions, do not use "kekkō" — use "yoroshii," instead. In this case, the order of politeness of these questions, running from the shortest (least) to the longest (most), is: "Ii desu ka?" "Yoroshii desu ka?" "Yoroshii deshō ka?" These questions are flexible and incredibly useful. First, you can use them to confirm that someone is "fine (with the current situation/without something)." A useful English equivalent is, "Are you sure?" These questions are also a sincere way to express appreciation for someone's kindness. Say, for example, a ramen shop owner offers you free gyoza with your ramen. An acceptable way to express thanks without using "arigatō gozaimasu" would be to confirm this miraculous event with "ii" ("Ee? Hontō ni ii desuka?" "What? Really? Are you sure?") and then give thanks with a sing-song "itadakimasu!"

While "ii" is an adjective meaning good or nice, it's important to remember that it is incorporated in many set phrases such as "no, thank you" that can quickly express that something is decidedly not good. When I was an English teacher, I had an array of stickers that I would give to students. Boys loved insect stickers. When I offered one to a girl in the class with "Mushi wa ikaga desu ka?" ("Would you like a bug?"), she would match my level of politeness and reply, "Mushi wa ii desu." No, she wasn't saying bugs were good. She was implying she was fine, thank you, without any bugs. Learning the subtle uses of ii can, it appears, even make a handy fly swatter.

news20100825gdn1

[News] from [guardian.co.uk]

[guardian.co.uk > Environment > Oil spills]

UN report on Nigeria oil spills relies too much on data from Shell
Report blaming 90% of spills in Ogoniland on locals stealing crude from pipelines allows companies to shirk responsibility
> Outrage at UN decision to exonerate Shell for oil pollution in Niger delta

Nnimmo Bassey
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 August 2010 15.13 BST
Article history

{Oil leaks from a Shell flow station in Nigeria. The claim that pipelines have been sabotaged is particularly attractive to oil companies. Photograph: George Osodi/AP}

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is preparing to issue a report announcing that 90% of the oil spills in Ogoniland, Nigeria, are caused by the locals stealing crude from pipelines – and that Shell's aged pipelines and ill maintained installations account for a mere 10% of the spills. Why so little, we might ask?

The UNEP has now admitted this figure is based on data from the oil industry and the Nigerian government. It's not surprising that this is in line with what Shell used to claim in the 1980s – that about 80% of the oil spills were caused by vandalism or sabotage. This claim that infrastructure has been sabotaged is particularly attractive to oil companies, because they are then exempted from paying compensation for any resulting spills. Why accept responsibility for polluting the locals' creeks, swamps and farmlands and destroying their livelihoods when you can blame the very same people for the mess now coating their own backyards with a toxic gloss?

Yet crucial expertise which could have painted a very different picture was sidelined. Prof Richard Steiner, an international expert on oil spills, was contracted to write the manual on oil damage assessment and restoration by the UNEP in 2004. But when Shell hired the agency to carry out the present study, Steiner's offer to provide scientific advice and guidance to the Ogoniland report was declined.

Steiner has already said that the findings now uncovered are incorrect, and has gone on to say: "Our earlier results suggest that much of the oil spilled there was due to poor practice by Shell, rather than bunkering and sabotage… it is entirely implausible that 90% of the oil spilled was due to bunkering [the act of criminal gangs stealing oil]." In short, his opinion is that this is not an independent, credible assessment.

The report does indeed rely heavily on figures produced by oil companies and Nigerian state statistics rather than on testimonies from those most affected – the communities in Ogoniland.

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency of Nigeria has reported a total of 3,203 oil spills in the Niger Delta region in the last four years alone.

That list lengthens every day. The records of the Nigerian Directorate of Petroleum Resources show that nearly 2.5m barrels of crude oil were spilt between 1976 and 1996. Most damning of all, 77% of this oil was not recovered and contaminated the local environment. This is an environmental catastrophe which has a long history – some notable past spills include the Escravos spill of 1978 in which 300,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled into the coastal waters and another, in the same year, caused by tank failure at Forcados Terminal in which 580,000 barrels were spewed into the environment.

It is in this polluted environment that the people of Ogoniland have had to live for decades with spill after spill. The UNEP must be, and be seen to be, an independent arbiter of what has really happened there. There should be no room for suspicion that the $10m (£6.5m) Shell paid the agency for this report will influence the outcome.

> Nnimmo Bassey is chairman of Friends of the Earth International


[guardian.co.uk > Environment > Carbon offsetting]

Poorer nations hit with 'exorbitant' consultancy fees for carbon offset projects
Nepali government has paid a Norwegian consultancy €150,000 (£123,000) to get UN certification for biogas projects

Reese Erlich in Badreni, Nepal
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 August 2010 15.14 BST
Article history

{Planting trees for a carbon offset project in Kenya. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty}

The UN-certified scheme that allows developed nations to pay for carbon reductions abroad instead of making domestic cuts has come under fire for paying high fees to consultants from rich countries.

The Guardian has learned that the Nepali government has so far paid a Norwegian company €150,000 to verify a greenhouse gas reduction programme for which it is seeking carbon credits. That sum would pay for 340 of the small-scale carbon cutting projects the government is trying to set up.

Seperately, the conservation charity WWF pays €20,000 (£16,000) per verification visit for a smaller project using the same technology, but under a different scheme.

Kyle Ash, a Greenpeace official in Washington DC called the fees "exorbitant" and questioned the entire UN-administered cap and trade system. "It doesn't seem like a good investment especially when there are other ways to reduce emissions," he said.

"We need to restrict global warming pollution [in industrialised countries]," he said. "And we need to finance clean development in third world countries. But the two things aren't connected."

Stein Jensen, a spokesman for the Oslo-based consulting company used by the Nepali government, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), said that there is such competition to provide consultancy services that the fees reflect the market rate. He added: "for small projects the transaction costs are high."

The UN says verification is necessary to ensure that schemes attracting carbon credits really do lead to reductions in CO2, but it has currently approved only 33 companies worldwide to evaluate carbon offset projects.

Samir Thapa, an official with the Nepali government's Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, said the demand for evaluators outstrips the number of companies available. "You may have to wait to validate your project for six months or one year," he said. "Economically, that's not very viable for the project, especially in terms of smaller projects like ours."

The Nepali government has been working since 2006 to receive UN certification to sell carbon offsets for two biogas projects. The government subsidises farmers to install equipment that turns animal and human waste into methane cooking fuel. Under the scheme, local people will use less firewood and other fuels, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

The government paid DNV €150,000 (£123,000) for initial site visits and related services. It will have to pay €50,000 (£41,000) for subsequent annual visits. Nepal hopes to complete the UN-administered certification process by the end of this year and ultimately wants to build 200,000 biogas installations. It expects to earn $400,000 (£259,000) per year in carbon credits.

The biogas equipment currently costs $575 (£372) per household, a significant sum for farmers earning under $1,500 (£971) per year. The government offers partial subsidies, but farmers must spend some of their savings and take out microcredit loans to pay for the rest.

Villager Sabitri Dairi said the scheme had brought environmental benefits. "It's harmful to the forest and the environment to cut firewood down. There could be landslides and floods."

WWF helped finance the biogas for people in Badreni, a village in the south of the country near Chitwan national park. In a project separate from the Nepali government's, WWF hopes to raise $1m for a microcredit fund by participating in the voluntary carbon offset market. Voluntary credits are not recognised by the UN as meeting a country's carbon reduction goals under the Kyoto protocol. But participants such as WWF must go through a similar validation and verification process as those who do.

WWF will get credit for each tonne of carbon not produced as a result of using biogas. It sells the credits to the Zurich-based NGO Myclimate, which in turn provides offsets to individuals, airlines and other European companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprints.

Thomas Finsterwald, project manager with Myclimate, admitted that the high fees make "it difficult to do small projects." He said inspection fees might eat up 40% of income for some other projects. "This is really a problem."

news20100825gdn2

[News] from [guardian.co.uk]

[guardian.co.uk > Environment > Ethical and green living]

Apple blocks iPhones from green ranking scheme
Scheme rates handsets on factors such as ecological impact of raw materials, manufacturing process and energy efficiency

> Top 10 green iPhone apps
> iPhone app pitches climate change science against scepticism

Adam Vaughan
The Guardian, Wednesday 25 August 2010
Article history

{The iPhone 4: an Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on why the company had opted out of the voluntary labelling scheme. Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters}

Apple has refused to allow its iPhones to be included in the UK's first-ever green ranking scheme for mobile phones.

The scheme gives phones a rating of zero to five based on their environmental footprint and major manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung have signed up. The network O2, which is launching the rating system today, said 93% of the devices its customers use will be covered.

Launched in partnership with sustainability advisers Forum for the Future, the green ranking scheme scores handsets on the ecological impact of their raw materials, the manufacturing process, packaging, how long they are likely to last, energy efficiency and how easy they are to reuse or recycle.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on why the company had decided not to join the voluntary labelling scheme, but highlighted its environmental reporting online.

Many other mobile phone manufacturers, including market leader Nokia, publish similar environment reports online and are taking part in the rankings. RIM, the Canadian firm that produces the Blackberry, has pledged to joint the scheme next year.

"Transparency is always an issue for consumer electronics companies, who claim that providing too much information gives away competitive advantage. But consumers also deserve to know the full story. While Apple has recently made important strides in eliminating toxic chemicals from its products and the reporting of their environmental footprint, it still lags behind others in transparency," said Gary Cook, IT sector analyst for Greenpeace International.

The environmental group loudly lobbied the California-based company with its "Green my Apple" campaign, and in 2007 praised Apple CEO Steve Jobs for his decision to phase out the use of brominated flame retardants and PVC in the manufacture of the company's products.

The ratings in the scheme are based on answers by manufacturers to a questionnaire of 63 questions, in a bid to "turn complexity into something simple to understand", said James Taplin, principal sustainability adviser at Forum for the Future. The energy and resources used to produce the phone, for example, are partly measured by the "proxy measure" of the area of integrated circuits in each phone. "The largest impact comes from the energy used in extracting materials [from the Earth] and transporting them, as well as the energy and water used to process components such as silicon wafers," said Taplin.

Using the methodology, O2 rated the Sony Ericsson Elm the most sustainable mobile phone with 4.3 out of five. The phone's pole position was achieved by its high score on one criterion – "functionality" – which sees it negate the need for separate devices such as a camera, MP3 player and satnav, saving the energy that would be required to make them. "You need to look at the indirect impact of the phone, such as fewer devices, not just the phone," added Taplin.

Seven phones tied in second place with a score of 4.0: the Nokia 1800, Nokia 6700, Nokia C7, Samsung GT-S8500, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro and Sony Ericsson Zylo. Apple estimates the production and use of each iPhone 4 produces 45kg CO2e over its lifetime.

The mobile phone industry as a whole is belatedly attempting to green its image, with the big five UK networks and handset makers pledging last year to phase in a universal charger that must also meet energy efficiency standards.

There are signs that consumers want greener phones – 11.5% of people surveyed for O2 said sustainability had a "strong influence" on which model they would buy. Ronan Dunne, O2's UK chief executive, said: "We know that sustainability is important for many of our customers and for the first time [with the eco rating scheme] they will have the whole picture from which to make a full and balanced purchasing decision."


[guardian.co.uk > Environment > Oil]

BP frozen out of Arctic oil drilling race
British energy giant BP forced to abandon hopes of Greenland exploration owing to tarnished reputation from Gulf oil spill

Terry Macalister in Nuuk
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 August 2010 19.30 BST
Article history

{BP confirmed it was no longer trying to win an exploration licence in Greenland (above). Photograph: John McConnico/AP}

BP has been forced to abandon hopes of drilling in the Arctic, currently the centre of a new oil rush, owing to its tarnished reputation after the Gulf of Mexico spill.

The company confirmed tonight that it was no longer trying to win an exploration licence in Greenland, despite earlier reports of its interest. "We are not participating in the bid round," said a spokesman at BP's London headquarters, who declined to discuss its reasons for the reverse.

The setback, which follows the announcement this week of a major find in the region by British rival Cairn Energy, is the first sign that the Gulf of Mexico disaster may have permanently damaged BP's ability to operate – not just in US waters, but in other environmentally sensitive parts of the world.

Today the bureau of minerals and petroleum in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, confirmed that the names of successful bidders for future exploration licences would be announced in the next couple of weeks.

The bureau refused to comment on widespread rumours that it had specifically decided not to consider BP as a result of the recent Macondo well disaster in the US. However, senior sources confirmed to the Guardian that both the Greenland government and BP had agreed it would be inappropriate for the company to be involved. "With the Greenpeace ship already harassing Cairn off Greenland — a company which has an exemplary safety record – everyone realised it would be political madness to give the green light to BP," one source said.

BP has traditionally been at the forefront of breaking into new frontiers such as Russia and Angola, as well as drilling the deepest wells in the Gulf of Mexico, but the blowout and enormous environmental damage in the southern states has completely changed its external image and its own ambitions.

There has been speculation since the Deepwater Horizon accident in April that BP could find itself persona non grata, particularly in sensitive environmental regions such as the Arctic.

BP's current interests around the Arctic region are centred on Alaska, but there has been extensive speculation that the company is in talks with rivals such as Apache to sell these off in a desperate attempt to raise cash to pay for expected oil-spill liabilities of more than $30bn.

Cairn's announcement that it had struck gas this week reinforced the views of the US Geological Survey which said last year that it believed there could be 90bn barrels of oil and 50tn cubic metres of gas in the wider Arctic region.

There will be another round of bidding for drilling off Greenland next year and the year after, but BP's reverse this week shows that it will be difficult for the firm to secure future exploration licences in the area.

Environmentalists are particularly nervous about plans to open up Arctic seas for exploration because the cold conditions would make a spill far more damaging. Last month a report by US government scientists concluded that a quarter of the 4.9m barrels of oil estimated to have been spilled in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico had evaporated or dissolved. Oil spilled in the Arctic would be far harder to disperse and break down.

Despite the Deepwater Horizon disaster, major oil companies – BP included — still hope to begin drilling in the Arctic off the coast of North America soon. Barack Obama opened up US waters there to exploration shortly before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, but suspended the plans while investigations into the disaster took place.

Additional reporting by Tim Webb in London.

news20100825gdn3

[News] from [guardian.co.uk]

[guardian.co.uk > Environment > Nuclear power]

UK's nuclear reactor programme falls behind schedule
Regulator and builders blame each other for construction hold-up as designs await approval

Tim Webb
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 August 2010 20.25 BST
Article history

Nuclear plant in Flamanville, northwestern France under construction. French nuclear engineering specialist Areva is in a consortium behind one of the designs for the UK's first reactor under the building programme. Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP

The schedule for the UK's nuclear reactor building programme has slipped behind already, the safety regulator has admitted, reinforcing concerns that the first reactor will not be built on time.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it would probably have to issue an "interim" decision on the safety of the two new proposed reactor designs next June, the deadline for its assessment programme. The regulator expects significant chunks of extra work will remain before it can finally approve or reject the designs, but did not say how long this would take.

Kevin Allars, director of the assessment programme at the HSE, said that companies could continue planning and carry out preparatory construction on proposed nuclear sites while they waited for a final decision. But he insisted that construction of a reactor could not start without its consent.

Allars promised there would be no repeat of the chaotic construction in Finland of what was supposed to be Europe's first new reactor in decades. The Areva plant is more than three years behind schedule and more than €2bn (£1.6bn) over budget, with the Finnish regulator trying to approve each component of the design while it is being built. EDF has promised that the UK's first reactor will be operational in 2018, although it had originally said it would be running by the end of 2017.

The HSE said the companies behind the designs – French consortium Areva, EDF and US firm Westinghouse – had been repeatedly submitting information which was incomplete and late.

In turn, the companies are blaming the regulator for not having sufficient resources to carry out the work. The Guardian revealed last year that the arm of the HSE which was carrying out the work – the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) – had been forced to hire more than a dozen project managers, even though they work for the companies hoping to build the designs under review.

In its quarterly update on the assessment programme, the HSE admitted that this risk of a conflict of interest was a "factor of increasing significance" which it said it would "continue to monitor closely".

Westinghouse, which has put forward its AP1000 reactor design, comes in for particularly harsh criticism. Allars said of the company: "It's very frustrating. We get a load [of work] in late and then we do not get what we were promised or of the quality we were promised. If this carries on they won't get a design acceptance."

The HSE has already raised a red flag over Westinghouse's civil engineering plans for key structures making up the reactor core, which the regulator says are not sufficiently robust. The company was supposed to carry out further analysis by the end of June, but most of this has been delayed, while what had been done "fell significantly short of what we expected".

"Significant issues" are also flagged for Westinghouse's planned control and instrumentation systems to operate the reactor. The company missed a June deadline to provide information on reactor chemistry, "which does not help our confidence that Westinghouse will meet future delivery dates", said the HSE.

A Westinghouse spokesman said: "We accept that some of our input in one or two areas has not met the regulator's expectations."

A Greenpeace spokesman said: "The generic design assessment [GDA] process has already unearthed a string of nasty surprises within the new nuclear reactors' designs. But now we find out GDA won't even be able to give a final green light to the reactor designs. This means we could be faced with the farcical situation where the government is letting utilities press ahead with building work for reactors that haven't been given safety approval."


[guardian.co.uk > Environment > GM]

GM salmon may go on sale in US after public consultation
Food and Drug administration begins 60-day process to approve animal critics call a 'frankenfish'

> Artificial meat? Food for thought by 2050

Chris McGreal in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 August 2010 21.24 BST
Article history

{A genetically-modified AquAdvantage salmon, top, next to a control salmon of the same age. Photograph: AP}

US authorities today began the process to approve the first GM animal for human consumption.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a 60-day period of consultation and public meetings over whether to permit a GM strain of salmon to be eaten by humans, even though it has been called a "frankenfish" by critics. The approval process could take less than a year, and if it gets the green light the fish could be on the market in 18 months.

Environmentalists and scientists see the decision as marking a threshold. If it is approved it is likely to open the door to a large range of GM animals being raised for consumption. If not, scientists say that will have a negative effect on research, in part because there will be no money to be made from it.

Among the considerations by the FDA is whether, if the fish is approved for consumption, it must be labelled as genetically engineered.

The AquAdvantage salmon – a modified North Atlantic salmon – has been created by AquaBounty Technologies in Boston, Massachusetts, over 14 years at a cost of $50m. The company says the salmon grows at twice the speed of similar fish, cutting costs for farmers and greatly increasing production.

On its website the company says: "This advancement provides a compelling economic benefit to farmers (reduced growing cycle) as well as enhancing the economic viability of inland operations, thereby diminishing the need for ocean pens." The fish are also sterile, which the company says would prevent interbreeding with wild salmon.

The genetic modification involves taking a growth hormone gene from a chinook salmon and joining it with a control DNA sequence (called a promoter) from an ocean pout – an eel-like creature from a different family of marine organisms. The growth hormone gene is almost identical to the equivalent gene in the North Atlantic salmon – the sequence differs by just 1% – but it operates differently because of the new control sequence. Unlike in North Atlantic salmon, which produced growth hormone only in the summer, ocean pout control sequence directs the gene to produce hormone all year round.

The genetic mash-up is then injected into the eggs of North Atlantic salmon. Here, it is taken up by the fish's genome and ultimately the DNA is present in cells throughout the body of the fish. The company uses a different genetic trick to make the fish it proposes to sell to customers sterile to prevent them interbreeding.

The explanation of the genetic modification on the company's publicity literature, aimed at reassuring the public, makes no mention of the ocean pout gene. "The chinook growth hormone is the same as the Atlantic salmon growth hormone; it is simply regulated differently. Their ability to grow faster does not change the biological make-up of the fish," the company says.

That appears to contradict the explanation of the technology from AquaBounty's chief scientific officer, Dr John Buchanan, who said the fish do incorporate DNA from the ocean pout. But he said there was no intention to mislead. "I don't think it is intentionally hidden. It has been disclosed many times and published in papers," he said, adding that the description on the website had been simplified to make it less confusing.

Because it is new ground for the FDA there are no regulations about genetically engineered animals and so it is being evaluated as if it were an animal treated with drugs.

The FDA has established an advisory committee of veterinarians to consider the evidence and public views. A public meeting will be held next month.

Among the opponents is the International Salmon Farmers Association which is concerned about the reaction of consumers and that it will undermine the popularity of salmon, which commands high prices in the US.

However, the National Fisheries Institute, a trade association of American seafood producers, backs "the use of biotechnology in the production of genetically-engineered fish" provided it has FDA approval.

If the FDA approves the fish for human consumption, AquaBounty says they will be raised in inland waters to ensure the modified salmon do not enter the oceans.

news20100825nn

[naturenews] from [nature.com]

[nature.com > Nature News]

Published online 25 August 2010 | Nature 466, 1029 (2010) | doi:10.1038/4661029a
News

Sugar synthesis speeds up
Automated synthesizers can make complex carbohydrates on demand.

Richard Van Noorden

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

When biologists need a particular peptide or strand of DNA, they ask a machine to make it for them. Automation gives fast, inexpensive access to these molecules, and it has helped turbocharge biology.

But constructing complex carbohydrates from sugar building blocks still needs expert chemists, with researchers spending weeks — and tens of thousands of dollars — forging molecules by hand.

Two groups of chemists now say they have independently developed automated carbohydrate synthesizers with the aim of making the molecules on demand. One machine is already churning out carbohydrates for clients, and the other will be available for labs to buy next year. Advocates say the machines could unplug a major bottleneck in the field of glycobiology, which studies the sugar chains (glycans) present on many proteins and lipids.

The main problem with carbohydrate synthesis is that sugar building blocks attach to each other in myriad ways to create a dazzling variety of branched structures — in contrast to peptides, which are made from a linear chain of amino acids linked by identical chemical bonds. Making the right carbohydrate means avoiding all the unwanted possibilities.

In 2001, chemist Peter Seeberger, who now directs the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, published the outline of a carbohydrate synthesizer that attached sugars one by one to a resin-linked chain (O. J. Plante, E. R. Palmacci and P. H. Seeberger Science 291, 1523–1527; 2001). The idea was based on solid-phase peptide synthesis, which won biochemist Bruce Merrifield the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984; the resin holds on to the growing peptide or carbohydrate chain, with unreacted building blocks being washed away. But many researchers believed the chemistry behind Seeberger's proposal would be too complicated to be reliable, and the number of different sugars needed too great to manufacture. So Seeberger has spent the past decade completely remodelling his machine — overhauling the chemistry that links the sugars to the resin, for example.

Commercial machines will be available next year, he says. The device is being tested at Leiden University in the Netherlands and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. It is also being used by Ancora Pharmaceuticals, based in Medford, Massachusetts, a company co-founded by Seeberger to design and test carbohydrate-based vaccines. Seeberger says that 90% of known mammalian carbohydrates can be constructed using just 35 building blocks, which he plans to supply in bulk.

Seeberger presented the early fruits of research using his machines at this week's American Chemical Society meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. For example, he is imaging sugar-covered bacterial cells — and targeting drugs at them — by attaching a variety of glycans to nanoparticles.

Not everyone thinks Seeberger's technology is currently versatile enough to make a wide range of carbohydrates on demand. "I don't think the chemistry is sufficiently well developed," says Geert-Jan Boons at the University of Georgia in Athens. But it could build libraries of carbohydrates using well-established synthetic routes, he adds.

Meanwhile, a complementary system is already delivering shorter carbohydrates than those targeted by Seeberger. Developed by Nicola Pohl of Iowa State University in Ames, it uses a hydrophobic fluorocarbon tag, rather than a resin, to anchor growing sugar chains in solution. Pohl's company, LuCella Biosciences in Ames, has been filling orders to build carbohydrates since November 2009. Pohl hopes that automated machines will persuade more biologists to study glycans rather than being deterred by their complexity. "A lot of our early work is about educating the biologists that these carbohydrates are now readily available," she says.

news20100825bg1

[News] from [businessgreen.com]

[BusinessGreen.com > News > Renewables]

Scotland throws down gauntlet in race to become offshore wind hub
Report claims investment in offshore wind industry could create up to 28,000 jobs by 2020

Jessica Shankleman, BusinessGreen, 25 Aug 2010

Scotland could emerge as one of the world's leading developers of offshore wind energy within the next decade, according to a new report that predicts the industry has the potential to create up to 28,000 jobs by 2020.

The report, entitled Scottish Offshore Wind: Creating an Industry, was commissioned by Scottish Renewables and Scottish Enterprise and aims to map out a series of scenarios for the future of the sector based on varying levels of private and public investment.

It concludes that plentiful and speedy investment in infrastructure and the supply chain, coupled with extensions to government incentives could add at least £7.1bn of value to the Scottish economy, while delivering 10.6GW of renewable power to the grid.

Conversely, Scotland could fail to capitalise on its huge wind resource if government support is diluted causing investors to put their money elsewhere.

Under the ambitious Scenario A, investors lured by Scotland's high winds would make all the necessary supply chain investments and grid upgrades necessary to deploy 10.6GW of offshore wind capacity by 2020, establishing the country as a leading exporter of offshore wind technologies and expertise.

Under the more moderate Scenario B, developers only build half the sites earmarked for development by 2020 resulting in little export of goods and services to international markets. However, the report estimated that under this scenario the sector would still generate more than 19,000 direct jobs in 2020, with the industry worth £4.5bn over the coming decade.

But in order to achieve either of these scenarios, the report warns that the Scottish government must deliver major reforms over the next few years in order to streamline consenting and planning processes, boost grid capacity and increase investment in skills development.

The report also warns that without urgent action Scotland could miss the chance to fully capitalise on its renewable energy resources.

Under two further scenarios, the report argues that a failure to accelerate the development of Scottish offshore wind farms will result in relatively few jobs being created as developers delay Scottish projects and import wind turbine technologies. Under the worst case scenario, only 1.2GW of new capacity will come online over the next decade supportign just 900 new jobs.

Scottish Renewables director of policy Jenny Hogan urged investors and manufacturers to take quick and decisive action now to ensure Scotland achieves its full potential.

"We already have significant employment in the sector through companies like BiFab and Subocean, but this report confirms the industry could become one of the country’s major employers over the next decade," she said. "However it's also clear that none of this can be taken for granted. Other parts of the UK and ports all over Europe are fighting tooth and nail to secure investment and the economic benefits that offshore manufacturing and associated activity will bring."

Meanwhile, Scottish energy minister Jim Mather welcomed the report, but warned that while the Scottish government was keen to support the sector its powers were currently limited by politicians in Westminster.

In particular, he urged the coalition government to end the long-running stand off with Edinburgh over whether the Scottish government can reinvest money raised through the Fossil Fiel Levy in Scotland into renewable energy project.

"This report underlines the case for early investment and therefore it's now urgent for the Treasury to release Scotland's £185m Fossil Fuel Levy to further develop the renewables industry," he said. "It is also essential that the Westminster government delivers a level playing field when it comes to the costs of supplying energy to the grid - that means ending the system whereby punitive charges are imposed on energy suppliers in Scotland, while those in other parts of the UK are paid subsidies."

Later this week, the Scottish government will launch a consultation to setting out proposals to reform the current Renewables Obligation subsidy mechanism in Scotland. The consultation is expected to include plans to better support offshore wind projects and changes to allow wave and tidal projects in Scottish waters to receive grants as well as enhanced Renewable Obligations Certificates.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Recycling/Disposal]

Supermarkets miss plastic bag goal for a second time
Retailers once again fall short of voluntary target to halve plastic bag use

BusinessGreen.com staff, BusinessGreen, 25 Aug 2010

The UK's leading supermarkets have once again missed a voluntary goal to halve the number of single use carrier bags handed out, despite cutting usage since last year, new figures have shown.

The government-backed Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) confirmed today that the total number of carrier bags issued by the UK's leading supermarkets has fallen 41 per cent since figures were first recorded in 2006.

Moreover, the number of "single-use" carrier bags issued has fallen 43 per cent compared to 2006, representing a reduction of 4.6 billion single-use bags a year.

However, the figures suggest the supermarkets have for the second time fallen short of a voluntary target agreed with the government in 2008 to cut the number of single-use bags given to customers by 50 per cent by spring 2009 compared to a 2006 baseline.

Last year, supermarkets claimed to have "all but" hit the 50 per cent target, citing figures for the month of May showing that they had reduced the number of single use bags distributed by 48 per cent.

The performance drew plaudits from then Environment Secretary Hilary Benn who hailed it as evidence that the government's voluntary approach to cutting plastic bag use was working.

But this year's figures for May, which cover Asda, Cooperative Group, M& S, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose, suggest that if anything the supermarkets' performance is worsening.

WRAP reported that they had reduced the number of single use carrier bags given out by only 46 per cent compared to the 2006 base line, leaving them well short of the 50 per cent target.

British Retail Consortium director insisted that the supermarkets had done a good job, arguing that rising sales had made it harder for them to meet the target.

"This is a tremendous achievement by supermarkets, customers and staff, especially as between 2006 and 2009 the amount of goods sold by participating retailers grew by over six per cent,” he said. "The reduction in bag use is great news, but it's the halving of the total weight of single-use carrier bags which shows retailers really scoring on the crucial issue of reducing environmental impact."

However, the latest figures are likely to once again fuel calls for the government to introduce legislation to curb plastic bag use.

Welsh Environment Minister Jane Davidson recently put forward plans to introduce a seven pence charge on all paper and plastic single use carrier bags by spring 2011. However, coalition ministers have signalled that they want to retain the previous government's voluntary apporoach to encouraging businesses to reduce waste levels.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Workplace]

Kyocera's edible 'green curtains' take a bite out of energy use
Japanese conglomerate pioneers cooling green shades at buildings Japan, Thailand and Brazil

GreenBiz Staff, BusinessGreen, 25 Aug 2010

Kyocera edible curtain
Kyocera Group has planted edible " green curtains" stretching thousands of feet across facilities in Japan, Thailand and Brazil in a bid to keep its buildings cool and greenhouse gas emissions low.

The IT equipment and industrial ceramics manufacturer installed the viney plants to block direct sunlight from the windows of 20 manufacturing and office buildings to help prevent increases in surface temperature of the structures.

This lessens the loads of their air conditioning units, while the green curtains also give workers a bounty of cucumbers, peas and bitter gourd called goya, which land on their cafeteria menus.

Using infrared thermograhic measurement, Kyocera confirmed the green curtains results in lower outer wall temperature than unshaded walls. "In addition, we were able to confirm that the Green Curtains can decrease the temperature by as much as 15 degrees C (27 degrees F)," the company said.

At the same time, the green curtains are working to absorb an estimated 23,481 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, which is roughly the same amount that can be absorbed by 761 cedar trees.

The green curtains cover roughly 32,750 square feet (3,043 square meters), and measure 2,379 feet (725 meters) in length.

Kyocera has set up a website with information on the green curtains, including some fairly detailed instructions and photos from its own experiences to help readers grow green curtains at home.

This article first appeared at GreenBiz.com

news20100825bg2

[News] from [businessgreen.com]

[BusinessGreen.com > News > Politics]

Biden: US renewables policy is working
Vice president insists stimulus dollars will lead to a doubling of US renewable energy capacity by 2012

James Murray, BusinessGreen, 25 Aug 2010

The US economic stimulus package will result in a doubling of renewable energy capacity by 2012 while slashing the cost of solar panels and electric car batteries, according to a new report released yesterday by the White House.

Speaking alongside energy secretary Steven Chu, vice president Joe Biden said the government's $787bn stimulus package was helping to accelerate the development of innovative new low-carbon industries across the US.

"The government plants the seeds, the private sector nourishes and makes it grow," Biden said. "And in the process, if we're as innovative as we've been in the past, we launch entire new industries."

The 50-page report detailed the impact of the $100bn of stimulus funding earmarked for investment in energy, transport, medical research and smart grid projects.

It predicted that investment in renewable energy projects such as solar and wind farms will lead to a doubling in renewable energy capacity from 28.8GW at the end of 2008 to 57.6GW by the end of 2011.

Over the same period US manufacturing capacity for renewable energy technologies is similarly expected to double to 12GW.

Significantly, the cost of renewable energy technologies is expected to fall with the Biden predicting that stimulus dollars invested in solar research and manufacturing will help to ensure that the cost of solar power is on a par with conventional grid power by 2015.

The report also outlines how government funding has helped to revolutionise the US auto sector, noting that between 2009 and 2012 the number of US factories producing electric vehicle batteries will increase from two to 30. As a result, the US is expected to command 20 per cent of the global market for advanced vehicle batteries.

In addition, the report predicts that the scaling up of battery manufacturing capacity will ensure that battery costs are halved, cutting the current price premium for electric vehicles in half in the process.

The report comes at a crucial time for US climate change and renewable policy as Democrats consider how to maintain momentum across the sector as the stimulus package is scaled back.

Senior politicians are currently debating how to revive or reform the controversial climate bill that was blocked by the senate earlier in the summer and now appears to be on hold until after November's mid-term elections.

Meanwhile, environmental, business and trade union groups are all looking to increase pressure on congress to adopt some form of climate change legislation.

Most notably the BlueGreen Alliance, a campaign uniting trade union and environment groups, has this summer undertaken a three-week bus tour and publicity campaign accusing Republicans of blocking environmental legislation and calling on congress to adopt emissions targets and increase support for green jobs.

The United Auto Workers group this week became the latest union to join the group, arguing that ambitious climate change legislation would provide boost to the US car industry.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Renewables]

France's €10bn offshore wind plan sets sail
Government to launch tenders for 10 offshore wind farms next month

BusinessGreen.com staff, BusinessGreen, 25 Aug 2010

The French government is set to announce plans for a €10bn (£8.2bn) offshore wind farm building programme that will see 600 wind turbines erected at 10 sites off the coast of France over the next five years.

An unnamed official told reporters yesterday that ministers were putting the finishing touches to the plan and would launch a tender for contracts to build and operate the wind farms next month.

He said the project was expected to provide 3,000MW of new wind energy capacity at a cost of about €3.5m per megawatt, adding "that represents an investment programme of €10bn".

The project is expected to act as a precursor to a second round of offshore wind farms after the government signalled earlier this year that it hopes to deliver 6,000MW of offshore wind capacity by 2020.

The tendering process is likely to be welcomed by French energy giant GDF Suez, which is already working on plans for France's first offshore wind farm, the 705MW Compagnie du Vent development nine miles offshore of Le Treport in the north of the country.

The government official signalled that other sites being considered for development as part of the tendering process are off the coasts of Normandy, Britanny and Languedoc-Roussillon in the Mediterranean.

The move provides the latest evidence of a shift in France's energy strategy, which has seen the government step up support for the renewable energy sector in recent months.

France has traditionally relied mainly on nuclear power and as a result has one of the most low-carbon energy mixes in the industrialised world. However, earlier this month the government launched a €1.35bn investment programme designed to accelerate the development of emerging renewable technologies such as marine power and geothermal energy, while plans are also under way to boost the country's solar energy capacity.


[BusinessGreen.com > News > Legislation]

California starts to lay energy storage foundations
New bill edges US state towards creation of renewables-ready grid

Danny Bradbury and James Murray, BusinessGreen, 25 Aug 2010

California this week moved a step closer to mandating the rollout of energy storage systems capable of supporting new renewable energy projects, passing a critical bill in the state senate.

Bill AB2514 would require the Public Utilities Commission to set targets for systems that store energy. Both public and private utilities in the state would then be required to help meet the targets, the legislation said.

"This bill requires load-serving entities to meet any targets adopted by the commission by 2015 and 2020," it stated. "This bill requires publicly owned utilities to set their own targets for the procurement of energy storage and then meet those targets by 2016 and 2021."

Energy storage systems are widely regarded as crucial for the efficient operation of power grids that are reliant on a high proportion of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Experts claim that large-scale energy storage systems would allow grid operators to cope with fluctuations in renewable energy output, ensuring they can always meet base load requirements.

Energy storage also enables utilities to sell stored renewable energy during peak times when energy prices are higher, helping to make renewable projects more economically viable.

The bill was voted through the California senate this week, but it is still not law. It now returns to the state assembly for concurrence in senate amendments, which will assess amendments made to the legislation during its senate hearing. If it succeeds there, it will go before governor Schwarzenegger. The deadline for the governor to sign the bill into law is September 30.

The passage of the bill would provide a major boost to emerging energy storage firms working on various grid-scale energy storage systems.

Most notably, battery specialist A123Systems recently launched a new spin off firm, named 24M, that is working on the development of large-scale flow batteries, while Beacon Power is currently working on the first large-scale flywheel energy storage facility in Stephentown, New York.

In related news, California's plans to increase it solar capacity have also moved forward after the state energy commission's siting committee last week recommended approval for a proposed 250MW solar thermal power plant.

The project, which is being developed by NextEra Energy at a site in the county of Riverside, is the latest in a series of large-scale solar plants backed by the committee.

In total, the committee has recommended approval for over 2,100MW of solar capacity in the past month, including the 250MW Abengoa Mojave facility, 250MW Beacon site, 1,000MW Blythe project and 370MW Ivanpah development.

As with the other projects the committee's recommendation does not represent a final decision on the planning application as the ruling will now be subject to consultation. However, if the recommendation is upheld NextEra could begin work at the site before the end of the year.