| November 27, 2006 |
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cleaner, cheaper energy today |
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Sky's The Limit As Swiss Test Solar Panels At Jungfrau Summit Geneva (AFP) Nov 23, 2006 
The peak of the Jungfrau in the Swiss Alps could be the home to the world's highest solar-energy power station if tests prove succesful, Swiss electricity company FMB said on Thursday.
Test panels have been installed at 3,700 metres (12,139 feet) above sea level, making them the highest in the world, according to FMB spokesman Antonio Sommavilla. Up till now, the record was held by another of the company's installations in the Swiss Jura region, at 1,200 metres above sea level, he told AFP. Engineers began installing a dozen solar panels last week to test their reaction of the high altitude and in particular to ice.
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Russian Regulators Seek To Withdraw 140 Oil And Gas Licenses
Moscow (AFP) Nov 23, 2006Russia's environmental regulator proposes stripping by the end of the year about 140 licenses held by foreign and Russian energy companies, a supervisory official said Thursday. "Our service has proposed the withdrawal of about 140 licenses," said Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia's environmental monitoring agency Rosprirodnadzor. A final decision depends on Russia's subsoil agency Rosnedr, he told AFP. On Thursday, the RBK Daily business newspaper published a "blacklist" of companies reportedly slated to lose licenses over environmental concerns. EU To Cut Number Of Permits For Second Stage Of Carbon Trading 
London (AFP) Nov 24, 2006The European Commission on Wednesday will require some EU member states cut the number of carbon permits they give local companies in preparation for the second phase of the EU's carbon trading scheme that runs from 2008 to 2012, the Financial Times said on Friday. Brown Backs Taxes On Air Travel And Gas Guzzlers 
London (AFP) Nov 24, 2006British finance minister Gordon Brown backs substantially increasing taxes on air travel, and gas guzzling cars, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Citing unnamed British civil service sources, the newspaper said that Chancellor of the Exchequer Brown supports indirect taxation on some of the biggest carbon emitters as a way to change behaviour. |
Brazilian Carbon Credits Foster Investment Boom
Sao Paulo (AFP) Nov 24, 2006Programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions are blossoming in Brazil, with the "carbon credit" system winning interest from companies in industrialized countries. Brazil ranks second among developing countries, behind India and ahead of Mexico and China, in the number of these investments, though under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change it is not required to cut emissions of its greenhouse gases. Australia Plans Massive Carbon Storage System 
Sydney (AFP) Nov 23, 2006The Australian government said Thursday it would pump 60 million dollars (46.5 million US) into the world's biggest carbon capture and storage system, aimed at cutting a major gas plant's environmental impact. Owners of the Gorgon gas project, which sits in a sensitive nature reserve off the West Australian coast, plan to bury 125 million tonnes of carbon dioxide -- two-thirds of what the plant would emit over its 20-year lifespan. Estonia To Gift Bush A Skype Phone 
Tallinn (AFP) Nov 24, 2006US President George W. Bush will be presented with a shining example of Estonia's technological prowess next week when he is gifted a Skype phone during a brief stopover here, en route to the NATO summit in Latvia, officials said Friday. "The Skype programme with its free Internet calling service, which is now used by 140 million people around the world, was born in Estonia," Martin Jashko, media adviser to Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip told AFP Friday. |
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Nanodiamonds Help Replace Toxic Chromium Coatings
Boca Raton FL (SPX) Nov 27, 2006Drexel University and NanoBlox researchers have shown that the mechanical characteristics of electroless nickel-boride coatings deposited on steel can be significantly improved upon the addition of small amounts of nanosized diamond particles into deposition baths. Hong Kong And Chinese Industry Could Face Devastation From Global Warming 
Hong Kong (AFP) Nov 23, 2006Hong Kong and southern China's economic hinterland could be devastated by floods and storms by 2030 unless governments tackle global warming now, a liberal think-tank warned Thursday. The stark warning came in a report by Civic Exchange, which said stronger typhoons generated by rising global temperatures would inundate the heavily industrialised region with near constant floods and storms. ADB Sets Up "Carbon Market Trust Fund" To Boost Clean Energy Projects 
Manila (AFP) Nov 22, 2006The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday it would set up a "carbon market" trust fund to encourage more clean energy projects in the Asia-Pacific region. Manila-based ADB said it has "has already received several expressions of interest," from member countries to finance the 150 million-dollar fund. |
A Royal Question Mark
Paris (UPI) Nov 22, 2006There was a dismal sense of deja vu about the first interviews given by the new standard-bearer of France's Socialist Party for next year's presidential elections. Segolene Royal is an attractive fresh face and the first woman to have a serious prospect of leading France, but the policies sounded old, defensive and divisive. Boeing Awarded $296 Million JDAM Contract 
St. Louis MO (SPX) Nov 23, 2006Boeing last week was awarded a $296 million U.S. Air Force contract for 12,889 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits. Boeing will deliver the Lot 11 JDAM kits in 2008 and 2009. Known as the world's most accurate bomb, JDAM is a GPS-aided, near-precision weapon that the U.S. Air Force and Navy have used extensively in global combat operations, including Afghanistan and Iraq. Boeing Signs 1.6 Billion Dollar Deal To Sell Surveillance Planes To South Korea 
Seoul (AFP) Nov 22, 2006South Korea on Wednesday signed a 1.59 billion dollar deal to buy four surveillance planes from US aircraft giant Boeing, officials said. "A formal contract was signed here today," a Defense Acquisition Programme Administration spokesman told AFP. One of the modified 737 planes will be delivered in 2011 and three in 2013, he said of the deal first announced earlier this month. |
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