Top Stories
EU sees solar power imported from Sahara in
5 yrs.—reliability high.
"Europe will import its first solar-generated electricity from North
Africa within the next five years, European Energy Commissioner
Guenther Oettinger said in an interview on Sunday. 'I think some models
starting in the next 5 years will bring some hundreds of megawatts to
the European market,' Oettinger told Reuters after a meeting with
energy ministers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. ... He said those
initial volumes would come from small pilot projects, but the amount of
electricity would go up into the thousands of megawatts as projects
including the 400 billion euro Desertec solar scheme come on stream." Reuters
story. [EU
has a renewable electricity standard it is trying to meet. A
new category of international trade?]
UK execs voice fears over energy crunch.—reliability
high.
"Over 80 per cent of British firms expect energy and fuel prices to
rise sharply, with nearly half expressing fears that the UK could face
serious energy supply shortages within five years. That is the
conclusion of a new survey of more than 210 executives carried out by
the Economist Intelligence Unit, which revealed growing interest in
smart meter and microgeneration technologies as a means of mitigating
against rising energy bills." See BusinessGreen
article.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Marcal Adds Environmental Facts Panel on
Paper Goods Packaging.—reliability high.
"Marcal Manufacturing claims to be the first U.S. paper goods brand to
add an environmental facts panel on its packaging. The manufacturer of
100 percent recycled paper now highlights environmental data critical
to its products manufacturing process on every Marcal Small Steps
package. Similar to a nutrition facts-style panel, the environmental
panel includes information about recycled paper content (100 percent),
how much chlorine bleach was used for whitening (zero percent) and use
of chemical-based additives like fragrances and dyes (zero percent)."
With image of panel. Story in Environmental
Leader. [The
display broadly imitates the government-required "Nutrition Facts"
panel found on food products. What will this imply to consumers?]
How CEOs can win in a carbon-regulated world.—reliability
medium.
"As countries like the US, China and India step up efforts to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, companies will increasingly have to prepare
for a carbon-constrained future. ... Increasingly, the battle over
carbon competitiveness pits one company against another." See Economic
Times. [Interesting
assessment from an Indian point of view.]
J.D. Power: Hybrid and EV Cars Will Be 3.5%
of Sales by 2015.—reliability medium.
"'Concerns about the cost and environmental effect of gasoline, rising
worries and energy security in many countries, and the improving
performance of alternative fuel vehicles are resulting in rising sales
of gas/electric, hybrid, plug-in and battery powered cars worldwide,'
the report says. ... J.D. Power’s report estimates that global sales of
these alternatively-powered vehicles this year will reach 940,000
units, up 28 percent over the 732,000 units in 2009. It also projects
that by 2015 hybrid and electric vehicles will surpass three
million units each year, representing 3.4 percent of global
light-vehicle sales." See triplepundit.
UN calls on BP to restate CSR pledge.—reliability
high.
"The office of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) has called on
BP to step up its "lagging" commitment to the initiative in the wake of
the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil giant is signed up to the
high-profile corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme, which
requires firms to adhere to 10 principles regarding human rights,
labour policy and environmental responsibility. In particular, the
principles require firms to take a precautionary approach to
environmental challenges, promote environmental responsibility, and
encourage the development of clean technology. The oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico appears to provide evidence that the company has not
adhered to the principles and could undermine its credibility as a
signatory to the compact." From BusinessGreen.
[BP signed up
during an earlier period of greater focus on environmental issues and
alternative energy, but never withdrew as its strategy changed. Make a
big enough mess and your company can draw the attention of the United
Nations.]
Science and
Economics
Arsenic in water poisoned 77 million
Bangladeshis: report.—reliability high.
"Up to 77 million Bangladeshis have been exposed to toxic levels of
arsenic from contaminated drinking water, and even low-level
exposure to the poison is not risk-free, The Lancet medical journal
reported. Over the past decade, more than 20 percent of deaths recorded
in a study that monitored nearly 12,000 people in the Araihazar
district of the capital Dhaka appear to have been caused by
arsenic-tainted well water. ... The UN's World Health Organisation
(WHO) has called Bangladesh's arsenic crisis 'the largest mass
poisoning of a population in history.'" See Space
Media from AP. Access report in The
Lancet.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
