Plastics firms supplying the UK automotive industry could benefit from a multi-million pound investment programme designed to boost the production of low-carbon vehicles.
The government has announced that public and private investment totalling £56m will lead to the “development and demonstration of technologies to cut carbon emissions from road transport and accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon vehicles”.
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A newly discovered water source in Namibia could have a major impact on development in the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa.
Estimates suggest the aquifer could supply the north of the country for 400 years at current rates of consumption.
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The select committee has criticised government policy on subsidies for renewable energy
MPs have accused the Treasury of making the government’s clean energy revolution unworkable and creating the risk of higher household bills.
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Energy and construction experts from across Europe, at a London seminar by PV distributors SunConnex and builders merchants EH Smith, remained positive about the future and growth prospects of the UK solar market.
The delegates cited the rise in energy prices and the predicted fall in module costs this year of up to 29 per cent coupled with existing government commitments to carbon reduction – particularly in the construction sector as reasons for ‘pragmatic optimism’.
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China has pledged $20bn (£12.8bn) in credit for Africa over the next three years, in a push for closer ties and increased trade.
President Hu Jintao made the announcement at a summit in Beijing with leaders from 50 African nations.
He said the loans would support infrastructure, agriculture and the development of small businesses.
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The extreme cold weather for prolonged periods of 2010 has had a major impact on Scotland’s emissions, Environment and Climate Change Minister Stewart Stevenson revealed today.
Some of the coldest temperatures experienced in 91 years resulted in households across Scotland being forced to keep the heating on and resulted in a significant rise in both residential and power station emissions.
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The US is currently suffering its widest drought since 1956, according to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
On Monday, NOAA reported that by the end of June 55% of the continental US was in a moderate to extreme drought.
Crops including corn and soybeans have been hit by the dry conditions, and several states have seen wildfires.
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Russia, the world’s third biggest wheat exporter, forecast a 20 percent year-on-year drop in its harvest to 45 million metric tons, as prices climb on drought in the country.
Wheat for September delivery rose 3.1 percent to $8.74 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 2:31 p.m. London time, and is up 34 percent for the year. That converts to $321.14 a ton. Milling wheat climbed 4.8 percent in seven days to 8,125 rubles ($249) a ton on the European side of Russia by the end of last week, SovEcon, the Moscow-based consultancy, said on its website.
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The £1.9bn pension fund of the UK’s Environment Agency is set to unveil a new investment strategy later this month, including plans to invest in farmland and forestry for the first time.
The fund, which is known in the industry for its focus on sustainable investing, could put up to £150m into farmland and commercial timberland, according to recently-published papers.
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The European Commission has approved the UK’s national auction platform signalling the go ahead for the trading of emission allowances – including from aviation – under the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS).
The next phase of the EU ETS, which starts in 2013 and runs until 2020, or phase III, makes auctioning of allowances the main method of allocation. During phase III, 50% of general emission and 15% of aviation emission allowances will be auctioned across the region.
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