SKorean consortium, Rosneft find oilfield off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula
SEOUL - Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) said a local consortium it is leading, along with Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft have discovered an oilfield off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
It estimates the field has reserves well in excess of its initial estimates.
'This is much bigger than what we had expected to find there. The reserves
could be bigger than 10 bln barrels,' a spokesman for state-run KNOC said.
The South Korean consortium has a 40 pct stake in the project, with
Rosneft holding the rest.
'We plan to carry out further analyses with a view to drilling test holes
late next year,' the spokesman said, adding that commercially recoverable reserves are
usually about 40 pct of geographical reserves.
Companies involved in the Kamchatka project signed a memorandum of
understanding in September 2004. At that time the field was estimated to
contain 3.7 bln barrels.
Yonhap news agency said the oilfield is estimated to cover 62,680 square kilometers, or roughly two-thirds the size of South Korea.
afp
Thursday, May 31, 2007
We need 'free' pollution permits to survive: Loy Yang
ONE of Australia's biggest polluters, Loy Yang Power, has asked to be given free permits under a new national emissions trading scheme.
Loy Yang, in the LaTrobe Valley, has told Prime Minister John Howard's emissions trading task group that free permits would protect it from going out of business once a new pollution price was imposed. The protectionist position taken by Victoria's largest coal-fired power station is echoed by the industry as a whole.
Generators have asked the task group to consider free permits to protect the value of existing investments.
Mr Howard was given a private briefing by his emissions trading group yesterday, and said in Parliament that his Government would not impose new policies that would damage "the great coal industry of Australia".
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, meanwhile, continued his clean-coal pitch, unveiling $110 million for carbon capture projects.
He told reporters that a Rudd government would have an emissions trading scheme "up and designed and implemented" by the end of 2008.
The prime ministerial task group, which hands its report to Mr Howard on Thursday, has been examining ways to help business manage the introduction of carbon trading — including setting a price in the first phase to prevent price fluctuations in the new carbon trading market.
The final report is also likely to recommend that Canberra consider "complementary policies" to emissions trading — such as more money for research and development into clean technologies. There are two conventional ways of allocating permits under emissions trading schemes.
The first is through an auction, where business bears the financial costs.
The second is through allocating "free" permits, which some economists and environmentalists argue are a huge subsidy to industry, and help keep the dirtiest power plants going.
Loy Yang says existing power generators need compensation for cleaning up their pollution because they have made investments under the old rules.
But overseas there has been criticism of free permits because polluters have overestimated their emissions in order to be granted large numbers of free permits that they can then trade, which delivers windfall profits.
Emissions trading imposes an explicit price on greenhouse pollution and works on a "cap and trade" principle. Governments cap the level of greenhouse gas emissions, and companies obtain permits to emit a set level of pollution.
If they pollute above the cap, they must buy permits from other companies that have reined in their emissions.
This creates a carbon trading market, where polluters are forced to pay more and companies with lower emissions are rewarded by paying less.
ONE of Australia's biggest polluters, Loy Yang Power, has asked to be given free permits under a new national emissions trading scheme.
Loy Yang, in the LaTrobe Valley, has told Prime Minister John Howard's emissions trading task group that free permits would protect it from going out of business once a new pollution price was imposed. The protectionist position taken by Victoria's largest coal-fired power station is echoed by the industry as a whole.
Generators have asked the task group to consider free permits to protect the value of existing investments.
Mr Howard was given a private briefing by his emissions trading group yesterday, and said in Parliament that his Government would not impose new policies that would damage "the great coal industry of Australia".
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, meanwhile, continued his clean-coal pitch, unveiling $110 million for carbon capture projects.
He told reporters that a Rudd government would have an emissions trading scheme "up and designed and implemented" by the end of 2008.
The prime ministerial task group, which hands its report to Mr Howard on Thursday, has been examining ways to help business manage the introduction of carbon trading — including setting a price in the first phase to prevent price fluctuations in the new carbon trading market.
The final report is also likely to recommend that Canberra consider "complementary policies" to emissions trading — such as more money for research and development into clean technologies. There are two conventional ways of allocating permits under emissions trading schemes.
The first is through an auction, where business bears the financial costs.
The second is through allocating "free" permits, which some economists and environmentalists argue are a huge subsidy to industry, and help keep the dirtiest power plants going.
Loy Yang says existing power generators need compensation for cleaning up their pollution because they have made investments under the old rules.
But overseas there has been criticism of free permits because polluters have overestimated their emissions in order to be granted large numbers of free permits that they can then trade, which delivers windfall profits.
Emissions trading imposes an explicit price on greenhouse pollution and works on a "cap and trade" principle. Governments cap the level of greenhouse gas emissions, and companies obtain permits to emit a set level of pollution.
If they pollute above the cap, they must buy permits from other companies that have reined in their emissions.
This creates a carbon trading market, where polluters are forced to pay more and companies with lower emissions are rewarded by paying less.
APEC to Push For Cleaner Technology Instead of Carbon Trading to Combat Climate Change
By Phil Mercer Sydney30 May 2007
Mercer report (mp3) - Download 487k Listen to Mercer report (mp3)
Ministers from members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum - known as APEC - have decided at a meeting in Australia that development of clean energy technologies should take priority over a carbon-trading system. The conference being held in the northern city of Darwin will help officials set the agenda for an APEC leaders' summit in Sydney later this year. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
" hspace=2 src="http://www.voanews.com/english/images/AFP_solar_plant_australia_30may07_eng_195.jpg" width=210 vspace=2 border=0>
A handout picture shows the towers in what part of the world's biggest solar power plant will look like to be located near Mildura in the north-east of the Australian state of Victoria (October 2006)Climate change will be a key issue at September's APEC summit, which will bring together leaders of some of the world's largest economies - and some of the worst polluters.
At a meeting in Darwin Wednesday, APEC energy ministers decided that developing clean technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is more important to the world's climate at this stage than a so-called carbon-trading system.
Carbon trading sets limits, for both companies and whole countries, on emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the key greenhouse gases thought to be contributing to climate change. The system also puts a price on carbon emissions, providing a financial incentive for firms to clean up pollution: if they have leftover emission allocation, they can sell it to others like a commodity.
U.S. representatives, however, argued that such a system would be difficult to introduce given the vastly different circumstances among APEC's 21 members, which include the U.S., China, Japan, and a host of smaller economies from Asia and Latin America.
Australian Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane says cleaning up coal-fired power stations, which accounts for most power generation in Australia, is a priority.
"We need to develop and adopt a mix of cleaner stationary power generation technology and energy efficiency and conservation," he said.
The energy ministers' meeting in Darwin is one of a series held by APEC officials that will set the agenda for the September summit in Sydney.
The Australian government is planning a major advertising campaign to boost it environmental credentials ahead of national elections later this year.
Australia, like the U.S., has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which sets national limits on carbon emissions. Canberra has insisted that ratifying the treaty would damage the country's coal-driven economy - but insists that Australia is still meeting its international environmental obligations.
Australia nevertheless is one of the worst polluters in the developed world. A recent study showed that its greenhouse emissions have been rising far faster than the global average.
>
By Phil Mercer Sydney30 May 2007
Mercer report (mp3) - Download 487k Listen to Mercer report (mp3)
Ministers from members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum - known as APEC - have decided at a meeting in Australia that development of clean energy technologies should take priority over a carbon-trading system. The conference being held in the northern city of Darwin will help officials set the agenda for an APEC leaders' summit in Sydney later this year. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
" hspace=2 src="http://www.voanews.com/english/images/AFP_solar_plant_australia_30may07_eng_195.jpg" width=210 vspace=2 border=0>
A handout picture shows the towers in what part of the world's biggest solar power plant will look like to be located near Mildura in the north-east of the Australian state of Victoria (October 2006)Climate change will be a key issue at September's APEC summit, which will bring together leaders of some of the world's largest economies - and some of the worst polluters.
At a meeting in Darwin Wednesday, APEC energy ministers decided that developing clean technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is more important to the world's climate at this stage than a so-called carbon-trading system.
Carbon trading sets limits, for both companies and whole countries, on emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the key greenhouse gases thought to be contributing to climate change. The system also puts a price on carbon emissions, providing a financial incentive for firms to clean up pollution: if they have leftover emission allocation, they can sell it to others like a commodity.
U.S. representatives, however, argued that such a system would be difficult to introduce given the vastly different circumstances among APEC's 21 members, which include the U.S., China, Japan, and a host of smaller economies from Asia and Latin America.
Australian Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane says cleaning up coal-fired power stations, which accounts for most power generation in Australia, is a priority.
"We need to develop and adopt a mix of cleaner stationary power generation technology and energy efficiency and conservation," he said.
The energy ministers' meeting in Darwin is one of a series held by APEC officials that will set the agenda for the September summit in Sydney.
The Australian government is planning a major advertising campaign to boost it environmental credentials ahead of national elections later this year.
Australia, like the U.S., has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which sets national limits on carbon emissions. Canberra has insisted that ratifying the treaty would damage the country's coal-driven economy - but insists that Australia is still meeting its international environmental obligations.
Australia nevertheless is one of the worst polluters in the developed world. A recent study showed that its greenhouse emissions have been rising far faster than the global average.
>
Government dilutes stake in British Energy to fund nuclear clean-up·
\
Sale will raise £2.2bn at current share price· RWE to build new £600m gas-fired power station Mark Milner, industrial editorThursday May 31, 2007The Guardian
The government said yesterday it was selling a £2.2bn stake in nuclear power generator British Energy as the company announced a sharp rise in profits and its first dividend since a state-backed rescue operation in 2002.
Under an accelerated sale process which began yesterday morning and closes this afternoon, 400m shares are being offered to institutional investors.
The sale will cut the government's 64% stake, acquired at the time of the 2002 bail-out, to 39% but the Department of Trade and Industry said it was committed to keeping a holding of at least 29.9%.
\
Sale will raise £2.2bn at current share price· RWE to build new £600m gas-fired power station Mark Milner, industrial editorThursday May 31, 2007The Guardian
The government said yesterday it was selling a £2.2bn stake in nuclear power generator British Energy as the company announced a sharp rise in profits and its first dividend since a state-backed rescue operation in 2002.
Under an accelerated sale process which began yesterday morning and closes this afternoon, 400m shares are being offered to institutional investors.
The sale will cut the government's 64% stake, acquired at the time of the 2002 bail-out, to 39% but the Department of Trade and Industry said it was committed to keeping a holding of at least 29.9%.
Leaders compete on carbon trading
The political fight over climate change is set to escalate as Labor and the Federal Government strike competing plans for carbon emissions trading.
Both in Canberra and both campaigning hard, Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd are talking climate change at every opportunity.
Mr Howard now acknowledges that long-term targets for cutting pollution are necessary.
"We do not intend to embrace a target which is plucked out of thin air," he said.
"It will, of necessity, involve a long-term target of some kind."
He will receive a major report on carbon emissions trading today that he says is the best local study that has been done on the issue.
Mr Howard has promised a speedy response to the report.
Labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett has told ABC TV's Lateline it is about time, but he says it is too early to name a price for carbon emissions.
"I know that there are some in the business community who say that a price of any less than say $20 a tonne will actually not be effective at all," he said.
"I know there are others, like [Australian of the Year] Professor [Tim] Flannery, who say that it should be as high as $50."
As the leaders battle for the high moral ground, Mr Rudd says he is getting rid of his four-wheel drive and buying a petrol-electric hybrid car.
The Labor leader is putting $100 million into solar and geothermal power.
"Labor wants Australia to return to its role as a global good citizen," he said.
"It demands a response premised entirely on the future but with steps being taken now."
The ALP warns there is precious little time to waste on climate change.
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The political fight over climate change is set to escalate as Labor and the Federal Government strike competing plans for carbon emissions trading.
Both in Canberra and both campaigning hard, Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd are talking climate change at every opportunity.
Mr Howard now acknowledges that long-term targets for cutting pollution are necessary.
"We do not intend to embrace a target which is plucked out of thin air," he said.
"It will, of necessity, involve a long-term target of some kind."
He will receive a major report on carbon emissions trading today that he says is the best local study that has been done on the issue.
Mr Howard has promised a speedy response to the report.
Labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett has told ABC TV's Lateline it is about time, but he says it is too early to name a price for carbon emissions.
"I know that there are some in the business community who say that a price of any less than say $20 a tonne will actually not be effective at all," he said.
"I know there are others, like [Australian of the Year] Professor [Tim] Flannery, who say that it should be as high as $50."
As the leaders battle for the high moral ground, Mr Rudd says he is getting rid of his four-wheel drive and buying a petrol-electric hybrid car.
The Labor leader is putting $100 million into solar and geothermal power.
"Labor wants Australia to return to its role as a global good citizen," he said.
"It demands a response premised entirely on the future but with steps being taken now."
The ALP warns there is precious little time to waste on climate change.
Print Email
Emissions trading could misfire, economists warn
With the report of the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Emissions Trading due to be handed to Prime Minister John Howard tomorrow, environmental economists from The Australian National University have warned that an emissions trading scheme could misfire if it is poorly designed or captured by interest groups.
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Dr Jack Pezzey and Dr Frank Jotzo argue that while emissions trading is essential for sensible climate policy, a poorly designed system risks being unfair and inefficient, especially if any major emitters are excluded or given too many free permits. "Emissions trading will be the most important single step the Government can take towards an effective and efficient climate policy," Dr Pezzey from the Fenner School of Environment and Society said. "But the details are crucial. In his comments this week, the Prime Minister seemed to leave the door open for fossil fuel industries to weaken the environmental and cost effectiveness of emissions trading, and to grab windfall profits. Any future Labor government could also find itself under similar pressures. "For emissions trading to achieve the lowest cost emission reductions for Australia, all carbon dioxide emissions must be treated equally. This will inevitably have unequal results: deeper cutbacks in carbon-intensive energy industries like coal, while carbon-friendlier sources will increase their market share." The researchers argue that unless the emission permit trading system is properly designed, the Government could be opening the door for a ‘greenhouse grab’ where politically influential industries get a large allocation of permits for free. This could result in windfall profits for industry, leaving consumers and taxpayers to foot the bill, as happened recently in the European trading scheme.
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"There is no hiding the fact that prices for energy and goods with embodied greenhouse pollution must increase", Dr Jotzo from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies said. "Consumers need incentives to buy cleaner technologies and change their consumption patterns. But they can be compensated using revenue from permit auctions – and this money can also be used to cushion the blow to workers and shareholders, especially in the coal industry." The researchers argue that a comprehensive system is a must to reduce emissions cost-effectively throughout the economy, as exemptions for trade-exposed industries and small emitters could compromise the scheme. They argue that exemptions just mean more has to be done, at higher cost, to reduce emissions elsewhere in the economy. Source: The Australian National University
» Next Article in Space & Earth science - Environment: Wayward Whales May Have Reached Ocean
With the report of the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Emissions Trading due to be handed to Prime Minister John Howard tomorrow, environmental economists from The Australian National University have warned that an emissions trading scheme could misfire if it is poorly designed or captured by interest groups.
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Dr Jack Pezzey and Dr Frank Jotzo argue that while emissions trading is essential for sensible climate policy, a poorly designed system risks being unfair and inefficient, especially if any major emitters are excluded or given too many free permits. "Emissions trading will be the most important single step the Government can take towards an effective and efficient climate policy," Dr Pezzey from the Fenner School of Environment and Society said. "But the details are crucial. In his comments this week, the Prime Minister seemed to leave the door open for fossil fuel industries to weaken the environmental and cost effectiveness of emissions trading, and to grab windfall profits. Any future Labor government could also find itself under similar pressures. "For emissions trading to achieve the lowest cost emission reductions for Australia, all carbon dioxide emissions must be treated equally. This will inevitably have unequal results: deeper cutbacks in carbon-intensive energy industries like coal, while carbon-friendlier sources will increase their market share." The researchers argue that unless the emission permit trading system is properly designed, the Government could be opening the door for a ‘greenhouse grab’ where politically influential industries get a large allocation of permits for free. This could result in windfall profits for industry, leaving consumers and taxpayers to foot the bill, as happened recently in the European trading scheme.
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Australian Environment News and information about the Australian Environmental Debateplantchange.com.au
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"There is no hiding the fact that prices for energy and goods with embodied greenhouse pollution must increase", Dr Jotzo from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies said. "Consumers need incentives to buy cleaner technologies and change their consumption patterns. But they can be compensated using revenue from permit auctions – and this money can also be used to cushion the blow to workers and shareholders, especially in the coal industry." The researchers argue that a comprehensive system is a must to reduce emissions cost-effectively throughout the economy, as exemptions for trade-exposed industries and small emitters could compromise the scheme. They argue that exemptions just mean more has to be done, at higher cost, to reduce emissions elsewhere in the economy. Source: The Australian National University
» Next Article in Space & Earth science - Environment: Wayward Whales May Have Reached Ocean
Climate change signal detected in the Indian Ocean
The signature of climate change over the past 40 years has been identified in temperatures of the Indian Ocean near Australia.
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"From ocean measurements and by analysing climate simulations we can see there are changes in features of the ocean that cannot be explained by natural variability," said CSIRO oceanographer Dr Gael Alory.
"These oceanic changes are almost certainly linked to changes in the heat structure of the atmosphere and have led to a rise in water temperatures in the sub-tropical Indian Ocean of around two degrees celsius. "At the same time, we are seeing changes in ocean circulation in tropical regions as a result of a long-term weakening of the Pacific Ocean trade winds. This affects sea surface temperature in regions relevant to the source and distribution of rainfall across southern Australia," Dr Alory said. The research – by Dr Alory, his CSIRO Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship colleague, Dr Gary Meyers, and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric's Dr Susan Wijffels – has recently appeared in the journal, Geophysical Research Letters. The paper examines trends in Indian Ocean temperatures over 40 years that can help scientists and resource managers understand fluctuations in rainfall patterns over southern Australia. The research, contributing to the Australian Climate Change Science Program and partly funded by the South East Australia Climate Initiative, combined access to ocean observations using the volunteer 'ships of opportunity' program and a set of models used by scientists in developing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment. Thanks to the operators and crew of commercial ships, Australian scientists have access to a regular series of ocean measurements to a depth of 800 metres across the Indian Ocean. The team's key findings were:
a general warming of the ocean surface indicating the influence of rising atmospheric temperatures;
a strong warming (about 2°C over 40 years) between 40°S and 50°S down to a depth of 800metres;
and, sub-surface cooling in the tropics due to deep waters rising closer to the surface.
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Dr Alory says the research confirmed a long-held view that temperature changes in the Pacific and Indian oceans can be partly explained by the effect of the 'Indonesian throughflow' – a system of currents which transports water between the oceans through the maze of straits and passages in the Indonesian Archipelago. "The cooling is occurring between Australia and Indonesia where the Indonesian throughflow emerges into the Indian Ocean and is linked to the observed weakening of Pacific Ocean trade-winds," he says. The models also helped to explain trends in the subtropical Indian Ocean temperatures and changes in relevant ocean features. In this area, the deep-reaching warming is due to a strengthening of westerly winds drawing a southward shift in ocean current patterns. These findings are consistent with research in the South Atlantic and South Pacific ocean basins. He said that the change in atmospheric conditions altering ocean temperatures – weakening of Pacific Ocean trade winds and strengthening of westerly winds – have been mostly attributed to human activity: the production of aerosols (tiny atmospheric particles), ozone depletion, and greenhouse gases. Strengthening westerlies are related to changes in the Southern Annular Mode – an atmospheric feature similar to the El Nino Southern Oscillation and considered the dominant influence on Southern Hemisphere atmospheric variability. Dr Alory said climate models used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment show that changes in westerly wind patterns are expected to intensify in a global warming scenario and to accentuate the southward shift in sub-tropical ocean circulation patterns. Source:
The signature of climate change over the past 40 years has been identified in temperatures of the Indian Ocean near Australia.
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"From ocean measurements and by analysing climate simulations we can see there are changes in features of the ocean that cannot be explained by natural variability," said CSIRO oceanographer Dr Gael Alory.
"These oceanic changes are almost certainly linked to changes in the heat structure of the atmosphere and have led to a rise in water temperatures in the sub-tropical Indian Ocean of around two degrees celsius. "At the same time, we are seeing changes in ocean circulation in tropical regions as a result of a long-term weakening of the Pacific Ocean trade winds. This affects sea surface temperature in regions relevant to the source and distribution of rainfall across southern Australia," Dr Alory said. The research – by Dr Alory, his CSIRO Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship colleague, Dr Gary Meyers, and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric's Dr Susan Wijffels – has recently appeared in the journal, Geophysical Research Letters. The paper examines trends in Indian Ocean temperatures over 40 years that can help scientists and resource managers understand fluctuations in rainfall patterns over southern Australia. The research, contributing to the Australian Climate Change Science Program and partly funded by the South East Australia Climate Initiative, combined access to ocean observations using the volunteer 'ships of opportunity' program and a set of models used by scientists in developing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment. Thanks to the operators and crew of commercial ships, Australian scientists have access to a regular series of ocean measurements to a depth of 800 metres across the Indian Ocean. The team's key findings were:
a general warming of the ocean surface indicating the influence of rising atmospheric temperatures;
a strong warming (about 2°C over 40 years) between 40°S and 50°S down to a depth of 800metres;
and, sub-surface cooling in the tropics due to deep waters rising closer to the surface.
Sponsored Links (Ads by Google)
Australian Environment News and information about the Australian Environmental Debatewww.plantchange.com.au
Global Warming is good. Well, some people think that it is. Agree or disagree, join the debate.www.friction.tv
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Dr Alory says the research confirmed a long-held view that temperature changes in the Pacific and Indian oceans can be partly explained by the effect of the 'Indonesian throughflow' – a system of currents which transports water between the oceans through the maze of straits and passages in the Indonesian Archipelago. "The cooling is occurring between Australia and Indonesia where the Indonesian throughflow emerges into the Indian Ocean and is linked to the observed weakening of Pacific Ocean trade-winds," he says. The models also helped to explain trends in the subtropical Indian Ocean temperatures and changes in relevant ocean features. In this area, the deep-reaching warming is due to a strengthening of westerly winds drawing a southward shift in ocean current patterns. These findings are consistent with research in the South Atlantic and South Pacific ocean basins. He said that the change in atmospheric conditions altering ocean temperatures – weakening of Pacific Ocean trade winds and strengthening of westerly winds – have been mostly attributed to human activity: the production of aerosols (tiny atmospheric particles), ozone depletion, and greenhouse gases. Strengthening westerlies are related to changes in the Southern Annular Mode – an atmospheric feature similar to the El Nino Southern Oscillation and considered the dominant influence on Southern Hemisphere atmospheric variability. Dr Alory said climate models used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment show that changes in westerly wind patterns are expected to intensify in a global warming scenario and to accentuate the southward shift in sub-tropical ocean circulation patterns. Source:
Alternative fuel vehicles will be tough sell
Imagine a vehicle that runs on hydrogen or biofuels and offers the same features, performance and price as today's gasoline vehicle. Will it capture half the market? Not likely, concludes a new MIT analysis of the challenges behind introducing alternative-fuel vehicles to the marketplace. Not even if it's three times more fuel-efficient.
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Among the barriers: Until many alternative fuel (AF) vehicles are on the road, people won't consider buying one-so there won't be many on the road. Catch-22.
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The researchers' conclusions are not all gloomy, though. If policy incentives are kept in place long enough, adoption will reach a level at which the market will begin to grow on its own. But "long enough" may be a surprisingly long time. Given today's environmental pressures and energy security concerns, we need to move away from fossil-fuel-powered vehicles. But repeated attempts to introduce other technologies during the past century have nearly all failed. Dethroning the gasoline-consuming internal combustion engine (ICE) has proved difficult. "The challenge is not just introducing an AF vehicle," said postdoctoral associate Jeroen Struben of the Sloan School of Management, who has been examining the mechanisms behind such market transitions. "Consumer acceptance, the fueling infrastructure and manufacturing capability all have to evolve at the same time." Thus, consumer exposure to AF vehicles is just one feedback loop that can slow adoption. Similarly, fuel suppliers won't build AF stations until they're certain of future demand; but until the fuel is widely available, consumers won't buy the vehicles. And manufacturers won't be able to make AF vehicles cheaper and better until their production volume is high; but high-volume production won't happen until such improvements are in place to attract buyers. And then of course there's the status quo to be overcome-the well-established and highly attractive gasoline-ICE vehicle and the fueling infrastructure, energy supply chain and other industries that support it. Understanding market behavior To analyze the behavior of this system over time, Struben and Professor John D. Sterman of the Sloan School have developed a system dynamics model that simulates how markets for AF vehicles may (or may not) grow. The model can track the fate of various vehicle platforms, including conventional and advanced ICE, hybrids and plug-in hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. Decisions made by consumers, fuel suppliers and auto manufacturers change the market, consumer opinion, vehicle attributes and other factors, which then feed back to alter the decisions people make tomorrow. Finally, the model accounts for the peculiarities of human behavior. "Our model doesn't assume that everybody is a perfectly rational economic agent," said Sterman. "Instead, we try to model how people actually make decisions such as which cars to buy and when and where to drive them. Emotion and social status matter, along with the economics." Thus, people's buying decisions may not reflect the actual features of an AF vehicle but rather what they have heard or read about it. And real drivers who are worried about locating fuel for their AF vehicles may fill their tanks early-a behavior that reduces the vehicles' effective range and may cause unanticipated side effects such as crowding at filling stations.
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Analyses to date show that a key factor slowing AF-vehicle adoption is the long lifetime of today's vehicles. People buy cars infrequently, so it will be a long time before a given consumer is exposed to enough AF vehicles to feel comfortable buying one. Even an AF vehicle that's as attractive (objectively) as a gasoline-ICE vehicle won't catch on without strong and lasting promotion campaigns. Concern about finding fuel also slows adoption. In a simulation representing California, entrepreneurs opened AF stations in urban areas but not in less-populated rural areas where demand is initially lower. Urban AF drivers must then avoid the rural areas, reducing the appeal of AF vehicles and slowing their sales everywhere. Another counterintuitive result: Tripling the fuel efficiency of the AF vehicle should attract more buyers. But since drivers then need much less fuel, energy suppliers build fewer AF stations, lowering the appeal of these efficient cars. The net result? Sales may actually decline. Self-sustaining markets Despite such findings, Sterman sees reason for optimism: There are tipping points. With policy incentives that push the new technology forward and sufficient coordination across decision-makers, eventually enough AF vehicles will be on the road that all the decision-makers will buy in and the AF market can become self-sustaining. The researchers are not ready to make policy recommendations, but their analyses provide initial insights. They clearly illustrate the effectiveness of carbon emission taxes, but they also produce some more-unexpected findings. For example, given the importance of vehicle lifetime, providing incentives to scrap current vehicles may be more effective than direct efforts to get more AF vehicles on the road. Likewise, providing subsidies for building AF stations will help, but giving bonuses for building and especially keeping them in remote areas may be critical. Most important, for markets to reach the tipping point, policy incentives may have to be kept in place for many decades, even through periods of declining fuel prices. Withdrawing the policies too soon will result in yet another failed attempt to shift the market away from gasoline-powered ICE vehicles.
Imagine a vehicle that runs on hydrogen or biofuels and offers the same features, performance and price as today's gasoline vehicle. Will it capture half the market? Not likely, concludes a new MIT analysis of the challenges behind introducing alternative-fuel vehicles to the marketplace. Not even if it's three times more fuel-efficient.
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Among the barriers: Until many alternative fuel (AF) vehicles are on the road, people won't consider buying one-so there won't be many on the road. Catch-22.
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The researchers' conclusions are not all gloomy, though. If policy incentives are kept in place long enough, adoption will reach a level at which the market will begin to grow on its own. But "long enough" may be a surprisingly long time. Given today's environmental pressures and energy security concerns, we need to move away from fossil-fuel-powered vehicles. But repeated attempts to introduce other technologies during the past century have nearly all failed. Dethroning the gasoline-consuming internal combustion engine (ICE) has proved difficult. "The challenge is not just introducing an AF vehicle," said postdoctoral associate Jeroen Struben of the Sloan School of Management, who has been examining the mechanisms behind such market transitions. "Consumer acceptance, the fueling infrastructure and manufacturing capability all have to evolve at the same time." Thus, consumer exposure to AF vehicles is just one feedback loop that can slow adoption. Similarly, fuel suppliers won't build AF stations until they're certain of future demand; but until the fuel is widely available, consumers won't buy the vehicles. And manufacturers won't be able to make AF vehicles cheaper and better until their production volume is high; but high-volume production won't happen until such improvements are in place to attract buyers. And then of course there's the status quo to be overcome-the well-established and highly attractive gasoline-ICE vehicle and the fueling infrastructure, energy supply chain and other industries that support it. Understanding market behavior To analyze the behavior of this system over time, Struben and Professor John D. Sterman of the Sloan School have developed a system dynamics model that simulates how markets for AF vehicles may (or may not) grow. The model can track the fate of various vehicle platforms, including conventional and advanced ICE, hybrids and plug-in hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. Decisions made by consumers, fuel suppliers and auto manufacturers change the market, consumer opinion, vehicle attributes and other factors, which then feed back to alter the decisions people make tomorrow. Finally, the model accounts for the peculiarities of human behavior. "Our model doesn't assume that everybody is a perfectly rational economic agent," said Sterman. "Instead, we try to model how people actually make decisions such as which cars to buy and when and where to drive them. Emotion and social status matter, along with the economics." Thus, people's buying decisions may not reflect the actual features of an AF vehicle but rather what they have heard or read about it. And real drivers who are worried about locating fuel for their AF vehicles may fill their tanks early-a behavior that reduces the vehicles' effective range and may cause unanticipated side effects such as crowding at filling stations.
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Hybrid Vehicles Important Facts You Should Know About The Hybrid VehiclesHybridCarView.com
Analyses to date show that a key factor slowing AF-vehicle adoption is the long lifetime of today's vehicles. People buy cars infrequently, so it will be a long time before a given consumer is exposed to enough AF vehicles to feel comfortable buying one. Even an AF vehicle that's as attractive (objectively) as a gasoline-ICE vehicle won't catch on without strong and lasting promotion campaigns. Concern about finding fuel also slows adoption. In a simulation representing California, entrepreneurs opened AF stations in urban areas but not in less-populated rural areas where demand is initially lower. Urban AF drivers must then avoid the rural areas, reducing the appeal of AF vehicles and slowing their sales everywhere. Another counterintuitive result: Tripling the fuel efficiency of the AF vehicle should attract more buyers. But since drivers then need much less fuel, energy suppliers build fewer AF stations, lowering the appeal of these efficient cars. The net result? Sales may actually decline. Self-sustaining markets Despite such findings, Sterman sees reason for optimism: There are tipping points. With policy incentives that push the new technology forward and sufficient coordination across decision-makers, eventually enough AF vehicles will be on the road that all the decision-makers will buy in and the AF market can become self-sustaining. The researchers are not ready to make policy recommendations, but their analyses provide initial insights. They clearly illustrate the effectiveness of carbon emission taxes, but they also produce some more-unexpected findings. For example, given the importance of vehicle lifetime, providing incentives to scrap current vehicles may be more effective than direct efforts to get more AF vehicles on the road. Likewise, providing subsidies for building AF stations will help, but giving bonuses for building and especially keeping them in remote areas may be critical. Most important, for markets to reach the tipping point, policy incentives may have to be kept in place for many decades, even through periods of declining fuel prices. Withdrawing the policies too soon will result in yet another failed attempt to shift the market away from gasoline-powered ICE vehicles.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Pulling the plug ?
New Zealand woman, dependent on oxygen pump, dies after company cuts power
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A 44-year-old woman who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home because of a $122 unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.
Police said they had launched an investigation into Folole Muliaga's death, which happened within two hours of state-owned company Mercury Energy cutting power to her house Tuesday.
Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened.
Muliaga, a schoolteacher with four children between the ages of five and 20, had been off work since February with an illness.
A Mercury Energy representative arrived on Tuesday at her home in the northern city of Auckland to disconnect the electricity, said Brenden Sheehan, Muliaga's nephew-in-law.
Sheehan said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it. "Then he cut the power off," Sheehan told The Associated Press.
Muliaga began having difficulty breathing, became faint and then collapsed, he said. Paramedics were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead within two hours of the power being cut.
Moulder expressed his "deep condolences" to the family, and said the company was checking reports that it had been warned Muliaga needed power for the oxygen machine. The company restored electricity to the house on Wednesday after learning of her death.
Sheehan said the family's bills would prove Muliaga was trying to pay the account, and received no warning the power would be shut off.
State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard said there were reports the family had been warned about the overdue account.
"The correct authority to investigate this and sort out the facts is the police," Mallard said, adding the government would expect "full accountability" if the company was found to be culpable.
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Johnny N Goode ?!?
ast Update: Wednesday, May 30, 2007. 6:46pm (AEST)
ast Update: Wednesday, May 30, 2007. 6:46pm (AEST)
 Ad campaign: Kevin Rudd is demanding to know more. (File photo) (Reuters) |  |
Howard says nuclear power ad campaign possible
Prime Minister John Howard says there might be a new Federal Government advertising campaign - this time on nuclear power.
Mr Howard says the Government reserves the right to campaign on an nuclear industry in Australia.
"There's no dark secret about this - we support opening Australia up to the possibility of a nuclear industry," he said.
But he says there are no current plans.
Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd is demanding to know more.
"Prime Minister, don't the Australian people have a right to know whether this campaign will be conducted before the next election and how much it will cost?" he said.
Mr Howard told Parliament if a campaign does go ahead, it would be appropriate and defensible.
"Let me simply say to the Leader of the Opposition, we've indicated a disposition to have such a strategy, we think it's necessary, we make no apology for it and watch this space for more information," he said.
Mr Howard says he is interested in knowing if the Federal Government has the constitutional power to override the states on a nuclear industry if necessary.
The Government receives a greenhouse emissions task force report tomorrow and Mr Howard says nuclear power is a clean green alternative to fossil fuel.
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The world should rethink its emphasis on unfettered economic growth and boost efforts to create environmentally-friendly sources of fuel, a draft statement by oil and gas giant Russia ahead of a G8 summit says.
The statement, drafted by the Russian energy ministry for a meeting of several United Nations energy ministers, urges G8 governments not to let economic growth take precedence over fighting poverty and securing energy supplies.
"The traditional industrial development model, aimed at unrestricted economic growth, requires serious adjustment," the statement, obtained by Reuters, said.
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Governments should consider "specific features of the increasingly interdependent world economy, the exhaustibility of world resources and the aggravation of humanitarian problems, nowadays closely linked to energy problems," it said.
The communique, which has not been agreed by the ministers and may be changed, is addressed to leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations, who will meet in Germany next week.
Russia is organizing the event with the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A UNESCO spokeswoman said, however, that only 12 nations from the group's 192 members were sending ministers.
Aside from the Russia, none of the G8 major powers have confirmed they will attend the UNESCO event. The U.N. agency's spokeswoman said the declaration still has to be negotiated with all of the participants at the conference. Continued...
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Phones that tell you where to drive, meet, eat
The statement, drafted by the Russian energy ministry for a meeting of several United Nations energy ministers, urges G8 governments not to let economic growth take precedence over fighting poverty and securing energy supplies.
"The traditional industrial development model, aimed at unrestricted economic growth, requires serious adjustment," the statement, obtained by Reuters, said.
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Governments should consider "specific features of the increasingly interdependent world economy, the exhaustibility of world resources and the aggravation of humanitarian problems, nowadays closely linked to energy problems," it said.
The communique, which has not been agreed by the ministers and may be changed, is addressed to leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations, who will meet in Germany next week.
Russia is organizing the event with the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A UNESCO spokeswoman said, however, that only 12 nations from the group's 192 members were sending ministers.
Aside from the Russia, none of the G8 major powers have confirmed they will attend the UNESCO event. The U.N. agency's spokeswoman said the declaration still has to be negotiated with all of the participants at the conference. Continued...
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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Phones that tell you where to drive, meet, eat
Japan rebuffs EU on Kyoto pact
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - EU efforts to speed action on climate change took a blow on Tuesday when Japan refused to follow the EU line on how to establish a new international regime once the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
A statement from EU president Germany, which chaired a gathering of EU and Asian foreign ministers in Hamburg ahead of next week's meeting of Group of Eight (G8) leaders, said talks to establish a new regime should be completed by 2009.
But Japan said it could not accept a 2009 target, saying big polluters such as the United States, China and India should be included before any such target was set.
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"Japan cannot agree with this because we should think about how we can invite non-Kyoto members such as the U.S., China and India and others," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsui Sakaba told reporters.
"We should work first for the inclusion of those countries. Fixing the target should come much later."
Germany is leading a drive to persuade the United States to follow Europe's lead on climate change before a June 6-8 summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the G8 to agree concrete steps that would prepare the ground for an extension of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which commits signatories to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Continued...
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - EU efforts to speed action on climate change took a blow on Tuesday when Japan refused to follow the EU line on how to establish a new international regime once the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
A statement from EU president Germany, which chaired a gathering of EU and Asian foreign ministers in Hamburg ahead of next week's meeting of Group of Eight (G8) leaders, said talks to establish a new regime should be completed by 2009.
But Japan said it could not accept a 2009 target, saying big polluters such as the United States, China and India should be included before any such target was set.
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"Japan cannot agree with this because we should think about how we can invite non-Kyoto members such as the U.S., China and India and others," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsui Sakaba told reporters.
"We should work first for the inclusion of those countries. Fixing the target should come much later."
Germany is leading a drive to persuade the United States to follow Europe's lead on climate change before a June 6-8 summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the G8 to agree concrete steps that would prepare the ground for an extension of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which commits signatories to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Continued...
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Australian PM confirms new ad campaign on climate
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative government is preparing a major advertising campaign on climate change as it tries to win back voter support ahead of looming elections, Prime Minister John Howard confirmed on Tuesday.
With backing for his ruling coalition at record lows after 11 years in office, Howard said the government had yet to approve the ads, to be run after he decides how to price carbon pollution in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change is emerging as a key election issue after a seven-year drought across much of the country. Polls show up to 80 percent of voters are concerned about it.
Centre-left Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has promised to sign the Kyoto Protocol, and slash the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, if he wins power later this year.
On Tuesday, Rudd labeled Howard "a rolled gold climate change denier," prompting a prime ministerial warning that the government's response to climate change and carbon trading was the nation's most crucial economic decision in a decade.
"I am not a climate change skeptic, I am a climate change realist," Howard told parliament, adding that Rudd's plan to cut greenhouse emissions by 60 percent by 2050 was "driven by extreme ideology and not common sense."
Rudd has spent the past week grilling Howard about the advertising campaign, which he said would be called "Climate Clever" and feature an old lady boiling water for a cup of tea.
LETTER TO VOTERS
Rudd said the taxpayer-funded ads were being market-tested, and the campaign would include a letter from Howard to Australian households to explain government policies.
Under Howard, Australia has joined the United States in refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which sets limits on carbon emissions for developed countries but imposes no caps on carbon pollution from developing countries.
Australia is the world's largest coal exporter, and obtains 85 percent of its own electricity from coal-fired power stations. Howard has regularly said that capping greenhouse emissions would hurt the national economy and lead to job losses.
Now, though, he is poised to overturn his long-held opposition to carbon trading. On Thursday, the government is due to receive a report on how it can price carbon emissions without hurting the country's coal industry or economy.
"This will be an Australian report, for Australian conditions, to preserve the strength of the Australian economy and make sure we protect Australian jobs," Howard said.
Carbon trading sets caps on pollution for companies and puts a price on carbon emissions, providing a financial incentive for firms to clean up pollution so they can sell leftover allocations to others.
Australia's next election is due any time from August, but is widely expected to be called for late October or November, after Howard hosts world leaders at September's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (
APEC' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> APEC) summit in Sydney.
The latest polls show the government trailing Labor by about 17 points on a two-party basis, where minor party votes are distributed to the main parties to ultimately decide the winner.
Last week Howard told coalition lawmakers the government would be annihilated if the current polls translated into the election result.
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative government is preparing a major advertising campaign on climate change as it tries to win back voter support ahead of looming elections, Prime Minister John Howard confirmed on Tuesday.
With backing for his ruling coalition at record lows after 11 years in office, Howard said the government had yet to approve the ads, to be run after he decides how to price carbon pollution in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change is emerging as a key election issue after a seven-year drought across much of the country. Polls show up to 80 percent of voters are concerned about it.
Centre-left Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has promised to sign the Kyoto Protocol, and slash the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, if he wins power later this year.
On Tuesday, Rudd labeled Howard "a rolled gold climate change denier," prompting a prime ministerial warning that the government's response to climate change and carbon trading was the nation's most crucial economic decision in a decade.
"I am not a climate change skeptic, I am a climate change realist," Howard told parliament, adding that Rudd's plan to cut greenhouse emissions by 60 percent by 2050 was "driven by extreme ideology and not common sense."
Rudd has spent the past week grilling Howard about the advertising campaign, which he said would be called "Climate Clever" and feature an old lady boiling water for a cup of tea.
LETTER TO VOTERS
Rudd said the taxpayer-funded ads were being market-tested, and the campaign would include a letter from Howard to Australian households to explain government policies.
Under Howard, Australia has joined the United States in refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which sets limits on carbon emissions for developed countries but imposes no caps on carbon pollution from developing countries.
Australia is the world's largest coal exporter, and obtains 85 percent of its own electricity from coal-fired power stations. Howard has regularly said that capping greenhouse emissions would hurt the national economy and lead to job losses.
Now, though, he is poised to overturn his long-held opposition to carbon trading. On Thursday, the government is due to receive a report on how it can price carbon emissions without hurting the country's coal industry or economy.
"This will be an Australian report, for Australian conditions, to preserve the strength of the Australian economy and make sure we protect Australian jobs," Howard said.
Carbon trading sets caps on pollution for companies and puts a price on carbon emissions, providing a financial incentive for firms to clean up pollution so they can sell leftover allocations to others.
Australia's next election is due any time from August, but is widely expected to be called for late October or November, after Howard hosts world leaders at September's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (
APEC' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> APEC) summit in Sydney.
The latest polls show the government trailing Labor by about 17 points on a two-party basis, where minor party votes are distributed to the main parties to ultimately decide the winner.
Last week Howard told coalition lawmakers the government would be annihilated if the current polls translated into the election result.
BP returns to Libya in $900m deal
BP has not operated in Libya since 1974Oil giant BP has announced that it has struck a deal to return to Libya after an absence of more than 30 years.
Chief executive Tony Hayward said the $900m (£453m) joint venture with the Libya Investment Corporation was BP's "biggest exploration commitment".
The group will explore about 54,000 square kilometres - at the onshore Ghadames and offshore Sirt basins.
The announcement was made during Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
BP withdrew from Libya in 1974, when its oil industry was nationalised.
"We are now beginning to develop an economic relationship with Libya," Mr Blair's spokesman said.
"That's why companies such as BP can begin to go back into the country today."
Gradual return
Mr Hayward said that BP was "delighted" to be working with the state-owned National Oil Company of Libya, "to develop their natural resources for domestic and international markets".
"Our agreement is the start of an enduring, long-term and mutually beneficial partnership with Libya,¿ he added.
The deal is the latest stage in Libya's gradual return to the international fold since the US lifted its sanctions in 2004.
Royal Dutch Shell signed a contract two years ago to return to Libya. That deal was timed to coincide with Mr Blair's first visit to the country.
BG Group has also been awarded exploration and production rights in Libya.
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BP has not operated in Libya since 1974Oil giant BP has announced that it has struck a deal to return to Libya after an absence of more than 30 years.
Chief executive Tony Hayward said the $900m (£453m) joint venture with the Libya Investment Corporation was BP's "biggest exploration commitment".
The group will explore about 54,000 square kilometres - at the onshore Ghadames and offshore Sirt basins.
The announcement was made during Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
BP withdrew from Libya in 1974, when its oil industry was nationalised.
"We are now beginning to develop an economic relationship with Libya," Mr Blair's spokesman said.
"That's why companies such as BP can begin to go back into the country today."
Gradual return
Mr Hayward said that BP was "delighted" to be working with the state-owned National Oil Company of Libya, "to develop their natural resources for domestic and international markets".
"Our agreement is the start of an enduring, long-term and mutually beneficial partnership with Libya,¿ he added.
The deal is the latest stage in Libya's gradual return to the international fold since the US lifted its sanctions in 2004.
Royal Dutch Shell signed a contract two years ago to return to Libya. That deal was timed to coincide with Mr Blair's first visit to the country.
BG Group has also been awarded exploration and production rights in Libya.
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Printable version
Oil pledge from Nigeria president
Umaru Yar'Adua admitted the elections "were not perfect"Nigeria's newly sworn-in president has said the troubled Niger Delta will receive his "urgent attention".
In his inaugural speech, Umaru Yar'Adua called for an end to violence in the oil-rich but under-developed area which has led to a 25% cut in oil production.
He also admitted shortcomings in the election that brought him to power, which has been widely condemned.
The inauguration marks the first time in Nigeria's history that one civilian leader has taken over from another.
After the flamboyant ceremony, the softly spoken northern Nigerian Muslim promised he would be a new kind of leader.
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Luseni, Florida
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Bloggers campaign against Yar'Adua
"I most humbly proffer myself as a servant leader. I'll be a good listener... and serve this nation with honesty, transparency, accountability, absolute fear of God and with absolute humility," he said at the inauguration in the capital, Abuja.
Small demonstrations were held in the largest city, Lagos, where protesters said they were mourning the death of democracy in Nigeria.
Five of them were arrested as they carried a mock coffin of outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer but attacks and kidnappings of foreign oil workers by Niger Delta militants have hit production and contributed to a spike in global oil prices.
Appeal
"I urge all aggrieved communities groups and individuals to immediately suspend all violent activities and respect the law," Mr Yar'Adua said.
Inauguration in pictures
What next for Delta conflict?
Yar'Adua's tough challenges
"Let us allow the dialogue to take place in a conducive atmosphere," he appealed to the militants who have been demanding a larger share of oil wealth for local communities.
Although Nigeria's oil money comes from the Niger Delta, the majority of the region's people remain deeply impoverished.
The BBC's Alex Last in Abuja says the problem is that the vast wealth generated from the country's natural resources has fed the few in the political elite and their personal interests.
Corruption has become so ingrained, it will be difficult to defeat, he says.
But with a new leader comes a degree of hope that maybe he will really be able to make a difference, he adds.
"I think the first task before the new president is to heal the wounds - there have been deep divisions in the Nigerian politics arising from these elections," one voter told the BBC after the inauguration.
'Mistakes'
Mr Yar'Adua, who won a landslide victory in April, did admit the elections "were not perfect".
Militants are demanding more oil wealth for the Niger Delta
"However, we have well-established legal avenues of redress and I urge anyone aggrieved to pursue them. I also believe that our experiences represent an opportunity to learn from our mistakes," he said.
He pledged to improve the way elections were conducted.
"I will set up a panel to examine the entire electoral process with a view to effecting reforms and ensuring that we raise the quality and standards of our general elections to meet international standards.
"I will make this a national priority at the conclusion of the legal processes."
The election commission, Inec, has denied charges that it favoured the ruling People's Democratic Party during last month's elections.
The two main opposition candidates have challenged the results in court.
Our correspondent says President Yar'Adua will have to prove his independence from Mr Obasanjo, who picked his successor and remains chairman of the ruling PDP.
Umaru Yar'Adua admitted the elections "were not perfect"Nigeria's newly sworn-in president has said the troubled Niger Delta will receive his "urgent attention".
In his inaugural speech, Umaru Yar'Adua called for an end to violence in the oil-rich but under-developed area which has led to a 25% cut in oil production.
He also admitted shortcomings in the election that brought him to power, which has been widely condemned.
The inauguration marks the first time in Nigeria's history that one civilian leader has taken over from another.
After the flamboyant ceremony, the softly spoken northern Nigerian Muslim promised he would be a new kind of leader.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Let us give Mr Yar'Adua a chance to prove himself
Luseni, Florida
Send us your comments
Bloggers campaign against Yar'Adua
"I most humbly proffer myself as a servant leader. I'll be a good listener... and serve this nation with honesty, transparency, accountability, absolute fear of God and with absolute humility," he said at the inauguration in the capital, Abuja.
Small demonstrations were held in the largest city, Lagos, where protesters said they were mourning the death of democracy in Nigeria.
Five of them were arrested as they carried a mock coffin of outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer but attacks and kidnappings of foreign oil workers by Niger Delta militants have hit production and contributed to a spike in global oil prices.
Appeal
"I urge all aggrieved communities groups and individuals to immediately suspend all violent activities and respect the law," Mr Yar'Adua said.
Inauguration in pictures
What next for Delta conflict?
Yar'Adua's tough challenges
"Let us allow the dialogue to take place in a conducive atmosphere," he appealed to the militants who have been demanding a larger share of oil wealth for local communities.
Although Nigeria's oil money comes from the Niger Delta, the majority of the region's people remain deeply impoverished.
The BBC's Alex Last in Abuja says the problem is that the vast wealth generated from the country's natural resources has fed the few in the political elite and their personal interests.
Corruption has become so ingrained, it will be difficult to defeat, he says.
But with a new leader comes a degree of hope that maybe he will really be able to make a difference, he adds.
"I think the first task before the new president is to heal the wounds - there have been deep divisions in the Nigerian politics arising from these elections," one voter told the BBC after the inauguration.
'Mistakes'
Mr Yar'Adua, who won a landslide victory in April, did admit the elections "were not perfect".
Militants are demanding more oil wealth for the Niger Delta
"However, we have well-established legal avenues of redress and I urge anyone aggrieved to pursue them. I also believe that our experiences represent an opportunity to learn from our mistakes," he said.
He pledged to improve the way elections were conducted.
"I will set up a panel to examine the entire electoral process with a view to effecting reforms and ensuring that we raise the quality and standards of our general elections to meet international standards.
"I will make this a national priority at the conclusion of the legal processes."
The election commission, Inec, has denied charges that it favoured the ruling People's Democratic Party during last month's elections.
The two main opposition candidates have challenged the results in court.
Our correspondent says President Yar'Adua will have to prove his independence from Mr Obasanjo, who picked his successor and remains chairman of the ruling PDP.
Japan rebuffs EU on Kyoto pact
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - EU efforts to speed action on climate change took a blow on Tuesday when Japan refused to follow the EU line on how to establish a new international regime once the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
A statement from EU president Germany, which chaired a gathering of EU and Asian foreign ministers in Hamburg ahead of next week's meeting of Group of Eight (G8) leaders, said talks to establish a new regime should be completed by 2009.
But Japan said it could not accept a 2009 target, saying big polluters such as the United States, China and India should be included before any such target was set.
"Japan cannot agree with this because we should think about how we can invite non-Kyoto members such as the U.S., China and India and others," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsui Sakaba told reporters.
"We should work first for the inclusion of those countries. Fixing the target should come much later."
Germany is leading a drive to persuade the United States to follow Europe's lead on climate change before a June 6-8 summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the G8 to agree concrete steps that would prepare the ground for an extension of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which commits signatories to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
"We need the Asians as well," said a spokeswoman for EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "Global warming is something that is global and we need all continents participating in the post-Kyoto plan."
The EU has agreed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, challenging industrial and developing countries to go further with a 30 percent cut that it promises the EU would then match.
POST KYOTO
The German statement said the Hamburg meeting -- which brought together the 27 EU states with the 10 countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations, as well as China, Japan,
South Korea' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> South Korea, India and Pakistan -- had stressed the need for "a global and comprehensive post-2012 climate regime."
It said this should be "in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities" -- indicating that not all countries would be expected to move at the same pace.
It said the meeting had acknowledged the role of targets for the use of energy from renewable sources and improved energy efficiency, "taking national circumstances into account."
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said a balance had to be struck between the right to develop and the environment, but developing countries could help by allowing more transfers of clean technology.
"All countries should work together in terms of exploring new sources of energy, alternative energy and clean technology," he told a news conference.
"In this respect, perhaps the developed countries can do more ... we are moving towards the same goal and we should each contribute in our own way to environmental protection."
The Association of South East Asian Nations said its 10 members needed time but action was required.
"If we go on arguing about whether this number or this standard is fair or not fair we will never agree on what to do, and in the meantime the earth is getting warmer and more things are happening," said ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong.
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - EU efforts to speed action on climate change took a blow on Tuesday when Japan refused to follow the EU line on how to establish a new international regime once the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
A statement from EU president Germany, which chaired a gathering of EU and Asian foreign ministers in Hamburg ahead of next week's meeting of Group of Eight (G8) leaders, said talks to establish a new regime should be completed by 2009.
But Japan said it could not accept a 2009 target, saying big polluters such as the United States, China and India should be included before any such target was set.
"Japan cannot agree with this because we should think about how we can invite non-Kyoto members such as the U.S., China and India and others," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsui Sakaba told reporters.
"We should work first for the inclusion of those countries. Fixing the target should come much later."
Germany is leading a drive to persuade the United States to follow Europe's lead on climate change before a June 6-8 summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the G8 to agree concrete steps that would prepare the ground for an extension of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which commits signatories to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
"We need the Asians as well," said a spokeswoman for EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "Global warming is something that is global and we need all continents participating in the post-Kyoto plan."
The EU has agreed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, challenging industrial and developing countries to go further with a 30 percent cut that it promises the EU would then match.
POST KYOTO
The German statement said the Hamburg meeting -- which brought together the 27 EU states with the 10 countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations, as well as China, Japan,
South Korea' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> South Korea, India and Pakistan -- had stressed the need for "a global and comprehensive post-2012 climate regime."
It said this should be "in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities" -- indicating that not all countries would be expected to move at the same pace.
It said the meeting had acknowledged the role of targets for the use of energy from renewable sources and improved energy efficiency, "taking national circumstances into account."
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said a balance had to be struck between the right to develop and the environment, but developing countries could help by allowing more transfers of clean technology.
"All countries should work together in terms of exploring new sources of energy, alternative energy and clean technology," he told a news conference.
"In this respect, perhaps the developed countries can do more ... we are moving towards the same goal and we should each contribute in our own way to environmental protection."
The Association of South East Asian Nations said its 10 members needed time but action was required.
"If we go on arguing about whether this number or this standard is fair or not fair we will never agree on what to do, and in the meantime the earth is getting warmer and more things are happening," said ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong.
BERLIN - The United States rejects the
European Union' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> European Union's all-encompassing target on reduction of carbon emissions,
President Bush' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> President Bush's environmental adviser said Tuesday.
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;
James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the United States is not against setting goals but prefers to focus them on specific sectors, such as reducing dependence on gasoline and cleaner coal. "The U.S. has different sets of targets," he said.
Germany, which holds the European Union and G-8 presidencies, is proposing a so-called "two-degree" target, whereby global temperatures would be allowed to increase no more than 2 degrees Celsius — the equivalent of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit — before being brought back down. Practically, experts have said that means a global reduction in emissions of 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Connaughton, who is on a one-week bipartisan trip to Europe with members of the House of Representatives, said the U.S. favors "setting targets in the context of national circumstances."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) urged international cooperation in tackling climate change at a meeting Tuesday with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who plans to push President Bush at next week's Group of Eight summit for action to fight global warming.
Pelosi, who opposes Bush on environmental policy, hailed Merkel's "extraordinary leadership" in fighting climate change and agreed "that these solutions must be multilateral."
"We are trying to preserve the planet, which many in our country, including I, believe is God's creation, and we have a responsibility to preserve it," Pelosi said, speaking alongside the German leader after a meeting at the chancellery.
The California Democrat said faith-based organizations could play a role in battling climate change. The United States needed "the spirit of science to show us the way and faith-based organizations to help mobilize to preserve the planet," Pelosi said.
Merkel, who will host the summit of leaders from the G-8 in Heiligendamm, was diplomatic as she met with Pelosi and her bipartisan congressional delegation. The German leader said she was delighted there was "a bipartisan movement in the U.S. Congress that pays great importance to the issue of energy."
Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has been more blunt, voicing regret after he met Pelosi on Monday at the difficulty of achieving "concrete results" with the Bush administration.
"I think that what we could achieve is at least a mandate for negotiations — a clear mandate — for the climate conference" later this year in Bali, Indonesia, which is set to consider future action against global warming, Gabriel told ARD television.
"The United States is rejecting that as well, so far," he said, but "if we could achieve that, then I think Heiligendamm would have achieved a breakthrough."
The U.S. refused to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol limiting emissions because developing countries were not included. Rising economic giants, China and India, are exempt, and the treaty says nothing about post-2012 cuts.
Bush has argued that Kyoto would harm the U.S. economy and unfairly excludes developing countries such as China and India from obligations.
Pelosi has disagreed with that decision on Kyoto, but has said she wants to work with the Bush administration rather than provoke it. On the way to Europe, her delegation stopped in Greenland and saw the effects of global warming firsthand, she said.
European Union' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> European Union's all-encompassing target on reduction of carbon emissions,
President Bush' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> President Bush's environmental adviser said Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
;
James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the United States is not against setting goals but prefers to focus them on specific sectors, such as reducing dependence on gasoline and cleaner coal. "The U.S. has different sets of targets," he said.
Germany, which holds the European Union and G-8 presidencies, is proposing a so-called "two-degree" target, whereby global temperatures would be allowed to increase no more than 2 degrees Celsius — the equivalent of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit — before being brought back down. Practically, experts have said that means a global reduction in emissions of 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Connaughton, who is on a one-week bipartisan trip to Europe with members of the House of Representatives, said the U.S. favors "setting targets in the context of national circumstances."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) urged international cooperation in tackling climate change at a meeting Tuesday with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who plans to push President Bush at next week's Group of Eight summit for action to fight global warming.
Pelosi, who opposes Bush on environmental policy, hailed Merkel's "extraordinary leadership" in fighting climate change and agreed "that these solutions must be multilateral."
"We are trying to preserve the planet, which many in our country, including I, believe is God's creation, and we have a responsibility to preserve it," Pelosi said, speaking alongside the German leader after a meeting at the chancellery.
The California Democrat said faith-based organizations could play a role in battling climate change. The United States needed "the spirit of science to show us the way and faith-based organizations to help mobilize to preserve the planet," Pelosi said.
Merkel, who will host the summit of leaders from the G-8 in Heiligendamm, was diplomatic as she met with Pelosi and her bipartisan congressional delegation. The German leader said she was delighted there was "a bipartisan movement in the U.S. Congress that pays great importance to the issue of energy."
Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has been more blunt, voicing regret after he met Pelosi on Monday at the difficulty of achieving "concrete results" with the Bush administration.
"I think that what we could achieve is at least a mandate for negotiations — a clear mandate — for the climate conference" later this year in Bali, Indonesia, which is set to consider future action against global warming, Gabriel told ARD television.
"The United States is rejecting that as well, so far," he said, but "if we could achieve that, then I think Heiligendamm would have achieved a breakthrough."
The U.S. refused to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol limiting emissions because developing countries were not included. Rising economic giants, China and India, are exempt, and the treaty says nothing about post-2012 cuts.
Bush has argued that Kyoto would harm the U.S. economy and unfairly excludes developing countries such as China and India from obligations.
Pelosi has disagreed with that decision on Kyoto, but has said she wants to work with the Bush administration rather than provoke it. On the way to Europe, her delegation stopped in Greenland and saw the effects of global warming firsthand, she said.
No targets set in APEC energy declaration
APEC energy ministers have signed the 'Darwin Declaration' committing the 21 countries to improve energy efficiency.
The declaration does not set specific targets, but encourages countries to set their own efficiency goals.
It also aims to free up the trade of oil products, and enable investment in oil and gas reserves.
Australia's Energy Minister Ian Macfarlane says the member countries need more transparent trade, as well as a greater mix of energy sources.
"We need to develop and adopt a mix of cleaner stationary power technology including but not excluding any others, including renewables, clean coal, natural gas/LNG and for those economies who wish to pursue it, nuclear," Mr Macfarlane said.
Mr Macfarlane says a new system will be set up to help governments monitor their performance.
"We must promote and develop cleaner energy development and energy efficiency and conservation, including through a measure which has been agreed to known as the peer review mechanism," he said.
"[It] is a voluntary review mechanism which is available to any member economies to assess their energy efficiency."
APEC energy ministers have signalled they will be increasingly turning to nuclear power in the years to come.
Mr Macfarlane says many countries which were opposed to nuclear power five years ago now support it.
"Nuclear today has not been controversial at all, a number of economies who traditionally have been opposed to nuclear energy are now investigating its potential as part of their future clean energy mix," he said.
Indonesia and Vietnam both say they will be building nuclear power plants.
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APEC energy ministers have signed the 'Darwin Declaration' committing the 21 countries to improve energy efficiency.
The declaration does not set specific targets, but encourages countries to set their own efficiency goals.
It also aims to free up the trade of oil products, and enable investment in oil and gas reserves.
Australia's Energy Minister Ian Macfarlane says the member countries need more transparent trade, as well as a greater mix of energy sources.
"We need to develop and adopt a mix of cleaner stationary power technology including but not excluding any others, including renewables, clean coal, natural gas/LNG and for those economies who wish to pursue it, nuclear," Mr Macfarlane said.
Mr Macfarlane says a new system will be set up to help governments monitor their performance.
"We must promote and develop cleaner energy development and energy efficiency and conservation, including through a measure which has been agreed to known as the peer review mechanism," he said.
"[It] is a voluntary review mechanism which is available to any member economies to assess their energy efficiency."
APEC energy ministers have signalled they will be increasingly turning to nuclear power in the years to come.
Mr Macfarlane says many countries which were opposed to nuclear power five years ago now support it.
"Nuclear today has not been controversial at all, a number of economies who traditionally have been opposed to nuclear energy are now investigating its potential as part of their future clean energy mix," he said.
Indonesia and Vietnam both say they will be building nuclear power plants.
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Climate research bodes badly for drought
Scientists say new research proves the Indian Ocean has significantly warmed and there will be less rain across southern Australia.
The CSIRO research has found a rise of 2 degrees Celsius in the Indian Ocean over the past 40 years.
It confirms long-held beliefs of general warming but for the first time in exact detail.
The researchers say the temperature change cannot be explained by natural variability and is linked to the heating up of the atmosphere.
Chief researcher Dr Gael Alory says the rising temperature of ocean currents means fewer storms along the Australian coast.
"There will be less rainfall on the continent," he said.
"The rainfall will move more south to just the ocean and that means less rainfall."
He says Western Australia's south-west will be hardest hit by the change in climate.
The research was carried out by following the trade routes of ships and measuring temperatures down to 800 metres.
Scientists say new research proves the Indian Ocean has significantly warmed and there will be less rain across southern Australia.
The CSIRO research has found a rise of 2 degrees Celsius in the Indian Ocean over the past 40 years.
It confirms long-held beliefs of general warming but for the first time in exact detail.
The researchers say the temperature change cannot be explained by natural variability and is linked to the heating up of the atmosphere.
Chief researcher Dr Gael Alory says the rising temperature of ocean currents means fewer storms along the Australian coast.
"There will be less rainfall on the continent," he said.
"The rainfall will move more south to just the ocean and that means less rainfall."
He says Western Australia's south-west will be hardest hit by the change in climate.
The research was carried out by following the trade routes of ships and measuring temperatures down to 800 metres.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
UK unveils energy, defence deals with Libya
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has hailed relations with Libya on his swansong tour of Africa.
Mr Blair met Libyan leader Colonel Moamar Gaddafi as Libya announced a $US1 billion exploration deal with British energy giant BP.
Mr Blair also said major defence contracts would be signed with the North African nation.
Afterwards he spoke of the two countries' improved relationship.
"The relationship between Britain and Libya has been completely transformed in these last few years," he said.
Mr Blair hailed the strong cooperation on defence and fighting terrorism between Britain and the OPEC member state.
"We now have very strong co-operation on counter terrorism, on defence, a commercial relationship that is simply going on from strength to strength," he said.
"It's...an indication of how relations between two countries can change."
Mr Blair first visited Libya in 2004, sealing Tripoli's return to the international fold after it abandoned efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and agreed to pay damages for a 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.
- BBC/Reuters
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British Prime Minister Tony Blair has hailed relations with Libya on his swansong tour of Africa.
Mr Blair met Libyan leader Colonel Moamar Gaddafi as Libya announced a $US1 billion exploration deal with British energy giant BP.
Mr Blair also said major defence contracts would be signed with the North African nation.
Afterwards he spoke of the two countries' improved relationship.
"The relationship between Britain and Libya has been completely transformed in these last few years," he said.
Mr Blair hailed the strong cooperation on defence and fighting terrorism between Britain and the OPEC member state.
"We now have very strong co-operation on counter terrorism, on defence, a commercial relationship that is simply going on from strength to strength," he said.
"It's...an indication of how relations between two countries can change."
Mr Blair first visited Libya in 2004, sealing Tripoli's return to the international fold after it abandoned efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and agreed to pay damages for a 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.
- BBC/Reuters
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China Sets Ambitious Domestic Emissions Goals
by Anthony Kuhn
All Things Considered, May 28, 2007 · In recent months China has come under increasing pressure to take action on climate change. China is predicted to overtake the United States soon as the world's leading emitter of carbon dioxide.
In international negotiations, Beijing has resisted calls for global caps on greenhouse gas emissions. But at home it has set ambitious goals for saving energy and reducing emissions.
by Anthony Kuhn
All Things Considered, May 28, 2007 · In recent months China has come under increasing pressure to take action on climate change. China is predicted to overtake the United States soon as the world's leading emitter of carbon dioxide.
In international negotiations, Beijing has resisted calls for global caps on greenhouse gas emissions. But at home it has set ambitious goals for saving energy and reducing emissions.
UK backs new generation of nuclear reactors
UK ministers have ended a 20-year standstill on nuclear power by giving the go-ahead to a new generation of reactors to help cut the pollution that is disrupting the climate.
And the government has given the first indications of where up to 10 nuclear stations are likely to be built, at a cost of £1.2 billion ($2.4 bn) each. An expert report (pdf) identifies the best sites as being next to existing reactors around the south coast of England, with Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk topping the list.
The UK government's change of heart on nuclear power will be heralded by the industry as part of a global nuclear renaissance, which has already seen plans for more than 30 new reactors in the US. But it will be condemned by some politicians and environmentalists as the wrong solution to climate change.
Speaking in advance of the launch of the delayed energy policy paper on Wednesday, the trade and industry secretary, Alistair Darling, said it would be a "profound mistake" to rule out nuclear power. "The facts have changed," he told the BBC, "and when the facts change, you change your mind."
Energy independence
The policy paper overturns one produced by the government in 2003, which concluded that nuclear power was "an unattractive option". No nuclear station has been built in the UK since a pressurised water reactor was given planning approval at Sizewell in 1987, and the government is still trying to work out how to dispose of nuclear waste.
Darling argued that new reactors were now necessary because they would reduce future dependence on Russian gas, as well as being low carbon emitters. "We do not want to place ourselves at the whim of countries which may or may not decide to supply us," he said.
The minister also promised to boost renewable energy generation, as well as improving energy efficiency by, for example, cutting the wastage caused by machines left on stand-by. "We will triple the amount of electricity we get from renewables by 2015," he said.
The policy paper was delayed after a high court ruling that a previous public consultation on nuclear power was "misleading and procedurally unfair". At the same time as giving political backing to a new nuclear programme, the government is having to launch another public consultation.
But resurrecting nuclear power was attacked as "a bad strategic mistake" by Jeremy Leggett, a solar energy fellow at Oxford University, UK. "It will divert much-needed resources, and focus, away from the genuine survival technologies identified so clearly in the 2003 energy white paper: renewables and efficiency," he said.
Location, location, location
Alongside the energy paper, the government has also released a highly sensitive report on the siting of new nuclear stations in the UK (see map, above right). Prepared by an independent nuclear consultant, Ian Jackson, with government and industry experts, it was issued to New Scientist today in response to a request under freedom of information legislation.
It shows that good electricity grid connections make Hinkley Point and Sizewell the two sites best suited to accommodate either a 1600-megawatt single reactor, or a 3200-MW twin-reactor station. Seven other coastal sites are also given the green light for single reactors: Bradwell, Dungeness, Hartlepool and Heysham in England, Hunterston and Torness in Scotland, and Wylfa in Wales (see table, right).
Engineered flood defences may be required to protect some of the sites from rising sea levels and storms caused by climate change, Jackson warned, though that would only add 2% to capital costs. "This is a report for government, not by government," he said. "As with all things nuclear, politics is always - quite rightly - the most important deciding factor."
The revelations about likely sites have already been seized upon by the anti-nuclear lobby. "This will bring home the reality to people of having untried, untested reactors built on their doorsteps," said Jean McSorley from Greenpeace. "All of the sites named as likely candidates are known to be at significant risk of flooding over the coming decades."
Richard Clegg, a nuclear researcher at Manchester University, UK, however, welcomed the government's new policy. "It's important to see that nuclear is back in the centre of the energy agenda, as the technology is our best option for low-carbon base-load electricity generation," he said. "We’re also seeing nuclear generation appearing back on the map worldwide."
The Nuclear Age -
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