EU warns wasting environmental resources could spark new recession
The overuse and waste of valuable natural resources is threatening to produce a fresh economic crisis. Janez Poto?nik, the EU commissioner for the environment, linked the current economic crisis gripping the eurozone with potential future crises driven by price spikes in energy and raw materials. He said: “We have to use what we have more efficiently, or we will fail to compete.” The warning highlighted the increasing scarcity and rising price of some key resources, including energy, water, food and raw materials from metals.
BP has called on its contractor Halliburton to pay all costs and expenses it incurred to clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP has spent $14 billion in the Gulf Coast region in its response to the spill and set aside $20 billion for economic claims and restoration work. Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and Halliburton, which supplied cement to cap the well, are both being sued by BP to share the cost of the spill and cleanup, while the two have launched lawsuits of their own.
France’s Total has increased its exposure to the United States shale oil and gas boom through the establishment of a new $2.3 billion joint venture with Chesapeake Energy and EnerVest, two oil and gas groups in the United States. The French energy group announced on Tuesday that it had paid $700 million for a 25% stake in shale assets held by Chesapeake and EnerVest in Ohio’s Utica formation. It has also committed to pay an additional sum of up to $1.63 billion to cover future capital expenditure on drilling and well completion in the area for up to seven years.
Canal network could be used to transport biomass for power plants
Britain’s network of 18th century canals could play a major industrial role driven by the demand for green energy. There are hopes that inland waterways may undergo a rebirth to meet the needs of power stations run on biomass plants, where electricity is produced from wood and waste by-products. “There is huge potential for carrying biomass fuel, civic waste and building materials on the waterways. It can make commercial and environmental sense,” said a spokesman for the Freight Transport Association.
The latest electric vehicles are off to a halting start, their progress slowed by high prices and supply bottlenecks. In their first year of sales, both Nissan’s Leaf and General Motors’ (GM) Chevrolet Volt have sold in smaller numbers than the two carmakers expected. The Volt, which GM fast-tracked through development, suffered a blow after batteries caught fire hours or days after severe crash tests. However, Nissan says interest is strong enough for it to produce 40,000 Leafs next year. GM says it will sharply increase its production of the Volt in 2012.
Measures to cut London’s pollution come into force
Measures to improve air quality in the capital came into force today. New initiatives, stemming from the Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy and controlled by Transport for London (TfL), are aimed at deterring some of the oldest and most polluting vehicles from driving into London through changes to the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and reforms to taxi licensing standards. Health organisations including Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation have voiced their support for the changes. Edie http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=21583&title=Measures+to+cut+London’s+pollution+come+into+force+
COMMENTS