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EON UK biggest emitter: It produced a table identifying EON UK, the electricity generator that owned Powergen, as Britain’s biggest corporate emitter of greenhouse gases.

Who the other four are: EON UK produced 26.4 million tonnes tonnes of CO2 last year. The other four companies named were RWE Npower, Drax, Corus, and EDF. EON, RWE Npower, Drax and EDF are all involved in electricity generation while Corus is mainly a steel producer.

Five emit more than 100 million tonnes: The Guardian table showed these five companies produced a combined total of more than 100 million tonnes of CO2 in 2005, compared to the annual average of 81 million tonnes produced by the nation’s 26 million private cars.

Efforts by individuals and household make little difference: The figures, which prompted new calls for tighter restrictions on corporate pollution, showed that efforts by individuals and households to cut their carbon footprints would make little difference unless accompanied by greater action by industry.

Huge gains from slight improvement in efficiency: The newspaper noted that a 1 per cent increase in the efficiency of the giant Drax power station in North Yorkshire – the largest in Europe and the single biggest polluting site in the UK – would save the typical carbon emissions of 21,000 households. Drax alone produced 20.8 million tonnes of CO2 in 2005.

EON cites its green energy record: A spokeswoman for EON said: "We are one of the leading green generators and invest more per customer in green energy than any other major supplier in the UK."

Test depends on extent of change: A spokesman for RWE Npower said: "We’re one of the UK’s biggest power generators, so of course we’re going to have more emissions than, say, a single power station somewhere. The test of ‘green-ness’ is how much you are changing."

Details of 700 UK industrial sites: The CO2 emissions of more than 700 industrial sites across Britain were contained in figures released on Monday by the European Commission. They detailed the UK’s participation in the first phase of a Europe-wide scheme intended to tackle climate change by capping the amount of carbon the heaviest polluters can emit.

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change Control (UNFCCC). 16 May 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Implementation of CCS linked to carbon credits market: From the available carbon storage options: terrestrial, ocean, mineral, and geological storage, the latter is considered the best available near-term option for CO2 capture and storage (CCS). The potential for CCS under the clean development mechanism (CDM) will also strongly depend on the future prices on international carbon credit markets, such as the EU ETS and the Kyoto Protocol.

Carbon capture capital intensive: In contrast to regular CDM investments, CCS investments are relatively high due to their inherent capital intensity with the most expensive element of CCS being the carbon-capture process.

Revamping generation plant dependent on carbon trading incentives: Retrofitting power plants is generally regarded to be most effective at relatively new, high-efficiency, coal fired power plants instead of low-efficiency ones or natural gas fired power plants. Nonetheless, due to its capital intensity, CCS under the CDM is unlikely to be driven by cost-effectiveness as explained before. Rather, incentives for furthering such technologies are offered within the EU through the EU ETS.

Favourite locations for CCS: Western Europe could be one of the main drivers for offshore CCS development. Similarly, the US and China could be more prone to develop enhanced coal bed methane (ECBM) initiatives. With respect to CCS in relation to onshore gas fields or aquifer injection, considering their favourable geographical distribution, overall global benefits of CCS in terms of GHG emission mitigation could be substantial.

Reference: Joint Implementation Quarterly April 2006, P.7. website: http://www.jiqweb.org

Erisk Net, 17/5/2006

Top efficiency award: The decision helped the company win an unprecedented accolade in the newly released green office interiors ratings by the Green Building Council (GBC). It received the 5-Star Green Star Certified Rating for office fit-out recognising "Australian excellence".

Location: It is all the more unusual because, unlike most investment banks with offices in Sydney’s CBD, Morgan Stanley’s new digs are on Level 2 of 30 in The Bond in Sydney’s Flickson Road – the Lend Lease headquarters well to the west of the CBD.

These feet are made for … Instead of an air-conditioned ride straight to the car-park lifts, staff will have a 10-minute walk from Wynyard train station or buses.

Variety of green design inputs: Designed by a bevy of consultants – Bovis Lend Lease as head contractor, the Lend Lease Design Sustainability Unit, Arup and Elan Creative – the fit-out involved green solutions at every turn. The floor covering is 85 per cent low-impact. Carpet tiles, for example, can be replaced as pieces wear out: while the goats’ hair carpet uses fewer chemicals and less water in its treatment. The new plumbing improves water savings. Facilities include child care, bicycle storage and showers.

Green guidelines produce user-friendly workspace: Acting GBC chief executive Romilly Madew said its new interiors rating tool would promote fit-outs that provide healthier, more productive workplaces for office workers, who spend more than 40 per cent of their waking hours at work.

The Australian Financial Review, 17/5/2006, p. 3

UK eco-village, BedZed, has struggled to meet its zero carbon emissions targets and has led different partners to take different approaches to future developments. An analysis of the lessons learned indicates some of the important issues to be considered in urban planning.

Guardian article  

The roads in Sydney’s CBD do not have the physical capacity to cope with the increased number of buses that would be required to meet rising transport demands, according to a new report. The State Government must invest in light rail to reduce the load on Sydney streets, the report says.

The report was obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald under Freedom of Information Laws.

Read the original article  

Technology around since 1996: Flex Tracks, a method of allowing airlines the flexibility to use up-to-date wind information to make best use of tailwinds or to avoid headwinds, is not new. It was launched across the South Pacific in 1996 when Qantas, Air New Zealand and United Airlines introduced FANS – or Future Air Navigation System – on 747-400s.

Enormous cost savings for airlines: Flex Tracks challenges the ATC system each day with widely varying routes but the saving for airlines are enormous. In the first 50 days (July to mid-August 2005) of Flex Tracks operations between Singapore and the Australian east coast, the reported and extrapolated fuel figures indicated a 500-tonne fuel burn reduction (or $430,000 in fuel savings), while the three core airlines operating on these tracks indicated a combined flight time reduction of 11 hours.

Things can only get better: According to Greg McDonald, Flex Tracks project manager with Airservices: "Flex Tracks is a stepping stone towards the delivery of the ultimate goal – User Preferred Trajectories (UPTs) – in a number of evolutionary stages."

Points to watch: The significant areas for attention are:

* How airspace closures – military or Traffic Information Broadcast by Aircraft (TIBA) – affect Flex Tracks.

* Summer thunderstorm activity in northwestern Australia, with controllers having to deal with deviations off track for both Flex Tracks aircraft and those flying fixed routes, thereby increasing workload.

* Those track change problems are compounded by some airlines not using Flex Tracks but sticking to traditional published routes.

* This is further complicated by the fact that aircraft do enter Australian airspace through the same gates and/or go to the same destination as those using Flex Tracks but do not fly the Flex Track.

* ATC needs to be aware that Flex Tracks often differ significantly from standard tracks which may result in pilots requiring quite different departure routings.

* Some flight planning systems cannot accept route segments longer than 1100km.

Spectacular results, some problems: While there have been problems, the results have been spectacular. According to McDonald, one Emirates flight operating from Dubai to Sydney saved 43 minutes and 8040kg of fuel by tracking to the south of Australia instead of crossing the Australian continent from the typical entry point in the northwest – almost 2000km to the north of the track used.

Sydney morning curfews only problem for speedy arrivals: But that sort of success also has a downside, with aircraft arriving at Sydney before the curfew is lifted at 6am. Nonetheless, airlines are delighted at the results, with Emirates reporting savings of tonnes of fuel per day and Singapore Airlines and Qantas registering similar outcomes. Currently, Flex Tracks operates as a trial at night between midnight Australian Eastern Standard Time and 8am AEST.