Dong to Spend $1.8 Billion Annually for Offshore Wind Projects

Bloomberg, by Sally Bakewell - Mar 12, 2012

Dong Energy A/S plans to invest about 10 billion kroner ($1.8 billion) a year on offshore wind projects to offset a “challenging” environment for gas plants as it ceases to build new coal power facilities, its chief said.

That’s about what the world’s largest developer of offshore wind parks spent last year on turbines installed at sea. “We think that is around that level we will be working at in the coming years,” Anders Eldrup, chief executive officer of the Fredericia, Denmark-based company, said by phone.

Dong announced today that Eldrup, who spoke in an interview on March 9, is stepping down as chief executive. Finance director Carsten Krogsgaard Thomsen will be acting CEO until a new chief executive is found, it said, adding that there will be no change in the company’s strategy.

Dong is focusing on renewable sources for electricity generation to shift from fossil fuels and cut emissions as the rising cost of gas depresses profits for burning the fuel. Profitability of burning gas in the U.K. has fallen 75 percent to 1.62 pounds ($2.54) a megawatt-hour in the last six months, according to Bloomberg calculations using broker data.

“It seems to be quite challenging times for the CCGTs,” or combined-cycle gas turbine plants, Eldrup said. The company doesn’t have “precise investment plans” for new plants as they are “not very profitable” now, he said. Dong operates gas- fired power plants in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands and opened its first in the U.K. in south Wales last year.

“It’s a combination of the price of gas to the price of power because it is that conversion that gives a margin,” Eldrup said.

No Coal-Fired Plants

Dong will not invest in new coal-fired power plants as it seeks to cut by half its carbon-dioxide emissions from electricity and heat generation compared with 2006 levels by 2020. The company plans to convert “about half” of its remaining coal stations to use biomass, Eldrup said.

The company, with about 1.3 gigawatts of operating offshore wind farms and 1.1 gigawatts under construction, plans to build 3 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2020, Eldrup said. Dong may make investments of 10 billion kroner a year for the next two to three years in offshore wind, he said.

Dong will fund new offshore wind plants with company revenue and from selling shares in existing projects, Eldrup said. Dong agreed to sell 50 percent of a German park for 4.7 billion kroner to Kirkbi A/S, the parent company of Lego Group, and Oticon Foundation on Feb. 23, its fifth such sale.

Nations are promoting clean energy to curb emissions and meet European Union goals. The U.K. is planning to build 18 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2020 from about 2 gigawatts now while Germany targets about 10 gigawatts by the same year.

“We are constantly surveying the market for future projects,” Eldrup said. Germany, he noted, is an “interesting place and our close neighbor.”

Eldrup is resigning “by mutual consent,” the company said today. Krogsgaard Thomsen was named acting CEO as Dong started a process to find a permanent replacement.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Sally Bakewell in London at Sbakewell1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

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Isle of Wight Council to invest in tidal power

Hydro power has big potential; many detractors

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)  - New !    

Isle of Wight Council to invest in tidal power

BBC News, 17 March 2012 

The Isle of Wight Council wants to create a multi-million pound tidal energy facility off its coast to supply the island with electricity.

The wave farm would be installed on the seabed off
St Catherine's Point 

The authority has already pledged £1m towards creating the Solent Ocean Energy Centre off St Catherine's Point on the south of the island.

The £1m has been matched by private sector investment, which will fund phase one of the scheme, to get the licences and consents for the site and seabed.

Phase two, to build a test bed and demonstration site, is expected to cost in the region of £21m, but two applications for government Regional Growth Funding in 2011 have already been turned down.

The success of the project now hinges on private sector investment.

Revenue and jobs

John Metcalfe, deputy director of economy and tourism at the site, said: "We have already got an agreement in principal with between 10 and 12 companies interested in the project. We've got companies committed from Canada, Finland as well as the UK."

The council has been working with the University of Southampton to gauge the potential of the project and it hopes, by 2014, private sector companies will begin basing their own tidal energy equipment at the site, generating revenue for the authority and jobs for islanders.

Stuart Love, the council's director of economy and environment, said: "We have been working very closely with Southampton University to demonstrate that there is the potential off our coast, not only to generate enough power for the island and more, but to create 700 jobs in the Solent region and up to 5,000 nationally so that is a significant impact on our economy.

"One of our key focuses as a local authority is trying to do what we can to boost the island's economy.

"We are proposing that we put money into this on the basis that in the long term that money will get paid back and once we have created the right environment the private sector will come in and will spend their money.

"The potential not just in terms of energy generation and sustainability for the island, but the number of jobs this will create and the impact for the UK's economy is massive."

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)  - New !    

Mysterious Honey Discovered That Kills All Bacteria Scientists Throw At It

Waking Times, February 10, 2012

John Stapleton, The Australian, 

Australian researchers have been astonished to discover a cure-all right under their noses — a honey sold in health food shops as a natural medicine.

Far from being an obscure health food with dubious healing qualities, new research has shown the honey kills every type of bacteria scientists have thrown at it, including the antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” plaguing hospitals and killing patients around the world.

Some bacteria have become resistant to every commonly prescribed antibacterial drug. But scientists found that Manuka honey, as it is known in New Zealand, or jelly bush honey, as it is known in Australia, killed every bacteria or pathogen it was tested on. 

It is applied externally and acts on skin infections, bites and cuts.

The honey is distinctive in that it comes only from bees feeding off tea trees native to Australia and New Zealand, said Dee Carter, from the University of Sydney’s School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences.

The findings are likely to have a major impact on modern medicine and could lead to a range of honey-based products to replace antibiotic and antiseptic creams.

Professor Carter’s two sons, Marty, 8 and Nicky, 6, think it’s funny the way their mother puts honey on their sores. But she swears by it, telling stories of how quickly it cures any infection.

“Honey sounds very homey and unscientific, which is why we needed the science to validate the claims made for it,” she said.

The curative properties of various types of honey have been known to indigenous cultures for thousands of years, and dressing wounds with honey was common before the advent of antibiotics.

"Most bacteria that cause infections in hospitals are resistant to at least one antibiotic, and there is an urgent need for new ways to treat and control surface infections," Professor Carter said.

"New antibiotics tend to have short shelf lives, as the bacteria they attack quickly become resistant. Many large pharmaceutical companies have abandoned antibiotic production because of the difficulty of recovering costs. Developing effective alternatives could therefore save many lives."

Professor Carter said the fascinating thing was that none of the bacteria researchers used to test the honey, including superbugs such as flesh-eating bacteria, built up any immunity.

She said a compound in the honey called methylglyoxal -- toxic on its own -- combined in unknown ways with other unidentified compounds in the honey to cause "multi-system failure" in the bacteria.

The results of the research project are published in this month's European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

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Southern Africa form biggest conservation area

Associated Press, by ANGUS SHAW, 15 March 2012

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Five Southern African nations on Thursday agreed to form the world's largest international conservation area in an effort to protect nearly half of the continent's elephants and a vast range of animals, birds and plants, many endangered by poaching and human encroachment.

At a ceremony in Namibia on Thursday government ministers from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe put their official seal on a cross-border treaty set to combine 36 nature preserves and surrounding areas.

The World Wildlife Fund said the countries will cooperate on measures to allow animals to roam freely across their borders over 170,000 square miles (440,000 square kilometers), almost the size of Sweden.

The Kavango Zambezi area includes the Victoria Falls World Heritage site in Zimbabwe and Botswana's famed swampland of the Okavango Delta.

Conservationists say historical migration routes of animals have been curtailed by national borders and man-made conflict. The decades-long civil war in Angola saw elephant herds, notoriously skittish to gunfire, fleeing far from their own habitats.

Already, Botswana is dismantling a fence on its border with Namibia after steps were taken to curb the spread of animal diseases.

According to the treaty put into effect Thursday, the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, known as KAZA, is home to about 45 percent of Africa's elephants. Along with other game animals, it has a rare heritage of at least 600 species of birds and 3,000 species of plants.

Previous attempts to set up massive cross-border conservancies in Africa have failed largely because impoverished local communities weren't engaged to help before governments signed up, said Chris Weaver, the World Wildlife Fund's regional director in Namibia.

"This is very different. It has a very strong community focus," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

He said local communities are getting jobs and revenue from tourism in return for their role in protecting the environment.

An independent secretariat has been established to coordinate work between state wildlife authorities and community groups across the region. The German KFW development bank plowed $40 million into getting the KAZA conservancy up and running, Weaver said.

Last year, he said, rural Namibians earned some $700,000 from their own conservation-related activities. The money went toward further training, transportation, water supplies and improvements for schools and clinics.

Weaver said in recent history wildlife and nature preserves traditionally belonged to state governments. That had encouraged poachers to steal animals from the state, a distant and alien owner.

Now the KAZA conservancy offered tangible benefits across the board to communities and member countries.

"It is good news for conservation in southern Africa," Weaver said.

Scientists warn EPA on Monsanto corn rootworm

Reuters, by Carey Gillam, Fri Mar 9, 2012

French beekeepers demonstrate to protest the use of genetically-modified

 organisms in front of French Monsanto headquarters in Bron, near Lyon,

 January 20, 2012. Sign reads, ''GMO = Death of Bees'' and banner in

background says, ''Monsanto get out''. (Credit: Reuters/Robert Pratta)

(Reuters) - A group of plant scientists is warning federal regulators that action is needed to mitigate a growing problem with biotech corn that is losing its resistance to plant-damaging pests.

The stakes are high - corn production is critical for food, animal feed and ethanol production, and farmers have increasingly been relying on corn that has been genetically modified to be toxic to corn rootworm pests.

"This is not something that is a surprise... but it is something that needs to be addressed," said Joseph Spencer, a corn entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, part of the University of Illinois.

Spencer is one of 22 academic corn experts who sent a letter dated March 5 to the Environmental Protection Agency telling regulators they are worried about long-term corn production prospects because of the failure of the genetic modifications in corn aimed at protection from rootworm.

Monsanto introduced its corn rootworm protected products, which contain a protein referred to as "Cry3Bb1," in 2003 and they have proved popular with farmers in key growing areas around the country. Biotech corn sales are a key growth driver of sales at Monsanto.

The corn rootworm product is supposed to reduce the need to put insecticides into the soil, essentially making the corn plants toxic to the worms that try to feed on their roots.

But plant scientists have recently found evidence that the genetic modification is losing its effectiveness, making the plants vulnerable to rootworm damage and potentially significant production losses.

The scientists said in their letter to EPA that the situation should be acted upon "carefully, but with a sense of some urgency."

As concerns have mounted over the last year that Monsanto's rootworm-protected products were losing their effectiveness, Monsanto has said the problem is small and has said the products continue to provide corn farmers with "strong protection against this damaging pest."

Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, has recommended growers rotate the corn with its biotech soybeans, use another of its biotech corn products and use insecticides to try to address the problem.

"Rootworm performance inquiries in 2011 were isolated to less than 0.2 percent of the acres planted with Monsanto rootworm-traited corn hybrids," said Danielle Stuart, a Monsanto spokeswoman. "In all of these cases, Monsanto is working very closely with the farmer and has provided best management practices for the upcoming season on each of these fields. "

The problems with insect resistance have been reported in parts of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Continuing to plant a failing technology only increases the resistance development risk, the scientists said in their letter. Moreover, they say, the rootworm-protected BT corn is being planted in areas that have no need for it, often because there are few alternative seed options. Scarcity of non-BT corn seed is a concern, they said.

Using insecticides along with the biotech corn as Monsanto has advised is not a good approach, according to the scientists, because it elevates production costs for farmers and masks the extent and severity of the building insect resistance.

"Recommendations to apply insecticides to protect transgenic Bt corn rootworm corn strikes us as a clear admission that the Cry3Bb1 toxin is no longer providing control adequate to protect yield," the scientists wrote.

"When insecticides overlay transgenic technology, the economic and environmental advantages of rootworm-protected corn quickly disappear," the scientists wrote.

EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Director Steven Bradbury, who the letter was addressed to, could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting By Carey Gillam;editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)

The French farmer Paul Francois, who says he suffers memory

 loss and stammering after inhaling a Monsanto pesticide. 

(Photograph: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images)

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Coke, Pepsi make changes to avoid cancer warning

Associated Press, by Candice Choi, AP Food Industry Writer, Mar 8, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) -- Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. are changing the way they make the caramel coloring used in their sodas as a result of a California law that mandates drinks containing a certain level of carcinogens bear a cancer warning label.

The companies said the changes will be expanded nationally to streamline their manufacturing processes. They've already been made for drinks sold in California.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo account for almost 90 percent of the soda market, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest. A representative for Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. was not immediately available for comment.

The American Beverage Association, which represents the broader industry, said its member companies will continue to use caramel coloring in certain products but that adjustments were made to meet California's new standard.

"Consumers will notice no difference in our products and have no reason at all for any health concerns," the association said in a statement.

A representative for Coca-Cola, Diana Garza-Ciarlante, said the company directed its caramel suppliers to modify their manufacturing processes to reduce the levels of the chemical 4-methylimidazole, which can be formed during the cooking process and as a result may be found in trace amounts in many foods.

"While we believe that there is no public health risk that justifies any such change, we did ask our caramel suppliers to take this step so that our products would not be subject to the requirement of a scientifically unfounded warning," Garza-Giarlante said in an email.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, in February filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of ammonia-sulfite caramel coloring.

A spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration said the petition is being reviewed.

But he noted that a consumer would have to drink more than 1,000 cans of soda a day to reach the doses administered that have shown links to cancer in rodents.

The American Beverage Association also noted that California added the coloring to its list of carcinogens with no studies showing that it causes cancer in humans. It noted that the listing was based on a single study in lab mice and rats.

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The Large Families that rule the world


"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)  - New ! 

Enormous algal bloom floats near Antarctica

Deutsche Welle, 7 March 2012

An unprecedented algal bloom is making a splash in the Southern Ocean. Unlike in some other aquatic areas, the bloom there could be a blessing rather than a curse.

Scientists at the University of Tasmania have discovered a 20,000-square-kilometer (7,700-square-mile) bed of algae in Antarctica. The researchers became aware of the unusual bloom through satellite information from NASA, which captured images of huge, brownish-green spots in the waters of the ocean.

Experts say the phenomenon is extremely unusual.

Three factors involved

The German ocean glaciologist Jan Lieser, who conducts research in Hobart, Tasmania, explained that the algal bloom results from the interplay of three factors: an ice-free ocean, sunlight and the presence of nutrients, in this case iron.

Water in the region is typically low in iron, but strong winds could have blown dust and snow from the continent of Antarctica into the water, releasing the metal.

The algae spells a feast for whales
and other aquatic predators 

Lieser said that a second source of iron could be what's known as "fast ice," ice that forms in sheltered bays and remains over an extended period of time, even over several winters, and collects dust and dirt from the air.

"When it breaks up and drifts into the ocean, the sediment is released," Lieser said.

Time to gorge

When it comes to the Adriatic or Baltic Seas, researchers are prone to talk about an "algae plague," but the situation is different in the case of Antarctica.

"I expect a feast," Lieser said. All manner of tiny sea animals, such as Antarctic krill, quickly snap up the short-lived algae. "Krill then becomes food for seabirds, penguins, seals and even whales," Lieser explained.

The researchers can't identify the exact kind of algae at the moment, although they think it may be in the Phaeocystis family.

An Australian research boat was near the algal bloom by chance, and scientists on board have already taken samples. The crew plans to bring the specimens to Tasmania, where they will be analyzed.

Test results won't be available for another few days still. In the meantime, it'll be a feeding frenzy in the Antarctic.

Author: Tobias Oelmaier / sad

Editor: Greg Wiser

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“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."
.

Invisible Mercedes

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That's a Smarties move! Nestle becomes first confectioner to ditch all artificial additives from its products

Daily Mail, by SEAN POULTER, 2nd March 2012  

Smarties along with other Nestle
 brands will no longer contain any
 additives

Nestlé has become the first major confectioner to remove artificial colours, flavours and preservatives from its entire range.

The company, which is behind leading brands including KitKat, Smarties and Quality Street, has changed the recipe of 79 products to remove suspect chemicals.

Nestlé’s Crunch bar is the last of the company’s products to have the chemicals removed as part of a programme that dates back six years.

In total, more than 80 ingredients have been replaced with alternatives, mostly from natural sources such as carrot, hibiscus, radish, safflower and lemon.

Other companies are also racing to drop artificial additives from products, particularly those targeted at children. The moves follow a Daily Mail campaign and research by British academics linking some artificial colours to harm, including hyperactivity, in children.

The Daily Mail first highlighted the use of suspect colours in products such as Smarties in 2005. It launched the ‘Ban the Additives’ campaign in 2007 following research which found that normal healthy children became hyperactive when fed a cocktail of additives commonly used in sweets, cakes, fizzy drinks and some medicines.

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The colours involved were tartrazine (E102); quinoline yellow (E104); sunset yellow (E110); carmoisine (E122); ponceau 4R (E124); and allura red (E129).

Subsequently, the Food Standards Agency announced a voluntary code calling on all food manufacturers to stop using these chemicals.

However Nestlé  has gone further and removed all artificial additives from its range. The changes meant that blue Smarties disappeared for a time until a natural colouring could be found.

Smarties chocolates are amongst Nestle's most popular products

The managing director of Nestlé Confectionery UK, David Rennie, said: ‘This is a significant milestone. Nestlé is proud to be the only major confectionery company in the UK to announce it is 100 per cent free of artificial preservatives, flavours or colours across the entire portfolio.

‘To achieve this, Nestlé Confectionery and our suppliers have worked very hard ensuring we don’t compromise and we maintain the same quality and taste of all our brands.’

The firm’s research found that three quarters (74 per cent) of consumers buying confectionery now look for natural products, which includes the need to be free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

Sally Bunday of the Hyperactive Children Support Group, which has warned against the use of artificial additives for 35 years, welcomed the Nestlé announcement.

She said: ‘There is more than enough evidence to show that these artificial colours have an adverse effect on the well-being and behaviour of the children.

‘We are delighted to learn of the decision taken by Nestlé to stop using all artificial additives. I am sure many other companies will also decide to stop using questionable additives.’

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