Tag Archives: army
Sales to first time buyers in UK jump almost 10% month on month
The number of sales made to first time buyers in the UK increased in September by 9% compared to the previous month, according to the latest data from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). Buyers taking their first step on the housing ladder accounted for 29% of all sales compared to 20% in August, the highest since May this year when sales to the group made up 29% of total sales. ‘It’s obviously very positive to see that the number of sales being made to first time buyers has risen this month. We saw an average nine sales going through per branch in September, which means that for each branch, around three sales were made to the group,’ said Mark Hayward, NAEA managing director, . ‘We’re seeing a whole range of new competitive mortgage products coming on to the market, which is likely to be encouraging first steppers to take the plunge, as well as the fact that the ‘impending’ interest rate rise has now been pushed back to next year at the very earliest,’ he explained. ‘However, in order to ensure there is enough affordable housing on the market for first time buyers we need the issue of supply and demand to be addressed in a big way. Until substantial numbers of new houses are built, we won’t see every first time buyer reach the bottom rung of the ladder,’ he added. The NAEA monthly report also shows that the number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch dropped in September, following a period of high and unsustainable demand in July and August. On average, there were 342 prospective buyers registered at each NAEA member branch in September. This is a drop of 16% from the 408 recorded in August, and a 26% drop from July when demand reached an 11year high with average 462 house hunters per branch. The number of properties available to buy dropped marginally to 37 per member branch in September. This followed a huge fall in the availability of housing stock the month before, when the number of properties available fell from 55 in July to 38 in August, a decrease of 31%. ‘If we could just get supply and demand to meet in the middle, the housing market would be functional again as it’s a real issue across the market at the moment. Developers are struggling to secure planning permission and labour is in short supply. This means that the army of house hunters looking to buy has out-grown the number of housing available at a rapid rate, and it’s completely unsustainable,’ Hayward pointed out. He explained that the introduction of the Housing and Planning Bill announced last week is good news, however, it includes an extension of the Right to Buy to Housing Association properties, which should help to increase supply in the housing market as homes that are… Continue reading
US Army Looks To Renewables
17 July 2013 Elizabeth Block While the US continues to drag its feet on climate change in terms of national emissions legislation, its armed forces have been investing in renewable energy – on a very large scale. This article is taken from the May/June issue of Renewable Energy Focus magazine. To register to receive a digital copy click here . According to Pike Research , part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the total capacity of US Department of Defense (DOD) renewable energy installations will quadruple by 2025 – from 80MW in 2013 to more than 3200MW by 2025. “US military spending on renewable energy programmes, including conservation measures, will reach almost $1.8 billion in 2025,” says research analyst Dexter Gauntlett. “This effort has the potential to not only transform the production, consumption, and transport of fuel and energy within the military; it will likely make the DOD one of the most important drivers of cleantech in the US.” Or, as Pike puts it in a new report : “As the largest single consumer of energy in the world, the US Department of Defense (DoD) is one of the most important drivers for the cleantech market today.” In fact, this is not a new development. According to a report by the Congressional Research Service energy specialist Anthony Andrews, Congress began mandating reductions in energy use by federal agencies back in the early 1970s. This was to be achieved by improving building efficiency and reducing fossil fuel use. This was followed by President Obama’s Executive Order of 2009 – mandating a 30% reduction in energy usage and other measures by federal agencies. Later, Net Zero, a 2010 policy introduced by the Army Energy Programme, decreed that on-site operations should use energy produced on-site, leading to use of solar at forward bases in Afghanistan, for example. In a related defence development, the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) has been looking into renewable jet fuel. And in the 2011 documentary Carbon Nation, Colonel Dan Nolan, US Army (Ret) said: “Climate change in fact is a national security issue. This is no longer the purview of Birkenstock-wearing tree huggers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Net Zero, similar to other military policies, is driven not by concern about climate change or green jobs but by the need for energy security – and fuel economy. While Net Zero is an army initiative, the other service branches, the US Air Force, Navy and Marines all have their own programmes and targets. As the Army says: “Today the Army faces significant threats to our energy and water supply requirements both home and abroad. Addressing energy security and sustainability is operationally necessary, financially prudent, and essential to mission accomplishment. The goal is to manage our installations not only on a net zero energy basis, but net zero water and waste as well.” In fact, military involvement in renewables should be seen as two separate but connected strands: efforts directly funded by government, usually via contracts with defence contractors, and independent efforts by the defence and aerospace industries, which depend on the armed forces’ procurement offices. The future As Chuck Hagel, the new US Secretary of Defense, is known for his opposition to Kyoto, a question was put to the DoD about continuity. Sharon Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for US Operational Energy Plans and Programmes, said: “Our commitment to giving our troops the best energy options remains unchanged. DoD missions require a significant and steady supply of energy, which is increasingly a requirement that can be exploited by our adversaries as a vulnerability. That’s why DoD’s investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, including new investments in the FY14 budget, are focused on enhanced military capabilities, more mission success, and lower costs.” Meantime, and very importantly for our sector, it is not just defence industries. Some solar firms are in the picture, such as Solar City , which lists “military” among customer categories on its website, along with building companies and utilities. For example, late last year the US Army launched a major solar project for up to 4,7000 military homes at Fort Bliss, Texas, and the nearby White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, with Solar City and Balfour Beatty Communities LLC , part of Balfour Beatty plc, as partners. This is a 13.2MW project, part of Solar Strong, Solar City’s five-year plan for more than $1bn in solar projects for up to 120,000 military homes throughout the US. Local utility El Paso Electric is currently in discussions on the Fort Bliss and White Sands projects. Importantly, the various US directives have stimulated innovation. For example, the US has a Defense Innovation Marketplace – and this should not come as a surprise. We all know that we owe the internet to early US military efforts. Given the large sums involved, US military commitment to low carbon could be very good news for our sector. A full copy of the report can be found here . about: Elizabeth Block is a London-based writer specialising in renewable energy. A native of New York in the US, she has a background as a financial journalist, specialising in institutional investment. Continue reading
Egypt PM struggles to form government
Egypt PM struggles to form government (AFP) / 11 July 2013 Egypt’s new leadership faced increased difficulties on Thursday in forming an interim government after it issued a warrant for the arrest of the leader of the movement backing ousted president Mohamed Mursi. Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood has spurned an offer from interim premier Hazem Al Beblawi to join the new government, and called for a mass rally on Friday against what it called “a bloody military coup.” After a year in power through Morsi, the Brotherhood is now in tatters, with much of its leadership detained, on the run or keeping a low profile following the president’s overthrow last week in a popular military coup. Police were searching for the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badie, after a warrant was issued for his arrest on Wednesday, in connection with deadly violence in Cairo. Badie and other senior Brotherhood leaders are wanted on suspicion of inciting clashes an army building on Monday which killed 53 people, mostly Morsi partisans, judicial sources said. Mursi himself is currently being held in a “safe place, for his safety,” foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty told reporters Wednesday, adding: “He is not charged with anything up till now,” he said. Military and judicial sources have said the ousted leader may face charges eventually. His overthrow by the military last week, after nationwide protests demanding his resignation, has plunged Egypt into a vortex of violence. In the restive Sinai peninsula, gunmen opened fire on the car of a senior military commander leading to clashes between security forces and “terrorist elements” which left one girl dead, the army said in a statement. The army later withdrew the statement from its official Facebook page, without providing an explanation. Witnesses had contested its account, telling AFP the girl was killed after soldiers opened fire on the car she was in when her father refused to stop at a checkpoint. Thousands of Morsi supporters joined those camped out at the Rabaa Al Adawiya mosque in Cairo’s Nasr City, vowing to leave only when Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president, is reinstated. “We are gathering here for Morsi. I voted for him and I want to know where he is,” said protester Mohammed, 47. “We will stay here either until the president’s return or martyrdom,” he said. According to the health ministry, 53 people died and 480 were wounded in Monday’s clashes in Cairo. The Brotherhood accuses the army of “massacring” its supporters, and the army says soldiers came under attack by “terrorists” and armed protesters. The public prosecutor pressed charges on Wednesday against 200 of the 650 people it detained during the violence. The warrant for Badie’s arrest will make it harder for Beblawi to reach out as he attempts to form an interim civilian administration. The liberal former finance minister, who began talks on his cabinet line-up on Wednesday, is ready to offer the Brotherhood ministerial posts, the state-run MENA news agency quoted an aide as saying. But the Islamists spurned the overture. “We do not deal with putschists. We reject all that comes from this coup,” Brotherhood spokesman Tareq Al Mursi said. Last week Badie gave a fiery speech in which he vowed that Brotherhood activists would throng the streets in their millions until Morsi’s presidency was restored. Interim president Adly Mansour has set a timetable for elections by early next year, while appointing Beblawi as premier and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei as vice president for foreign affairs. Opponents and supporters of Morsi alike have criticised the interim charter issued by Mansour to replace the constitution, which he suspended, and steer a transition the army has itself acknowledged will be “difficult.” An official with one of the parties in the National Salvation Front (NSF), the main coalition formerly led by ElBaradei, criticised Mansour’s 33-article declaration for according extensive powers to the interim president. Many within the coalition are wary of repeating the mistakes of the last military-led transition, between Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in 2011 and Morsi’s election in June 2012. Human rights groups condemned the use of “excessive” force against Brotherhood supporters on Monday, and called for an independent investigation. The United States, which provides $1.5 billion in mainly military aid to Egypt, said it was “cautiously encouraged” by the timetable proposed for a new presidential election. Continue reading
