Tag Archives: green
Biomass Helping To Make Communities Greener
5 September 2013 FARMERS are being encouraged to take advantage of new opportunities to diversify created by community green energy co-operatives. The first project of its kind in the UK is seeing a community joining forces to buy shares in a £1million green energy co-operative which will cut bills at John Cleveland College, Hinkley, Leicestershire, and raise money for good causes. The biomass boilers provided by Leicestershire-based Rural Energy, a Myriad CEG company, will cut carbon emissions by 400 tons a year, reduce energy bills by £45,000 a year and act as a blueprint for similar projects across the UK. The co-operative will also create a Local Community Fund to support initiatives to benefit the school and local community, which it is estimated will generate £227,876 over the project’s 20-year lifespan. Farmers and woodland owners in the area are now being encouraged to diversify into planting woods for coppicing over the 20-year lifespan of the project. The contract for wood-chip will be in excess of £60,000 annually (600 tons a year) and the project will act as a blueprint for similar projects across the UK. The Green Fox Community Energy Co-operative is already recruiting investors – ranging from the local GPs to manual workers and pupils’ parents and grandparents – to buy community shares with a projected return on investment of up to 13 per cent. This innovative renewable energy project, which is a collaboration between three not-for-profit organisations Green Fox Community Energy Co-operative, Transition Leicester and Sharenergy, aims to use sustainably harvested wood from local woodlands to fuel wood-chip boilers that will heat the college. Richard Halsey, a founding member and Director of Green Fox Community Energy Co-operative, said: “Investors in the Co-operative become its members and they will be contributing to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from the College by an estimated 400 tonnes annually. Furthermore the project will seek to source the woodchip locally, which will in turn sustain local jobs”. Scott Morris, head of estates at John Cleveland College added: “Currently the college uses oil and the heating bills are in excess of £150,000 a year. By switching to wood-chip, we will be saving an estimated £45,000 per year – which is significant to any school.” Continue reading
Many happy returns as Dubai Metro turns 4
Many happy returns as Dubai Metro turns 4 Lily B. Libo-on / 9 September 2013 Dubai Metro, world’s largest driverless rail network extending up to 75 kilometres, celebrates its four years of successful operation today with an increase of 20 per cent increase in its ridership over the years. The high-level performance of Dubai Metro’s 58 trains is evident by its more than 366,000 current average daily passengers, which has led millions to turn to public transport and decongest Dubai roads. Metro passenger, Joseph, an Indian expatriate in Dubai says: “I find the Metro very efficient, no-hassle public transport for expatriates. I live in Baniyas Square but work at the Dubai Airport Free Zone in Al Qusais. Yet, I reach my work place in 15 minutes. I have never been late because Metro Green Line is bringing me to work with efficiency and speed.” According to Cherrie Rentillo, a Filipina, the metro helps her in saving time. “It is very efficient and seldom has any technical glitches. Even if it happens, the Rail Agency of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) always has a solution. “It is fast as you will not go through a traffic rush. It’s just perfect,” she says. Pakistani expatriate, Ali Mohammed, is all praises for the Dubai Metro. “Since its launch in 2009, I have never been late for work though I work on Shaikh Zayed and stay in Deira. It is a great help to workers, not just in terms of time but also in terms of cash. RTA’s newly launched Metro Mini Entertainer, a discount voucher booklet priced at Dh65, is also a help when I come home late. It contains Dh2,000 worth of savings from over 30 different outlets representing restaurants and leisure centers located close to the metro stations.” Sudanese housewife, Huda, said that the latest expansion of the women and children cabin from 7am to 9am and from 5pm to 9pm from Sunday to Thursday is convenient to mothers when travelling with kids, especially while going to the Mall of the Emirates or The Dubai Mall. “It is such a relief,” she said. Metro expansion welcome The news of the forthcoming expansion, which will expand the Red Line to Mirdif and the Green Line to Academic City, is also a welcome move. Dubai Metro passengers along this area said that it will give them the benefit of traveling faster and quicker. Ramadan Abdullah Mohammed, director of RTA’s Rail Operations, said that Dubai Metro celebrates its fourth year of operation today, with a huge success and increasing demand, which prompts it to continuously plan for expansion. “We conduct a continuous study to enhance our services to the public, even the latest allocation of one cabin to women and children from 7am to 9am and from 5pm to 9pm, is a product of our study. We also plan to increase the number of trains based on the continuous study of the ridership during peak hours and months, holidays such as Eid and National Day, and our target and achievements,” Ramadan said. He said the Dubai Metro achieved its target well in 2012, and even in 2013, it is performing well in terms of achieving its target. To start the project next year, the RTA is conducting more studies on the proposed extensions and the exact time to begin the projects next year after concluding its observations. The Green Line will extend up to 24 kilometres and the Red Line by 12 kilometres. Both lines consist of modern designs and architecture, including many retail outlets, Wi-Fi connectivity, ATM machines and accessibility for special needs passengers to public buses. The number of riders using the Dubai Metro Red Line in the last six months topped 43,552,110 riders at a rate exceeding seven million per month. The Green Line riders during the same period reached 23,549,206 at a rate of about four million riders per month. Deira City Centre, Burj Khalifa, Mall of the Emirates, Union, Burjuman, Al Rigga and Al Karama metro stations accounted for the biggest chunk of passengers in the Red Line. – lily@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Many Risks Surrounding 2013 Crop
Sep 3 2013 The weather across the Corn Belt has made a full circle from 2012’s drought to the very wet spring of 2013 and now back to a moderate drought. The first four weeks of August in Decatur, IL, have produced 0.09 inches of rainfall and 12 days above 85 degrees, reaching as high as 95 degrees. Farmers should typically be preparing for soybean harvest in the southern Corn Belt by now, but very late maturing crops are delaying the harvest season. The hot and dry weather is causing concern over both corn and soybean yields, but the inevitable upcoming frost could cause an even worse problem for immature crops in late September and through October. Grain Prices December corn prices were nearly unchanged this month, closing at $4.83 per bushel. Extremely hot and dry weather across the Corn Belt in late August helped prices rebound after the successful pollination period ended in early August. The USDA estimated the average U.S. corn yield is 1.3% lower in the August WASDE Report to 154.4 bushels per acre. The Farm Service Agency released a report in early August on the amount of Prevent Planted acres in the U.S. and found 7.711 million acres were unplanted due to wetness complications with 3.411 million acres being corn. 7.5% of the entire corn acreage in Minnesota was unplanted this year. Speculative buyers have been slowly converting their net short positions in the direction of net long over the past two weeks signaling a longer-term rally. November soybean prices increased by 12.5% this month to close at $13.57 per bushel. There’s a high concern of even an average first frost date that will severely damage soybean yields this year due to the extremely late planting dates across the Corn Belt. The hot and dry weather this month also hurt soybean plants during their pod filling stage which is directly correlated to yield. In this month’s WASDE, the USDA estimated the average U.S. yield 1.7 bushels per acre lower to 42.6 bushels per acre. Ending stocks were also estimated 75 million bushels lower to an extremely tight 220 million bushels. The November 2013 soybean contract is currently trading at an all-time high. The September wheat contract decreased by 3.3% this month, closing at $6.43 per bushel. Estimated ending U.S. wheat stocks were decreased this month by 25 million bushels due to increased exports, but a stronger U.S. Dollar in August kept prices from moving higher. Additionally, the USDA estimated world wheat production at a record 705.4 million metric tons. Farmland Values Year over year, “good” farmland values increased 17% across the Seventh Federal Reserve District, although for the second quarter of 2013, values remained unchanged. Four out of the five states within the Seventh District, which includes Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, posted double digit annual increases in farmland values with Indiana leading the way with a 21% increase. In the Tenth Federal Reserve District, non-irrigated farmland values rose 18%, irrigated farmland values increased 25%, and ranchland values rose 14% year over year. The Tenth District includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, a portion of New Mexico and Missouri. The Creighton University farmland price index decreased this month for the eighth time in the last nine months, but remains above growth neutral at 55.8. Professor Ernie Goss noted, “Our farmland-price index has been above growth neutral since February 2010. However, lower farm commodity prices are slowing growth in farmland prices. I expect farmland price growth to continue to weaken as agriculture commodity prices soften.” Bankers estimated that only 20% of all farmland transactions are purchased by investors; this was the same percentage given in the spring when bankers were asked the same question. Crop Conditions As of August 26, 2013, only 59% of the U.S. corn crop and 58% of the soybean crop were in good or excellent condition. 22% of corn and 32% of soybeans were in good or excellent condition at this same point in 2012. Corn maturity is severely lagging with only 23% of the crop in the dented stage compared to 73% last year and the five-year historical average of 45%. Although corn pollination was completed in ideally mild temperatures, the extreme heat and dryness across the Corn Belt throughout August has put major stress on the crop filling kernels. Soybeans have also been stressed in the heat during the critical pod filling stage. At this point in maturity, even a historically average first frost date would cause yield loss in both corn and soybeans due to the late spring planting. Outlook Crop conditions are below average in the U.S. Corn Belt and the weather outlook is not very promising as high temperatures and low precipitation dominate local forecasts. An early to average first frost date will continue to loom in many trader’s minds throughout September. Farmers will start to plan out the 2014 crop year post harvest and should be happy to find lower input costs. Major fertilizer costs have significantly decreased over the past two months partially due to the world’s largest potash producer, Uralkali, ending their production limits. Potash prices were forecasted last month to eventually drop to the lowest since 2010. Continue reading
