Companies
The sale of the state’s remaining nuclear assets is gathering pace. The government has appointed investment bank Greenhill to privatise the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). US engineering giants Fluor and Bechtel, as well as private-equity firms, are likely to be among the bidders when the sale kicks off next year. This week, the UK’s VT Group is also expected to be announced as the winning bidder for Project Services, state-owned BNFL’s specialist nuclear decommissioning division. The acquisition, worth up to £100m, marks the latest stage of VT Group’s transformation into a support services company.
Observer 16th Dec 2007 more >>
Korea
President Bush urged North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il Friday to fully disclose his country’s nuclear programs after Kim gave a “verbal reply” to an unprecedented letter from Bush.
AFX 16th Dec 2007 more >>
Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf has tightened his control over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, anchoring in law a commission responsible for overseeing the nuclear arsenal and preventing further proliferation.
Guardian website 15th Dec 2007 more >>
South Africa
Faced with power cuts stretching into the next decade, South Africa is slowly switching its focus to alternative energy sources in a country blessed with bountiful sunshine and a lengthy coastline. While state power utility Eskom warns solar and wind power can only ever meet a fraction of the nation’s needs, environmentalists want a more aggressive pursuit of alternative energy rather than a growing use of nuclear power.
Africasia 16th Dec 2007 more >>
Lovins
Existing technologies for more efficient end-use can save three-fourths of U.S. electricity at an average cost of around 1 cent per kilowatt-hour–cheaper than running a coal or nuclear power plant, let alone building one. Scores of utilities have demonstrated and implemented at scale, rapid, large, predictable, and extremely cheap “negawatts” (saved electricity). California’s per-capita use of electricity has been flat for 30 years while per-capita real income rose 79 percent. Firms like DuPont, Dow, and IBM are saving billions of dollars by cutting energy intensity, sometimes as fast as 6-8 percent a year.
Clam Post 13th Dec 2007 more >>
Climate
President Bush’s administration conceded for the first time yesterday that the pollution that causes global warming will have to be cut in half around the globe by the middle of the century if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change. The verbal concession, a dramatic U-turn, came amid unprecedented pressure on the United States in the closing session of the top-level climate conference in Bali. In scenes never before witnessed in international diplomacy, the US was booed and hissed by the representatives of nearly 190 nations for trying to obstruct agreement.
Independent on Sunday 16th Dec 2007 more >>
The resulting ‘Bali roadmap’ is a global warming pact that starts a two-year process of negotiations designed to agree a new set of emissions targets to replace those in the Kyoto protocol.
Observer 16th Dec 2007 more >>
Comment by Tony Juniper: Although Bali fell well short of what was required, the next two years remain critical. The next talks take place in Copenhagen in 2008. If you care about the future, start organising your campaigns now; we’ve got no time to lose.
Observer 16th Dec 2007 more >>
AS more than 180 countries agreed a deal on climate change at the UN summit in Bali, environmentalists punctured the mood of self-congratulation by pointing to the failure to agree firm targets for reducing emissions.
Sunday Times 16th Dec 2007 more >>
The United States appeared to backtrack on the spirit of the historic Bali agreement on climate change last night, voicing “serious concerns” about future negotiations to fight global warming.
Sunday Telegraph 16th Dec 2007 more >>
