Dwindling water supplies are a greater risk to businesses than oil running out, a report for investors has warned. Among the industries most at risk are high-tech companies, especially those using huge quantities of water to manufacture silicon chips; electricity suppliers who use vast amounts of water for cooling; and agriculture, which uses 70% of global freshwater, says the study, commissioned by the powerful CERES group, whose members have $7tn under management. Other high-risk sectors are beverages, clothing, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, forest products, and metals and mining, it says - The Guardian
The parents of a nine-year-old killed in a gas explosion criticised utility companies yesterday after an inquest ruled that she died because gas seeped from a pipe that was not properly supported and had cracked underground. Stephanie Hammacott was walking past a house in Plymouth on her way to school in January last year just as the owner turned on his water heater, and there was a huge explosion. Yesterday, after a three-day inquest into her death in Plymouth, a jury recorded a narrative verdict, saying that the leak that caused the explosion was the result of works carried out in the area in 1992 and 1997. The pipe cracked, the jury found, due to insufficient support below and pressure from above - The Guardian
Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, has warned that coal plants fitted with carbon capture storage (CCS) equipment are unlikely to be ready to make big cuts in Britain's emissions before 2030. The country's geology is not suited to the technology, which is expensive and unproven, he said. This meant it would take "at least 15 years and probably closer to 20 years" before companies were in a position to deploy the technology on a large scale. This week, energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband confirmed reports in the Guardian that the government wanted to fund more than one CCS demonstration project - The Guardian
Centrica has pledged to create 1500 "green-collar" jobs and spend £15bn by 2020 on plugging the UK's energy gap. But the company refused to confirm that it is going ahead with its £3bn acquisition of nuclear power company British Energy. Announcing near-record profits of £1.9bn, most of it from the gas it is producing in Morecambe Bay and the North Sea, the British Gas group said it plans to plough back on average £1.4bn a year over the next 11 years constructing power stations, wind farms and gas storage facilities - The Evening Standard
The parents of a nine-year-old killed in a gas explosion criticised utility companies yesterday after an inquest ruled that she died because gas seeped from a pipe that was not properly supported and had cracked underground. Stephanie Hammacott was walking past a house in Plymouth on her way to school in January last year just as the owner turned on his water heater, and there was a huge explosion. Yesterday, after a three-day inquest into her death in Plymouth, a jury recorded a narrative verdict, saying that the leak that caused the explosion was the result of works carried out in the area in 1992 and 1997. The pipe cracked, the jury found, due to insufficient support below and pressure from above - The Guardian
Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, has warned that coal plants fitted with carbon capture storage (CCS) equipment are unlikely to be ready to make big cuts in Britain's emissions before 2030. The country's geology is not suited to the technology, which is expensive and unproven, he said. This meant it would take "at least 15 years and probably closer to 20 years" before companies were in a position to deploy the technology on a large scale. This week, energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband confirmed reports in the Guardian that the government wanted to fund more than one CCS demonstration project - The Guardian
Centrica has pledged to create 1500 "green-collar" jobs and spend £15bn by 2020 on plugging the UK's energy gap. But the company refused to confirm that it is going ahead with its £3bn acquisition of nuclear power company British Energy. Announcing near-record profits of £1.9bn, most of it from the gas it is producing in Morecambe Bay and the North Sea, the British Gas group said it plans to plough back on average £1.4bn a year over the next 11 years constructing power stations, wind farms and gas storage facilities - The Evening Standard
No comments:
Post a Comment