Dike to house ‘blue energy’ plant

RNW, 23December 2011

Afsluitdijk, The Netherlands

The cabinethas approved funding totalling 20 million euros for sustainable energy projectson the Afsluitdijk, the 32-kilometre barrier that closed off the Zuiderzee fromthe open sea to create what is now the freshwater IJsselmeer lake.

The dikewill house an innovative osmotic power plant, or ‘blue energy’ plant, whichexploits pressure created when salt water passes through a membrane to mix withfresh water. Solar panels will also be mounted on the dike.

Thesustainable energy funding comes as part of a renovation package to increasethe safety of the Afsluitdijk, which was completed in 1932. In its presentstate the barrier can no longer guarantee protection against high water, theInfrastructure Ministry says.

The surfaceof the dike is to be reinforced along its entire length, and the sluices thatdrain excess water from the IJsselmeer into the sea will be given a 200-millioneuro overhaul.

Theregional authorities have also investigated opportunities to use the dike forrecreational purposes. The renovation project may also include the constructionof a marina. At present the dike serves as a road link between the west andnorth of the country.

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  (Photo: RNW)

Chevron faces $10.6bn Brazil legal suit over oil spill

BBC News, 15December 2011

RelatedStories 

• Brazil bans Chevron from drilling
• Chevron fined over Brazil spill
• Chevron to blame for Brazil spill

Chevron says it got the leak
under control on 13 November

Prosecutorsin Brazil are demanding $10.6bn (£6.8bn) from US oil company Chevron forenvironmental damage caused when one of its oil wells leaked off the coast ofRio de Janeiro.

Theprosecutors also asked the court to immediately suspend the operations ofChevron and its drilling contractor, Transocean, in Brazil.

Brazil hasalready fined Chevron $28m for the spill on 8 November.

A Chevronofficial said the company had not yet been notified of the suit.

Theprosecutors who brought the case argued that "Chevron and Transoceanweren't capable of controlling the damages from a spill of 3,000 barrels ofoil, which proves a lack of environmental planning and management".

They alsoaccused Chevron of keeping information from Brazil's oil regulator, known by itsinitials ANP.

Chevron hasbeen banned from drilling any new wells for at least three months, while theANP investigates the spill.

Chevron hasaccepted full responsibility for the leak.

The companysaid it had underestimated the pressure of underwater oil deposits whiledrilling, causing oil to rush up the bore hole and seep into the surroundingseabed.

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ANP says suspends Chevron drilling rights in Brazil

Reuters, SAOPAULO, Wed Nov 23, 2011

An aerialview shows oil that seeped from a well operated by Chevron at Frade,

 on thewaters in Campos Basin in Rio de Janeiro state November 18, 2011. 

(Credit:Reuters/Rogerio Santana/Handout)

(Reuters) -Brazil's National Oil Regulator (ANP) said on Wednesday that it is suspendingthe drilling rights of U.S. oil major Chevron in national territory until itclarifies conditions of the recent oil spill in its Frade field.

The ANPalso said it has denied Chevron's request to drill into ultra-deep subsaltareas, which hold huge deposits of oil off Brazil's coast.

(Reporting by Reese Ewing)

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Following the sun

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press, Manila, The Philippines, Wed, 07/27/2011

Following the sun: A solar-powered boat, M/S Turanor Planet Solar, is docked
for a welcoming ceremony at the Philippine Navy headquarters in Manila on
Wednesday. The multi-hulled vessel is in the Philippine Islands on its continuing
 voyage that began on September 27, 2010 in Monaco, in an attempt to
circumnavigate the world using only solar power. (AP/Bullit Marquez)

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China to boost offshore wind power to 30 gigawatts by 2020

People's Daily Online, by Ye Xin, China, June 22, 2011

In the next five years, China will boost its offshore wind power installed capacity to 5 gigawatts and form a complete technology and industrial chain. Afterward, China's offshore wind power will enter into a phase of large-scale development and is estimated to reach 30 gigawatts in 2020, according to the energy plan and renewable energy plan during the 12th Five-Year Plan.

The National Energy Bureau (NEB) will launch preparation work for the second public bidding on offshore wind power concession projects in the second half year of 2011 and is scheduled to complete the bidding in the first half year of 2012. The total construction scale will be between 1.5 gigawatts and 2 gigawatts, according to news from a symposium on offshore wind power held in Nantong City of east China's Jiangsu Province on June 22.

Offshore wind power is the frontier of the development of global wind power. China's enterprises must reach the international advanced level in offshore wind power, said Liu Qi, deputy director of the NEB.

In June 2010, the first stage project of East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm went into operation in Shanghai. Totaling 102 megawatts, it is China's first large-scale offshore wind farm and is located on the east side of the Shanghai East Sea Bridge. It comprises 34 units of 3-megawatt Sinovel turbines.

In addition, China Longyuan Electic Power Group Corp. built the world's first experimental offshore wind farm in 2010 and the follow-up project started on June 21, 2011.

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