MORE SUNDAY WORLD, 6-7 (NORWAY LAUNCHES WORLD-1ST FLOATING WIND; UK BUSINESSES BUY EMISSIONS TRADING; JAPAN TO GET ELECTRIC MITSUBISHI IN JULY)

NORWAY LAUNCHES WORLD-1ST FLOATING WIND
Floating wind turbine launched
Jorn Madslien, 5 June 2009 (BBC News)

"The world's first floating wind turbine is to be towed out to sea this weekend… Statoil's Alexandra Beck Gjorv told the BBC the technology, the Hywind, [is] to be put off Norway's coast…[I]t could lead to offshore wind farms eventually being located many miles offshore, away from areas where they cause…[aesthetic objections or disrupt] military radar operations, the shipping industry, fisheries, bird life and tourism…

"The Hywind, a 2.3 megawatt (MW) wind turbine built by Siemens, combines technologies from both the wind farming industry and the oil and gas sectors, and will be tested off the coast of Norway for two years."

click thru for a presentation about floating offshore wind

"In a similar way to how large parts of icebergs are hidden below the sea surface, the turbine has a 100 metre draft that is anchored to the seabed with cables, that can be up to 700 metres long."

click thru for a presentation about floating offshore wind

"Offshore wind farms cost considerably more than wind farms on land, and initially floating ones will be more expensive than static offshore installations…[But in time] the floating turbines should not cost more than fixed ones.

"Statoil plans to target markets where there is both an ability to pay as well as large and growing demand for energy…Floating wind farms could later be established off both coasts of North America… off the Iberian peninsula… the coasts of Norway… the United Kingdom…[and] could provide an additional source of energy for countries that have run out of space for their onshore wind farms, or where there is not enough wind on land…"


UK BUSINESSES BUY EMISSIONS TRADING
Firms brace for looming carbon bill
Kabir Chibber, 4 June 2009 (BBC News)

"Carbon trading is all the rage now…The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has been around since 2005 and accounts for most of the carbon dioxide (CO2) allowances issued to businesses in the world…President Barack Obama has also thrown his weight behind a cap-and-trade scheme.

"…[T]he UK will soon adopt a carbon trading scheme of its own in less than two years - the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)…carbon consultancy IMServ believes that up to 6,000 businesses in the UK will be liable to join the mandatory scheme…[and] are facing huge bills if they remain unprepared."

click thru for a complete presentation on the coming program

"The CRC scheme will begin next April when the large businesses and public sector organisations, including the NHS and state schools, begin monitoring their emissions and reporting them to the government…[P]articipants will be published by October 2011 showing the targets, reductions in emissions and so on…[R]etail businesses will be hit the hardest with over 30% of total CO2 emissions…The next largest polluters are manufacturers, at 15%, followed by the public sector…

"…[B]usinesses gathered at a carbon and energy summit… to discuss how best to deal with the carbon trading scheme…Much of the talk was about how the government's scheme was an opportunity for businesses to reduce their CO2 emissions now…"

click thru for a complete presentation on the coming program

"…[T]he Carbon Trust, a government-sponsored agency that helps businesses lower their footprint…[and] also helped develop the CRC scheme…[said a business] had saved £1m a year off its energy bill just by switching off the screensavers on the computers in their offices…[It was] seemingly small gestures, rather than complete overhauls, that were suggested…[including] installing smart meters…The government already plans to put one in every home by 2020.

"Some in the press have labelled the CRC scheme as another stealth tax on businesses…and [because of the EU ETS, there is] the obvious problem of a company possibly being penalised for the same carbon footprint twice…There are also the issue of how useful the scheme will be…But surprisingly, there was little grumbling about the CRC scheme itself. It seems most businesses are happy to accept that they will be a critical part of fighting climate change…[T]here is rare unity among the world's politicians that carbon trading is the way to do it."


JAPAN TO GET ELECTRIC MITSUBISHI IN JULY
Mitsubishi Motors to Preempt Rivals’ Electric Cars
Naoko Fujimura and Tetsuya Komatsu, June 5, 2009 (Bloomberg News)

"Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the maker of the i MiEV electric car, will begin selling the model to corporate and government customers in Japan next month before Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. introduce rival versions.

"The i MiEV electric car [which can travel 160 kilometers (99 miles) per single charge of its lithium-ion battery] will cost 4.6 million yen ($47,500)…That excludes as much as 2.4 million yen in subsidies available to buyers from central and local governments. The company aims to sell 1,400 units domestically in the year ending March 31."

It must be a great car or the girl would be wearing a much tighter, skimpier outfit. (click to enlarge)

"Mitsubishi Motors joins Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. in unveiling electric cars ahead of Toyota’s and Nissan’s release of similar models by 2012. While automakers plan to tap demand spurred by government incentives and stricter emission rules, price and a shortened driving range may hinder sales…

"The company, which built 1.31 million vehicles in 2008, plans to make electric vehicles 20 percent of production by 2020…[may add a commercial mini vehicle and a small car to its electric vehicle lineup in 2011 and is developing a plug-in hybrid car…[and] aims to make its electric-car business profitable in the year starting April 2013 on sales of 30,000 units. It plans to sell 15,000 electric cars in 2011."

The battery is so big it has to be spread across the under-carriage. (click to enlarge)

"While Mitsubishi Motors plans to start taking consumer orders for the i MiEV next month for delivery in April 2010, it faces competition… The [lower-cost electric-gasoline hybrid] Toyota Prius, priced from 2.05 million yen, was the best selling model excluding minicars last month in Japan, with sales topping 10,000 units…The [lower-cost electric-gasoline hybrid] Insight, priced from 1.89 million yen, ranked third with 8,183 units sold.

"Nissan, Japan’s third-largest automaker, has said it plans to introduce electric cars in Japan and the U.S. in 2010 and mass-produce them globally in 2012. Toyota, the world’s largest maker of gasoline-electric hybrid car, is also developing electric cars for sale in 2012…In the U.S., General Motors Corp., the world’s second- largest automaker, plans to sell the Chevrolet Volt electric car next year. Germany’s Daimler AG acquired a 9 percent stake in Tesla Motors Inc., a U.S. electric-car startup, in May…"