Climate Change, Sustainable Development and the New Economy

Green Light Trust has arranged a very special event bringing together thought leaders in this important field, with guest speakers including Dr Alan Knight, OBE, Single Planet Living.

Dr Alan Knight, OBE, will talk about the strategically implications of climate change and other sustainable development challenges; shaping the opportunities that arise from embracing these issues into the core of the business.

He will be joined by an esteemed panel consisting of:

Simon Fineman, chief executive, Timbmet
Dr Michael Gells, managing director, Xanfeon
Dr David Hall, chief executive, Quotient Bioresearch
Steve Love, head of culture, Virgin Money
All are active participants of the new economy agenda and great supporters of Green Light Trust.

You will go away with:

• wider knowledge and understanding of the situation and how it affects you and your business
• skills, knowledge and the ability to make a significant difference
• better prepared to reach your C02 reduction commitments
• pledges on your engagement in transforming your businesses and support in fulfilling them.

Date and time

3.00pm, 13 July 2009

Location

Green Light Trust
The Foundry
Lawshall
IP29 4PJ

Register now

To register please contact Nigel Hughes, chief executive, Green Light Trust on 01284 830829 or at the following address:

Green Light Trust
The Foundry
Bury Road
Lawshall
Suffolk
IP29 4PJ

Fax: 01284 830845

Please note there are only 25 spaces available at £45 per person so you are recommended you book your place now.

‘Get A Life’ 2009

Where?

Trinity Centre, Cambridge Science Park; 01 July 2009, 12.30pm until 3.30pm

What is it?

The LIFE Programme is the European Union’s support programme for environmental projects. The current programme, LIFE+, runs from 2007 to 2013 and has a budget of €1.7 billion.

LIFE+ has three strands:

• LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity
• LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance
• LIFE+ Information and Communication

The 2009 Call for proposals closes on 15 September, €250 million is available.

The UK’s indicative allocation is nearly €20 million - you could get some of this money!

The event will inform you about the funding available under the LIFE+ programme and show you how others in the region have benefited from the funding. There’ll also be an opportunity to raise questions with the National Contact Point for LIFE+ in the UK.

 Who should attend?

Anyone with an interest in accessing funding for environmental projects.

There is no fee for this event but if you send in a booking form but do not attend then you will be charged the venue’s delegate charge. To reserve your place please complete the booking form available on the link below  and return it to Sue Houlder, Conference Organiser, East of England Regional Assembly, Flempton House, Flempton, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 6EG; Tel: 01284 729421; Fax: 01284 729429; e-mail: Sue.Houlder@eera.gov.uk

For more information (including booking) please visit: http://www.eera.gov.uk/meeting-and-events/regional-conferences/details/103

Government backs EERA’s £25 million housing renewal and regeneration programme

The East of England Regional Assembly’s Housing and Sustainable Communities Panel put forward sixteen local-authority led projects to the Government.

This includes over £6.6 million for domestic carbon reduction and refurbishment schemes in Essex and Hertfordshire; over £5.3 million for refurbishing properties and restoring long-term empty properties in Great Yarmouth; over £2.2 million towards energy efficiency measures and refurbishment work in Cambridgeshire homes; £1 million to produce a reduction in fuel poverty areas around Luton and Bedford; and £0.5 million to restoring properties in rural Suffolk.

The recommended projects were accepted in full by Housing Minister, Margaret Beckett, in an announcement to EERA last week.

“These improvements will not only benefit individual households, but the region as a whole” said Cllr Susan Barker, Chairman of EERA’s Housing and Sustainable Communities Panel. “Making houses warmer and cheaper to heat will help reduce fuel bills and contribute to improved health and wellbeing. Also, more energy efficient homes mean fewer damaging carbon emissions, which is good for the environment.”

“Reducing the amount of homes that are in disrepair will lead to communities where people are proud to live, making them more likely to there and contribute to the local economy. EERA will monitor the success of these projects, including their outputs and outcomes.”

Norwich and Yarmouth set to cash in on North Sea offshore energy

Norwich and Yarmouth is set to cash in on investments of more than £80bn in the North Sea offshore energy industry in a major boost to jobs, a conference has heard.

Experts from across the region descended on the Holiday Inn at Norwich International Airport this week for the 2009 Southern North Sea Conference this week, organised by the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR).

Speakers from firms in the sector said the offshore oil and gas industry, off the Norfolk coast, is set to play a key role supplying reliable energy to the country to help reduce reliance on from overseas.

And with offshore wind set for major expansion Norwich and Yarmouth are well placed to benefit from the massive investment in the sector.

Blair Ainslie, managing director of Yarmouth-based offshore firm Seajacks UK, which manufactures self-propelled platforms used in the offshore sector, said his firm was set to take on nearly 100 new workers this year, with potential for hundreds more in the coming year.

He said: “We have already generated 36 jobs. By the time we take delivery of our second vessel in September that number will be about 130 and we are looking to build additional vessels.

“These jobs are just for offshore operations, and don’t include construction, and these are new jobs, not moving people from other parts of the UK or the world.”

He added: “The reason me and a lot of other people are in Yarmouth now they are not fishermen is because of the oil and gas industry, and we are ready to take the skills and experience we have into the renewables sector which is ready to boom.”

The area is also set to be host to the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, Greater Gabbard, off the Suffolk coast.

Steve Rose, offshore operations manager for the development, said about 140 turbines would be in operation by the end of next year, and said the industry would generate thousands of new jobs.

He said: “Our wind farm will create 100 new jobs just in operations. A lot of others are developing now and all projects are going to need local, dedicated technicians.”

John Best, EEEGR chief executive, said the event was aimed at ensuring businesses and different energy sectors worked together to offer secure, lower carbon emitting energy, and said the region was in an ideal location to benefit.

He said: “This is about continuing collaboration to deliver a robust, secure energy sector moving towards a lower carbon future.

“In this location we have got everything, shallow seas, gas reserves, a supply chain in place and 40 years’ experience and a demand for secure, reliable supplies for the future.

“Employment in the oil and gas sector is in excess of 20,000 people. Employment in growing offshore wind and continuing gas industry is all continuing to grow.

“You can’t spend the sort of sums we are talking about, which is in excess of £80bn, without requiring real, long-term employment.”

Is your company set to create new jobs? Call Evening News business reporter Sam Williams on 01603 772447 or email sam.williams@archant.co.uk

For the very best selection of local jobs log onto www.eveningnews24.co.uk and click on jobs24 or see the Evening News every Wednesday for the jobs24 supplement.

Source: Norwich Evening News 24. Sam Williams. 07/02/2009

Yarmouth Seajacks’ $100m contracts

SPECIALIST vessel builder Seajacks, with an office in Great Yarmouth, have been awarded contracts for both of their new vessels Seajacks Leviathan and Seajacks Kraken, with a combined value in excess of $100m.

With their vessels near to completion at Lamprell’s shipyard in Dubai, Seajacks themselves view the contracts as a resounding confirmation of confidence in their business and vessels.

Both of the Seajacks vessels are state of the art, self-propelled liftboats, commissioned for their ability to perform under environmentally harsh conditions. These versatile jack-ups are designed to be utilised in the oil and gas industry and the offshore renewable energy sectors.

Seajacks first vessel, The Kraken, is contracted to ExxonMobil in Canada and will initially work as the offshore accommodation unit for the Sable Project located offshore of Nova Scotia, Canada before returning to the North Sea.

The Seajacks Kraken is scheduled for delivery to the company next month and will make her way on to Nova Scotia to start on the ExxonMobil contract in May this year.

Last week, Seajacks signed a contract with Fluor Ltd for The Leviathan to work as an installation unit for the world’s largest offshore wind farm, approximately 25 kilometers off the Suffolk/ Essex coast. This second Seajacks’ vessels is scheduled for delivery to the company in June of this year with its arrival in Europe planned for mid August in time for work to commence this coming September.

Seajacks hold options to build five more specialist vessels for use within the International offshore energy sectors.

With the news of the second contract, Seajacks has announced that, wherever possible, the recruitment for the crewing of ‘The Leviathan’ will be executed locally.

Seajacks has offices in Yarmouth at the Beacon Innovation Centre, and in the Orbis Centre at Lowestoft.

Source: Great Yarmouth Mercury 24

Fuel for the future gets EEDA backing

Woodlands in the East of England are set to provide fuel for the future after a new project received one of the largest funding awards of its kind in England.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has awarded £4.3 million to increase the use of wood-based energy production.

The £10.7 million Woodfuel East project will help cut carbon emissions by providing locally produced and sustainably sourced fuel. It will also help create jobs and businesses in the rural economy and improve biodiversity.

The award has come from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), which is a combination of European funding and money from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, delivered regionally by EEDA.

Woodfuel East initiative is a partnership governed by representatives of 25 organisations from across the region, co-ordinated by the Forestry Commission.

Landowners will be encouraged to manage neglected woodlands, which has the added benefit of creating new habitats for wildlife.  There are about 140,000 hectares of woodland in the East of England, around seven per cent of the total land area, but 50,000 ha are undermanaged or not managed at all.

Felled trees and cut branches, which might otherwise go to waste, can be chipped for use in specialised boilers. These can provide heat and hot water for medium-sized buildings such as schools, village halls and offices, particularly in rural areas with no gas supply.

David Sillett, EEDA Rural development manager said:

“Woodfuel East, which covers Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, will encourage a co-ordinated supply chain, from land owners through to the marketplace for wood chips.

“With new markets, come new opportunities which will be of particular benefit to the rural economy.”

Mr Sillett added:

“By 2013, we could be saving at least 75,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year and supplying the equivalent of 12,500 homes with energy.”

Edwin Van Ek, of WoodFuel East, said:

“This is a real kick-start to the wood fuel industry in the East of England. Woodfuel East can provide advice and investment support to the supply chain.

“It is also good news for biodiversity, as woodland management such as coppicing, where trees are cut back and allowed to regrow, creates new and varied wildlife habitats.”

“Land owners can also benefit by installing modern, efficient wood fuel boilers to produce heat and hot water for their buildings, using wood produced from their own woodlands,” he said.

“The latest wood fuel boilers are easy to operate and very efficient, producing very small amounts of smoke and little ash. With recent increases in fuel prices, switching to wood fuel also makes financial sense.”

Revolutionary paper milk bottle to dramatically reduce plastic waste

A Suffolk company has developed a new milk bottle made mainly from recycled paper which should allow dairies to reduce both waste and plastic usage in the bottling procedure.

Suffolk-based dairy Marybelle has signed an agreement with the developer – packaging independent GreenBottle Limited – to provide its semi-skimmed milk in the new “GreenBottles”, going on sale in ASDA stores in the East of England, starting with the Lowestoft branch.

The system allows traditional dairies to substantially reduce their use of plastic by replacing the conventional plastic containers with the moulded paper bottles. With this new design, the only plastic content is a low-density liner, making up just 9.3% of the total bottle.

Despite many plastics being recyclable, existing recycling schemes capture just 25% of plastic bottles consumed in the household wastestream. Earlier this year, Food and Farming Minister Lord Rooker called for the dairy industry to become more sustainable, targeting 50% reduction of plastics used in milk packaging as a key goal for 2020.

James Strachan, Director of Marybelle Dairy says: ‘Many dairies are looking to upgrade their processes and make them less wasteful. We are coming under increased pressure to deliver the highest quality milk and packaging to the major retail customers, at the lowest price. The GreenBottle system is the single biggest leap forward in dairy manufacturing technology in years, and we are now able to offer our customers the same milk, in a more sustainable bottle.’

The GreenBottle was invented by Martin Myerscough, using a process similar to egg carton technology in which office waste paper is washed and moulded into the distinctive bottle shape. The bottle has been designed to comfortably fit standard fridge units. Dairies will not be inconvenienced by the change either, for they can affordably adapt existing systems to fit the new bottle.

Commenting on the new paper bottle, Simon King, GreenBottle Chief Executive, says: ‘We are very pleased to be working with Marybelle and ASDA in East Anglia to roll out the GreenBottle. The Suffolk community has been very supportive of the product in trials and consumer surveys. We are now working with ASDA on plans to roll out to further stores in the UK. As a result of this support, dairies across the UK will also be able to benefit from the technology.’

Source: GreenBottle

Controversial environment official moves jobs

An official who cut the Environment Agency’s plan to build flood defences in Suffolk has moved to a new job.

Dr Charles Beardall is now to become the regional flood and coastal risk manager for the east of England having been moved from his job as the Environment Agency’s area manager for Suffolk Norfolk and Essex.

The plans for a defence along the Blyth Estuary were said to be not economically or environmentally viable by Dr Beardall.

He blamed sea level rises due to climate change and increasing tidal surges as the reason behind his controversial decision, EADT.co.uk said.

Dr Beardall will now be responsible for co-ordinating inland and coastal flood management systems on an initial assignment of 12 months.

The agency has recently seen a widening of its responsibilities from just cliff fringed areas of the coast and low-lying stretches to the entire coastal strategy.

Lowestoft and Yarmouth have both seen significant floods in past years, as have other areas in Suffolk.

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