Posted by jumperhead on March 13th, 2008
What do you like on your rolls? Cheese? Ham? Or, if you’re Lady Penelope, Royce? What about OLEDs, the super efficient lighting devices that are set to replace illumination as we know it?
After four years and $13 million-worth of research, General Electric and GE Consumer & Industrial have come up with a way of printing OLEDs using a roll-to-roll process, similar to the way in which newspapers are printed - potentially knocking down the costs of the little blighters dramatically.
Not only does this mean cheaper OLEDs, or organic light-emitting diodes, it could potenitlaly be used to print solar photovoltaics. Here’s more:
“For businesses, architects, lighting designers and anyone interested in pushing the envelope to achieve increasingly energy-efficient lighting — and vastly expanded lighting design capabilities — today marks the day that viable, commercialized OLED lighting solutions are coming into view,” said Michael Petras, GE Consumer & Industrial’s Vice President of Electrical Distribution and Lighting. “We have more work to do before we can give customers access to GE-quality OLED solutions, but it’s now easier to envision OLEDs becoming another high-efficiency GE offering, like LEDs, fluorescent or halogen.”
The demonstration of a low-cost, roll-to-roll process for OLED lighting represents the successful completion of a four-year, $13 million research collaboration among GE Global Research, Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENER) and the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goal of the collaboration was to demonstrate a cost-effective system for the mass production of organic electronics products such as flexible electronic paper displays, portable TV screens the size of posters, solar powered cells and high-efficiency lighting devices. […]
The development of this low cost roll-to-roll manufacturing process has the potential to eliminate the manufacturing hurdles that currently exist in preventing a more widespread adoption of high performance organic electronics technologies such as OLED lighting. The unique commercial equipment and technology needed to enable high performance-based organic electronics products does not currently exist. The few organic electronics products on the market today are made with more conventional batch processes and are relatively high cost. A roll-to-roll manufacturing infrastructure that enables high performance and low cost devices will allow a more widespread adoption of organic electronics products.
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
Carbon Trust 2008 Budget response
EU ETS – Auctioning of allowances
Dr James Wilde, Director of Insights said:
“We strongly welcome the decision that in Phase III the UK will auction 100 per cent of allowances to the large electricity producers’ sector. More auctioning will be important as the current national allocation plans only propose a small amount of auctioning but governments retain the right to decide to auction more. Auction revenues can be used to support new investment in the development and commercialisation of low carbon technologies essential to enable us to move to a low carbon economy.
”Having made the decision to move to 100% auctioning in the power sector, the Government should now work alongside industry to determine the role that auctioning should play in other sectors within the context of maintaining and enhancing the sectors’ competitiveness.”
Environmental Transformation Fund
Dr Mark Williamson, Director of Innovations said:
“The Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF) will be essential to help the UK reap the multiple benefits of developing new technologies to reduce carbon and at the same time deliver significant economic benefit to UK plc. Technology innovation will be vital in accelerating the move towards a low-carbon economy and the UK is in a position to build on its existing strengths in areas such as marine power, offshore wind, and next generation solar PV to position itself as a world leading innovator of low carbon technologies. The Carbon Trust will work with Defra and BERR to deliver the programme of activity in a co-ordinated way”
Zero Carbon Commercial Buildings
Dr David Vincent, Director, Policy said:
“The commercial buildings sector is responsible for around 90 MtCO2 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year equivalent to over 16 % of the UK’s total carbon footprint. As a result we welcome the Government’s ambition to move towards zero carbon non-domestic buildings. However, we believe careful thought is required to define what is meant by ‘zero carbon buildings’ and the pathway to achieve this ambition – to ensure a cost effective and business friendly result.
“As 60% of the carbon emissions from the non-domestic sector come from buildings already in use today, action here is equally important. It is vital that Government and business work together to introduce and strengthen policies for the existing non-domestic building stock.”
Smart metering – helping business cut carbon
Dr Mark Williamson, Director of Innovations said:
“Our field trial and extensive analysis has demonstrated the viability of smart metering and found that its use by SMEs could save 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year – equivalent to the entire annual carbon footprint of Bristol - and also provide a net financial benefit to the UK economy £300 million a year. We are therefore delighted that the Government has acted on our research and findings and recognised the role that smart metering can play and has made a commitment requiring energy suppliers to provide smart meters for medium and large businesses with the next five years.”
Enhanced Capital Allowances / Capital Allowances
Hugh Jones, Director of Solutions:
“The Carbon Trust welcomes the inclusion of four new technologies on the ECA Scheme for energy-saving technologies. Each of these technologies - Compressed Air Master Controllers, Compressed Air Flow Controllers, Heat Pump Dehumidifiers and White Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) – has good carbon saving benefits. ECA scheme support will encourage UK businesses to use these energy-saving technologies to capture carbon dioxide emissions reductions.”
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
Good afternoon,
With regards to today’s Budget speech, I have a quotation from the director of Siemens Financial Services which I thought you might be interested in.
Darling claimed that “we need to do more to reduce the amount of carbon generated at home and at work” and that “car manufacturers needed to be encouraged to bring new technology to the market”. He therefore announced: “I am also reforming capital allowances for business cars to increase the incentive to move to lower emitting cars.” But is that enough?
Rod Tonna-Barthet, Director, Siemens Financial Services, responds:
“If the Government is to achieve its much vaunted 60% reduction by 2050 (which could rise to 80%) it has to address more than just business vehicles. Our research has shown that cost is the biggest obstacle to UK business investment in low carbon emission equipment. In widening capital allowances to all business assets - IT, telecoms, plant, machinery, etc. - not only will businesses invest, but manufacturers will be better encouraged to develop new products.”
Please feel free to use the quote as is. Should you require further information, or an interview with Rod Tonna-Barthet, please get in touch.
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
Media Alert: Budget Response – Greener Homes and Offices
Whilst Alastair Darling may have wanted this budget to be seen as ‘The Green Budget’, and ZEDHomes salutes his intentions for a greener Britain, the company, one of the few genuine ‘green developers’ in the country, would have liked to have seen the Chancellor being more environmentally friendly: an opportunity has been missed to encourage greener developments.
Last year Chancellor Brown exempted ‘zero carbon homes’ (up to £500,000) from stamp duty until 2012. In reality, this affected a miniscule proportion of home owners. Alastair Darling has missed the opportunity to introduce a sliding scale of stamp duty that creates the incentive to reduce carbon emissions where possible and proportionately reward all initiatives from solar panels and turbines at one end through to zero emission developments at the other.
If planned levels of development continues without reference to ensuring minimal levels of sustainability (for example Code for Sustainable Homes, Level Three), the inevitable cost of retrofitting will exceed £2 billion. Funding of £26 million towards insulating existing properties will scarcely scratch the surface.
We do, however, welcome the spotlight on commercial properties and their carbon emissions. However, if the government genuinely wants to address green issues at the same time as encouraging development, it will need to educate councils about planning initiatives. Too many genuinely green developments are meeting objections, not from planners but from councillors to whom guidance and policy has not filtered through./ends
Notes to Editors
For the past five years, ZEDHomes has been combining innovative design with existing technology to build homes and workplaces that require a fraction of the energy required to run a traditionally built development of the same size. ZEDHomes’ aims to ensure that the energy required for its developments is met by on-site energy sources that will make no demands on the earth’s precious natural resources. The company has recently seen its first developments approved in Harrow.
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
Please find below comment on the Budget from Arup, the global design,
> engineering and business consulting firm. If you have any queries or
> would like to speak to Arup’s Chairman Terry Hill, please do give me a call
–
Climate change
> Overall, the measures introduced by the Chancellor aren’t going to
> have a huge environmental impact. We would like to see real commitment
> to reducing the Three C’s: Congestion, Cost-to-Business and Carbon
> Emissions. The lack of any mention on increasing public transport use
> was disappointing and there was no indication on how the Government
> intend to get people out of cars and into public transport or other
> methods, for example by investing in High Speed Rail.
> We welcome next year’s Carbon Budget and while the carbon emissions
> target of 60% - which may rise to 80% if the Climate Committee’s
> recommendations are accepted - would be an admirable target, the
> budget does not include any realistic steps for achieving this,
> particularly in the transport sector, which accounts for almost a
> quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions.
> Arup supports the extension of targets on zero carbon into new non
> domestic buildings yet real steps need to be taken to ensure the
> associated local infrastructure is appropriate, including transport
> links.
> The Government’s move toward influencing behavioural change through
> the levy of a charge on plastic bags, is admirable.. While this may
> not make a significant difference to landfill, it is moving people’s
> behaviour towards a less wasteful society, by encouraging everyone to
> be aware of their everyday impact on the environment.
>
>
> Education and skills shortages
>
> We welcome the Government’s commitment to improving education in
> science, an area in which Britain has historically led the world. Yet
> to truly inspire our children we need further investment to increase
> R&D and innovation in the UK.
>
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
Budget too cautious on climate change, says F&C’s Bakhshi
Today’s widely trailed “green” Budget was too cautious on the environment, according to Vicki Bakhshi, associate director of Governance and Sustainable Investments at F&C.
In his first Budget, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced a range of measures including the introduction of five-year ‘Carbon Budgets’ from 2009; reform of Vehicle Excise Duty; the auctioning of 100% of allowances for large electricity producers in Phase III of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme; a year two increase in the new per plane tax to replace air passenger duty; steps to encourage environmentally-friendly housing and a threat to impose a levy if retailers do not take voluntary action to reduce the use of plastic bags.
Darling also announced a postponement in increases on fuel duty.
“The UK has committed to ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gases and this will require a significant shift in capital away from traditional high-carbon options towards cleaner alternatives,” explained Bakhshi, “but to-date policy hasn’t been strong enough to achieve the shift at the pace required.
“The Chancellor has obviously had to walk a fine-line between the long-term strategic imperative of tackling climate change and the shorter-term concerns about the weakening global economy. Today’s Budget provides lots of small measures but nothing on a scale that gives us the confidence that the UK will do enough to meet its targets. Investors want to see a strong long-term policy framework in place in order to finance the shift to a low carbon economy.”
However, Bakhshi welcomed the move to link biofuels with the greenhouse emissions achieved through the shifting of support away from the duty differential towards the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation in future years.
“There has been a genuine concern about the sustainability of the planned expansion of biofuels. The production processes used for some biofuels can cancel out the environmental benefits, and there are other wider sustainability impacts in terms of rising food prices,” said Bakhshi.
She concluded by saying: “We will have to wait until the summer when there is a consultation on how the UK will meet its renewable energy goals. Until this is addressed, the UK will continue to be a laggard among EU peers on environmental policy”.
Little cheer for the private investor
With the possible exception of an increase in the annual Enterprise Investment Scheme allowance to £500,000 per annum, there was little in the Budget to excite the private investor, says F&C’s Jason Hollands.
“Many of the measures in the Budget today had previously been announced and there were no major rabbits pulled out of the Chancellor’s hat,” said Hollands.
For example, as previously announced the ISA allowance will rise to £7,200.
“This is frankly a pretty meagre increase given the allowance has been frozen at £7,000 since inception,” said Hollands, “and still a long way behind the PEP and TESSA allowances it replaced”.
Survey research commissioned by F&C last year suggested the public would like the ISA allowance raised to at least £10,000.
“Additionally, investors will also be allowed to transfer money saved in cash ISAs into stocks and shares ISAs – though I doubt many providers are expecting a rush of activity anytime soon, given the state of markets,” he added.
A further measure in the Budget was the announcement that from April 2009, the requirement for providers to physically receive a CTF voucher from parents before opening an account will become voluntary rather than mandatory.
“This may help to marginally reduce the number of parents who lose the paper voucher as large numbers have done,” said Hollands. “However, there has been no change to the annual £1,200 allowance that can be invested by parents on behalf of their children. The success of scheme over the long-term won’t be the number of vouchers invested but the extent to which parents put their own cash into these plans.”
The most significant measure for the UK financial services industry confirmed in the Budget today is the new Capital Gains Tax regime. From the new tax year this will see the introduction of a flat rate of 18% Capital Gains Tax which will replace the old regime which includes taper relief and indexation allowances.
“This has wide ranging implications,” said Hollands, “including increasing the attractions of collectives over life bonds and making investments which generate their returns in the form of capital considerably more attractive to higher rate tax payers than those which provide interest or dividend distributions.”
F&C cites two of its own investments, F&C BLUE Fund and the B share of Investors Capital Trust, that it believes should garner more interest as a result of the changes.
Alongside the CGT changes the Chancellor also confirmed that he will introduce a lifetime ‘entrepreneurs relief’ allowing employees or directors of trading businesses with a minimum 5 per cent stake in the company to only pay an effective rate of CGT of 10% on their first million pound of gains.
“This is of course the effective rate that all shareholders in AIM and private companies have previously been able to enjoy under taper relief arrangements,” concluded Hollands.
Darling too optimistic on growth
The Chancellor’s forecasts of 1.75 – 2.25% growth are too optimistic according to Ted Scott, manager of the F&C UK Growth & Income Fund.
“While the reported rate of inflation (CPI) is not that high the retail prices index (RPI), which includes many things which the CPI doesn’t, is much higher. Inflation is rising,” says Scott.
“Disposable income has been squeezed at the same time the housing market is slowing down. The cost of servicing mortgages is also going up even though interest rates are going down. Furthermore banks are not prepared to lend so much,” he added.
“I don’t think we are going into a recession this year but depending on what happens in the US there is a good chance we’ll have a recession next year, hopefully it will only be a shallow one. The Chancellor however is saying the economy will slow down a bit and then recover in 2009, I think he is being too optimistic,” he concluded.
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
Alistair Darling, the chancellor, is going to:
- Increase green taxes
- Reform tax on heavy carbon-emitting cars. Cars that emit more than 121 grams of CO2 a kilometer will be hit hardest.
- Planned 2p rise on fuel postponed until October
- Showroom tax comes in fro April 2010. New car tax bands for CO2 April 2009
- Give energy subsidies for poor people and pensioners. £400 benefit for over 80s. Lower tarrifs for prepay meter users.
- Growth forecast cut
- Inflation will return to 2% in 2009
- Spending on child poverty up £1.9bn
- Changes to capital gains tax to go ahead
- Booze duties go up 6% (bastard) and will go up 2% every year for the next bit
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
Looking for a new office…
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
transport targets - 2009 reform of tax for least polluting cars
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
or homes
