Industry news : May 2007

Transcription

1 Industry news : May 2007 Hanson plc taken over by HeidelbergCement Public inquiry backs Peak District National Park UK quarrying industry wins awards Government publises Energy Wite Paper meeting te energy callenge Report advocates clean coal Safety approval for UK nuclear plants Plans for new UK coal power stations New plans for world's largest offsore wind farm Rio Tinto and BP form a new clean energy company Hanson plc taken over by HeidelbergCement UK aggregate production Tis mont saw te global building industry's biggest ever takeover wit te German based HeidelbergCement paying 7.85 billion for te UK 's largest aggregates producer, Hanson. Te takeover will give HeidelbergCement new businesses in Australia and greatly strengten teir position in Nort America, were alf of Hanson's sales are from. Te HeidelbergCement CEO said te companies are a perfect fit and overlaps are minimal. Tere are expected to be some job cuts as administrative centres are merged in te UK and US. Tis is te latest in a series of takeovers of UK-based aggregate companies and marks te end of te last major UK-owned aggregate producer. In 2001 Lafarge SA purcased Blue Circle Industries and in 2004 te RMC Group was taken over by Cemex. Te latest takeover will make HeidelbergCement te world's second largest producer of building materials beind Lafarge SA and will increase te company's revenue to $21 billion.

2 Source: ttp:// Public inquiry backs Peak District National Park Derbysire Quarry Te recent public inquiry into te Blackdale Quarry on Longstone Edge, Derbysire, as ruled in favor of te Peak District National Park Autority enforcement action to stop excess limestone removal. Te decision comes after a two week inquiry in February. Te quarry operators, MMC Minerals, claim teir original planning permission from 1952 gives tem te rigt to extract limestone for aggregate use along wit fluorspar, but te National Park Autority state tat te permission is outdated and being taken advantage of to remove excess amounts of limestone. After tis success te Autority as also stated its intentions to initiate enforcement action on oter workings on Longstone Edge (namely at Wagers Flat, Beacon Rod and Peak Pasture). Te quarry owners ave four monts to appeal against te decision. Sources: ttp:// and ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/derbysire/ stm UK quarrying industry wins awards Restored sand and gravel quarry Te UK quarrying industry won two awards at te European Aggregates Association sustainable development awards eld in Brussels tis mont. Nine awards were given in total, te only oter country to receive two being Spain. Te award for economic contribution to society was won by Eton Aggregates for its Dorney lake restoration project. Tis transformed a sand and gravel extraction site to te official Olympic rowing venue for

3 te 2012 games. Te special association award was given to te Quarry Products Association for its work on ealt and safety troug its website. Source : ttp:// Government publises Energy Wite Paper meeting te energy callenge Greater energy efficiency and a secure, low carbon energy mix for te long-term are te focuses of te new Government Energy Wite Paper publised on 23 May. Key points include carbon capping and trading for larger organisations, furter study into te use of biomass fuels, development of UK coal resources and legislation to allow storage of natural gas under te seabed. However, te main focus of te paper is nuclear energy: te Prime Minister recently stated Nuclear power is needed to elp reduce carbon emissions and to ensure tat te UK as secure energy supplies in te future. Te Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling, as also indicated tat nuclear power is needed to replace many UK power stations set to close in te next 20 years. A Government consultation looking at nuclear power station funding and legislation as started wit te release of te paper. Altoug legislation to support renewable energy is mentioned in te paper, Tony Blair's statement tat we are not going to be able to make up troug wind farms all te deficit on nuclear power is a blow to advocates of renewable energy sources. Sources: ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/uk_politics/ stm and ttp:// Report advocates clean coal UK coal Te tink-tank, Te Centre for Policy Studies, as issued a report supporting te use of coal for energy generation. Te report goes on to say altoug coal as a bad reputation as a major cause of carbon emissions, modern tecnologies are being developed to reduce te environmental impact of coal-fired power generation. Coal is a reliable energy source tat can be stored and provided on demand, and is needed to counter a possible sortfall of 32 GW of power supply in te UK by 2016 te study added. Te report was released in advance of te UK Energy Wite Paper, publised on te 23 May and urges te government to make use of indigenous secure UK coal supplies, as tey are more reliable ten foreign gas imports and ceaper ten renewables. Tis could be done by subsidising new clean coal developments, and by rationalising planning rules for power plants and coal mines. Te report also argues tat by leading te way in clean coal

4 tecnology te UK would aid countries suc as Cina and India in using teir own coal resources in and environmentally acceptable way. Sources : ttp:// and ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/sci/tec/ stm Safety approval for UK nuclear plants UK nuclear power plant Britis Energy's two power stations, Hunterston B in Ayrsire and Hinkley Point B in Somerset, ave been granted safety approval during recent review by te Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. Bot power stations ave been closed for almost a year for repairs and te new licenses are subject to more work being completed at te plants, specifically repairs on boilers. Te licences state tat anoter public safety review will not ave to be carried out until However, te power stations were originally due to be sut down in 2011 and Britis Energy as started a review of teir viability. An announcement on te lifespan of tese plants will be made in Marc Sources : ttp:// and ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/somerset/ stm

5 Plans for new UK coal power stations UK coal power station Tree proposals for new UK coal power stations ave recently been announced. RWE Npower as submitted proposals to replace its existing power station at Tilbury, Essex, and to build a new plant on te site of te former Blyt power station, Nortumberland, at costs of 1 billion and 2 billion respectively. Te German-owned E.ON Npower as also submitted plans to replace its plant in Kingsnort, Kent by All of te proposals state tat te stations will ave te capacity to burn organic biomass fuels, wic are carbon neutral, and will also be able to utilise carbon capture and storage tecnology. However, tis tecnology is not yet viable, and Npower admits tat tere are many financial, legal, regulatory and tecnical urdles to overcome before te tecnology can be implemented. Te Department of Trade and Industry as provisionally said te developments could go aead if tey meet planning and environmental regulations, but opposition to te Blyt plant as already started wit local councillors saying a new power station would not fit wit te area's redevelopment plans. Sources : ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/uk_politics/ stm and ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/tyne/ stm New plans for world's largest offsore wind farm Wind turbine

6 Te company, Farm Energy2, as unveiled plans to build te world's largest offsore wind farm, off te coast of nort Devon. Te Atlantic Array Sceme, if given permission and completed, could provide enoug energy to power 1 million omes, adequate for all of Devon. Local councils support te proposal, stating tat te wind farm will bring economic benefits troug long-term employment. Carbon emissions from te region would also be greatly reduced. However, tere are many environmental issues to consider and concern as been raised about te project's proximity to te Island of Lundy. Source : ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/i/england/devon/ stm Rio Tinto and BP form a new clean energy company BP and Rio Tinto ave formed a new jointly-owned company tat will focus on te generation of clean energy via ydrogen-fuelled power generation and carbon capture and storage tecnology. Te company, Hydrogen Energy, will work on te conversion of fossil fuel feedstocks to ydrogen, wit te carbon dioxide being captured and stored. BP and Rio Tinto state tat te researc is needed due to te rapid worldwide development of new power generation and tat muc of te growt in power generation will be in countries ric in coal wic will be a significant part of te energy mix. BP already as plans to develop a ydrogen power plant in Peteread, Scotland. Tis will use natural gas as a feedstock and will inject captured CO 2 into a nearby Nort Sea oil field for storage and use in improving oil recovery. Source : ttp://