Industry News
CLG: Four vanguard areas - Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester & London - that will deliver new economic growth through the next generation of Enterprise Zones have been hailed by Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles and Business Secretary, Vince Cable for naming where they will locate their sites. The ministers are also announcing the launch of a scheme to identify where the remaining 10 Enterprise Zones will be created.
The first 4 areas are able to confirm the exact location of their new zones as Boots campus in Nottingham, Liverpool Waters, ManchesterAirport and the Mayor has said London's Zone would be in the Royal Docks.
PwC: Over 45,000 litres of cooking oil to be recycled per month from restaurants, bars, offices and hotels around the capital. A new deal signed by professional services firm PwC has secured the largest ever office supply of recycled chip fat from bars, restaurants & businesses across London to generate low carbon energy for the firm’s new headquarters on the Southbank of London.
Two 6,000 litre tankers a week will be filled with used cooking oil collected by Arrow Oil, from offices & restaurants from city centre locations. The oil will be transported to a local refinery, Uptown Biodiesel, and then on to PwC’s new office at More London, for 5,500 employees, to be used to fire 2 large generators creating 25% of the electricity needed for the building, as well as 20% of its heating & cooling. Overall, 25% of the energy needed in the building will be generated on site.
WAG: The Forestry Commission Wales (FCW) has identified 5 sites within the public forest estate with the potential to develop hydro-energy schemes. Between them, they have the potential to generate a combined output of 1.5MW. Due to commercial sensitivities, it is not yet possible to detail the location of potential sites. Formal procurement exercises will be undertaken in due course, once the detailed proposals are finalised.
LDA: Pipes are to be laid to bring low carbon heat, produced on the Olympic site, to homes & businesses in Stratford High Street. The London Development Agency and London Thames Gateway Development Corporation are to provide £480,000 to Cofely, the energy services company of GDF Suez, to install hot water pipeworkconnecting the energy centres on the Olympic Park and Stratford City through to Stratford High Street & beyond.
This will mean that in future developers can tap into the low carbon heat source provided by the two energy centres rather than building their own combined heat and power plants.
WAG: A 1.2MW tidal energy demonstration project that will develop innovative technology to test clean electricity generation from the tides off the West Wales coast has received the necessary consents from the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Welsh Assembly Government. The consents will allow Tidal Energy Ltd’s device, to provide a sustainable source of electricity to the people of St David’s during its 12 month test period and will see the project powering around 1,000 homes. The project has received more than £500,000 from the European Regional Development Fund.
Press release ~ A Low Carbon Revolution: Wales’ Energy Policy Statement ~ Tidal Energy Ltd ~ Welsh Marine Renewable Energy Strategic Framework ~ Related DECC press release
OS: Public sector organisations in England & Wales have access to Ordnance Survey mapping data under a single agreement for the first time from 1 April 2011. Local & central government organisations, as well as NHS organisations, across England and Wales will now benefit from being part of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA)for OS data. The PSMA includes over 750 existing public sector organisations, with provision for 1,000s more and will result in significant cost savings for the public sector & greater data sharing.
Geographic data provided by Ordnance Survey, including OS MasterMap products, will be free at the point of use for public sector bodies, and will not be subject to limits on re-use when used internally within the public sector for public sector activities.
To help PSMA members maximise efficiency savings & improvements in public service delivery through geographic data, they are able to share ideas and contact each other through a newly created members’ area of Ordnance Survey’s new PSMA website. The updated website also enables members to order & receive their data online for the first time.
