Volume X - Issue II - February 2008
Fascinating Projects
Green project in Pietermaritzburg, Reported by Jaycee Kruger in South Africa A UK-based renewable energy firm is set to begin work on a South African project designed to convert harmful landfill gases into electricity. The company said that it has linked a partnership with a South African firm, and a public consultation process will start immediately with work on the project the $3m project at Pietermaritzburg, near Durban expected to start this February.  The project, the third such initiative in South Africa, will see harmful landfill gases such as methane captured and used to power a generator of two to three megawatts – enough power for up to 1,900 households. Mr. Dave Cornish, general manager of the joint venture company formed to manage the project, stated that the extraction of methane will dramatically reduce the potential of fires and odours on the site, because there will be active gas management. With the extraction of landfill gas, the smelly gas - hydrogen sulphide - is not released because it is captured along with the landfill gas. ENER·G's core business activities cover the delivery of sustainable and energy efficient technologies on a business-to-business basis worldwide. http://www.energ.co.uk.
Innovative $1.4bn PPP Project to relieve Washington DC traffic moves closer to Green Light in USA One of the largest private equity investment in a US Greenfield toll road PPP project to relieve traffic congestion in one of the most congested US regions is closer to startup, following financial agreement between the Commonwealth of Virginia, international toll road group Transurban and Fluor Enterprises. Under the plan, Transurban and Fluor will finance, design, construct, and operate High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes on a 14-mile section of the Capital Beltway, the ring road around Washington D.C. HOT lanes are built next to existing freeway lanes to provide drivers with the option of faster, more reliable travel.  According to a news release issued on December 20, two additional lanes will be built in each direction between the Springfield Interchange and just north of the Dulles Toll Road in Fairfax County, Virginia, expanding the capacity from eight lanes to 12. When built, the inner two lanes in each direction will deliver free-flowing traffic conditions by using toll prices to manage the flow of traffic choosing to use the lanes. Buses and carpools will travel for free, while vehicles with fewer than three occupants can choose to pay a toll to access the HOT lanes and avoid congestion. Tolls will vary based on real-time traffic conditions to manage the number of toll-paying customers entering the HOT lanes and keep them congestion free. Transurban and Fluor will replace aging bridges and overpasses throughout the Beltway corridor and provide opportunities for carpooling and express bus service for the first time.
 The metropolitan Washington, D.C. region is one of the most congested areas in the US. It is rated second worst among the 14 largest regions in the country in annual hours of delay per rush hour traveler. Using the Beltway HOT lanes could cut commuting time in half from Springfield to Tysons Corner during rush hour, saving the average traveler 24 minutes a day and it is anticipated that drivers will be able to travel at twice the speed of the regular lanes during rush hour. The project will be developed and operated as a partnership between the government and the private sector (Public Private Partnership). Under the partnership agreement: The community will receive relief from congestion and new transportation choices at minimal risk and cost to the taxpayer. The private sector takes on the cost and risk of building and operating the HOT lanes in return for the right to collect tolls. Transurban, via its 75% owned US investment vehicle DRIVe, and Fluor will invest $350 million of private equity, making the Capital Beltway project the largest private sector investment in a Greenfield (new build) toll road Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the US to date. Financing includes a $409 million capital contribution from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and a $587 million loan from the Federal Government's TIFIA (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) program, which is designed to encourage new investment in much needed transportation infrastructure.
 "This is a landmark project in the evolution of Public Private Partnerships in the US. Working together, the public and private sectors will deliver one of the most advanced toll roads in the country," said Michael Kulper, Executive Vice President Transurban North America. "The Commonwealth of Virginia saw the need for action. It would have been many years before the Commonwealth could fund the Beltway upgrade and commuters could not wait that long. Transurban and Fluor responded with a sophisticated solution that will cut travel times for all Beltway commuters, whether they choose to pay to use the HOT Lanes or not." The HOT lanes will capitalize on the best technology, financing methods, engineering and innovation available. Construction of the HOT lanes is expected to take approximately five years. Once complete, Transurban will operate the HOT lanes for a period of 75 years. For more information on the Capital Beltway HOT lanes visit www.virginiahotlanes.com. Transurban Group is an international toll road investor and manager with more than 10 years experience developing and operating complex toll road infrastructure. Transurban is a US$6.4 billion company with interests in seven key toll roads in Australia and the US, including Pocahontas Parkway in Richmond, Virginia. For more information on Transurban visit www.transurban.com. Fluor Enterprises -- Fluor Enterprises is a subsidiary of Fluor Corporation, which provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance and project management. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor is a FORTUNE 500 company with revenues of $14.1 billion in 2006. For more information visit www.fluor.com.
Construction and Commissioning Phase for Nigeria Reported by O. Chima Okereke in Port Harcourt KBR Corporation has announced on January 8th that its joint venture, TSKJ Nigeria Ltd., has completed the construction and commissioning phase of the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) Train 6 project on Bonny Island, Nigeria. NLNG awarded TSKJ the lump sum engineering, procurement, and construction contract (EPC) for LNG train six in July 2004. "TSKJ has a proven track record of success having served as the primary contractor to NLNG on LNG projects since 1995," said Arturo Aranda KBR vice president, project management. "The successful and timely completion of this project further solidifies KBR's reputation for delivering on-time and under budget."  TSKJ was in charge of the construction efforts on the 4 million tonnes per annum LNG train, two gas turbine power generators and additional liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) chilling capacity. Train 6 is the 4th EPC project TSKJ has executed for NLNG, which was completed with an excellent safety and quality record, in less than 41 months from contract award to Ready For Start Up (RFSU). The project recently achieved 10 million man hours without a lost time incident. TSKJ is a joint venture comprising Technip, Snamprogetti, KBR and JGC, which in November was again named the “Outstanding International Contractor in Nigeria” for the second consecutive year. The award recognized their record of health, safety and environmental stewardship, quality workmanship, community relations, and local content. KBR is a global engineering, construction and services company that supports the energy, petrochemicals, government services and civil infrastructure sectors. The company offers services through its Downstream, Government and Infrastructure, Services, Technology, Upstream and Ventures business segments. For more information, visit http://www.kbr.com/.
UN launches Emergency Program to feed The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced a $126-million year-long emergency operation to feed more than 1 million displaced Iraqis who are unable to meet their basic needs due to the violence wracking the country.  “We hope that the food assistance we provide can help avert a much bigger crisis,” WFP Iraq Country Director Stefano Porretti said. “We are facing a growing humanitarian crisis as a result of the continuing violence in Iraq. An increasing number of displaced people cannot meet their food needs and therefore require more help.” Some 750,000 of the most vulnerable Iraqis displaced within the country will benefit from the programme, as will more than 360,000 others who have fled to Syria. In Iraq, the WFP will supply a complementary food package, consisting of wheat flour, white beans and vegetable oil to internally displaced persons (IDPs), who are unable to get rations under Iraq’s Public Distribution System (PDS) due to various difficulties including the transfer of their ration cards to their new place of residence.  The 750,000 are the most vulnerable among an estimated 2.2 million IDPs, many of whom now live with host families, in abandoned buildings or in poorly supported camps. WFP aid is not intended to replace government food rations and will phase out as soon as the Government absorbs the IDPs into the PDS. In Syria, WFP will provide monthly food rations, consisting of rice, vegetable oil and lentils, initially to 155,000 needy Iraqis but with the aim of reaching about 360,000 by the end of 2008. Syria, which has up until recently provided shelter to virtually all those who have arrived at the border, is home to over 1.5 million Iraqis, many of whom have no savings, no income and no means of support. In a recent UN assessment, conducted in collaboration with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, about a third of Iraqi respondents said they skipped one meal a day to feed their children, while 60 per cent said they were buying less expensive foods, often less nutritious, to cope with rising prices. The emergency operation will be implemented in close cooperation with the respective Governments as well as UN agencies and other partners. Priority will be given to local and regional purchases of food whenever possible. For more information, visit http://www.un.org/news. Source: UN News Digest, January 43, 2008
$72.5 M to help revitalize City - Port of Limon in Costa Rica The World Bank has approved a loan for Costa Rica in the amount of US$72.5 million to finance the revitalization of the city of Limon and to support the modernization of its port.  “With its historic center and unique Caribbean identity, Limon has great potential for tourism development but this is not being realized due to limitations in its urban planning and management capacity,” said Laura Frigenti (pictured), World Bank Director for Central America. “This loan will help the city of Limon to diversify its economy and to develop both tourism and trade in a sustainable manner, while creating a more livable environment for the city’s poorest inhabitants.” While Costa Rica as a whole has an impressive development record, the Atlantic region is lagging behind, with one in five of its inhabitants living in poverty. The Atlantic port-city of Limon is one of the country’s most decayed cities and suffers from high unemployment and crime rates. The port of Limon, the busiest port in Central America after Panama, has become a major bottleneck to the country’s growth due to lack of reform and inefficiency. The congestion in the port affects the city as heavy freight traffic has to pass through the city center to get to the Limon terminal. The City-Port of Limon Project will address these challenges in four key areas:
 “The City-Port of Limon Project is part of the Government of Costa Rica’s regional development strategy for the Province of Limon, which also aims to address poverty and social problems,” said Emmanuel James, World Bank task manager for the project. “It has been designed to help develop the capacity of local and central governments to address the needs of lagging regions.” This US$72.5 million fixed-spread loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is payable in 15 years, including 5 years of grace. For more information, visit http://www.worldbank.org/. Source: World Bank News Alert: January 9, 2008
Exxon Mobil starts production off Angola Coast Reported by Jaycee Kruger in South Africa  The world's largest publicly traded oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp. said it has begun oil production from the $5bn Kizomba C development project, located in about 2,400 feet of water roughly 90 miles off the coast of Angola, on the western coast of Africa. The company has a total investment of about $2 billion – around 40% of the total project. The other equity participants are BP Exploration Ltd. (26.67 percent), ENI Angola Exploration B.V. (20 percent) and Statoil-Hydro Angola (13.33 percent.) The project is claimed to be producing about 80,000 barrels of oil a day, and is expected to reach peak production of 200,000 barrels a day by the third quarter of this year. Angola produces about 1.4 million barrels a day, making it the second largest oil producer, after Nigeria, in Africa. Kizomba C includes two floating production, storage and offloading vessels. Its eventual 36 wells will make it the largest subsea development operated by Exxon Mobil. Exxon Mobil are the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, providing energy that helps underpin growing economies and improve living standards around the world. http://www.exxonmobil.com.
Agricultural upliftment project in Eastern Cape Reported by Jaycee Kruger in South Africa Well known retailer, Woolworths expects that a pilot project in Eastern Cape and Limpopo will meet some 1.4% of this year's organic cotton needs. The project, a collaboration between Woolworths, the ComMark Trust, Cotton SA and the international Organic Exchange organization, is running on a number of farms in Eastern Cape and Limpopo, directed by the Agricultural Research Council's Institute for Industrial Crops.
 The ComMark Trust is a regional development initiative aimed at reducing poverty, and committed about $140k to aid farmers with start-up costs, and the Organic Exchange will provide technical support for farmers, and Woolworths agreed to buy fiber from participating farmers once the cotton had been harvested. The first cotton is expected to be harvested at the end of May, and Woolworths expects the 1.4 percent to grow "quite significantly " as the pilot project gained ground, as the company continues to work closely with the Organic Exchange and domestic organizations -- including Cotton SA and the Agricultural Research Council. Unfortunately the company could not yet quantify how many jobs for the rural poor would be created by the project.
String of Nuclear Power Stations planned to Reported by Jaycee Kruger in South Africa Eskom, the national power utility in South Africa, plans building up to six new nuclear power stations, and recently confirmed their requests to two foreign companies to bid for the building of what is planned to be the first of a series of new nuclear power stations. The new power station, planned to be twice as powerful (around 7 000MW) as the existing and only nuclear power plant in South Africa, Koeberg near Cape Town will be the first of five or six that Eskom plans to build to solve the energy shortage in Southern Africa. Construction is due to start by 2010 and first power is expected by 2016. Tony Stott, an Eskom spokesman, confirmed that the company recently asked Areva, of France, which built Koeberg, and the US company Westinghouse to submit bids, due for evaluation during the first quarter of 2008, and if successful, receive approval from the South African department of environmental affairs by June  Nuclear reactors of the pressurized-water type similar to those at Koeberg, are apparently considered for five locations: Brazil and Schulpfontein, on the west coast of the Northern Cape; Duinefontein and Bantamsklip, on the Western Cape coast; and Thyspunt, near Oyster Bay, on the Eastern Cape coast. Environmental impact assessments would assume higher capacities for the power stations to give a large safety margin. Eskom’s finance director, Mr. Bongani Nqwababa, was quoted in several recent reports as saying that the first new power station would cost up to US$ 18-billion. The other type of nuclear reactor said to be safer than the pressurized-water type because of their design and the form of fuel they use under consideration for the new power stations is the pebble-bed. The reactors use graphite-sheathed balls of sparsely enriched uranium as fuel. Graphite slows the neutrons emitted in the reaction to the speed required for generating power and limits the temperature the reactor can reach if coolant is lost. Helium, an inert gas, is used to cool pebble-bed reactors. It will not react with the fuel or rust the reactor, further reducing risk. Eskom the South African semi-government power utility has the vision "Together building the powerbase for sustainable growth and development." Eskom's new vision was developed to align itself with the capacity expansion era. More information is available at Eskom’s website http://www.eskom.co.za.
New Car Programme in India Reported by Miles Shepherd from India In a major announcement for the Mumbai Motor Show, to be held at the Bandra Kurla Exhibition Complex in Mumbai, Ratan Tata, head of the Indian conglomerate with interests from truck manufacturing to tea plantations, has announced a new car programme aimed at the typical Indian family. Informally called the Nano, the 5 seater micro car is intended to replace the scooter and motorcycle for large numbers of young families. Priced at US$2500, the Nano is expected to achieve huge popularity when it delivers in 2 or 3 years time.  Some commentators see the programme as similar to those of the early 20th century in UK where Sir Herbert Austin launched his famous ‘Motor for the Millions’ the Austin 7. It too was aimed at the young family and was intended to replace the motorcycle and sidecar as the transport of choice for the new generation of drivers. Austin managed to get the design completed and The original concept appears to have been to assemble the car from kits of parts so that it ‘would make entrepreneurs of the tens of thousands of Indian mechanics in small towns and villages across the sub continent’ according to Iain Carson and Vijay Vaitheeswaran in a new book ‘Zoom: the global race to fuel the car of the future’. Assembly would be from kits of parts stamped out in Tata’s West Bengal factories.
 India has a strong motor manufacturing sector built partly on the success of Tata trucks. Many will be familiar with the Ambassador, India’s version of the old British Leyland model, which acts as taxi in all major Indian cities. The Nano is expected to be a four door, five seat hard top with a very small engine of less than 1000cc. In this it is similar to the Austin 7 which had an engine capacity of 747 cc. The small car sector looks to be highly competitive with rivals to the Nano coming from Maruti Suzuki which launched its Star concept car recently and Renault Nissan. Additionally motorcycle giant Bajaj are reported to be working on a small car to rival the existing Fabia India from Skoda which is already on the market. All these cars are reported to be low cost, simple vehicles aimed at markets in developing countries where robust design seems likely to be a key factor. Tata pushed his engineers to come up with a quick and dirty solution to moving small loads and encouraged them to think radically about the necessary design using scenario based planning according to Ravi Kant, Tata MD. The new car is to be built in West Bengal in a new purpose built factory, thus providing desperately needed jobs. Tata sees a huge market in millions of Indian who regularly ride dangerously overloaded scooters.
MIGA Issues First "Shariah-Compliant" The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, announced on January 2, 2008 that it has provided its first-ever guarantee for Shariah-compliant project financing. The $427 million guarantee will support investments into a new container terminal in Djibouti, which is expected to significantly improve port facilities and help the country become a major business hub in East Africa.  The nation of Djibouti is strategically located on one of the fastest-growing East-West international shipping routes at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, the Gulf region, and East Africa. Development of the port and transport sector is at the heart of Djibouti’s poverty reduction strategy. The terminal is being developed jointly by Dubai Port World, one of the largest marine terminal operators in the world—and a state-owned port company. When construction is completed, the port will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units). “Djibouti’s port is the economic backbone for growth and employment in the country,” says Elena Palei, Acting Head of Infrastructure at MIGA. “We are pleased to be able to work in partnership with Dubai Port World and its financiers to help Djibouti meet the full potential of its location. MIGA’s guarantees are protecting the investments of Dubai Port World as well as those of the financing banks, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Standard Chartered Bank and West LB, against the risks of transfer restriction, war and civil disturbance, expropriation, and breach of contract.
 By improving container facilities in Djibouti, the project is expected to increase port traffic and open up new opportunities for investment and growth, including attracting other African countries to use the port as a gateway too. Currently more than 85 percent of total traffic in the port is destined for, or originates from, landlocked Ethiopia. A state-of-the-art container terminal could establish Djibouti as a gateway for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) members, and in light of trade flows through that part of the world, promote regional integration through trade development. MIGA’s participation is allowing the syndication of a significant amount of financing provided by several banks on favorable terms and conditions under an Islamic financing structure. MIGA will reinsure $50 million with the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) under MIGA’s facultative reinsurance program. This is MIGA’s first collaboration with ICIEC at the project level. MIGA’s presence played an important role in mitigating perceived political risks for the banks and enabled the project sponsors to raise the financing needed to make the project a reality. This is the first project MIGA has supported in Djibouti, which joined the agency in January 2007. “Increased liquidity in Islamic financial markets is leading to growing demand for guarantees that can support Shariah-compliant deals,” says Executive Vice President of MIGA, Yukiko Omura. “We are very pleased to support this deal, which we hope is just the first of many such transactions.” As a member of the World Bank Group, MIGA's mission is to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries to help support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people's lives. Concerns about investment environments and perceptions of political risk often inhibit foreign direct investment, with the majority of flows going to just a handful of countries and leaving the world's poorest economies largely ignored. MIGA addresses these concerns by providing three key services: political risk insurance for foreign investments in developing countries, technical assistance to improve investment climates and promote investment opportunities in developing countries, and dispute mediation services, to remove possible obstacles to future investment. For more information, visit http://www.miga.org/index_sv.cfm.
Shuttle Atlantis set for Feb 7 launch to Space Station NASA has announced Feb. 7 as the target launch date for the shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station and mid-March for the launch of Endeavour on STS-123. Liftoff of Atlantis from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA will be at 2:47 p.m. EST (19:47 GMT)  According to NASA, a decision by the Russian Federal Space Agency to move up its Progress launch from Feb. 7 to Feb. 5 enables both STS-122 and STS-123 to launch before the next Russian Soyuz mission in early April. This will allow astronauts assigned to the space station's Expedition 16 crew to complete the tasks they have trained for, including support of the launch and docking of Jules Verne, the first European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle. Targeting Feb. 7 also allows time to complete modifications to the engine cutoff sensor system that postponed two shuttle launch attempts in December. Atlantis' main objective during its STS-122 mission to the station will be to install and activate the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory. The Columbus Lab will provide scientists around the world with the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in life, physical, and materials science, Earth observation and solar physics. This is the next phase of the international mission,” said Michael Sarafin, lead shuttle flight director for STS-122. “We’re finally going to use a lot of that new capability that we’ve delivered. It really will be true utilization of the station by international partners.”  That utilization comes in the form of Columbus, a 23-by-15-feet research laboratory and the future center of the European Space Agency’s activities in space. It will be followed over the next two missions by components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s module, called Kibo. But for now the focus is on Europe. In addition to the Columbus module itself, Atlantis will deliver experiments to be performed in orbit and two astronauts to perform them – one to visit and one to stay. And to oversee all of this, the European Space Agency’s Columbus Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, will come online for the first time. “This is history,” said Mission Specialist Léopold Eyharts, the ESA astronaut from France who will remain on the station after his shuttle crewmates leave. “Europe is doing today things that we never did before. This is really a first step into permanent operations in space.” Getting the laboratory out of Atlantis’ cargo bay will be a challenge, however. Columbus was designed before NASA’s Return to Flight after the Columbia accident. One of the modifications made to the shuttle was the addition of a 50-foot boom used by the shuttle’s robotic arm to inspect the shuttle’s heat shield. There’s not quite room for it and all of Columbus. The grapple fixture – or handle – that the robotic arm uses to pick Columbus up and out of the cargo bay gets in the way of the boom, so the laboratory is being launched without the handle attached. During the mission’s first spacewalk, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Hans Schlegel – an ESA astronaut from Germany– will put it back on. “That has to go exactly as planned,” Sarafin said. “Otherwise we can’t get Columbus out of the payload bay.” Once it’s out, however, the installation should be pretty straightforward, according to Lead Station Flight Director Sally Davis. Once connections are made on the shuttle’s fourth day in space and a few preparations are completed, Eyharts will be able to take a quick peek inside Columbus on the following day. “I think it will be very emotional,” Eyharts said. “If we think of all the work that has been done, being the last part in the chain is something that is really nice and fills you with pride. I think that will be very visible.” When the crew is not doing a spacewalk, they’ll be working inside Columbus to get it up and running. In fact, Frick said much of the transformation will take place while the shuttle is still there. The goal is to get as much of Columbus’ outfitting done as possible. That way, after the shuttle leaves, Eyharts can devote more time to science.
 “I think it’s great, because we have been focused so much on basically assembling the infrastructure of the station – the trusses that provide power and cooling and data and communications,” Frick said. “So once we get this up and running, because they’ve got all those trusses up there to provide electrical power, they’ll be able to activate these experiments and start doing excellent science.” Davis said her European counterparts are eagerly anticipating doing just that, and she can understand why. Her first flight as a flight director was in 1998, when the Unity Node – the first major U.S. component – was added, and she remembers the excitement. The Atlantis crew (pictured) for the STS-122 mission include Commander Stephen Frick; European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts; Pilot Alan Poindexter; mission specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Stanley Love; and European Space Agency's (ESA) Hans Schlegel. Created in 1958 and celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America’s focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. In 2005, the US President and Congress committed the United States to exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station, flying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, returning astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade, and sending human missions to Mars and beyond. For 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA can be found at www.nasa.gov. For the latest shuttle information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
Tara Arctic Project: UN-Backed Scientific boat NASA has announced Feb. 7 as the target launch date for the shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station and mid-March for the launch of Endeavour on STS-123. Liftoff of Atlantis from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA will be at 2:47 p.m. EST (19:47 GMT)  “My congratulations go out to the whole Tara team on their tremendous human and logistical achievement,” UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner said on Tuesday (January 22, 2008) of Tara Expeditions and the Arctic Drift project, Tara Arctic 2007-2008. “This expedition was not only about adventure however. The important scientific work undertaken will also contribute to a greater understanding of the negative impacts of climate change on the arctic environment.” The world’s polar regions are playing on a global scale the role of a canary in a coal mine – providing early warnings on the impact of human-induced changes on nature, ranging from global warming to chemical pollution. Wedged in the pack ice, Tara “drifted” with the wind and ocean currents at an average speed of 10 kilometres per hour for more than 500 days. In one and half years she covered 5,200 kilometres in the Arctic, and at one point was only 160 kilometres from the North Pole, the northern-most position ever reached by a schooner.
 The boat is now sailing in open water, and by the end of the week is expected to reach land at Longyearbyen, capital of the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Ocean. She will then continue on to her home port of Lorient in France. “The polar regions are some of the most hauntingly beautiful places on Earth,” Mr. Steiner said. “They are also nature’s early warning systems where issues like human-induced climate change, the thinning of the ozone layer and the impacts of persistent chemical pollution continue to be registered first.” As part of the International Polar Year, Tara has provided an unprecedented platform for scientific observations and research (including the European DAMOCLES project) on how the Arctic environment is changing. Throughout the course of the expedition, it has been relaying these findings to scientists, policy makers and the general public alike. ACIA predicted that Arctic vegetation zones and animal species will be affected. Retreating sea ice is expected to reduce the habitat for polar bears, walrus, ice-inhabiting seals, and marine birds, threatening some species with extinction. Such changes will also affect many indigenous communities who depend on such animals, not only for food, but also as the basis for cultural and social identity, according to UNEP. For more information, visit http://www.damocles-eu.org/article_54.shtml. Source: UN Daily News, January 22, 2008 Editor’s Note: We at PMForum support the use of modern project management methods and tools on scientific programs and projects underway during the International Polar Year. Climate changes and mankind’s need to monitor planetary systems are giving rise to more environmental and climate-related projects, with economic, environmental and social implications. We see these as growing industries and important areas for PM applications.
Agreement signed for Gas-Powered power generating facility Reported by Jaycee Kruger in South Africa An agreement between independent power producer IPSA was signed with the South African government’s Central Energy Fund (CEF who acts as the holding company for State-owned oil company PetroSA, and iGas) to install a 521-MW open-cycle gas turbine plant outside Port Elizabeth, as well as investigating the construction of a further four plants with the same capacity and technology at a later stage, as part of the integrated energy project being developed at the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.  In addition, the company will also proceed with its proposed 1 600-MW Coega fast-track combined-cycle gas turbine project in close collaboration with PetroSA and iGas and so achieve rapid installation of new privately financed and much needed power generation capacity in South Africa. IPSA stated that this would be in tandem with the South African government's plans for Coega to be at the "heart of a new energy centre" providing liquid fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the industrial tenants of the IDZ, it stated. Also under the agreement, a joint working group, including PetroSA, iGas and the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), will be established to coordinate the different parts of what will be a substantial energy development, linking fuel importation with power generation and energy distribution. CEO Peter Earl is reported to have said: "We are pleased to have taken these first steps towards making Coega South Africa's first integrated LNG-to-power project. This is an important diversification away from the dependence on the country's Northern coal reserves" and added: "We aim to install our turbines as fast as possible to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity in the Eastern Cape". IPSA Group PLC ("IPSA" or "the Company") is a company incorporated in England and Wales which has been established to develop, own and manage power generation plants in southern Africa. The Company acquired the southern African power business of Independent Power Corporation ("IPC") through its acquisition of Blazeway Engineering Limited ("Blazeway") http://www.ipsagroup.co.uk.
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