Babak Belurs

Kamis, 02 Mei 2019

UK Parliament declares climate change emergency - BBC News

MPs have approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency.

This proposal, which demonstrates the will of the Commons on the issue but does not legally compel the government to act, was approved without a vote.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the motion, said it was "a huge step forward".

Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged there was a climate "emergency" but did not back Labour's demands to declare one.

The declaration of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over recent weeks.

Addressing climate protesters from the top of a fire engine in Parliament Square earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe.

"We pledge to work as closely as possible with countries that are serious about ending the climate catastrophe and make clear to US President Donald Trump that he cannot ignore international agreements and action on the climate crisis."

What is a climate emergency?

Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency".

There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.

It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050.

Read more here

Labour's motion also calls on the government to aim to achieve net-zero emissions before 2050 and for ministers to outline urgent proposals to restore the UK's natural environment and deliver a "zero waste economy" within the next six months.

The Welsh and Scottish governments have both already declared a climate emergency, along with dozens of towns and cities, including Manchester and London.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126677

2019-05-02 08:17:34Z
CBMiLWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy91ay1wb2xpdGljcy00ODEyNjY3N9IBMWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9hbXAvdWstcG9saXRpY3MtNDgxMjY2Nzc

UK Parliament declares climate change emergency - BBC News

MPs have approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency.

This proposal, which demonstrates the will of the Commons on the issue but does not legally compel the government to act, was approved without a vote.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the motion, said it was "a huge step forward".

Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged there was a climate "emergency" but did not back Labour's demands to declare one.

The declaration of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over recent weeks.

Addressing climate protesters from the top of a fire engine in Parliament Square earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe.

What is a climate emergency?

Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency".

There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.

It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050.

Read more here

The Welsh and Scottish governments have both already declared a climate emergency, along with dozens of towns and cities, including Manchester and London.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126677

2019-05-02 07:35:24Z
CBMiLWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy91ay1wb2xpdGljcy00ODEyNjY3N9IBMWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9hbXAvdWstcG9saXRpY3MtNDgxMjY2Nzc

UK Parliament declares climate change emergency - BBC News

MPs have approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency.

This proposal, which demonstrates the will of the Commons on the issue but does not legally compel the government to act, was approved without a vote.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the motion, said it was "a huge step forward".

Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged there was a climate "emergency" but did not back Labour's demands to declare one.

The declaration of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over recent weeks.

Addressing climate protesters from the top of a fire engine in Parliament Square earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe.

What is a climate emergency?

Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency".

There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.

It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050.

Read more here

The Welsh and Scottish governments have both already declared a climate emergency, along with dozens of towns and cities, including Manchester and London.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126677

2019-05-02 06:35:23Z
52780282180217

UK Parliament declares climate change emergency - BBC News

MPs have approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency.

This proposal, which demonstrates the will of the Commons on the issue but does not legally compel the government to act, was approved without a vote.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the motion, said it was "a huge step forward".

Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged there was a climate "emergency" but did not back Labour's demands to declare one.

The declaration of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over recent weeks.

Addressing climate protesters from the top of a fire engine in Parliament Square earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe.

What is a climate emergency?

Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency".

There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.

It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050.

Read more here

The Welsh and Scottish governments have both already declared a climate emergency, along with dozens of towns and cities, including Manchester and London.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126677

2019-05-02 06:09:51Z
52780282180217

UK Parliament declares climate change emergency - BBC News

MPs have approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency.

This proposal, which demonstrates the will of the Commons on the issue but does not legally compel the government to act, was approved without a vote.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the motion, said it was "a huge step forward".

Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged there was a climate "emergency" but did not back Labour's demands to declare one.

The declaration of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over recent weeks.

Addressing climate protesters from the top of a fire engine in Parliament Square earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe.

What is a climate emergency?

Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency".

There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.

It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050.

Read more here

The Welsh and Scottish governments have both already declared a climate emergency, along with dozens of towns and cities, including Manchester and London.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126677

2019-05-02 05:26:32Z
CBMiLWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy91ay1wb2xpdGljcy00ODEyNjY3N9IBMWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9hbXAvdWstcG9saXRpY3MtNDgxMjY2Nzc

Rabu, 01 Mei 2019

The UK's New "Dragonfire" Laser Weapon Is Weirdly Steampunk - futurism.com

Dragonfire

The Royal Navy is testing a strikingly steampunk mechanical energy system for its Dragonfire Laser Directed Energy Weapon on its most advanced ships. And the new system’s design originally came from an unlikely source: the Williams Formula 1 team.

The Royal Navy is hoping its new Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) will reduce the impact on the rest of the ship when it needs to draw huge amounts of power for the energy weapon — while avoiding safety concerns such as lithium batteries starting fires on board a ship.

“This technology was originally developed by the Williams F1 team,” said U.K. military spokesperson Andrew Tate in a press release. “We saw an attractive option to bolster defence capability through the provision of more robust and futureproof power systems for naval ships.”

Flywheel Energy

The Dragonfire itself is a powerful 50 kW laser that could “protect our maritime and land forces” from “missiles or soldiers from enemy mortars,” according to the Ministry of Defense, as quoted by the UK Defence Journal.

But such a beast of a weapon on board a warship poses an engineering challenge. To meet its energy requirements, a coalition between U.S. and U.K. researchers decided to take advantage of the FESS, a system that “uses innovative high-speed & lightweight flywheels to provide high-power electrical pulses that these future systems require,” according to a press release.

The most common use of a flywheel is inside a car’s transmission. It stores rotational energy when the clutch is disengaged, and can transfer that energy back once its engaged again after a gear change.

In the same way, energy needed to fire a laser could be stored by a number of flywheels.

READ MORE: UK & USA test Naval power systems [Defence Science and Technology Laboratory]

More on navy lasers: The Navy Is Incinerating Hard Drives About Laser Weapon Research

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https://futurism.com/uk-laser-weapon-dragonfire-energy-flywheel

2019-05-01 16:37:11Z
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UK government cancels Brexit ferry deals - BBC News

The Department for Transport is cancelling contracts to provide extra ferry services after Brexit.

Ending the contracts with Brittany Ferries and DFDS could cost the taxpayer more than £50m.

The government bought £89m worth of capacity from the two firms. Some of that capacity might be sold, but millions of pounds could be lost.

The contracts were designed to ease pressure on the port of Dover, by creating extra services at other ports.

In February, the DfT was forced to axe its £13.8m contract with a third company, Seaborne Freight, which the BBC found had never sailed a vessel.

Earlier this year, the National Audit Office estimated that the cancellation costs of all the ferry contracts would be £56.6m.

The cost is likely to only be several million pounds less than this.

A government spokesperson said: "The termination of these contracts has resulted in less cost to the taxpayer than the termination costs reported by the NAO."

The government was also forced to pay £33m to Eurotunnel, to settle a case which challenged the procurement process for the ferry contracts.

In addition, the DfT is now facing legal action from P&O Ferries, which says its rival, Eurotunnel, was given a competitive advantage by the government.

'We needed to be ready'

Mr Grayling, the Transport Secretary, said the cancelled contracts were part of a £4bn no-deal "insurance policy" the government had put in place.

"People would expect a responsible government to take out an insurance policy, and that's what we've done, to make sure we can deal with all the challenges in a no-deal Brexit.

"We never wanted it, we never worked for it, but we sure as certain needed to be ready for it," he said.

If extra cross-Channel freight services are needed again in the run-up to the new Brexit deadline in October, the government could have to negotiate a new set of contracts, he said.

Grayling under fire

Labour shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the contracts will be "a case study in ministerial incompetence" on the part of Mr Grayling.

"The Transport Secretary's approach to procurement and planning has cost taxpayers tens, if not, hundreds of millions of pounds. His career as a minister has left a trail of scorched earth and billions of pounds of public money wasted.

"This country cannot afford Chris Grayling."

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48117366

2019-05-01 11:00:22Z
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