Cancer Concerns For America’s Shale Gas

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Emma

Shale gas is natural gas produced from shale (the fine-grained, classic sedimentary rock composed of mud) and although interest is spreading to potential gas shales in Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe it has become an increasingly more important source of natural gas in the US during the past decade. But while drilling techniques for natural gas from American shale formations appear safe overall, health concerns are being raised as levels of cancer-causing benzene have been found in the air causing questions over the reliability and objectivity of current environmental assessments.

As reported by businessinsider.com news articles and latest statements seem to be causing a lot of confusion and distrust regarding this issue, the following was reported by Dallas News:

‘Nearly one-fourth of the sites monitored in North Texas’ Barnett Shale natural-gas region had levels of cancer-causing benzene in the air that could raise health concerns, state regulators said’

However, the article went on to say that gas companies have already fixed the worst emission problems which enables them to work on less-serious sites where the state still requires benzene levels to come down.

Further enhancing that fact that the issue is less serious is John Sadlier, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s deputy director for compliance and enforcement, who stated:

“We don’t have a widespread air-quality issue, at least according to the data”

On the contrary, Mayor Calvin Tillman of the tiny Denton County town of Dish criticises the study advising that it did not include enough tests in residential areas or enough long-term sampling and that is why the town commissioned its own monitoring last year which subsequently found extremely high benzene levels

“I don’t think they want to find anything in a populated area, and I think their sampling reflects that” Mayor Tillman remarked.

Although there are concerns regarding shale gas drilling safety tests it seems highly likely that these environmental concerns will eventually be managed following major commitments made by Exxon (through its recent XTO acquisition) and TOTAL (via its Chesapeake association) and how they intend to make American shale gas.

It is also suggested that in the end there will be a way to extract the gas safely without too much added cost, if it already isn’t safe enough!

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Source: businessinsider.com

BT Free Evening Calls To Start After 7pm

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Kathryn

BT has announced that it’s to move back the time its free evening calls start, from 6pm to 7pm, reports The Guardian.co.uk.

While the move only involves moving back the time free evening calls begin by an hour, the move could anger several million of its customers.

The information has been sent out in letters from BT in the last few weeks and it also states that the end of the free evening call will move back from 6am to 7am.

There are around 10 million BT customers who are on packages which include free evening calls. However those customers on the Anytime package will be unaffected.

BT has said that while 6pm to 7pm is a busy time for calls they say these calls are only “short, organisational calls”. BT said the longest calls were between 8pm and 9pm when people actually sat down to chat.

However, BT has been criticised for the way they have informed customers of the changes. The letters and emails that have been sent to customers have begun by explaining that call charges on their account are staying the same but it’s only at the very bottom of the letter that BT informs customers of the change in the time free calls are available.

The price of calls during the day is to increase too from 5.4p per minute to 5.9p a minute. BT is also increasing the set-up fee for calls made outside the free call package from 9.3p to 9.9p per call. However, these alterations will not affect customers on BT Basic, Light User Scheme or In-Contact Plus schemes.

Last year over a million customers left BT and switched to other suppliers after they increased charges twice in a year. These new changes may well encourage customers to see if they can get a cheaper deal somewhere else.

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Source: The Guardian.co.uk

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Still No Adobe On Apple

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Emma

Following this weeks launch of the Apple iPad it seems that the American multinational corporation – which designs and manufactures consumer electronics and computer software products – must really have something against Adobe Flash (the standard for delivering high-impact, rich Web content!)…

As most iPhone users probably know – the iPhone doesn’t use Adobe Flash despite many iPhone users wanting the Flash functionality but just like the iPhone, Apple’s latest piece of tech doesn’t include Adobe Flash either. This is according to reports by itproportal which has also stated that Adobe has slammed Apple over the omission of Flash in the iPad – an internet tablet with a revolutionary 9.7 inch touch screen and ability to run thousands of amazing new apps.

However, as well as being an eReader, the iPad is supposed to be for surfing the web which begs the question that if it doesn’t support Flash – with its new expressive features and visual performance improvements – then does it deprive the user of getting the full surfing experience???

Flash Player is a cross-platform browser plug-in which delivers breakthrough Web experiences to more than 99% of internet users, however Apple appears intent on keeping their iPhone and now iPad users from benefitting from such features.

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Swindon’s Local Warmth Scheme

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Emma

Energy company npower is encouraging eligible residents of Swindon to contact their local warmth scheme this winter – People with illnesses that are made worse by cold and damp living conditions who don’t have adequate heating or hot water maybe entitled to help – as a self-referral trial gets underway.

npower run’s its own Health Through Warmth scheme which ordinarily relies on community workers and healthcare professionals referring vulnerable people onto the scheme however, Swindon is the first area in England and Wales to set up and operate a self referral trial.

Referrals will be assessed by a Health Through Warmth Co-ordinator where eligible residents could then receive help with heating, boiler repairs or replacements or even loft and cavity wall insulation – depending on an individual’s needs, together with energy efficiency and benefit advice.

Offers of help will depend on individual circumstances with funding to help pay for these measures accessed via a variety of means, including the unique npower ‘Health Through Warmth Crisis Fund’, charitable organisations and government grants.

This latest scheme is a chance for people to speak up and refer themselves for assistance.

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Source: npowermediacentre.com

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Areva And GDF Suez To Sign Nuclear Deal

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Emma

Reports are suggesting that French nuclear giant Areva and energy firm GDF Suez are preparing to sign a cooperation agreement to build a medium-sized reactor in France and share engineering expertise – Officials for GDF Suez and Areva confirmed that talks were under way, but GDF Suez stated that no decision had yet been made regarding a partnership accord.

According to financial newspaper – Les Echos – the agreement was due to be signed last week but was postponed following a dispute between Areva and EDF regarding nuclear waste treatment.

If the deal is sealed, GDF Suez, the world’s second largest utility, will join a project to build the Atmea medium-powered reactor which Areva is currently designing with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, states the paper. It would also allow for the exchange of engineering and training expertise.

The Atmea project was originally a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Areva – to develop, market, license and sell a new generation III pressurised water reactor and comes after the French nuclear industry lost a major contract to build a medium-powered reactor in the United Arab Emirates – UAE, to a South Korean firm.

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Source: nuclearpowerdaily.com