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NASA Clears Biofuel-Powered Jets for Takeoff
Environmental Leader 01/05/13 NASA researchers say commercial airlines can safely fly using plant-based biofuel, following successful test flights in California. The flights studied the effects of alternate biofuel on engine performance, emissions and aircraft-generated contrails at altitudes typically flown by commercial airliners . The Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions (ACCESS) experiment involved flying a NASA Dryden Flight Research Center DC-8 airplane as high as 39,000 feet while an instrumented HU-25C Guardian aircraft, based at NASA’s Langley Research Center, trailed behind at distances ranging from 300 feet to more than 10 miles. The team measured exhaust composition and contrail characteristics depending on fuel type, plume duration and atmospheric conditions. During the flights, the DC-8’s four CFM56 engines were powered by conventional JP-8 jet fuel, or a 50-50 blend of JP-8 and an alternative fuel of hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids produced from camelina plant oil. More than a dozen instruments mounted on the Guardian jet characterized the soot, gases and ice particles streaming from the DC-8. Bruce Anderson, a senior research scientist at Langley who worked on the project, tells the Associated Press that these fuels are “quite acceptable” for use in commercial jets. The latest test flights follow a pair of alternative aviation fuel experiment studies conducted in 2009 and 2011. Ground-based instruments measured the DC-8’s exhaust emissions as the aircraft burned alternative fuels while parked on a ramp in California. A second phase of ACCESS flights is planned for 2014. It will build upon learned from this year’s flights and include a more extensive set of measurements, NASA says. The ACCESS study is a joint project involving researchers at Dryden, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and NASA Langley. Last month, the USDA extended for five years its agreement to work with the FAA and commercial aviation partners , including Boeing and industry trade group Airlines for America, to help develop a viable biofuel for the aviation industry. Continue reading
All Asia Asset Capital joins AIM
02/05/2013 Harriet Russell The company is focused on South East Asia All Asia Asset Capital, an investment company focused on investing in the growing markets of Southeast Asia joined London’s junior market today. Allenby Capital is acting as nominated adviser and broker. The company has raised approximately £3.6 million following the issue of 119 million new shares. The net proceeds, which are expected to amount to approximately £3.3 million, will primarily be used to identify, evaluate and select suitable investment opportunities. The investment objective of All Asia is to invest in a portfolio of companies with at least the majority of their operations in Southeast Asia with an expected initial focus on Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Burma. The directors intend to invest in companies that operate in industries with ‘high growth potential’ including, but not limited to agriculture, forestry and plantations, mining, natural resources, property and technology. Whilst the directors have not yet carried out any due diligence on any investment opportunities or entered into any discussions or agreements, examples of potential investment opportunities include an investment in a plant in Indonesia that processes sweet potatoes into starch for use in processed foods and an investment in a greenhouse farming operation in Indonesia that intends to acquire land and expand production of sweet melon to a target yield of 1,125 metric tonnes per annum. The year-on-year real GDP growth in Southeast Asia, represented by the ASEAN countries, is projected by the International Monetary Fund to reach an average of 5.5 per cent in 2013 (compared to 1 per cent in the UK and 2 per cent in the USA). The chief executive is Sri Hartati Kurniawan, who between 2007 and 2012 held senior management positions in RCG Holdings, another company listed on AIM. Shares in All Asia Asset Capital were trading at 3.6p this morning. Continue reading
The Dire State Of Australian Agriculture
The dire state of Australian agriculture By Regan Pearson – May 2, 2013 It seems crazy given our very fundamental human requirement for food that the agriculture industry could end up in the dire state it is in today. Yet that is the exactly where it finds itself. The current condition of poor production, output and return is bad for farmers, bad for investors and disastrous for the economy at large. Interest in agriculture has been re-ignited recently with the $2.8 billion takeover offer for GrainCorp (ASX: GNC) by U.S company Archer Daniels Midland, but the poor performance of the sector over the last two years has most investors keeping the industry at arm’s length. The UN estimates that food production will need to grow by 70% by 2050 to meet increasing global demand, but the steady stream of problems hammering farmers has seen it amongst the worst performing commodities in Australia. Part of the problem is the insatiable demand for higher yielding stocks, which acts as competition for agricultural investments. Traditional blue-chip stocks like ANZ (ASX: ANZ) and Woolworths (ASX: WOW) have been pushed to record prices by demand for their solid and reliable dividends, while the cyclical agriculture sector has been shunned. The lack of funds flowing into the industry starves it of capital to reinvest for future growth and could be the first stage of a vicious cycle. One survey of farmers in Western Australia by Muntadgin Farming Alliance found 30% did not have adequate finance for planting crops this year. The answer may be offshore funds according to Desmond Cheung, a portfolio manager for the US$330 million World Agricultural Fund, part of the mammoth funds management company BlackRock. Mr Cheung believes offshore investors have a longer investment horizon than in Australia currently and are attracted by the inflation hedge that food production affords. To that end other listed agri-companies like Australian Agricultural Company (ASX: AAC) and Goodman Fielder (ASX: GFF) may start to emerge on the radars of overseas funds and investors, as well as the potential for more direct investment in Australian farms. In the meantime farmers are taking their battle to stay viable to government level. Last week a $7.8 million support package was proposed to aid farmers, making grants of up to $25,000 available to farmers who meet set financing criteria. Source: Motley Fool Continue reading
