Tag Archives: environment
Germany’s Thomas Bach elected IOC president
Germany’s Thomas Bach elected IOC president (AP) / 11 September 2013 Thomas Bach was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday, keeping the powerful sports body in European hands. Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, succeeds Jacques Rogge, the Belgian who is stepping down after 12 years as head of the Olympic body. New International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, German Thomas Bach (L), greets outgoing IOC President Jacques Rogge (R) after the announcement of his election during the 125th IOC session on Tuesday. -AFP Bach, the long-time favourite, defeated five rival candidates in the secret balloting. He received 49 votes in the second round to secure a winning majority. Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico finished second with 29 votes. Bach received a standing ovation for nearly a full minute after Rogge opened a sealed envelope to announce his victory. Bach bowed slightly to the delegates to acknowledge the warm response and thanked the members in several different languages. “This is a really overwhelming sign of trust and confidence,” Bach said. A former Olympic fencing gold medalist who heads Germany’s national Olympic committee, Bach becomes the ninth president in the 119-year history of the IOC. He is the eighth European to hold the presidency. Of the IOC’s leaders, all have come from Europe except for Avery Brundage, the American who ran the committee from 1952-72. Bach is also the first gold medal-winning Olympic athlete to become IOC president. He won gold in team fencing for West Germany in 1976. “I know of the great responsibility of an IOC president,” Bach said. “This makes me humble. I want to lead the IOC according to my motto, ‘Unity and Diversity. “I want to be a president for all of you. This means I will do my very best to balance well all the different interests of the stakeholders of the Olympic movement. This is why I want to listen to you and to enter in an ongoing dialogue with all of you. You should know that my door, my ears and my heart are always open for you.” After awarding the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo and bringing wrestling back into the games, the IOC completed the last of its three critical votes — choosing the person for the most powerful job in international sports. Bach’s supporters had hoped for a first-round win, but a second-round victory still showed that he had a big base of support. Carrion, who chairs the IOC’s finance commission and negotiates lucrative US television rights deals, wound up being Bach’s only serious challenger. The votes fell off after that with Ng Ser Miang of Singapore getting six, Denis Oswald of Switzerland five and Sergei Bubka of Ukraine four. C.K. Wu of Taiwan was eliminated in the first round after an initial tie with Ng as low vote-getter. Ng had been considered a strong contender, but his chances were dented after Tokyo’s win because the IOC was unlikely to give Asia two major prizes in a row. Bach has long been viewed as the favourite because of his resume: former Olympic athlete, long-serving member on the policy-making IOC executive board, chairman of the legal commission, head of anti-doping investigations and negotiator of European TV rights. None of the six candidates has made any dramatic proposals for change, promising to continue the line pursued by Rogge, particularly in the fight against doping. The election follows Saturday’s IOC decision to send the 2020 Games to Tokyo and Sunday’s vote to reinstate wrestling for the 2020 and 2024 Games. The presidential vote is what most of the 100-plus IOC members had been focusing on. Much of the pre-election talk among the members has been about the power of Shaikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, the Kuwaiti who heads the Association of National Olympic Committees. The Shaikh was a key backer of Bach. With his influence in Asia and among the national Olympic committees, the Kuwaiti can deliver a large number of votes. He was seen as playing a key role in Tokyo’s victory, even helping Istanbul get to the second round of voting to keep Madrid out of the final. Continue reading
Mohammed calls for fresh growth ideas
Mohammed calls for fresh growth ideas (Wam) / 11 September 2013 The next growth period in the UAE would require new administrative ideas given different challenges, aspirations and high ceiling of expectations, said His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The remarks were made during a brainstorming session chaired by Shaikh Mohammed in his office at Emirates Towers on Tuesday in the presence of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. Shaikh Mohammed and Shaikh Hamdan during the meeting in dubai on tuesday. — Wam “We need new tools, different ways of doing things and continuous innovation in the light of world’s competitive environment, whose intensity increases day after day,” Shaikh Mohammed said. At the meeting, where many ideas were proposed, Shaikh Mohammed noted that the collective thinking and open dialogue with work teams create better ideas that could lead to successes. Addressing the team, he said: “My job as a team leader is to get better ideas from the work teams and use them to enhance life of people and make the UAE a better place to live in”. Shaikh Mohammed discussed with the team the position of the UAE in the light of neutral international reports, adding that “Our next projects should bear international standards that match the UAE’s international status, and at the same ensure welfare for citizens.” Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and other senior officials were present on the occasion. Continue reading
Researchers Focus On Switchgrass As A Renewable Fuel Source
Robin WhitlockTuesday, 10 September 2013 Fungi and bacteria could be made to act on switchgrass in order to reduce the cost of ethanol production for biofuel A research team from Clemson University in South Carolina is looking at switchgrass as a potential source of renewable biofuel, examining in particular the action of fungi and bacteria as a means of releasing vital carbohydrates, such as cellulose and xylan, that can then be used to make biofuel. Most plant-based ethanol derives from sugar and starch in corn and sugarcane since the process of producing fuel from biomass, the waste material from vegetation, is still too costly to be competitive with fossil fuels. In part this is because of the process of releasing cellulose and xylan from lignin, which binds cells and structures in woody plants. The removal of lignin is often an important pretreatment step in biofuel production which subsequently enables microbes to convert cellulose and xylan to glucose and xylose which are then fermented in order to obtain alcohol-based biofuel. The Clemson University team is engaged in studying how to free up carbohydrates in switchgrass and waste paper and microbiologist Mike Henson is looking at the bacteria and fungi that can break down the carbohydrates and xylans in order to release the plant sugars. The project, if successful, will help the environment, particularly with regard to improving atmospheric conditions, and promote a sustainable bio-economy based on renewable energy. “It’s not going to be just one organism or just one enzyme,” said Henson. The fungi and the bacteria work additively as a community. The enzyme will be more like an “enzyme cocktail.” Henson’s task involves working out how to trigger enzymes in a particular order so that each enzyme performs its function at a particular time, but in order to do that he has to find the right enzymes first. This process consists of four stages. First, the enzyme and keyed-to molecule have to find each other and then the enzyme should link to the molecule at a specific location termed the “active site. This produces catalysis which then sets off a change in the enzyme-linked molecule either breaking it down or enabling it to combine with another molecule and finally the enzyme delinks from the molecule ready to perform the whole act again. The overall aim is to reduce the expense involved in making ethanol from biomass with the ultimate objective being biofuel that is competitive with fossil fuels at $3 to $4 per gallon. Further information: Clemson University Clemson University Switchgrass website Continue reading
