Of late, many propaganda pieces in the Chinese press have appeared extolling the importance of innovation, value-creation and a fundamental rebalancing of China's manufacturing-led economy to a consumer-driven one.
On the ground, a big question remains whether the government truly believes its growth model has reached its peak.
Infrastructure Investment.The key strategy continues to be urbanization which entails: a) massive infrastructure investment inland, b) upgrading non productive rural workers into higher-productivity manufacturing workers. The structure of the governments' gargantuan 2008 stimulus package is consistent with this framework. Factories are being built on hinterland farmlands, as are transportation networks to ship raw and semi-finished goods between lower-tier cities and the coast. The Party likely believes China can, as a whole, maintain is low-cost labor pool for at least the next decade, hence its reasonably calm reaction to recent labor unrest at Foxconn in Guangdong province.
As a result, mobilization of resources and scalification of markets remain core growth planks and this is inconsistent with any leap up value chains. That said, the Chinese model is appropriate for making an incremental crawl up the value ladder. And, here, China has been successful in industry after industry, ranging from green technology to autos. But no industry has had anything close to a paradigm shift in terms of setting global standards of innovation.
A Consumer Economy?In terms of stimulating consumer demand, there has been precious little the government has done that would relieve epic savings anxiety of both the middle class and the urban mass market. This would involve, most critically, fundamental restructuring of health care. Le Keqiang, Hu Jintao's heir apparent, is charged with leading the task force to address this need. But most observers are skeptical insurance pools are deep enough or inclusive enough to fund significant health care reform. So the effort is proceeding, and will proceed, in a piecemeal fashion. However, as a percentage of total economic activity, the consumer sector will increase, largely driven by industrialization of and growth in lower-tier markets. (This is the major story of the past couple years. Auto sales, for example, are exploding outside of Tier I cities. The same goes for luxury products.)
Corporate Governance Hurdles.To generate more innovation in state-own enterprises, a key issue is corporate governance, or lack thereof. In China, shareholder rights are extremely weak and there is rarely (never?) an empowered board charged with ensuring that management maximize long-term shareholder value. Goals of maintaining Party control and responding to the market are in opposition. CEOs are judged in implementing the party line and competition is, at best, "managed," orchestrated from above, within the corridors of Party power.
Service Sector Stagnation.The service sector, and modernization of it, also remains a huge challenge. It is currently designed to respond to, again in a mobilized manner, the needs to the masses. (Ten years ago, who would have anticipated such growth of the retail arms of the Big Four banks?) But the emerging middle class, whose needs are more sophisticated and require a greater degree of personalization, have been ignored. Again, key service industries (health care, financial services, real estate, etc.) remain "strategic" industries -- vital to the Party's macro- management of the country -- so significant reform is nowhere in sight. (The biggest star in retail banking innovation is China Merchant's Bank, not one of the big boys.)
Brittle Company Structures.Corporate structure is also a huge barrier for innovation. Large SOEs are burdened by: a) byzantine hierarchies that preclude a bottom-up flow of new ideas, b) imperial CEOs who issue ambiguous instructions to generate anxiety and construct rival power factions to ensure competition is horizontal, not vertical, c) minimal investment in R&D, and d) dominance of (short-term) sales relative to marketing (a balance of short-term sales and long-term equity generation) functions. I am not aware of any large local company that has made huge strides in instituting an empowered marketing function. However, our experience with COFCO, China's largest food conglomerate, suggests it is at least trying nobly to impose a "framework" for innovation and brand development. Haier and large local appliance manufacturers remain stuck in the past.
The local brands that have made the most progress moving beyond scale/huge market capitalization and towards value creation (Anta, Lining, dairy companies such as Meng Niu and Yili, fashion) are, relatively speaking, independent of the state. These are the companies fueling JWT's growth amongst local clients. However, smaller private enterprises are increasingly starved for capital. Key question: when will banks begin lending based on objective assessment of return? Many doubt that day will arrive anytime soon.
By the way, Chinese companies are, rightly, focused on the China market. They are pragmatic. Few brands really want to "take over the world." Recent cases like Geely's takeover of Volvo is vanity project, a misguided attempt to grab a part of the booming luxury car segment. Lenovo could only go global via a takeover of IMB's international PC operations and results have been decidedly mixed. "International" Chinese brands will only succeed, for the foreseeable future, in emerging economies where the basic price-value equation of Mainland goods remains a genuine competitive advantage.
Political Reform: Taboo.Underlying all of this is slow progress on the political reform front. Can the government instill significant intra-party checks and balances to institutionalize more efficient governance? (This is what party apparatchiks mean by "democracy.") So far, this type of reform remains taboo, except in lofty think tank debates.
Is the government wrong to go slow? Probably not. Despite having become the world's second largest economy, China is still a poor country on a purchase power parity (PPP) basis. Vast expanses of the country require strong central government to continue the Middle Kingdom's Great Urbanization Project. That said, even "Friends of China" are right to encourage the Party to begin the process of institutional-based reform, because the day when it becomes a necessity, rather than a theoretical "good," will arrive sooner or later, perhaps unexpectedly.
Few people like thinking about their own death and less so the details of their body’s eventual fate in a coffin underground or in a cremation chamber. Yet as people consider their environmental footprint during life, concerns about one’s posthumous impact has inspired entrepreneurs to develop green alternatives to standard Western practices. Two such alternative technologies will soon launch in either North American or European markets.
Environmentally minded individuals have several concerns about Western death practices. Some worry that the formaldehyde and other chemicals undertakers use to prepare bodies for burial may leach into the water table. When it comes to cremation, they worry about energy usage: To sustain temperatures of nearly 1,000 °C, cremation of one body on average consumes so much fuel that 573 lb of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, says biochemist Sandy Sullivan, who has developed a cremation alternative with his company, Resomation Ltd., based in Glasgow, Scotland. Perhaps topping the list of environmental concerns about cremation is that crematorium smokestacks release mercury found in dental amalgam fillings into the air.
Regulators in at least seven European countries, including Germany and Sweden, require that crematoria filter mercury out of smokestacks. The U.K.’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is also establishing regulations, and it notes in a position paper that “without intervention, mercury emissions from crematoria in the U.K. will increase by two-thirds from 2000 to 2020,” and without regulations, crematoria will also be “by far the biggest single contributor to national mercury emissions” by 2020. Crematoria emissions are expected to reduce naturally by 2055, as mercury fillings fall out of use. But currently, Sullivan says, cremation is responsible for some 16% of the mercury in the U.K.’s air.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate mercury from crematoria smokestacks. “Good empirical data on the magnitude of mercury emissions from crematoria are lacking,” according to EPA’s website. But the agency’s website also notes that one study found that, in 2005, crematoria in the U.S. released about 6,600 lb of mercury into the environment.
Sullivan got the idea for his alternative to cremation when working on a European Union-funded project to invent safe ways to dispose of cattle contaminated by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also known as mad cow disease) and other prion diseases. Sullivan decided to apply the technology he developed to human remains and started Resomation two-and-a-half years ago.
The Resomation process breaks down a corpse using alkaline hydrolysis instead of extremely high heat. The body is placed in a steel chamber along with potassium hydroxide at high pressure (10 bar) and a temperature of 180 °C, which is 80% cooler than a standard crematorium, Sullivan notes.
The raised pressure and temperature increase the speed of the alkaline hydrolysis reaction so that the body reaches a similar end point as in standard cremation—just bones left to be crushed up—in two to three hours. The alkaline hydrolysis method “has a much lower carbon footprint than cremation” because the tissue is not burned and the process also uses an eighth of the energy required for cremation, Sullivan says. Any dental amalgam remains in the vessel after the process and is easily separated from the bone ash and sent for recycling, he adds.
Resomation has been approved in six U.S. states--Maine, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, and Maryland—and is under review in a handful more, Sullivan says. Sullivan has sold three units to North American clients for approximately $444,000 each. The cost charged for the service, he says, is up to the provider, but it will likely be more than for a traditional cremation, he says.
Price turns out to be an important factor for those seeking cremation, says John W. Ross, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America. “A bulk of the cremation market is favorably inclined toward green cremation until you raise the issue of price.”
Most “consumers are not ready to bear” the higher costs of the Resomation process, Ross says. However, he estimates that about 10% of the market will choose an environmentally sensitive alternative no matter what the cost.
Then there are those like Susanne Wiigh-Masak who wish to benefit the ground that they get buried in. She was determined to find a way to permit people to be composted into dirt from a biodegradable coffin—instead of proceeding to dust via a rotting process in a sealed casket, a method that doesn’t produce soil. And she wanted to do so in an environmentally sensitive way.
Before startingPromessa Organics, a corpse-composting company in Göteborg, Sweden, Wiigh-Masak spent 15 years as an environmental engineer at a petrochemical plant. This gave her the background to develop a technology called Promession, which she says creates the conditions that allow a corpse to compost to soil instead of rotting. One obstacle that interferes with humans being able to compost into soil, Wiigh-Masak says, is that humans are buried in one piece, which is too big of a challenge for the microorganisms and animals that typically turn organic waste into dirt. Other factors preventing bodies from composting to soil include too much moisture in human remains and coffins that don’t permit enough oxygen to enter. All this typically leads to rotting, liquefying, and decaying of bodies instead of a soil-producing process, Wiigh-Masak says.
Her approach is sort of the antithesis to cremation, in that it uses cold instead of heat to break down tissue. Specifically, the Promession process fragments a corpse into pieces that can be managed by composting animals. In a first step, a body is frozen with liquid nitrogen and then vibrated so that the body breaks into smaller pieces. Next, the pieces are transported to a freeze dryer under vacuum, which removes the 70% water found in a human body. Although Wiigh-Masak aims for Promession to be an alternative to embalming, she says that this vacuum process would remove any formaldehyde from corpses that were embalmed anyway. Finally, with equipment developed by the food industry, chunks of mercury and other metals as small as 1 mm in diameter are removed. The remains of the deceased are placed in a biodegradable, cornstarch coffin that is about half the size of a typical casket. Buried in a shallow topsoil grave, where more oxygen can access the remains, the corpse will become soil within one year, she says. Her apparatus does not require a chimney or ventilation, so adds no residues to air or water, Wiigh-Masak says.
Wiigh-Masak has received regulatory approval to begin doing clinical tests of the process in Sweden and Germany this fall, with humans who have volunteered for the procedure. Other tests will begin later this year in South Korea.
Both Sullivan and Wiigh-Masak acknowledge that they are entrepreneurs in an industry that most people prefer to avoid thinking about. But as Sullivan puts it, “No matter how you look at it, there’s just no pretty way to go.” The question is whether you will go a little greener, he adds.
Every day industrial companies work with a large number of high profile machines and equipment supplies which must be stored in safe and secure conditions free from rust. It can be a challenge to find storage for these items, but A Stematic offers an ideal solution with their top-of-the-line storage racks from KingCab.
"We have a wide variety of racks that would be perfect for a industrial, showroom or other equipment setting, including heavy industrial racks, see through racks, and heavy storage racks with plastic bins for small item storage," said Venkat, president of Stematic.
Stematic's storage racks are rust-proof, acid-resistant and extremely durable, ensuring many years of quality use. Their stainless steel finish is not only sleek and stylish, but the definitive solution for sanitary and hygienic storage.
Much like the large selection of racks for which Stematic is famous, their racks are durable and adaptable for any number of applications. All of the units offer removable or adjustable shelves in order to adjust for new products or changing needs, and they come in a wide variety of sizes.
"At Stematic we have five different styles of racks with at least three different size configurations for each style, meaning customers have at least 20 standard racks to choose from to fit their specific needs," said Venkat. "Whether you work at a Industrial company, a showroom, an office, or you just want a nice clean look for your wardrobe, we can help you find what you need."
To learn more about racks, work stations, interiors or industrial equipment from Stematic, call 044-4335-8110 or visit www.stematic.co.in.
About Stematic:
Stematic Equipment Companie Private Ltd. is an manufacturer of quality industrial equipment including many racks, work stations, storage racks, warehouse racks, conveyors, steel shelving, and industrial equipments. With an extensive selection of brand name manufacturers, hard-to-find products and exclusive offerings, Stematic has everything a business needs to maintain a high level of efficiency and productivity at one convenient destination.
News of abated property rates has swayed plenty of people to make property investment in Chennai. Tamilnadu inhabitants are also showing interest in purchasing residential properties in Chennai for affluent living. Hence demand for local moving services in Tamilnadu has increased as it offers convenient shifting.
Locals in Tamilnadu reported that Best Packers and Movers services had been eminently useful while shifting to new location. Even the most arduous job is done effortlessly by the efficient professionals. Fragile items are packed and moved with higher amount of caution. Many residents thanked heartily to the company for the brilliant support they received. Mr. Shyam said, “I would like to thank you and your people in The Best Movers for assisting me in my last house move. Your team was highly professional and prices were quite reasonable.” The company proffers variety of options keeping in mind the requirements of customers. Availability of such options give customers freedom to choose the service that will suit best to their requirements. Market analysis say that the company has good reputation of protecting personal belongings and is the number one choice for commercial/residential storage along with house removal in India. Majority of people look for service which will gently move their huge as well as tiny objects and The Best Movers has been doing it for their clients. The company professional also claim of making international relocation in Asia easy and stress free. Many housewives said that after moving, cleaning and painting of houses become much more tedious for them but The Best Movers has been helpful in that too. Working class admits that such companies have been a boon to them, efficient personnel cooperate in saving time and money. Before selecting service from such companies people make proper enquiries and deal with the best company in the market.
The Best Packers and Movers is one of the prominent companies in India. This company provides best solutions to every packing, storing and moving issue. All their customers appreciate the humble and hardworking approach of company personnel. It boasts of being one of the best local moving services in Chennai. For more information Contact Best Packers and Movers company Jaya Meena Complex, Mettukuppam Road, Maduravoyoal at http://www.bestpackersnmovers.com/.
It's pretty tough to be a relevant PC maker these days. There are so many options. By the time you've come up with a creative design, it's already been leaked on Gizmodo to your competitors. Or, your story gets bumped by the latest Apple tablet rumor (which turns out to be false).
But one niche that no manufacture has really tapped is green electronics. Enter the ASUS bamboo laptop!
Sure, green electronics are an oxymoron. How can they be green when they clog up the landfills with 50 million tons of e-waste each year? Well, they can't, but this bamboo laptop sure makes me think some day they will.
By using industrial-strength bamboo, the laptop reduces e-waste bamboo can of course be recycled - even the trackpad is made out of bamboo! Interestingly enough, part of the manufacturing process includes screening the bamboo for parasites.
"We spent the last couple of years perfecting and working with bamboo," said Jonney Shih, Chairmen of ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS). "It is trendy yet responsible."
It's rumored the notebooks will cost around $999. Much friendlier to the pocketbook than the $2000 price tag which was leaked back in June when the device was called the U6.
The notebooks are powered by Intel's Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, they run Windows 7, and have USB 3.0 connectivity. They have up to 500GB of storage space and Blu-ray drives. They're optimized to save battery life using ASUS's Super Hybrid Engine. It reduces CO2 emissions by 12.3kg per notebook annually. With the 6 million notebooks ASUS sells each year, this equates to about 73.8M kg of CO2 (or about 36 million trees).
Of course, this isn't the first bamboo device we have seen. There have been external USB drives, Dell's tiny eco computer, and a whole other line of ASUS bamboo products. And we cannot wait until more come out.
“We are looking forward to leading the PC industry into a new era of thought,” Shih says. And we are looking forward to it too.
Plant Your Tree is an amazing project from a friend of mine.
At Plant Your Tree you have the opportunity to actively take part in the reforestation of native tree species in Brazil.
The aim is to restore nature and to connect existing fragments of Atlantic Rainforest. Your planted tree therefore does not only reduce your carbon footprint, but it also enhances biodiversity by allowing animals to move in between otherwise isolated pieces of habitats.
Primarily environmental, the project will also benefit the local population with regards to employment, education and farming practices.
And it is fun! You can also add an application in your facebook and grow your vitual forest.
Plant your tree and play a role in the fight against global climate change!
I guess we really need to think about global warming, we must believe that our planet is dying and what are the causes? We have two.
Natural Causes
Natural causes are causes created by nature. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years.
Man-made Causes
Man-made causes probably do the most damage. There are many man-made causes. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Also mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil is mined you have to dig up the earth a little. When you dig up the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well.
Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people means more food, and more methods of transportation, right? That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels, and more agriculture. Now your probably thinking, "Wait a minute, you said agriculture is going to be damaged by Global Warming, but now you're saying agriculture is going to help cause Global Warming?" Well, have you ever been in a barn filled with animals and you smell something terrible? You're smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Because more food is needed we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car.
Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2. Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being demolished because we're using the land that we cut the trees down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not replacing the trees (an important part of our eco system), so we are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and giving nothing back in return.
We should act now. Lets do our part in overhauling the Planet.
A crowd of so-called Iphone Mobile Phone killers staged their grand debut at the IFA consumer electronics show this week in Germany, hoping to mimic the success of ipad, which at last count had sold more than 3 million of its popular tablets since launching in April. Looking to fill the gap between smartphone and netbook, hardware makers have sweetened their tablets with a diverse selection of features and form factors, and here is our pick of four of the more promising devices expected to hit the streets this year. Samsung Galacy Tab The company that brought us the stunning Samsung Galaxy S smartphone has turned its hand to tablets with a 7-inch device based on version 2.2 of Google's Android operating system. The device, which also works as a phone, will only be available through carriers and weighs in somewhat smaller and lighter than the iphone mobile phone. It also sports Flash 10.1 for watching Flash videos, and is available with 16GB or 32GB of memory, a 3.2 megapixel camera and 1.3 megapixel forward facing camera. It also features an accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS and will have access to the Android Market of apps. .Toshiba Folio Libretto W100 Another tablet from the Android 2.2 camp is due to hit the market sometime soon - this time from Toshiba. Available in Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi plus 3G, its 10.1 inch screen makes it a smidgen larger than the iPad. It is powered by the next-gen Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset, has 16GB memory, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 2 USB slots, an SD card slot, stereo speakers and an HDMI connector for hooking up to a TV. Local pricing and availability are yet to be announced, but the company has recently released a dual screen high-end tablet/e-reader device called the Libretto W100. As the first tablet to be built on the Windows 7 operating system, it boasts two touch screens and a reversible keyboard so it can switch from clam-style notebook into e-book reader and is selling for $1599 in Australia. It has an Intel U5400 processor, 2GB of RAM processor, a USB port, and is wireless-enabled with a built-in webcam and integrated Bluetooth. Although it weighs less than a kilo, the extra functionality results in a thicker device than the iphone mobile phone. Dell Streak The Streak is a fairly small and thin small tablet (or large phone) that sports a 5 inch screen. It has a 1 GHz processor, a 16GB microSD memory card and 5-megapixel digital camera on its back with a flash. However the Streak is hobbled by version 1.6 of Android – which is an older version of the operating software that is missing some of more popular Android features of the current version 2.2. It also lacks Adobe's Flash Player 10.1. BlackBerry With nothing but rumors swirling around the actual existence of the BlackBerry tablet, speculation has so far centred on the possibility that device will be designed to be tethered to a BlackBerry handset, with only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options. While iphone mobile phone is undoubted prevailing among the young and the old, iphone mobile phone has its own unbeatable features. Topons, an online marketplace Wholesale Electronics supplier, feature in fashion as well as electric product such as various phone equipef with Iphone Accessories with good quality while at reasonable price. http://blog.topons.com/index.php/2010/09/top-four-iphone-mobile-phone%e2%80%99s-rivals/
An ill wind is blowing over Italy's green revolution, as the Mafia seek to capitalise on generous grants for renewable energy.
Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
They rise up high above the sun-scorched countryside, looking out over hilltop villages, palm trees, neatly-tended vineyards and olive groves.
But for all their promises of a clean, green future, Italy's windfarms have now acquired a somewhat dirtier whiff - as the latest industry to be infiltrated by the country's mobsters.
Attracted by the prospect of generous grants designed to boost the use of alternative energies, the so-called "eco Mafia" has begun fraudulently creaming off millions of euros from both the Italian government and the European Union.
And nowhere has the industry's reputation become more tarnished than Sicily, where windmills now dot the horizon in Mafia strongholds like Corleone, the town better known as the setting for the Godfatherfilms.
"Nothing earns more than a wind farm," said Edoardo Zanchini, an environmental campaigner who has investigated Mafia infiltration of the industry. "Anything that creates wealth interests the Mafia."
It is not just Italian criminals, however, who have spotted the potential for corruption. Recent research by Kroll, the international corporate security firm, has discovered examples all over Europe of so-called "clean energy" schemes being used to to line criminals' pockets rather than save the planet. Some involve windmills that stand derelict or are simply never built, while others are used to launder profits from other crime enterprises.
"Renewable energy seems like a good thing, run by saintly people saving the world," said Jason Wright, a senior director with Kroll, which performs background checks on renewable energy schemes on behalf of legitimate investors, and which has documented a sharp rise in the number of wind farms with suspect ownership.
"But a lot of people want to jump on board a sure-fire revenue spinner. I wouldn't say the entire sector is corrupt, but there is a small percentage of corrupt projects."
The level of fraud has prompted calls for tighter restrictions on the use of public money in funding renewable energy, for which EU bureaucrats have grand ambitions.Brussels has ordered all 27 EU nations to ensure that one-fifth of their energy is renewable by 2020, and in recent years has given out an average of €5 billion (£4.1 billion) annually in loans and grants. The levels of subsidy allow some wind farm owners to claim generous premiums for every watt of electricity they generate.
In Italy, for example, power from wind farms is sold at a guaranteed rate of €180 per kwh – the highest rate in the world. In a country where the Mafia has years of expertise at buying corrupt politicians and intimidating rivals, the result is perhaps inevitable, creating a new breed of entrepreneur known as the "lords of the wind".
Around 30 wind farms have been built in Sicily, with another 60 planned, often to the anger of local people, who say they blight an otherwise picturesque landscape. Dino Leggio, 33, a barman in Corleone, claimed that many of the turbines that now dotted the island made money only for politicians and the Mafia.
"Nobody consulted ordinary people about putting up these huge great things," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "They are very tall, and very ugly. Before they start pumping millions of euros into wind farms, they should fix the roads, which are in a terrible state."
While many of the wind farms in Sicily are in legitimate hands, some have already attracted the attention of the police. Last year, detectives launched a major investigation into suspicions that Mafia clans had colluded with corrupt businessmen and local politicians to secure control of a project to construct wind turbines in the Trapani area of western Sicily.
Eight people were arrested in Operation "Eolo", named after Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of winds, on charges of bribing officials in the coastal town of Mazara del Vallo with gifts of luxury cars and individual bribes of €30,000-70,000.
Police wiretaps showed the extent of the Mafia's infiltration of the wind energy sector when they intercepted an alleged Mafioso telling his wife: "Not one turbine blade will be built in Mazara unless I agree to it."
In another operation last November, codenamed "Gone With the Wind", 15 people were arrested on suspicion of trying to embezzle up to €30 million in EU funds. Among those arrested on fraud charges was the president of Italy's National Wind Energy Association, Oreste Vigorito. He has not been convictued of an offence and denies any wrongdoing.
Further afield, scandals have emerged in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria and Corsica, among others. In one alleged scam on the Canary Islands, a mayor, five officials and two developers are fighting criminal charges that include abuse of office, bribery and misappropriation of land in an attempt to secure EU subsidies.
One case in Spain, meanwhile, involved a solar energy plant which claimed, miraculously, to be generating electricity at night. Investigators found that that the power was in fact being produced by diesel generators - the "green" subsidies paid for the plant were so generous that the owners still made a handsome profit.
As well as the prospect of fraudulent grant money, wind farms are also attractive to criminals seeking to invest money from illegal activities such as drug dealing, prostitution and illegal waste dumping. Some Mafia clans have illicitly secured licenses to build a wind farm and then sold them on to legitimate firms who have invested in good faith.
"Foreign investors are often not aware who they are dealing with," said Mr Wright. "You start to be alarmed if the shareholders have a background in something like pizzerias."
John Etherington, a former professor of ecology at the University of Wales and author of The Wind Farm Scam, said the industry was vulnerable to corruption because of poor regulation. The EU, which has an anti-fraud unit, currently has no criminal proceedings on any wind farm cases, insisting it is the responsibility of member states to monitor funding.
"It has been a matter of policy in the wind farm industry to make the financing of it both opaque and complicated," said Mr Etherington. "In all countries across Europe the customer is not told how much they are paying for it, and the whole financing of the industry is coming out of subsidy on electricity generation."
Despite the scandals over Mafia infiltration, there have been very few protests against wind farms in Italy. Instead, farmers have leapt at the chance to rent out their land for wind farm construction at a time when the price of agricultural produce such as grapes and tomatoes has plummeted.
"Why get up early every morning to work the land, and run the risk of not being able to sell your crops for a good price, when you can sit at home and take 10,000 euros a year in rent?" said Nicola Angelo, a Sicilian businessman. "People here have swallowed the idea of wind farms, even though they have ruined the landscape."
But David Moss, a British building contractor based in the Sicilian hilltop town of Salemi, which is surrounded by whirring turbines, suggested that was not the only reason for the absence of wind-farm "Nimbyism".
"In the UK, if a company proposed putting up 100 turbines across the countryside, there would be an uproar," he said. "In Italy, everyone keeps quiet because they are afraid to stand up to the Mafia."
Planning to steal some sunlight to cook your food out in the open? Well, you could just use the Solar Ibex, an outdoor cooking system with a high performance and an auto tracking sun ray concentrator! Now cooking food has never been so high-tech before, especially in the open. Our forefathers used stoves and pieces of coal to cook their food away from their kitchens. We could use some renewable energy instead, now that the environment needs saving. The Solar Ibex is packed with features such as an adjustable cooking time, up to 300 degrees Celsius of heating and can cook, boil and bake too!
The Solar Ibex is lightweight and folds up easily, allowing you to carry it around with you anywhere. Also, taken that it uses renewable energy to cook food, this one has a zero carbon footprint. The clean and green Solar Ibex makes sure you don’t run out of cooked food in the outdoors.
We all love vacations, it is what we save for, dream of and sweat for a long time in order to make few days of resting and unwinding. By principal, hospitality and Sustainability seems to be contradictory terms which cannot work together. After all, you go to a hotel so people will cook, clean, wash for you, entertain you and care for you in so many other ways. The more luxurious the hotel, the more waste is created for every small effort, and then we go into cruise ships, luxury vacation mansions and 6+ stars hotels, which we do not even need to mention. Could it be that it is only a perception problem? Can hotels really be Sustainable and Green while still being successful?
I remember my vacation in one of the Club Med hotels in early 2000, the amount of food that was wasted in one buffet was enough of feed a medium size town, the waste was so overwhelming you could not help but wonder if all parameters flew out of the window.
I am happy to say that things have improve in many ways, and club Med is now one of the pioneers in Green and Sustainability industry in terms of sustainability and efficiency (http://bit.ly/abaIt7 ) it even has a dedicated line of super Sustainable retreat accommodations for nature lovers (http://bit.ly/cc7FIz ) .
With Buildings consuming up to 40% of the energy worldwide, and up to 70% of the raw materials, working on efficiency and Sustainability in some of the most wasteful ones of all, the hotel and hospitality industry, can save enormously. There were always eco-tourism focused accommodations which were geared towards that specific market, but when it came to the mainstream, it was a marginal and minor trend until around 2002.
Since then, as awareness rose, the industry adopted in neck breaking speed. By today, there are already talks about hotels sustainability 2.0 and talks that even that is not enough.For example, the new American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA)2010 Lodging Survey, the most comprehensive industry-wide survey of its kind, polled 9,000 U.S. hotel properties. Among other findings, one of the key results was that hotels are becoming much greener and much more sustainable: hotels using energy-efficient lighting jumped from 68 percent in 2008 to 88 percent; appearing on the survey for the first time, 44 percent of participants said they have or are working toward a green certification.http://bit.ly/b5WxyJ
Hotel consultant Pat Maher, the ``green guru'' for the American Hotel & Lodging Association and a former hotel executive who helped develop early hotel environmental policies during a 25-year Marriott career, Maher says most hotels have now adopted at least some ``green and sustainability'' practices...
``We realize it can't just be a name,'' he says. ``When you come in the door, you have to see that there are differences. . . . Certainly, there is a growing class of people who are very conscious about the environment and health in general, and they tend to be a younger group of people. If you want to attract those people in the future, you have to do these things.''http://bit.ly/cSK5fo
From just hotels and sustainability, it started to reach much further, like in China, where hotels energy wastage was so high, that they started with energy efficiency, then went to monitoring the energy use and all the way to the concept of “smart buildings” :The building was a so-called "smart building," meaning the situation was rectified much sooner than it would have been had management had to wait for a utility bill to arrive, saving money and the environment.
The idea of a smart building, capable of telling operations personnel what´s happening to it and what it needs and impacting both budgets and the environment, is super space-agey. It´s happening also in Alberta in the Calgary Catholic School District, which is using IBM Maximo Asset Management software to manage its 2,800 assets, including 103 schools, and now, to improve its carbon footprint.http://bit.ly/aHuRQr
Many times, the line is not yet clear, how Sustainable and Greenis the hotel exactly, how much of it is real efforts with real measurable results and how much of it is green-washing and PR.I, for one, do not accept the certification hanging on the wall as a given that things are still being done, as I go to events and conferences, I constantly check it out. I am lucky enough, that most of the conferences that I attend are anyhow about sustainability. So when all the lights in the conference room are all incandescent, when they use Styrofoam left and right for conference meals, plastic bags all over and just wasteful in food or other manners; I make sure to send them a note, copy furnish the organizers of the event and ask politely that if they would like us to attend next year, to please align the reality with the placard on the wall. How about you? Did you come across some remarkably green and sustainable hotels which their practicing deserve a nice award? How about the opposite? Some not so green and not so sustainable accommodations which can do better if they will think a bit about the planet before hurrying to serve their clients based on outdated and ill conceived paradigm. I think Green and sustainability is the game, and it will be, for the hotel industry, for a long, long time.
Renewable Energy is posing to shoot up on the various stock markets, and if you want to be in the game, you’d better wake up and make some sense of it fast, so you can ride the Renewable wave as it starts and all the way to its peak.
First and foremost, China is showing some great potential with Renewable Energy IPO’s coming just about the horizon: Propelled in part by the backing of powerful Beijing bureaucrats, Renewable-themed Chinese companies are poised to reap billions of dollars from public offerings to new investors in coming months.
Among a spate of clean-energy initial public offerings heading to market in the next few months is Chinese wind-turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, which scrapped a $1.2 billion Hong Kong IPO in June. It is reviving its plans with a $1 billion Hong Kong offering in the next few weeks. Mingyang Electric plans to raise $300 million to $500 million from a U.S. IPO this year. China Suntien, the renewable-energy division of Hebei provincial government’s investment arm, is seeking about $500 million in Hong Kong.
Add to that Huaneng New Energy Industrial, China Huaneng Group’s wind-power unit, which is looking to tap markets for a $1.5 billion IPO in October, and Chinese clean-technology IPOs this year alone could reach record levels.
Wind-power generator China Longyuan Power Group raised $2.2 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong in December last year, in one of the biggest clean-energy deals in Asia. Many are hoping to follow the success of China battery and car maker BYD, which won backing from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett and has seen its shares surge in recent years.http://bit.ly/b4ggRz
Second, with the bloom box raising so many positive waves in the market, fuel cells (one of the most promising Renewable Energy sectors) are looking brighter everyday; one company which looks as if it is going to benefit from this wave in a huge way is the Canadian Ballard Power Systems Inc.(NASDAQ: BLDP) :It provides clean energy fuel cell products that enable optimized power systems for a variety of applications. The company designs, develops, manufactures and sells fuel cell products for a variety of applications. The company is also involved in proton exchange membrane fuel cell development and commercialization.
Last month, Ballard announced the deployment of the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell generator. The company entered into a deal with Ohio’s FirstEnergy Generation Corp., which will enable the U.S.-based utility to activate Ballard’s fuel cell generator known as CLEARgen™. CLEARgen is based on Ballard’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. The technology will assist during peak demand period by taking the strain off the power grid and will also ensure uninterrupted power during the summer.http://bit.ly/bqZ7OP
Third, as the rule goes, you always follow the big guys, and T Boon Pickens is one hell of a big guy, which is going very strong when it comes to green and Renewable Energy: Investor T. Boone Pickens spoke in the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas and he talked to CNBC about his energy plan. For him, anything -- wind, solar, natural gas – anything reduces our reliance on foreign oil is a step forward to achieve national security in energy.
Pickens lists the pillars to the Pickens Plan:
1. Create millions of new jobs by building out the capacity to generate up to 22 percent of our electricity from wind. And adding to that with additional solar generation capacity;
2. Building a 21st century backbone electrical transmission grid;
3. Providing incentives for homeowners and the owners of commercial buildings to upgrade their insulation and other energy saving options; and
4. Using America's natural gas to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel in addition to its other uses in power generation, chemicals, etc.
And last, from down under, there are some great opportunities which can make things turn Renewable and fast :
Top of the list is Sims Metal. "It's the largest recycler," Thomas says. "It does what BHP does except uranium and oil, making it a good proxy for the resources sector."
Another is CBD Energy, "a great little company." It has a foot in just about every renewable camp: wind, solar and storage using a graphite battery.
The stock has very low gearing, has just moved into profit and the two brokers following it value it at 30¢ or 40¢, more than twice its current price. But, like all fast-growing stocks, it is capital hungry: there have been two raisings so far this year.
AGL, with both wind and solar farms, is also a well-regarded green chip that has outperformed the sharemarket during the past 10 years.
One of the smaller stocks Ethinvest favours is solar panel and pump supplier Solco, which has just posted its third consecutive and so far biggest profit, is debt-free as well as paying a tiny dividend.
The other is Dyesol, which is also debt free but loses money. It's the only solar energy company that doesn't need much sun to generate electricity. It has adapted photosynthesis from the plant world and using its special dye can generate power more cheaply than traditional silicon-based solar cells, working in low light and not even having to face the sun.http://bit.ly/aJoEZp
So, if I were you, I would look into these Renewable energy stock options, especially the natural gas one, there are some great findings in the market right now, which you really do not want to miss. Good luck, and please write to us back and share with us you techniques of“going Renewable in the stock market” !!
Within the last few years, there are so many new Renewable Energy companies that the job market is just not supplying enough new hires and they basically get whoever they can put their hands on. It is surprising, since in other sectors (except Renewable Energy) are seeing rising numbers of unemployment and the crisis just seems to be getting worst by the week.
For example : New Energy Finance ((a leading Renewable Energy information company) CEO Michael Liebreich said that the rapid influx of capital and strong demand for clean technologies is at the root of the talent problem.
Hundreds of new clean-tech companies have been created over the past five years.
The Greentech Media article also notes that job boards in the field have plenty of unanswered listings for clean-tech related jobs, including C-level positions.
“Now there’s a crisis where we’ve got a bunch of work to do, and given the capital intensity in this sector, what’s missing today is serial entrepreneurs,” Hemant Taneja, a managing director at venture-capital firm General Catalyst Partners, told Greentech Media on Thursday.
Getting appropriate people, particularly chief technology officers and chief executive officers, is a challenge comparable to getting sufficient capital and regulatory support, according to the study. http://bit.ly/dwrq5e
When investors and politicians sat together to the national Renewable Energy summit last week,they were trying to figure out how the rising industry of clean and renewable energy can help the rest of the market, which is having such a hard time, the conclusion? Renewable Energy jobs! there are plenty available and not enough takers :
Many of the nation's leading investors, politicians and environmentalists are in Las Vegas Tuesday night for the third National Renewable Energy Summit. The focus of this year's conference is how renewable energy can help the slow economy.
Putting the American people back to work was the talk of today's summit, with Senator Harry Reid at the head of the discussions.
"They see the writing on the wall and see that this is where the new jobs are (in the Renewable Energy sector)" said Thomas Piechota, Director of Sustainability and Multidisciplinary Research, at UNLV. http://bit.ly/diqA2z
Not only in the US, Europe is also seeing some great potential in Renewable Energy jobs over the next few years:
EWEA’s latest statistics show that the wind power sector will create some 250,000 new Renewable Energy jobs in Europe in the next decade. This would take the total of wind energy jobs to 450,000 by 2020...
Moreover, yesterday, José Manuel Barroso – European Commission President – in his State of the Union speech said that the EU must create an extra three million Renewable Energy jobs within a decade.
It is not hard to imagine that wind energy (the leading Renewable Energy sector) is already a key source of green jobs. What is more impressive is EWEA’s latest statistics show that the wind power sector will create some 250,000 new jobs in Europe in the next decade. This would take the total of wind energy jobs to 450,000 by 2020.
The growth of opportunities is not just in traditional Renewable Energy and power generation fields, there are many other sectors of clean-tech and green which are exploding with new opportunities :
When you think of green jobs, usually some kind of new technology comes to mind: solar energy panels or wind power or electric cars. But there's a growing field that's more about re-use than the creation of anything new. KPLU's Bellamy Pailthorp has the details on a green jobs training program that will teach disadvantaged Seattle residents the craft of deconstruction. http://bit.ly/bRhYZl
And Lat, If you are unemployed, underemployed or need a career change, the E3 Job Fair is the place to be. Guess what is the focus in this year job fair? That’s correct, green jobs -
Get Into Water: Careers In the Water Industry This workshop provides an introduction to the careers available with utilities, cities, counties and special districts in positions such as engineering, management, customer service and operations.
Green Jobs This workshop provides an overview of the industries and occupations that make up green jobs (such as solar, wind, renewable energy and clean energy) and offers tips on how you can start the search to find your dream green job.
There are many others who are still disputing the full potential of Renewable Energy jobs and cannot see the wave of new opportunities the way some experts say it is coming. Time will be the one to tell us just how much of this potential would really end up in more jobs in the market.
PHOTO CREDIT: QUAVONDO Megan Marie Butler models a solar- inspired little black dress in advance of Portland Fashion Week.
The women's fashion staple known as "the little black dress" has been reinterpreted as a novel way to plug solar power and sustainable living.
Seth Aaron Henderson, recent winner of television's "Project Runway," has released a sneak preview of a runway collection reflecting his fashion evocations of solar energy, technology and industry. The collection is to make its debut in Oregon during Portland Fashion Week from Oct. 6 through 10, a fashion event that emphasizes sustainability.
Mr. Henderson drew inspiration for his collection by visiting the Hillsboro, Ore., operations of SolarWorld, a major global solar module manufacturer based in Germany that has been expanding and adding jobs in the United States.
"Solar Is the New Black" is the theme of this year's Portland Fashion Week, designed to complement SolarWorld's introduction of a new black-front module. The models will appear on a runway constructed of solar panels. Mr. Henderson's part of the show is called the "Seth Aaron SolarWorld Collection Presented by Portland Fashion Week."
By combining fashion with solar-technology design influences, Mr. Henderson joins SolarWorld and Portland Fashion Week in making a statement that sustainability is fashionable.
“The first look really captures my first impression when we walked onto the floor of the SolarWorld factory,” he said in a news release. “It’s been interesting to see how one piece branches from the last. This will be a fun mix of fantasy and ‘wearability,’ hardness and softness – pieces that take concept and costume and connect them with reality. It’s an artistic story about solar power and renewable energy. But, as it should be, it’s a fashion story, a fashion collection.”
Portland Fashion Week is an eco-friendly production; its promoters say that it showcases the highest number of sustainable labels of any fashion week in the country, along with independent and fair-trade high-fashion designers.
"This exciting collaboration between a fashion designer and a world-class solar tech company reflects our region's values -- sustainability and creativity -- and showcases our economic competitive advantages," said Portland Mayor Sam Adams in the news release.
In addition to Mr. Henderson, who was the winner during Season 7 of the "Project Runway" show last spring, two other "Project Runway" alumni, Jonathan Peters and Jay Sario, also will present designs Oct. 9 at the show. All three designers will be staging their first collections since their TV appearances.
Congress has been working on new legislation that is designed to overhaul current financial regulations.This legislation points fingers in key critical areas across the nation’s economy.Important for homeowners is Congress’s plans to form a new agency to crack down on deceptive mortgages and other financial products in the future.It also aims to better protect consumers, tighten the reins on financial institutions and stop rewarding executives for taking reckless risks to fatten their quarterly earnings and bonuses.
However, while this legislation is looking to the future to prevent another financial collapse and stop deceptive practices, the homeowner is not protected from the banks right now.Every day, the banks are misleading people who are in foreclosure with false promises of loan mods.This is why more and more, homeowners are taking matters into their own hands.They are coming to companies like Tila Solutions who provide complete forensic loan audits and use the results to get the banks to finally approve the loan modification.
One by one, American homeowners have fallen prey to the banks that originally mislead them with their deceptive lending practices, despite the laws that protected the borrowers. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the banks simply chose not to follow those laws.If they had, we wouldn’t be a nation in foreclosure today.It becomes clear that Congress knows the problems exist otherwise they wouldn’t be forming a new agency to prevent future deceptive mortgage practices. But what does the homeowner who is losing his home do now?Most just lose their homes.But they do not have to.The laws that should have protected them when the lenders issued the loan can still protect them now –if the homeowner will reach out to use those laws. Forensic loan audits will reveal what the bank did wrong and open the doors to stopping foreclosure, and finalizing a loan mod.
So why is Congress turning a blind eye to the banks as they currently lie to and mislead the homeowners? Most often done by offering loan mods to them while foreclosing on those very people they said qualified? And why are the banks continuing to turn people down in record numbers?
Could there be any truth to the concerns that many people have expressed?Tila Solutions has received thousands of calls. The homeowner believed the bank’s “offers of help.”They believed it when the lender said they did not have to address the foreclosure process --that it was just a formality or a way for the lender to stay on top of the file.They believed their lender when he said that they could work directly with the lender and get the loan modified --which would automatically bring the foreclosure to a stop. Sadly, far too many of them found that actually yes, the foreclosure did stop:when the lender auctioned off their home.
What would have happened if a homeowner had known that his lender deceived him with the original loan?Would have been so likely to blindly trust that the lender really wasn’t going to auction off his home (even though the lender’s attorney firm provided him with an auction date) and was going to give him a loan mod?Probably not. Do you think the homeowner would have had the courage and wisdom to get his loan investigated?
Many homeowners are doing just that now. The attitude today is to stop trusting the bank.And it comes as no surprise: Countless forensics audits have been done, and consistently they reveal the same thing:Banks ignored the laws: the violations are found in the loan.Foreclosure doesn’t have to end in a disqualification for loan mod and an auction date.In fact, with the use of Forensic Loan Audits, homeowners are saving their homes?The lender stopped foreclosure because he actually took the homeowner seriously and got him the loan mod.
Forensic Loan Audits has been the only thing consistently saving more homes than any other approach.When homeowners get a forensic loan audit done all the TILA, RESPA, HOEPA and ECOA violations are found and revealed.Fraud is also found in 79% of the loans that forensics are conducted on.When people contact Tila Solutions, they get not only a forensic loan audit, but also a free negotiations service.A Tila negotiator provides the results of that audit to the lender and real negotiations get underway.More homes have been saved from foreclosure with the use of a forensic loan audit than any other way currently known.The laws that prevented deceptive lending practices do exist. They existed at the time the bankers went on a free-for-all, carelessly lending money and misleading homeowners. There is no need to be in foreclosure, The federal laws can help you.
Tila Consultants help countless homeowners each month, determining if there is any way that the federal laws which currently do exist can help bring an end to the current deceptive practices that lenders are involved in.
A Tila Solutions Consultant can be found by visiting the website at http://www.tilasolutions.comor by calling1 - 3 0 7- 459 - 02 52.
There is a homeowner hotline at Tila Solutions that you can call. Their consultants will interview you and help you identify whether or not you should get your loan investigated because of the possibility that you are in a predatory loan. They can help you determine if your loan is in need of a Forensic Loan Audit. They can help you determine if the Forensic Audit may help stop a foreclosure.
In many cases, when the lender is reviewing your paperwork to see if they will give you a loan mod, their calculations support that they can make more money at less risk if they do not give you that loan mod. That is normally why foreclosure gets underway. The Forensic Loan Review is your most necessary resource to help stop foreclosure.
When a homeowner is rejected for a loan modification by the lender, a Forensic Loan Audit is the critical first step that he or she should employ to resolve the situation. Banks are not and never have been there to help people; they are money makers- either you make them money or you don’t. If you don’t, then you are of no interest to them. The lender does not consider hard times as a good reason to give you a loan modification. They are only interested in seeing the loan they gave you produce a monthly payment made on time. And if your loan is a violation-free loan, then normally you should have no trouble doing this, even when you are experiencing some hard times!
Tila Solutions is an Audit Company that investigates loans. If you have a predatory loan, you will need a Forensic Loan Audit. If you feel that there was any kind of “funny business” or pressuring to get you into that loan, then you should have it audited. It helps you get the loan mod.
A Forensic Loan Audit, Forensic Loan Review or Mortgage Audit is a detailed examination or investigation of the loan that the bank gave you. The audit is done to find all the Federal Laws that the banker violated.
Do you remember when you signed your loan documents? Do you recall reference to TILA, RESPA, HOEPA and ECOA? Those laws were passed to help prevent you from getting a predatory loan – which is a loan that puts you on the road to foreclosure. These laws are also supposed to ensure that you understand what you are getting before you sign, and give you a choice to rescind. Tila Examiners review all these Federal Laws that protect you as a borrower.
While Tila Examiners are conducting this investigation of your loan, they are also on the lookout for fraud committed by the banks, and they find plenty of it!
Tila Examiners will methodically go through your loan sometimes producing a report numbering in the 40-page range. As you may have surmised, your lender loses much firepower against you and no longer has the ability to pursue other money-making routes if the loan contains federal violations or fraud.
Do you know that some people have been told that a Forensic Loan Review will do them no good! This is false. But do keep this in mind: once the Forensic Loan Audit is completed, something must be done with it in an effective manner. Because lenders, who often seem to operate above the law, will tell homeowners it means nothing and that the homeowner just wasted his money, some homeowners just shut down, they need somebody on their side who knows what to do with the bank. That is why Tila Solutions offers a free service to help negotiate on your behalf once the investigation is completed. The Lenders push borrowers around and mislead them all the time.
Borrowers have to remember that it was these people who lied to them when the lender gave them the loan, and it is these people who are still lying to them. Tila Negotiators work on behalf of the homeowner to make sure that you get your loan modification.
A Forensic Loan Audit helps with commercial loans as well as a residential loan. If you have been turned down for a loan mod then contact a Tila Solutions Consultant. If you are nearing or are in foreclosure, a Tila Consultant can help. They can also help people who are current on their loans or those with investment properties.
Just remember that the Tila Consultant is on your side. You can call one of the consultants today at 1 — 3 0 7 — 4 5 9 — 0 2 3 2. The Tila Solution website has much valuable information and a variety of solutions. Visit at http://www.tilasolutions.com/ to learn more about a Forensic Loan Review and to learn how to take advantage of the free negotiation service offered by Tila Solutions.
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Is China Serious About Major E Is China Serious About Major Economic Reform? Probably Not
Of late, many propaganda pieces in the Chinese press have appeared extolling the importance of innovation, value-creation and a fundamental rebalancing of China's manufacturing-led economy to a consumer-driven one.
On the ground, a big question remains whether the government truly believes its growth model has reached its peak.
Infrastructure Investment. The key strategy continues to be urbanization which entails: a) massive infrastructure investment inland, b) upgrading non productive rural workers into higher-productivity manufacturing workers. The structure of the governments' gargantuan 2008 stimulus package is consistent with this framework. Factories are being built on hinterland farmlands, as are transportation networks to ship raw and semi-finished goods between lower-tier cities and the coast. The Party likely believes China can, as a whole, maintain is low-cost labor pool for at least the next decade, hence its reasonably calm reaction to recent labor unrest at Foxconn in Guangdong province.
As a result, mobilization of resources and scalification of markets remain core growth planks and this is inconsistent with any leap up value chains. That said, the Chinese model is appropriate for making an incremental crawl up the value ladder. And, here, China has been successful in industry after industry, ranging from green technology to autos. But no industry has had anything close to a paradigm shift in terms of setting global standards of innovation.
A Consumer Economy? In terms of stimulating consumer demand, there has been precious little the government has done that would relieve epic savings anxiety of both the middle class and the urban mass market. This would involve, most critically, fundamental restructuring of health care. Le Keqiang, Hu Jintao's heir apparent, is charged with leading the task force to address this need. But most observers are skeptical insurance pools are deep enough or inclusive enough to fund significant health care reform. So the effort is proceeding, and will proceed, in a piecemeal fashion. However, as a percentage of total economic activity, the consumer sector will increase, largely driven by industrialization of and growth in lower-tier markets. (This is the major story of the past couple years. Auto sales, for example, are exploding outside of Tier I cities. The same goes for luxury products.)
Corporate Governance Hurdles. To generate more innovation in state-own enterprises, a key issue is corporate governance, or lack thereof. In China, shareholder rights are extremely weak and there is rarely (never?) an empowered board charged with ensuring that management maximize long-term shareholder value. Goals of maintaining Party control and responding to the market are in opposition. CEOs are judged in implementing the party line and competition is, at best, "managed," orchestrated from above, within the corridors of Party power.
Service Sector Stagnation. The service sector, and modernization of it, also remains a huge challenge. It is currently designed to respond to, again in a mobilized manner, the needs to the masses. (Ten years ago, who would have anticipated such growth of the retail arms of the Big Four banks?) But the emerging middle class, whose needs are more sophisticated and require a greater degree of personalization, have been ignored. Again, key service industries (health care, financial services, real estate, etc.) remain "strategic" industries -- vital to the Party's macro- management of the country -- so significant reform is nowhere in sight. (The biggest star in retail banking innovation is China Merchant's Bank, not one of the big boys.)
Brittle Company Structures. Corporate structure is also a huge barrier for innovation. Large SOEs are burdened by: a) byzantine hierarchies that preclude a bottom-up flow of new ideas, b) imperial CEOs who issue ambiguous instructions to generate anxiety and construct rival power factions to ensure competition is horizontal, not vertical, c) minimal investment in R&D, and d) dominance of (short-term) sales relative to marketing (a balance of short-term sales and long-term equity generation) functions. I am not aware of any large local company that has made huge strides in instituting an empowered marketing function. However, our experience with COFCO, China's largest food conglomerate, suggests it is at least trying nobly to impose a "framework" for innovation and brand development. Haier and large local appliance manufacturers remain stuck in the past.
The local brands that have made the most progress moving beyond scale/huge market capitalization and towards value creation (Anta, Lining, dairy companies such as Meng Niu and Yili, fashion) are, relatively speaking, independent of the state. These are the companies fueling JWT's growth amongst local clients. However, smaller private enterprises are increasingly starved for capital. Key question: when will banks begin lending based on objective assessment of return? Many doubt that day will arrive anytime soon.
By the way, Chinese companies are, rightly, focused on the China market. They are pragmatic. Few brands really want to "take over the world." Recent cases like Geely's takeover of Volvo is vanity project, a misguided attempt to grab a part of the booming luxury car segment. Lenovo could only go global via a takeover of IMB's international PC operations and results have been decidedly mixed. "International" Chinese brands will only succeed, for the foreseeable future, in emerging economies where the basic price-value equation of Mainland goods remains a genuine competitive advantage.
Political Reform: Taboo. Underlying all of this is slow progress on the political reform front. Can the government instill significant intra-party checks and balances to institutionalize more efficient governance? (This is what party apparatchiks mean by "democracy.") So far, this type of reform remains taboo, except in lofty think tank debates.
Is the government wrong to go slow? Probably not. Despite having become the world's second largest economy, China is still a poor country on a purchase power parity (PPP) basis. Vast expanses of the country require strong central government to continue the Middle Kingdom's Great Urbanization Project. That said, even "Friends of China" are right to encourage the Party to begin the process of institutional-based reform, because the day when it becomes a necessity, rather than a theoretical "good," will arrive sooner or later, perhaps unexpectedly.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-doctoroff/is-china-serious-about-ec_b_706419.html
Eternally green: New eco-frien Eternally green: New eco-friendly cremations and burials
Few people like thinking about their own death and less so the details of their body’s eventual fate in a coffin underground or in a cremation chamber. Yet as people consider their environmental footprint during life, concerns about one’s posthumous impact has inspired entrepreneurs to develop green alternatives to standard Western practices. Two such alternative technologies will soon launch in either North American or European markets.
Environmentally minded individuals have several concerns about Western death practices. Some worry that the formaldehyde and other chemicals undertakers use to prepare bodies for burial may leach into the water table. When it comes to cremation, they worry about energy usage: To sustain temperatures of nearly 1,000 °C, cremation of one body on average consumes so much fuel that 573 lb of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, says biochemist Sandy Sullivan, who has developed a cremation alternative with his company, Resomation Ltd., based in Glasgow, Scotland. Perhaps topping the list of environmental concerns about cremation is that crematorium smokestacks release mercury found in dental amalgam fillings into the air.
Regulators in at least seven European countries, including Germany and Sweden, require that crematoria filter mercury out of smokestacks. The U.K.’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is also establishing regulations, and it notes in a position paper that “without intervention, mercury emissions from crematoria in the U.K. will increase by two-thirds from 2000 to 2020,” and without regulations, crematoria will also be “by far the biggest single contributor to national mercury emissions” by 2020. Crematoria emissions are expected to reduce naturally by 2055, as mercury fillings fall out of use. But currently, Sullivan says, cremation is responsible for some 16% of the mercury in the U.K.’s air.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate mercury from crematoria smokestacks. “Good empirical data on the magnitude of mercury emissions from crematoria are lacking,” according to EPA’s website. But the agency’s website also notes that one study found that, in 2005, crematoria in the U.S. released about 6,600 lb of mercury into the environment.
Sullivan got the idea for his alternative to cremation when working on a European Union-funded project to invent safe ways to dispose of cattle contaminated by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also known as mad cow disease) and other prion diseases. Sullivan decided to apply the technology he developed to human remains and started Resomation two-and-a-half years ago.
The Resomation process breaks down a corpse using alkaline hydrolysis instead of extremely high heat. The body is placed in a steel chamber along with potassium hydroxide at high pressure (10 bar) and a temperature of 180 °C, which is 80% cooler than a standard crematorium, Sullivan notes.
The raised pressure and temperature increase the speed of the alkaline hydrolysis reaction so that the body reaches a similar end point as in standard cremation—just bones left to be crushed up—in two to three hours. The alkaline hydrolysis method “has a much lower carbon footprint than cremation” because the tissue is not burned and the process also uses an eighth of the energy required for cremation, Sullivan says. Any dental amalgam remains in the vessel after the process and is easily separated from the bone ash and sent for recycling, he adds.
Resomation has been approved in six U.S. states--Maine, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, and Maryland—and is under review in a handful more, Sullivan says. Sullivan has sold three units to North American clients for approximately $444,000 each. The cost charged for the service, he says, is up to the provider, but it will likely be more than for a traditional cremation, he says.
Price turns out to be an important factor for those seeking cremation, says John W. Ross, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America. “A bulk of the cremation market is favorably inclined toward green cremation until you raise the issue of price.”
Most “consumers are not ready to bear” the higher costs of the Resomation process, Ross says. However, he estimates that about 10% of the market will choose an environmentally sensitive alternative no matter what the cost.
Then there are those like Susanne Wiigh-Masak who wish to benefit the ground that they get buried in. She was determined to find a way to permit people to be composted into dirt from a biodegradable coffin—instead of proceeding to dust via a rotting process in a sealed casket, a method that doesn’t produce soil. And she wanted to do so in an environmentally sensitive way.
Before starting Promessa Organics, a corpse-composting company in Göteborg, Sweden, Wiigh-Masak spent 15 years as an environmental engineer at a petrochemical plant. This gave her the background to develop a technology called Promession, which she says creates the conditions that allow a corpse to compost to soil instead of rotting. One obstacle that interferes with humans being able to compost into soil, Wiigh-Masak says, is that humans are buried in one piece, which is too big of a challenge for the microorganisms and animals that typically turn organic waste into dirt. Other factors preventing bodies from composting to soil include too much moisture in human remains and coffins that don’t permit enough oxygen to enter. All this typically leads to rotting, liquefying, and decaying of bodies instead of a soil-producing process, Wiigh-Masak says.
Her approach is sort of the antithesis to cremation, in that it uses cold instead of heat to break down tissue. Specifically, the Promession process fragments a corpse into pieces that can be managed by composting animals. In a first step, a body is frozen with liquid nitrogen and then vibrated so that the body breaks into smaller pieces. Next, the pieces are transported to a freeze dryer under vacuum, which removes the 70% water found in a human body. Although Wiigh-Masak aims for Promession to be an alternative to embalming, she says that this vacuum process would remove any formaldehyde from corpses that were embalmed anyway. Finally, with equipment developed by the food industry, chunks of mercury and other metals as small as 1 mm in diameter are removed. The remains of the deceased are placed in a biodegradable, cornstarch coffin that is about half the size of a typical casket. Buried in a shallow topsoil grave, where more oxygen can access the remains, the corpse will become soil within one year, she says. Her apparatus does not require a chimney or ventilation, so adds no residues to air or water, Wiigh-Masak says.
Wiigh-Masak has received regulatory approval to begin doing clinical tests of the process in Sweden and Germany this fall, with humans who have volunteered for the procedure. Other tests will begin later this year in South Korea.
Both Sullivan and Wiigh-Masak acknowledge that they are entrepreneurs in an industry that most people prefer to avoid thinking about. But as Sullivan puts it, “No matter how you look at it, there’s just no pretty way to go.” The question is whether you will go a little greener, he adds.
Source : http://pubs.acs.org/
Storage Racks From Stematic Of Storage Racks From Stematic Offer Great Storage Solutions for Industrial Companies
Every day industrial companies work with a large number of high profile machines and equipment supplies which must be stored in safe and secure conditions free from rust. It can be a challenge to find storage for these items, but A Stematic offers an ideal solution with their top-of-the-line storage racks from KingCab.
"We have a wide variety of racks that would be perfect for a industrial, showroom or other equipment setting, including heavy industrial racks, see through racks, and heavy storage racks with plastic bins for small item storage," said Venkat, president of Stematic.
Stematic's storage racks are rust-proof, acid-resistant and extremely durable, ensuring many years of quality use. Their stainless steel finish is not only sleek and stylish, but the definitive solution for sanitary and hygienic storage.
Much like the large selection of racks for which Stematic is famous, their racks are durable and adaptable for any number of applications. All of the units offer removable or adjustable shelves in order to adjust for new products or changing needs, and they come in a wide variety of sizes.
"At Stematic we have five different styles of racks with at least three different size configurations for each style, meaning customers have at least 20 standard racks to choose from to fit their specific needs," said Venkat. "Whether you work at a Industrial company, a showroom, an office, or you just want a nice clean look for your wardrobe, we can help you find what you need."
To learn more about racks, work stations, interiors or industrial equipment from Stematic, call 044-4335-8110 or visit www.stematic.co.in.
About Stematic:
Stematic Equipment Companie Private Ltd. is an manufacturer of quality industrial equipment including many racks, work stations, storage racks, warehouse racks, conveyors, steel shelving, and industrial equipments. With an extensive selection of brand name manufacturers, hard-to-find products and exclusive offerings, Stematic has everything a business needs to maintain a high level of efficiency and productivity at one convenient destination.
T-Shirts T-Shirts
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Nitric Oxide Nitric Oxide
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NOXedge NOXedge
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RAIN COOLS RAIN COOLS
"many people suffer due to rain,
when its there some tend to complain!
but nowadays you could need its help
when plants need to be dealt....
farmers seem to worry,
coz they are in a hurry..
for their produce to be healthy,
in order to be wealthy...
the rain seems to be a friend,
when you need a land to mend...
hope rainy days are here again
some people would tend to campaign..."
Best packers and movers makes Best packers and movers makes relocating easy
News of abated property rates has swayed plenty of people to make property investment in Chennai. Tamilnadu inhabitants are also showing interest in purchasing residential properties in Chennai for affluent living. Hence demand for local moving services in Tamilnadu has increased as it offers convenient shifting.
Locals in Tamilnadu reported that Best Packers and Movers services had been eminently useful while shifting to new location. Even the most arduous job is done effortlessly by the efficient professionals. Fragile items are packed and moved with higher amount of caution. Many residents thanked heartily to the company for the brilliant support they received. Mr. Shyam said, “I would like to thank you and your people in The Best Movers for assisting me in my last house move. Your team was highly professional and prices were quite reasonable.” The company proffers variety of options keeping in mind the requirements of customers. Availability of such options give customers freedom to choose the service that will suit best to their requirements. Market analysis say that the company has good reputation of protecting personal belongings and is the number one choice for commercial/residential storage along with house removal in India. Majority of people look for service which will gently move their huge as well as tiny objects and The Best Movers has been doing it for their clients. The company professional also claim of making international relocation in Asia easy and stress free. Many housewives said that after moving, cleaning and painting of houses become much more tedious for them but The Best Movers has been helpful in that too. Working class admits that such companies have been a boon to them, efficient personnel cooperate in saving time and money. Before selecting service from such companies people make proper enquiries and deal with the best company in the market.
The Best Packers and Movers is one of the prominent companies in India. This company provides best solutions to every packing, storing and moving issue. All their customers appreciate the humble and hardworking approach of company personnel. It boasts of being one of the best local moving services in Chennai. For more information Contact Best Packers and Movers company Jaya Meena Complex, Mettukuppam Road, Maduravoyoal at http://www.bestpackersnmovers.com/.
Notes and contacts
Ajith Kumar, Jaya Meena Complex, Mettukuppam Road, Maduravoyoal Ph: 044- 32011784
You can learn more about this press release by visiting - www.bestpackersnmovers.com/
Recently he is offering his services to Packers Movers Mumbai and Packers and Movers Bangalore, Packers and Movers Gurgaon for more information to visit http://www. bestpackersnmovers.com/
ASUS Announces Eco-Friendlier ASUS Announces Eco-Friendlier Bamboo Laptop
ASUS Announces Eco-Friendlier Bamboo Laptop
It's pretty tough to be a relevant PC maker these days. There are so many options. By the time you've come up with a creative design, it's already been leaked on Gizmodo to your competitors. Or, your story gets bumped by the latest Apple tablet rumor (which turns out to be false).
But one niche that no manufacture has really tapped is green electronics. Enter the ASUS bamboo laptop!
Sure, green electronics are an oxymoron. How can they be green when they clog up the landfills with 50 million tons of e-waste each year? Well, they can't, but this bamboo laptop sure makes me think some day they will.
By using industrial-strength bamboo, the laptop reduces e-waste bamboo can of course be recycled - even the trackpad is made out of bamboo! Interestingly enough, part of the manufacturing process includes screening the bamboo for parasites.
"We spent the last couple of years perfecting and working with bamboo," said Jonney Shih, Chairmen of ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS). "It is trendy yet responsible."
It's rumored the notebooks will cost around $999. Much friendlier to the pocketbook than the $2000 price tag which was leaked back in June when the device was called the U6.
The notebooks are powered by Intel's Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, they run Windows 7, and have USB 3.0 connectivity. They have up to 500GB of storage space and Blu-ray drives. They're optimized to save battery life using ASUS's Super Hybrid Engine. It reduces CO2 emissions by 12.3kg per notebook annually. With the 6 million notebooks ASUS sells each year, this equates to about 73.8M kg of CO2 (or about 36 million trees).
Of course, this isn't the first bamboo device we have seen. There have been external USB drives, Dell's tiny eco computer, and a whole other line of ASUS bamboo products. And we cannot wait until more come out.
“We are looking forward to leading the PC industry into a new era of thought,” Shih says. And we are looking forward to it too.
ASUS Bamboo U Series Specifications: ASUS U33Jt:
ASUS U83Jc:
ASUS U53F/U53Jc:
greenopolis.com/goblog/jerryjamesstone/ces-2010-asus-announces-eco-friendlier-bamboo-laptop
Plant your Tree Plant your Tree
At Plant Your Tree you have the opportunity to actively take part in the reforestation of native tree species in Brazil.
The aim is to restore nature and to connect existing fragments of Atlantic Rainforest. Your planted tree therefore does not only reduce your carbon footprint, but it also enhances biodiversity by allowing animals to move in between otherwise isolated pieces of habitats.
Primarily environmental, the project will also benefit the local population with regards to employment, education and farming practices.
And it is fun! You can also add an application in your facebook and grow your vitual forest.
Plant your tree and play a role in the fight against global climate change!
http://www.plantyourtree.com
Global Warming Video Global Warming Video
Got this global warming video from one of my favorite blogsite. Planetoverhaul.com, its dedication is to save Earth, one step at a time.
I guess we really need to think about global warming, we must believe that our planet is dying and what are the causes? We have two.
Natural Causes
Natural causes are causes created by nature. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years.
Man-made Causes
Man-made causes probably do the most damage. There are many man-made causes. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Also mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil is mined you have to dig up the earth a little. When you dig up the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well.
Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people means more food, and more methods of transportation, right? That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels, and more agriculture. Now your probably thinking, "Wait a minute, you said agriculture is going to be damaged by Global Warming, but now you're saying agriculture is going to help cause Global Warming?" Well, have you ever been in a barn filled with animals and you smell something terrible? You're smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Because more food is needed we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car.
Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2. Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being demolished because we're using the land that we cut the trees down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not replacing the trees (an important part of our eco system), so we are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and giving nothing back in return.
We should act now. Lets do our part in overhauling the Planet.
Top Four Iphone Mobile phone’s Top Four Iphone Mobile phone’s Rivals
A crowd of so-called Iphone Mobile Phone killers staged their grand debut at the IFA consumer electronics show this week in Germany, hoping to mimic the success of ipad, which at last count had sold more than 3 million of its popular tablets since launching in April. Looking to fill the gap between smartphone and netbook, hardware makers have sweetened their tablets with a diverse selection of features and form factors, and here is our pick of four of the more promising devices expected to hit the streets this year.
Samsung Galacy Tab
The company that brought us the stunning Samsung Galaxy S smartphone has turned its hand to tablets with a 7-inch device based on version 2.2 of Google's Android operating system. The device, which also works as a phone, will only be available through carriers and weighs in somewhat smaller and lighter than the iphone mobile phone.
It also sports Flash 10.1 for watching Flash videos, and is available with 16GB or 32GB of memory, a 3.2 megapixel camera and 1.3 megapixel forward facing camera. It also features an accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS and will have access to the Android Market of apps.
.Toshiba Folio Libretto W100
Another tablet from the Android 2.2 camp is due to hit the market sometime soon - this time from Toshiba. Available in Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi plus 3G, its 10.1 inch screen makes it a smidgen larger than the iPad.
It is powered by the next-gen Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset, has 16GB memory, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 2 USB slots, an SD card slot, stereo speakers and an HDMI connector for hooking up to a TV.
Local pricing and availability are yet to be announced, but the company has recently released a dual screen high-end tablet/e-reader device called the Libretto W100. As the first tablet to be built on the Windows 7 operating system, it boasts two touch screens and a reversible keyboard so it can switch from clam-style notebook into e-book reader and is selling for $1599 in Australia.
It has an Intel U5400 processor, 2GB of RAM processor, a USB port, and is wireless-enabled with a built-in webcam and integrated Bluetooth. Although it weighs less than a kilo, the extra functionality results in a thicker device than the iphone mobile phone.
Dell Streak
The Streak is a fairly small and thin small tablet (or large phone) that sports a 5 inch screen. It has a 1 GHz processor, a 16GB microSD memory card and 5-megapixel digital camera on its back with a flash.
However the Streak is hobbled by version 1.6 of Android – which is an older version of the operating software that is missing some of more popular Android features of the current version 2.2. It also lacks Adobe's Flash Player 10.1.
BlackBerry
With nothing but rumors swirling around the actual existence of the BlackBerry tablet, speculation has so far centred on the possibility that device will be designed to be tethered to a BlackBerry handset, with only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options.
While iphone mobile phone is undoubted prevailing among the young and the old, iphone mobile phone has its own unbeatable features. Topons, an online marketplace Wholesale Electronics supplier, feature in fashion as well as electric product such as various phone equipef with Iphone Accessories with good quality while at reasonable price.
http://blog.topons.com/index.php/2010/09/top-four-iphone-mobile-phone%e2%80%99s-rivals/
Mafia cash in on lucrative EU Mafia cash in on lucrative EU wind farm handouts - especially in Sicily
An ill wind is blowing over Italy's green revolution, as the Mafia seek to capitalise on generous grants for renewable energy.
They rise up high above the sun-scorched countryside, looking out over hilltop villages, palm trees, neatly-tended vineyards and olive groves.
But for all their promises of a clean, green future, Italy's windfarms have now acquired a somewhat dirtier whiff - as the latest industry to be infiltrated by the country's mobsters.
Attracted by the prospect of generous grants designed to boost the use of alternative energies, the so-called "eco Mafia" has begun fraudulently creaming off millions of euros from both the Italian government and the European Union.
And nowhere has the industry's reputation become more tarnished than Sicily, where windmills now dot the horizon in Mafia strongholds like Corleone, the town better known as the setting for the Godfatherfilms.
"Nothing earns more than a wind farm," said Edoardo Zanchini, an environmental campaigner who has investigated Mafia infiltration of the industry. "Anything that creates wealth interests the Mafia."
It is not just Italian criminals, however, who have spotted the potential for corruption. Recent research by Kroll, the international corporate security firm, has discovered examples all over Europe of so-called "clean energy" schemes being used to to line criminals' pockets rather than save the planet. Some involve windmills that stand derelict or are simply never built, while others are used to launder profits from other crime enterprises.
"Renewable energy seems like a good thing, run by saintly people saving the world," said Jason Wright, a senior director with Kroll, which performs background checks on renewable energy schemes on behalf of legitimate investors, and which has documented a sharp rise in the number of wind farms with suspect ownership.
"But a lot of people want to jump on board a sure-fire revenue spinner. I wouldn't say the entire sector is corrupt, but there is a small percentage of corrupt projects."
The level of fraud has prompted calls for tighter restrictions on the use of public money in funding renewable energy, for which EU bureaucrats have grand ambitions. Brussels has ordered all 27 EU nations to ensure that one-fifth of their energy is renewable by 2020, and in recent years has given out an average of €5 billion (£4.1 billion) annually in loans and grants. The levels of subsidy allow some wind farm owners to claim generous premiums for every watt of electricity they generate.
In Italy, for example, power from wind farms is sold at a guaranteed rate of €180 per kwh – the highest rate in the world. In a country where the Mafia has years of expertise at buying corrupt politicians and intimidating rivals, the result is perhaps inevitable, creating a new breed of entrepreneur known as the "lords of the wind".
Around 30 wind farms have been built in Sicily, with another 60 planned, often to the anger of local people, who say they blight an otherwise picturesque landscape. Dino Leggio, 33, a barman in Corleone, claimed that many of the turbines that now dotted the island made money only for politicians and the Mafia.
"Nobody consulted ordinary people about putting up these huge great things," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "They are very tall, and very ugly. Before they start pumping millions of euros into wind farms, they should fix the roads, which are in a terrible state."
While many of the wind farms in Sicily are in legitimate hands, some have already attracted the attention of the police. Last year, detectives launched a major investigation into suspicions that Mafia clans had colluded with corrupt businessmen and local politicians to secure control of a project to construct wind turbines in the Trapani area of western Sicily.
Eight people were arrested in Operation "Eolo", named after Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of winds, on charges of bribing officials in the coastal town of Mazara del Vallo with gifts of luxury cars and individual bribes of €30,000-70,000.
Police wiretaps showed the extent of the Mafia's infiltration of the wind energy sector when they intercepted an alleged Mafioso telling his wife: "Not one turbine blade will be built in Mazara unless I agree to it."
In another operation last November, codenamed "Gone With the Wind", 15 people were arrested on suspicion of trying to embezzle up to €30 million in EU funds. Among those arrested on fraud charges was the president of Italy's National Wind Energy Association, Oreste Vigorito. He has not been convictued of an offence and denies any wrongdoing.
Further afield, scandals have emerged in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria and Corsica, among others. In one alleged scam on the Canary Islands, a mayor, five officials and two developers are fighting criminal charges that include abuse of office, bribery and misappropriation of land in an attempt to secure EU subsidies.
One case in Spain, meanwhile, involved a solar energy plant which claimed, miraculously, to be generating electricity at night. Investigators found that that the power was in fact being produced by diesel generators - the "green" subsidies paid for the plant were so generous that the owners still made a handsome profit.
As well as the prospect of fraudulent grant money, wind farms are also attractive to criminals seeking to invest money from illegal activities such as drug dealing, prostitution and illegal waste dumping. Some Mafia clans have illicitly secured licenses to build a wind farm and then sold them on to legitimate firms who have invested in good faith.
"Foreign investors are often not aware who they are dealing with," said Mr Wright. "You start to be alarmed if the shareholders have a background in something like pizzerias."
John Etherington, a former professor of ecology at the University of Wales and author of The Wind Farm Scam, said the industry was vulnerable to corruption because of poor regulation. The EU, which has an anti-fraud unit, currently has no criminal proceedings on any wind farm cases, insisting it is the responsibility of member states to monitor funding.
"It has been a matter of policy in the wind farm industry to make the financing of it both opaque and complicated," said Mr Etherington. "In all countries across Europe the customer is not told how much they are paying for it, and the whole financing of the industry is coming out of subsidy on electricity generation."
Despite the scandals over Mafia infiltration, there have been very few protests against wind farms in Italy. Instead, farmers have leapt at the chance to rent out their land for wind farm construction at a time when the price of agricultural produce such as grapes and tomatoes has plummeted.
"Why get up early every morning to work the land, and run the risk of not being able to sell your crops for a good price, when you can sit at home and take 10,000 euros a year in rent?" said Nicola Angelo, a Sicilian businessman. "People here have swallowed the idea of wind farms, even though they have ruined the landscape."
But David Moss, a British building contractor based in the Sicilian hilltop town of Salemi, which is surrounded by whirring turbines, suggested that was not the only reason for the absence of wind-farm "Nimbyism".
"In the UK, if a company proposed putting up 100 turbines across the countryside, there would be an uproar," he said. "In Italy, everyone keeps quiet because they are afraid to stand up to the Mafia."
Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
The Solar Ibex uses solar ener The Solar Ibex uses solar energy to cook food outdoors with a zero carbon footprint
The Solar Ibex is lightweight and folds up easily, allowing you to carry it around with you anywhere. Also, taken that it uses renewable energy to cook food, this one has a zero carbon footprint. The clean and green Solar Ibex makes sure you don’t run out of cooked food in the outdoors.
Source: http://www.greenlaunches.com/
Sustainable and Green vacation Sustainable and Green vacations
We all love vacations, it is what we save for, dream of and sweat for a long time in order to make few days of resting and unwinding. By principal, hospitality and Sustainability seems to be contradictory terms which cannot work together. After all, you go to a hotel so people will cook, clean, wash for you, entertain you and care for you in so many other ways. The more luxurious the hotel, the more waste is created for every small effort, and then we go into cruise ships, luxury vacation mansions and 6+ stars hotels, which we do not even need to mention. Could it be that it is only a perception problem? Can hotels really be Sustainable and Green while still being successful?
I remember my vacation in one of the Club Med hotels in early 2000, the amount of food that was wasted in one buffet was enough of feed a medium size town, the waste was so overwhelming you could not help but wonder if all parameters flew out of the window.
I am happy to say that things have improve in many ways, and club Med is now one of the pioneers in Green and Sustainability industry in terms of sustainability and efficiency (http://bit.ly/abaIt7 ) it even has a dedicated line of super Sustainable retreat accommodations for nature lovers (http://bit.ly/cc7FIz ) .
With Buildings consuming up to 40% of the energy worldwide, and up to 70% of the raw materials, working on efficiency and Sustainability in some of the most wasteful ones of all, the hotel and hospitality industry, can save enormously. There were always eco-tourism focused accommodations which were geared towards that specific market, but when it came to the mainstream, it was a marginal and minor trend until around 2002.
Since then, as awareness rose, the industry adopted in neck breaking speed. By today, there are already talks about hotels sustainability 2.0 and talks that even that is not enough. For example, the new American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) 2010 Lodging Survey, the most comprehensive industry-wide survey of its kind, polled 9,000 U.S. hotel properties. Among other findings, one of the key results was that hotels are becoming much greener and much more sustainable: hotels using energy-efficient lighting jumped from 68 percent in 2008 to 88 percent; appearing on the survey for the first time, 44 percent of participants said they have or are working toward a green certification. http://bit.ly/b5WxyJ
Hotel consultant Pat Maher, the ``green guru'' for the American Hotel & Lodging Association and a former hotel executive who helped develop early hotel environmental policies during a 25-year Marriott career, Maher says most hotels have now adopted at least some ``green and sustainability'' practices...
``We realize it can't just be a name,'' he says. ``When you come in the door, you have to see that there are differences. . . . Certainly, there is a growing class of people who are very conscious about the environment and health in general, and they tend to be a younger group of people. If you want to attract those people in the future, you have to do these things.'' http://bit.ly/cSK5fo
From just hotels and sustainability, it started to reach much further, like in China, where hotels energy wastage was so high, that they started with energy efficiency, then went to monitoring the energy use and all the way to the concept of “smart buildings” : The building was a so-called "smart building," meaning the situation was rectified much sooner than it would have been had management had to wait for a utility bill to arrive, saving money and the environment.
The idea of a smart building, capable of telling operations personnel what´s happening to it and what it needs and impacting both budgets and the environment, is super space-agey. It´s happening also in Alberta in the Calgary Catholic School District, which is using IBM Maximo Asset Management software to manage its 2,800 assets, including 103 schools, and now, to improve its carbon footprint. http://bit.ly/aHuRQr
Many times, the line is not yet clear, how Sustainable and Green is the hotel exactly, how much of it is real efforts with real measurable results and how much of it is green-washing and PR. I, for one, do not accept the certification hanging on the wall as a given that things are still being done, as I go to events and conferences, I constantly check it out. I am lucky enough, that most of the conferences that I attend are anyhow about sustainability. So when all the lights in the conference room are all incandescent, when they use Styrofoam left and right for conference meals, plastic bags all over and just wasteful in food or other manners; I make sure to send them a note, copy furnish the organizers of the event and ask politely that if they would like us to attend next year, to please align the reality with the placard on the wall. How about you? Did you come across some remarkably green and sustainable hotels which their practicing deserve a nice award? How about the opposite? Some not so green and not so sustainable accommodations which can do better if they will think a bit about the planet before hurrying to serve their clients based on outdated and ill conceived paradigm. I think Green and sustainability is the game, and it will be, for the hotel industry, for a long, long time.
The hottest Renewable Energy s The hottest Renewable Energy stocks and IPOs
Renewable Energy is posing to shoot up on the various stock markets, and if you want to be in the game, you’d better wake up and make some sense of it fast, so you can ride the Renewable wave as it starts and all the way to its peak.
First and foremost, China is showing some great potential with Renewable Energy IPO’s coming just about the horizon:
Propelled in part by the backing of powerful Beijing bureaucrats, Renewable-themed Chinese companies are poised to reap billions of dollars from public offerings to new investors in coming months.
Among a spate of clean-energy initial public offerings heading to market in the next few months is Chinese wind-turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, which scrapped a $1.2 billion Hong Kong IPO in June. It is reviving its plans with a $1 billion Hong Kong offering in the next few weeks. Mingyang Electric plans to raise $300 million to $500 million from a U.S. IPO this year. China Suntien, the renewable-energy division of Hebei provincial government’s investment arm, is seeking about $500 million in Hong Kong.
Add to that Huaneng New Energy Industrial, China Huaneng Group’s wind-power unit, which is looking to tap markets for a $1.5 billion IPO in October, and Chinese clean-technology IPOs this year alone could reach record levels.
Wind-power generator China Longyuan Power Group raised $2.2 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong in December last year, in one of the biggest clean-energy deals in Asia. Many are hoping to follow the success of China battery and car maker BYD, which won backing from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett and has seen its shares surge in recent years. http://bit.ly/b4ggRz
Second, with the bloom box raising so many positive waves in the market, fuel cells (one of the most promising Renewable Energy sectors) are looking brighter everyday; one company which looks as if it is going to benefit from this wave in a huge way is the Canadian Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP) : It provides clean energy fuel cell products that enable optimized power systems for a variety of applications. The company designs, develops, manufactures and sells fuel cell products for a variety of applications. The company is also involved in proton exchange membrane fuel cell development and commercialization.
Last month, Ballard announced the deployment of the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell generator. The company entered into a deal with Ohio’s FirstEnergy Generation Corp., which will enable the U.S.-based utility to activate Ballard’s fuel cell generator known as CLEARgen™. CLEARgen is based on Ballard’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. The technology will assist during peak demand period by taking the strain off the power grid and will also ensure uninterrupted power during the summer. http://bit.ly/bqZ7OP
Third, as the rule goes, you always follow the big guys, and T Boon Pickens is one hell of a big guy, which is going very strong when it comes to green and Renewable Energy: Investor T. Boone Pickens spoke in the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas and he talked to CNBC about his energy plan. For him, anything -- wind, solar, natural gas – anything reduces our reliance on foreign oil is a step forward to achieve national security in energy.
Pickens lists the pillars to the Pickens Plan:
1. Create millions of new jobs by building out the capacity to generate up to 22 percent of our electricity from wind. And adding to that with additional solar generation capacity;
2. Building a 21st century backbone electrical transmission grid;
3. Providing incentives for homeowners and the owners of commercial buildings to upgrade their insulation and other energy saving options; and
4. Using America's natural gas to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel in addition to its other uses in power generation, chemicals, etc.
http://bit.ly/93hGop
And last, from down under, there are some great opportunities which can make things turn Renewable and fast :
Top of the list is Sims Metal. "It's the largest recycler," Thomas says. "It does what BHP does except uranium and oil, making it a good proxy for the resources sector."
Another is CBD Energy, "a great little company." It has a foot in just about every renewable camp: wind, solar and storage using a graphite battery.
The stock has very low gearing, has just moved into profit and the two brokers following it value it at 30¢ or 40¢, more than twice its current price. But, like all fast-growing stocks, it is capital hungry: there have been two raisings so far this year.
AGL, with both wind and solar farms, is also a well-regarded green chip that has outperformed the sharemarket during the past 10 years.
One of the smaller stocks Ethinvest favours is solar panel and pump supplier Solco, which has just posted its third consecutive and so far biggest profit, is debt-free as well as paying a tiny dividend.
The other is Dyesol, which is also debt free but loses money. It's the only solar energy company that doesn't need much sun to generate electricity. It has adapted photosynthesis from the plant world and using its special dye can generate power more cheaply than traditional silicon-based solar cells, working in low light and not even having to face the sun. http://bit.ly/aJoEZp
So, if I were you, I would look into these Renewable energy stock options, especially the natural gas one, there are some great findings in the market right now, which you really do not want to miss. Good luck, and please write to us back and share with us you techniques of “going Renewable in the stock market” !!Renewable Energy jobs anyone? Renewable Energy jobs anyone?
Within the last few years, there are so many new Renewable Energy companies that the job market is just not supplying enough new hires and they basically get whoever they can put their hands on. It is surprising, since in other sectors (except Renewable Energy) are seeing rising numbers of unemployment and the crisis just seems to be getting worst by the week.
For example : New Energy Finance ((a leading Renewable Energy information company) CEO Michael Liebreich said that the rapid influx of capital and strong demand for clean technologies is at the root of the talent problem.
Hundreds of new clean-tech companies have been created over the past five years.
The Greentech Media article also notes that job boards in the field have plenty of unanswered listings for clean-tech related jobs, including C-level positions.
“Now there’s a crisis where we’ve got a bunch of work to do, and given the capital intensity in this sector, what’s missing today is serial entrepreneurs,” Hemant Taneja, a managing director at venture-capital firm General Catalyst Partners, told Greentech Media on Thursday.
Getting appropriate people, particularly chief technology officers and chief executive officers, is a challenge comparable to getting sufficient capital and regulatory support, according to the study. http://bit.ly/dwrq5e
When investors and politicians sat together to the national Renewable Energy summit last week, they were trying to figure out how the rising industry of clean and renewable energy can help the rest of the market, which is having such a hard time, the conclusion? Renewable Energy jobs! there are plenty available and not enough takers :
Many of the nation's leading investors, politicians and environmentalists are in Las Vegas Tuesday night for the third National Renewable Energy Summit. The focus of this year's conference is how renewable energy can help the slow economy.
Putting the American people back to work was the talk of today's summit, with Senator Harry Reid at the head of the discussions.
"They see the writing on the wall and see that this is where the new jobs are (in the Renewable Energy sector)" said Thomas Piechota, Director of Sustainability and Multidisciplinary Research, at UNLV. http://bit.ly/diqA2z
Not only in the US, Europe is also seeing some great potential in Renewable Energy jobs over the next few years:
EWEA’s latest statistics show that the wind power sector will create some 250,000 new Renewable Energy jobs in Europe in the next decade. This would take the total of wind energy jobs to 450,000 by 2020...
Moreover, yesterday, José Manuel Barroso – European Commission President – in his State of the Union speech said that the EU must create an extra three million Renewable Energy jobs within a decade.
It is not hard to imagine that wind energy (the leading Renewable Energy sector) is already a key source of green jobs. What is more impressive is EWEA’s latest statistics show that the wind power sector will create some 250,000 new jobs in Europe in the next decade. This would take the total of wind energy jobs to 450,000 by 2020.
http://bit.ly/cnIrp7
The growth of opportunities is not just in traditional Renewable Energy and power generation fields, there are many other sectors of clean-tech and green which are exploding with new opportunities :
When you think of green jobs, usually some kind of new technology comes to mind: solar energy panels or wind power or electric cars. But there's a growing field that's more about re-use than the creation of anything new. KPLU's Bellamy Pailthorp has the details on a green jobs training program that will teach disadvantaged Seattle residents the craft of deconstruction. http://bit.ly/bRhYZl
And Lat, If you are unemployed, underemployed or need a career change, the E3 Job Fair is the place to be. Guess what is the focus in this year job fair? That’s correct, green jobs -
Get Into Water: Careers In the Water Industry
This workshop provides an introduction to the careers available with utilities, cities, counties and special districts in positions such as engineering, management, customer service and operations.
Green Jobs
This workshop provides an overview of the industries and occupations that make up green jobs (such as solar, wind, renewable energy and clean energy) and offers tips on how you can start the search to find your dream green job.
There are many others who are still disputing the full potential of Renewable Energy jobs and cannot see the wave of new opportunities the way some experts say it is coming. Time will be the one to tell us just how much of this potential would really end up in more jobs in the market.
Fashion Designer's Collection Fashion Designer's Collection to Offer a New Way of Looking at Solar Energy
PHOTO CREDIT: QUAVONDO
Megan Marie Butler models a solar-
inspired little black dress in advance
of Portland Fashion Week.
The women's fashion staple known as "the little black dress" has been reinterpreted as a novel way to plug solar power and sustainable living.
Seth Aaron Henderson, recent winner of television's "Project Runway," has released a sneak preview of a runway collection reflecting his fashion evocations of solar energy, technology and industry. The collection is to make its debut in Oregon during Portland Fashion Week from Oct. 6 through 10, a fashion event that emphasizes sustainability.
Mr. Henderson drew inspiration for his collection by visiting the Hillsboro, Ore., operations of SolarWorld, a major global solar module manufacturer based in Germany that has been expanding and adding jobs in the United States.
"Solar Is the New Black" is the theme of this year's Portland Fashion Week, designed to complement SolarWorld's introduction of a new black-front module. The models will appear on a runway constructed of solar panels. Mr. Henderson's part of the show is called the "Seth Aaron SolarWorld Collection Presented by Portland Fashion Week."
By combining fashion with solar-technology design influences, Mr. Henderson joins SolarWorld and Portland Fashion Week in making a statement that sustainability is fashionable.
“The first look really captures my first impression when we walked onto the floor of the SolarWorld factory,” he said in a news release. “It’s been interesting to see how one piece branches from the last. This will be a fun mix of fantasy and ‘wearability,’ hardness and softness – pieces that take concept and costume and connect them with reality. It’s an artistic story about solar power and renewable energy. But, as it should be, it’s a fashion story, a fashion collection.”
Portland Fashion Week is an eco-friendly production; its promoters say that it showcases the highest number of sustainable labels of any fashion week in the country, along with independent and fair-trade high-fashion designers.
"This exciting collaboration between a fashion designer and a world-class solar tech company reflects our region's values -- sustainability and creativity -- and showcases our economic competitive advantages," said Portland Mayor Sam Adams in the news release.
In addition to Mr. Henderson, who was the winner during Season 7 of the "Project Runway" show last spring, two other "Project Runway" alumni, Jonathan Peters and Jay Sario, also will present designs Oct. 9 at the show. All three designers will be staging their first collections since their TV appearances.
Source: http://sunpluggers.com/
Congress’s Future Plans Speaks Congress’s Future Plans Speaks Volumes of the Foreclosure Crisis
Congress has been working on new legislation that is designed to overhaul current financial regulations. This legislation points fingers in key critical areas across the nation’s economy. Important for homeowners is Congress’s plans to form a new agency to crack down on deceptive mortgages and other financial products in the future. It also aims to better protect consumers, tighten the reins on financial institutions and stop rewarding executives for taking reckless risks to fatten their quarterly earnings and bonuses.
However, while this legislation is looking to the future to prevent another financial collapse and stop deceptive practices, the homeowner is not protected from the banks right now. Every day, the banks are misleading people who are in foreclosure with false promises of loan mods. This is why more and more, homeowners are taking matters into their own hands. They are coming to companies like Tila Solutions who provide complete forensic loan audits and use the results to get the banks to finally approve the loan modification.
One by one, American homeowners have fallen prey to the banks that originally mislead them with their deceptive lending practices, despite the laws that protected the borrowers. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the banks simply chose not to follow those laws. If they had, we wouldn’t be a nation in foreclosure today. It becomes clear that Congress knows the problems exist otherwise they wouldn’t be forming a new agency to prevent future deceptive mortgage practices. But what does the homeowner who is losing his home do now? Most just lose their homes. But they do not have to. The laws that should have protected them when the lenders issued the loan can still protect them now –if the homeowner will reach out to use those laws. Forensic loan audits will reveal what the bank did wrong and open the doors to stopping foreclosure, and finalizing a loan mod.
So why is Congress turning a blind eye to the banks as they currently lie to and mislead the homeowners? Most often done by offering loan mods to them while foreclosing on those very people they said qualified? And why are the banks continuing to turn people down in record numbers?
Could there be any truth to the concerns that many people have expressed? Tila Solutions has received thousands of calls. The homeowner believed the bank’s “offers of help.” They believed it when the lender said they did not have to address the foreclosure process --that it was just a formality or a way for the lender to stay on top of the file. They believed their lender when he said that they could work directly with the lender and get the loan modified --which would automatically bring the foreclosure to a stop. Sadly, far too many of them found that actually yes, the foreclosure did stop: when the lender auctioned off their home.
What would have happened if a homeowner had known that his lender deceived him with the original loan? Would have been so likely to blindly trust that the lender really wasn’t going to auction off his home (even though the lender’s attorney firm provided him with an auction date) and was going to give him a loan mod? Probably not. Do you think the homeowner would have had the courage and wisdom to get his loan investigated?
Many homeowners are doing just that now. The attitude today is to stop trusting the bank. And it comes as no surprise: Countless forensics audits have been done, and consistently they reveal the same thing: Banks ignored the laws: the violations are found in the loan. Foreclosure doesn’t have to end in a disqualification for loan mod and an auction date. In fact, with the use of Forensic Loan Audits, homeowners are saving their homes? The lender stopped foreclosure because he actually took the homeowner seriously and got him the loan mod.
Forensic Loan Audits has been the only thing consistently saving more homes than any other approach. When homeowners get a forensic loan audit done all the TILA, RESPA, HOEPA and ECOA violations are found and revealed. Fraud is also found in 79% of the loans that forensics are conducted on. When people contact Tila Solutions, they get not only a forensic loan audit, but also a free negotiations service. A Tila negotiator provides the results of that audit to the lender and real negotiations get underway. More homes have been saved from foreclosure with the use of a forensic loan audit than any other way currently known. The laws that prevented deceptive lending practices do exist. They existed at the time the bankers went on a free-for-all, carelessly lending money and misleading homeowners. There is no need to be in foreclosure, The federal laws can help you.
Tila Consultants help countless homeowners each month, determining if there is any way that the federal laws which currently do exist can help bring an end to the current deceptive practices that lenders are involved in.
A Tila Solutions Consultant can be found by visiting the website at http://www.tilasolutions.com or by calling 1 - 3 0 7- 459 - 02 52.
Tags: Tila Solutions, Tila, Tila-now, Loan Mod, Loan Modification, Forensic Loan Audit, Loan forensics, Foreclosure, stop foreclosure, scam, predatory loansWill a Forensic Loan Review Tr Will a Forensic Loan Review Truly Help To Stop Foreclosure?
By Karen Myers
There is a homeowner hotline at Tila Solutions that you can call. Their consultants will interview you and help you identify whether or not you should get your loan investigated because of the possibility that you are in a predatory loan. They can help you determine if your loan is in need of a Forensic Loan Audit. They can help you determine if the Forensic Audit may help stop a foreclosure.
In many cases, when the lender is reviewing your paperwork to see if they will give you a loan mod, their calculations support that they can make more money at less risk if they do not give you that loan mod. That is normally why foreclosure gets underway. The Forensic Loan Review is your most necessary resource to help stop foreclosure.
When a homeowner is rejected for a loan modification by the lender, a Forensic Loan Audit is the critical first step that he or she should employ to resolve the situation. Banks are not and never have been there to help people; they are money makers- either you make them money or you don’t. If you don’t, then you are of no interest to them. The lender does not consider hard times as a good reason to give you a loan modification. They are only interested in seeing the loan they gave you produce a monthly payment made on time. And if your loan is a violation-free loan, then normally you should have no trouble doing this, even when you are experiencing some hard times!
Tila Solutions is an Audit Company that investigates loans. If you have a predatory loan, you will need a Forensic Loan Audit. If you feel that there was any kind of “funny business” or pressuring to get you into that loan, then you should have it audited. It helps you get the loan mod.
A Forensic Loan Audit, Forensic Loan Review or Mortgage Audit is a detailed examination or investigation of the loan that the bank gave you. The audit is done to find all the Federal Laws that the banker violated.
Do you remember when you signed your loan documents? Do you recall reference to TILA, RESPA, HOEPA and ECOA? Those laws were passed to help prevent you from getting a predatory loan – which is a loan that puts you on the road to foreclosure. These laws are also supposed to ensure that you understand what you are getting before you sign, and give you a choice to rescind. Tila Examiners review all these Federal Laws that protect you as a borrower.
While Tila Examiners are conducting this investigation of your loan, they are also on the lookout for fraud committed by the banks, and they find plenty of it!
Tila Examiners will methodically go through your loan sometimes producing a report numbering in the 40-page range. As you may have surmised, your lender loses much firepower against you and no longer has the ability to pursue other money-making routes if the loan contains federal violations or fraud.
Do you know that some people have been told that a Forensic Loan Review will do them no good! This is false. But do keep this in mind: once the Forensic Loan Audit is completed, something must be done with it in an effective manner. Because lenders, who often seem to operate above the law, will tell homeowners it means nothing and that the homeowner just wasted his money, some homeowners just shut down, they need somebody on their side who knows what to do with the bank. That is why Tila Solutions offers a free service to help negotiate on your behalf once the investigation is completed. The Lenders push borrowers around and mislead them all the time.
Borrowers have to remember that it was these people who lied to them when the lender gave them the loan, and it is these people who are still lying to them. Tila Negotiators work on behalf of the homeowner to make sure that you get your loan modification.
A Forensic Loan Audit helps with commercial loans as well as a residential loan. If you have been turned down for a loan mod then contact a Tila Solutions Consultant. If you are nearing or are in foreclosure, a Tila Consultant can help. They can also help people who are current on their loans or those with investment properties.
Just remember that the Tila Consultant is on your side. You can call one of the consultants today at 1 — 3 0 7 — 4 5 9 — 0 2 3 2. The Tila Solution website has much valuable information and a variety of solutions. Visit at http://www.tilasolutions.com/ to learn more about a Forensic Loan Review and to learn how to take advantage of the free negotiation service offered by Tila Solutions.
Tags: Forensic Loan Audit, Stop Foreclosure, Tila Solutions, Tila, Forensic Loan Review, Mortgage Audit, predatory loan, Fraud, Loan Modification, loan mod foreclosure