It will be centuries before Belarus is completely free from the radio-activity that fell after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 23 years ago. But an Irish company has come up with an innovative way of cleaning up the country’s contaminated land in as little as 30 years.

A bioethanol plant similar to that planned by Greenfield to kickstart the bio-clean programme

The Chernobyl Bio-clean Programme is being presented as a win-win solution for the former Soviet republic. Greenfield Project Management plans to use polluted soils to grow bio-fuel crops that will suck up the radioactivity. This will make the earth suitable to grow food within decades rather than centuries.

The resulting bio-fuel will be free from radioactivity, Greenfield says, and will create much-needed economic activity in the area. The company has already signed a framework deal with the Belarussian government and was in Minsk last week meeting officials and its local partner, Belbiopharm, a state biotech company.

Experts from the Belarus Academy of Sciences and the Helmholtz Association for scientific research in Germany agree that repeated harvesting of biomass crops as raw material for bio-fuel refineries would remove radio-nuclides from the soil in contaminated areas.

When the reactor at Chernobyl exploded in Ukraine in 1986, neighbouring Belarus was worst affected, receiving almost 80% of the fall-out, covering 23% of its territory, some 46,500 square kilometres. These soils are now heavily polluted with caesium-137, strontium-90, plutonium and americium, which will take hundreds of years to decay.

While the most heavily polluted land remains evacuated, millions of people live in the contaminated zone. Despite the risk of radioactivity migrating into the food chain, farmers grow some food crops — mostly grains. Most of the radioactive particles from the soil end up concentrated in the roots and stalks, which are ploughed back into the land after harvest — creating a vicious circle of repeated contamination.

Greenfield’s project involves harvesting the entire plant to be used in a refinery to make bio-ethanol, decontaminating the land gradually with each crop. Basil Miller of Greenfield said: “Our advice is if you do this continuously across the area you speed up the process of returning the land to normal use by up to 90%. So where it might have taken 300 or 400 years for this to come about, we might do it between one or two generations.”

First, in a joint venture with the state in Belarus, the company will build a plant facility in Mozyr, deep in the contaminated zone, that will initially use non-contaminated crops to produce 700m litres of bio-ethanol each year.

Andrei Savinykh, the Belarus diplomatic representative at the United Nations in Geneva, said: “We see this idea as a far-reaching possibility. We can produce a fuel on our own territory, thus enhancing our energy security and sustainability of economic development.

“It is a kind of a win-win situation, which is why we are attracted and fascinated by the whole idea. Because we are creating a fuel that is green by its nature, we are not polluting the environment.

“There are vast areas in Belarus which contain radioactive particles in the soil. Those lands are used for agricultural production now. There is a big dilemma here because if we stop producing agricultural products in these areas we will devastate the local economy, but we are afraid of possible migration of radioactive particles from the soil through food to humans. The project is an ultimate solution to the problem. We switch to the production of bio-fuel so our people’s health is protected and we give them an economic foundation to sustain their living.”

Greenfield insists the bio-fuel produced will have no radioactive material in it as only pure ethanol is distilled out, making it safe to use. The heavy radioactive residues left behind in the process will be burnt in a power station producing a concentrated radioactive ash. This can be disposed of at existing treatment works for nuclear waste, according to the company.

If the facilities in Belarus are not in compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency standards, Greenfield will export it to compliant facilities in Russia across the border.

The project was the brainchild of Ann McClain, chairwoman of Greenfield and a niece of the late Freddy Heineken, the former president of the Dutch brewing company. McClain got seed funding from the Heineken Foundation, a charitable scheme, to explore the possibility of the bio-ethanol project.

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Policy on open spaces unresolved

By Leanna MacLarty – Press and Journal

EFFORTS by Aberdeenshire Council to prevent a land maintenance company from gaining control of public open spaces has received a mixed response from housing developers.

The local authority wrote to all big developers in the north-east asking them to reconsider transferring land to the Greenbelt Group.

Councillors backed the move after the private firm received a string of complaints from Aberdeenshire residents about the quality of work being carried out.

Housing firms were asked to reconsider any agreement with the Greenbelt firm and discuss management of the land with the council instead.

Only seven of the 19 firms responded to the council, members of the infrastructure services committee heard yesterday.

One unnamed developer was happy to opt for local authority control but another raised concerns about the level of red tape and lack of resources that may be involved.

Councillors agreed that policy on the management of open space should be included in the upcoming local development plan which is currently out for consultation.

The local authority will have the opportunity to bid for maintenance contracts for public open spaces.

If a developer chooses not to work with the council, a bond must be lodged against satisfactory completion of landscaping work.

A letter from Greenbelt managing director Alex Middleton acknowledged a problem with services last year and says that issues have been rectified.

“There is a group of residents intent on fighting Greenbelt but there is also a majority of residents satisfied with our arrangement,” he continues.

“Some of the land which has been in question does not even belong to Greenbelt and therefore Greenbelt is wrongly being accused of not undertaking its responsibilities.”

Head of planning and environmental services Christine Gore rejected the firm’s concerns about the “anti-competitive nature” of the council’s efforts.

“All we are saying is the council should be given the opportunity to bid for the work,” she said.

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1269566

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Jaguar seals ‘significant’ order to supply China

Despite troubled times for the motor industry Jaguar Land Rover has announced a deal to supply a Chinese company with 13,000 vehicles, providing a dose of good news for the beleaguered UK car industry.

Jaguar said it was “a very significant” order, and was particularly welcome at “this challenging time”.

The order, for both Land Rover and Jaguar cars, comes as many carmakers have cut jobs after falling sales.

Jaguar Land Rover is a business built around two great British car brands that design, engineer and manufacture in the UK.

Jaguar

Jaguar Cars, founded in 1922, is one of the world’s premier manufacturers of luxury saloons and sports cars.

Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4x4s, since 1948, which define ‘breadth of capability’ in their segments.

The Jaguar XF, XJ and XK models are manufactured at the company’s Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham, while the Jaguar X-TYPE is produced alongside the Land Rover Freelander 2 at the Halewood plant in Liverpool. Land Rover’s Defender, Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover models are all built at the Solihull plant.

The Jaguar Land Rover business employs over 16,000 people, predominantly in the UK, including some 3,500 engineers at two product development centres in Whitley in Coventry and Gaydon in Warwickshire.

The business is a major wealth generator for the UK with 78% of Land Rovers exported to 169 countries and 70% of Jaguars exported to 63 countries. Sales to customers are conducted principally through franchised dealers and importers.

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OFT finds significant problems in Scottish property management market

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By Gillian Bell – Press and Journal

Published: 13/02/2009

A land management company which has received complaints about poor service from people across the north-east could be taken to a tribunal.

Paula Hoogerbrugge, who has led a campaign against the Greenbelt Group, is appealing for others who are dissatisfied about the firm’s service to come forward and consider launching a test case against it.

It comes after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said contracts between land management companies and customers should be tested at the Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

Greenbelt Group is the largest land management company in Scotland with some 24,000 customers. Two other companies exist, Scottish Woodlands and Ethical Maintenance, which have around 1,000 customers in total. The companies buy open spaces on developments and charge developers, residents, or a combination of the two, for their upkeep. But because the companies own the land, it can prove very difficult for residents to switch to a competitor.

The OFT has been in discussions with Consumer Focus Scotland, which has offered to support a group of residents who want to change their land maintenance provider.

An OFT report released yesterday said the test of law was “desirable” and added: “The OFT cannot test the law, this needs to be done by a group of homeowners. But of course the costs, uncertainty and difficulty obtaining legal advice may be a deterrent to those seeking to take such a case so we are pleased to say that Consumer Focus Scotland has agreed to take on a role to help facilitate a test of the legislation.”

Mrs Hoogerbrugge, who runs the Greenbelt Group Action website, said she had received complaints about the company’s services from 15 of the 16 estates it maintains in Aberdeenshire.

She said it was “wonderful” that Consumer Focus Scotland has offered its support and appealed to dissatisfied residents to come forward through the website so they can mount a test case.

Carol Kidd, who lives on the Kirkstyle estate at Kemnay, has complained to Greenbelt about its “sporadic” service in the past and refused to pay its charges. She said Greenbelt were “modern-day cowboys”, adding: “It would be great if someone took them to the tribunal.”

Greenbelt managing director Alex Middleton said last night: “We broadly welcome the OFT report and its principle recommendation that Consumer Focus Scotland should support home owners in bringing forward a test case applying legislation which may allow owners to switch land maintenance company.

This is an avenue we have been pursuing with a small number of our customers and we believe the involvement of Consumer Focus Scotland will aid that process.

We are happy to cooperate with Consumer Focus Scotland and the Scottish Government in whatever way they feel is appropriate.”

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Gordon Banks MP has been supporting residents in their dispute with Greenbelt.

CAMPAIGNERS on a Menstrie housing estate have welcomed support from the Scottish Government in their bid to oust land management company Greenbelt.

Angry residents say the company is not doing its job properly and recently 251 of the estate’s 300 residents signed a petition to get rid of Greenbelt.

However, the petition was rejected by the firm who said it would carry on to maintain the land around the estate, as was agreed with developer Gladedale.

But an email from the Scottish Government has now been sent to a homeowner on an estate in Livingston, also managed by Greenbelt, stating that under the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 owners within an estate can “dismiss a manager and appoint another” without applying to a Lands Tribunal.

Mike Marriot, who is leading the Menstrie campaign, welcomed the support from the Scottish Government saying it proved the residents were well within their legal rights to submit their petition.

He said their ultimate goal was for Clackmannanshire Council to take over the maintenance of the land.

“We signed the petition in March and, since then, homeowners have been bombarded with letters and demands from Greenbelt Group, saying they don’t recognise this,” said Mike.

“We very much welcome the Scottish Government’s backing in this situation, and hope it will encourage both Gladedale and Greenbelt Group to see sense.”

The email also informed homeowners that Government guidance on the management of open spaces was republished last month and now no longer names Greenbelt Group as a suitable provider for the long-term care of open spaces in Scotland.

Gordon Banks MP has been supporting the residents in their dispute with Greenbelt and has been heading an All Party Working Group in Westminster looking at land management companies.

He said, “It is good news that the Scottish Executive confirmed that the action the residents took in their dispute with Greenbelt has been confirmed as the correct course of action.

“Up until now Greenbelt has tried to ignore the actions of the residents at Menstrie Mains and I hope that it will now take on board the strong legal footing on which the residents have based their campaign, and understand that they no longer want Greenbelt to supply land management services.

“I hope that both the Greenbelt and Gladedale can find a constructive way to bring this long standing problem to a solution which meets the aims and objectives of Menstrie residents.”

However, Greenbelt says that the information on the email from the Scottish Government is out-dated and that the Title Deeds Act is a complicated piece of legislation which residents do not necessarily understand the full implications of.

Managing director of Greenbelt, Alex Middleton, told the Advertiser that following the petition a circular was sent to all residents to give them help and guidance, and that Greenbelt has never purported to offer legal advice to residents but said they should seek independent legal advice.

He went on, “Greenbelt has never considered itself to be a manager of the land but, in fact, the owner of the land, which is a significant difference to what is being said by other parties.

“Soundbites have been taken from a very complicated piece of legislation which needs to be understood as a whole and is very technical.

“There is an agreement in place between ourselves and the developer and that will continue.

“We are obliged to manage and maintain the land and residents are obliged to contribute fully and equally.”

A spokesperson for Gladedale added, “We are aware of the issues between the residents and Greenbelt and are hopeful that an amicable solution can be reached between the two parties.”

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